ABC has pulled late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off air indefinitely over comments he made about the shooting of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely," a spokesperson for the Disney-owned network said in a statement to the BBC.

On Monday night's monologue, Kimmel said the "MAGA gang" was trying to score political points off Kirk's murder.

On Tuesday, a 22-year-old suspect appeared in court charged with aggravated murder over last Wednesday's shooting of the 31-year-old conservative influencer.

The announcement came after one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the US, Nexstar Media, said it would not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! "for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight's show".

Nexstar said on Wednesday that the comedian's remarks about Kirk "are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse".

"[W]e do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located," said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar's broadcasting division.

"Continuing to give Mr Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue."

Representatives for Kimmel did not immediately respond to the BBC's requests for comment.

Kimmel said in his Monday night monologue: "The Maga Gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it."

The late-night host, who has frequently been in the crosshairs of US President Donald Trump, also criticised flags being flown at half staff in honour of Kirk, and mocked Trump's reaction to the shooting.

He spliced a clip of the president speaking with reporters about his reaction to Kirk's death and redirecting to talk about a ballroom being built at the White House.

"He's at the fourth stage of grief," Kimmel said. "Construction. It's demolition, construction.

"This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a gold fish."

Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, are planning to present photographic and scientific evidence to a US court to prove Mrs Macron is a woman.

Their lawyer says the French president and Mrs Macron will present the documentation in a defamation suit they have taken against the right-wing influencer Candace Owens after she promoted her belief that Brigitte Macron was born male.

Ms Owens' lawyers have responded with a motion to dismiss the claim.

Speaking to the BBC's Fame Under Fire podcast, the Macrons' lawyer in the case, Tom Clare, said Mrs Macron had found the claims "incredibly upsetting" and they were a "distraction" to the French president.

"I don't want to suggest that it somehow has thrown him off his game. But just like anybody who is juggling a career and a family life as well, when your family is under attack, it wears on you. And he's not immune from that because he's the president of a country," he said.

Mr Clare said there would be "expert testimony that will come out that will be scientific in nature" and while he would not reveal, at this stage, its exact nature, he said the couple were prepared to demonstrate fully "both generically and specifically" that the allegations are false.

"It is incredibly upsetting to think that you have to go and subject yourself, to put this type of proof forward," he said.

"It is a process that she will have to subject herself to in a very public way. But she's willing to do it. She is firmly resolved to do what it takes to set the record straight.

"If that unpleasantness and that discomfort that she has of opening herself up in that way is what it takes to set a record straight and stop this, she's 100% ready to meet that burden."

When asked if the Macrons would be supplying pictures of Brigitte pregnant and raising her children, Mr Clare said they existed and would be presented in court where there are rules and standards.

Ms Owens, a former commentator for conservative US outlet Daily Wire who has millions of followers on social media, has repeatedly promoted her view that Brigitte Macron is a man.

In March 2024, she claimed she would stake her "entire professional reputation" on the allegation.

The allegation originated in fringe online spaces years earlier, notably through a 2021 YouTube video by French bloggers Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey.

The Macrons initially won a defamation case in France against Roy and Rey in 2024, but that ruling was overturned on appeal in 2025 on freedom of expression grounds, not on the basis of truth. The Macrons are appealing the decision.

In July, the Macrons filed a lawsuit against Ms Owens in the US. It alleges she "disregarded all credible evidence disproving her claim in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists and proven defamers".

In American defamation cases against public figures, plaintiffs are required to prove "actual malice" - that the defendant knowingly spread false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

In August, Emmanuel Macron explained to French magazine, Paris Match, why they had chosen to pursue legal action.

"This is about defending my honour! Because this is nonsense. This is someone who knew full well that she had false information and did so with the aim of causing harm, in the service of an ideology and with established connections to far-right leaders."

Ms Owens' lawyers have responded to the Macrons' lawsuit with a motion to dismiss, arguing that the case should not have been filed in Delaware, as she says it does not relate to her businesses, which are incorporated in the state. They claim forcing her to defend the case in Delaware would cause "substantial financial and operational hardship".

The BBC has approached Candace Owens' legal team for a comment. She has previously said she believes what she is saying is true and there is nothing more American than free speech and the ability to criticise.

An immigration judge in the US has ordered the deportation of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil to either Algeria or Syria, over claims he omitted information from a green card application.

Judge Jamee Comans, based in Louisiana, said Mr Khalil "wilfully misrepresented material fact(s) for the sole purpose of circumventing the immigration process".

In a statement to the American Civil Liberties Union, Mr Khalil said: "It is no surprise that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for my exercise of free speech."

Mr Khalil, a permanent US resident of Palestinian descent, was a prominent figure during the 2024 Gaza war protests at Columbia University, where he studied.

Lawyers for Mr Khalil, 30, said they would appeal against the decision, and added that separate federal court orders remained in effect that prohibit the government from deporting or detaining him.

In March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials detained Mr Khalil as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on universities it claims have failed to tackle antisemitism.

Mr Khalil, born in Syria and a citizen of Algeria, was held in an immigration facility in Louisiana for three months before a federal judge ruled that he was neither a flight risk nor a threat to his community.

On 20 June, the judge ruled Mr Khalil must be released.

While detained, Mr Khalil's wife, a US citizen, gave birth to their son.

In March, the US government also accused Mr Khalil of leaving out details of his previous associations on immigration documentation, including membership of Unwra - the UN agency that works with Palestinians - and "continuing employment" at the British Embassy in Beirut.

Responding to the recent decision, Mr Khalil added: "When their first effort to deport me was set to fail, they resorted to fabricating baseless and ridiculous allegations in a bid to silence me for speaking out and standing firmly with Palestine, demanding an end to the ongoing genocide."

In June, Mr Khalil's lawyers filed a claim for $20m (£14.7m) in damages alleging false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and being smeared as an antisemite.

Trump has repeatedly alleged that pro-Palestinian activists, including Mr Khalil, support Hamas, a group designated a terrorist organisation by the US. The president argues these protesters should be deported and called Mr Khalil's arrest "the first of many to come".

Mr Khalil's role in Columbia's 2024 protests placed him in the public eye. On the front lines of negotiations, he played a role in mediating between university officials and the activists and students who attended the protests.

Activists supporting Israel have accused Mr Khalil of being a leader of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (Cuad), a student group that demanded, among other things, the university to divest from its financial ties to Israel and a ceasefire in Gaza.

Mr Khalil has denied that he led the group, telling the Associated Press (AP) that he only served as a spokesperson for protesters and as a mediator with the university.

Israel's culture minister has threatened to axe funding for the country's national film awards after The Sea, a story about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, won its top award.

The film, which follows a boy from the occupied West Bank who wants to travel to Tel Aviv to see the sea for the first time, won best film at the Ophir Awards - Israel's equivalent of the Oscars.

In a statement on X, Miki Zohar said: "There is no greater slap in the face of Israeli citizens than the embarrassing and detached annual Ophir Awards ceremony."

As winner of the best film category at the Ophir awards, The Sea now becomes Israel's entry to the international film category at next year's Oscars.

It is not yet clear whether Zohar has the authority to defund the awards, according to local media.

Stars of The Sea won other major prizes at the awards ceremony, including 13-year-old Muhammad Gazawi who won the best actor award - the youngest ever winner.

In the film, Gazawi plays 12-year-old Khaled who is denied entry to Israel at an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) checkpoint during a class trip to Tel Aviv.

Khaled then sneaks into Israel and attempts to reach the sea while his father, an undocumented labourer in Israel, tries to find him.

During the ceremony, the film's producer Baher Agbariya said the film was about "every child's right to live in peace, a basic right we will not give up on".

But in his statement, Zohar described the Ophir Awards as "embarrassing and detached".

He added: "Under my watch, Israeli citizens will not pay from their pockets for a ceremony that spits in the faces of our heroic soldiers."

Responding to Zohar's comments, Assaf Amir, chair of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television, said: "As the never-ending war in Gaza takes a terrible toll in death and destruction, the ability to see the 'other'... gives small hope."

Amir added: "In the face of the Israeli government's attacks on Israeli cinema and culture, and the calls from parts of the international film community to boycott us, the selection of The Sea is a powerful and resounding response."

It comes after thousands of Hollywood industry professionals signed a pledge vowing not to work with Israeli film institutions that are "implicated in genocide".

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

At least 65,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since then, almost half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

On Tuesday, a UN commission of inquiry said Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected the report and denounced it as "distorted and false".

The leader of the controversial Unification Church has denied allegations that her organisation bribed South Korea's former first lady with luxury gifts in exchange for business favours.

Han Hak-ja flatly rejected claims that she directed the bribery when confronted by reporters as she emerged from nine hours of questioning at the prosecutor's office.

"No... Why would I do that?" said the 82-year-old widow of the church's founder Moon Sun-myung, who had to be supported by assistants as she walked.

Former first lady Kim Keon Hee, the wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, is accused of accepting two Chanel bags and a diamond necklace, together worth 80 million won ($57,900; £42,500), from the church.

Kim was indicated last month for various charges, including bribery and stock manipulation, which she denies.

Her arrest marked the first time that both a former president and former first lady have been jailed in South Korea.

Yoon was detained in January to face trial over a failed martial law bid last year that plunged the country into chaos.

On Wednesday, Han pinned the blame on a former church official, saying the official acted on his own in offering Kim those gifts. The official has since been arrested.

Her appearance comes after she refused the special prosecutor's summons thrice. "I was in pain after [heart] surgery," she said.

An ambulance was put on standby while she was being interrogated, Reuters reported citing the special prosecutor's office.

On Wednesday, authorities arrested conservative lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, who is also accused of receiving 100 million won in bribes from the church. Kweon, once seen as a close confidante of Yoon, denied the allegation.

The Unification Church, known formally as The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, was founded in South Korea in the 1950s by Moon Sun-myung, who proclaimed himself the messiah.

The church is best known for holding mass weddings involving thousands of couples, some of whom would have only recently been matched by the church.

Critics have described the group as "cult -like". Lawyers have accused it of coercing devotees, known colloquially as "Moonies" after its founder, to donate large sums of money.

The Unification Church had come under the spotlight in Japan after the assassination of the country's former leader Shinzo Abe. The alleged assassin blamed the group for bankrupting his family and held a grievance against Abe for allegedly promoting it.

The group is banned in parts of the world, including Singapore and more recently, Japan.

The families of four passengers who died on an Air India jet that crashed in June have filed a lawsuit in the US against planemaker Boeing and aircraft parts maker Honeywell, accusing the companies of negligence.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday, and seen by the BBC, said faulty fuel switches caused the accident and accused the companies of doing "nothing" despite being aware of the risks of the aircraft's design.

Air India Flight 171 bound for London Gatwick, a Boeing 787, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people.

Fuel switches have become a focus for investigators after a preliminary inquiry found that fuel to the engines was cut off moments after the plane left the ground.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said earlier that fuel control switches in Boeing aeroplanes are safe.

The BBC has contacted Boeing and Honeywell for a response.

The US plane manufacturer did not comment on the case. Instead it pointed to India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) preliminary investigation report into the crash.

The lawsuit alleges that both firms knew about the risk of a crash since they developed and marketed the 787 Dreamliner and its components.

It cited a 2018 FAA advisory that urged - but did not mandate - operators to inspect the fuel switches' locking mechanism to ensure that it could not be accidentally moved, thereby cutting off fuel supply.

In the case of Air India Flight 171, the switch was moved from "run" to the "cut-off" position, hampering the thrust of the plane, according to the AAIB's preliminary investigation report.

The families said this amounted to a design "defect" that "allowed for inadvertent cutoff of fuel supply and total loss of thrust necessary to propel" the plane.

They said: "And what did Honeywell and Boeing do to prevent the inevitable catastrophe? Nothing."

The companies also failed to warn airlines that the switches required inspection and repair, and did not supply replacement parts to enable its customers to install them, according to the lawsuit.

Boeing and Honeywell "sat idly" behind a gentle advisory that merely recommended inspecting the switches, said the families, who are represented by Texas-based Lanier Law Firm.

A more detailed report of the crash is expected sometime in 2026.

A total of 229 passengers, 12 cabin crew and 19 people on the ground perished when the plane crashed.

Australia, one of the world's biggest polluters per capita, will aim to cut its carbon emissions by at least 62% compared to 2005 levels over the next decade.

The nation - which has faced global criticism for its continued reliance on fossil fuels - had previously pledged to reduce greenhouse gases by 43% by 2030.

"This is a responsible target supported by science and a practical plan to get there, built on proven technology," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said when unveiling the new target on Thursday.

A landmark risk assessment commissioned by the government this week warned Australia faced a future of increasingly extreme weather conditions as a result of man-made climate change.

Setting a target to reduce emissions from 2005 levels is part of Australia's obligation under the Paris Climate Agreement.

The new target is in line with an emission reduction benchmark – of between 62% and 70% – that was recommended by the Climate Change Authority, a government body which provides climate policy advice, Albanese said.

The prime minister will confirm the commitment at a meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month.

The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement saw world leaders agree to keep global temperatures from rising 1.5C above those of the late 19th Century, which is seen as crucial to preventing the most damaging impacts of climate change.

Australia, like much of the world, has faced an increasing number of climate-related weather extremes in recent years including severe drought, historic bushfires and successive years of record-breaking floods.

Warmer seas have also caused mass bleaching at its world-famous Great Barrier Reef in Queensland and Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.

On Monday, a report into the impact of climate change - the first of its kind in the country - found Australia had already reached warming of above 1.5C and that no community would be immune from "cascading, compounding and concurrent" climate risks.

It warned that if the government failed to take stronger action there would be more heatwave-related deaths, poorer water quality due to severe flooding and bushfires, and sea level rises that would threaten 1.5 million people. It also warned of a A$611bn ($406bn; £300bn) drop in property values as a result of such threats.

However, Australia's climate agenda and its ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 remain divisive political topics.

The country's opposition party, the Liberal National coalition, is internally debating whether it should continue to support the net zero emissions goal, while other parliamentarians - including many independent and Greens MPs - are calling for faster cuts.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley on Thursday said the coalition was "dead against" the new target, saying that it failed on both "cost and credibility".

Shortly after Albanese's Labor government was elected in 2022 it set higher climate targets, up from the conservative coalition's previous target of between 26% and 28%.

It has sought to make Australia a "renewable energy superpower", but has also continued to approve fossil fuel projects.

Last week, one of the country's largest gas projects - Woodside's North West Shelf - was given the greenlight to keep operating for another 40 years until 2070, in a move that was widely condemned by climate experts and environmental advocates. Australian Greens Larissa Waters labelled the move a "betrayal" by Labor.

Five police officers have been shot in the US state of Pennsylvania, with three of them said to be in a grave condition.

A fourth officer shot in Wednesday afternoon's incident in rural York County is said to be in a critical condition.

The suspect in the shooting is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, sources told the BBC's US partner CBS.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said he was travelling to the scene in North Codorus Township, about 100 miles (160km) east of Philadelphia.

"I've been briefed on the situation involving law enforcement in York County, and am on my way there now," Shapiro wrote on X.

"We ask those in the area to please follow the directions of local law enforcement," he added.

The incident happened just after 14:00 local time (19:00 BST). Images from the scene showed a police officer being airlifted out of the scene in a medical helicopter.

The shooting forced a nearby school district in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania - a small town of about 2,500 people - to briefly shelter in place. The district later said the school had not been affected.

Officials said there was no threat to the public.

A Spirit Airlines flight received repeated warnings from air traffic controllers to "pay attention" and "turn away" after it came too close to President Donald Trump's aircraft as he flew to the United Kingdom for a state visit.

"Pay attention. Get off the iPad," was the stern message issued to the Spirit pilot as the aircraft flew eight miles (12.8km) parallel to Air Force One, the US president's official plane, over New York on Tuesday.

The planes were never within a distance that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would classify as unsafe, but it was close enough to alarm officials.

"Safety is always our top priority," a Spirit spokesman told CBS, the BBC's US partner.

Spirit Flight 1300 "followed procedures and Air Traffic Control instructions" and "landed uneventfully" as planned in Boston, the airline said.

The Spirit flight was travelling from Florida to Massachusetts. According to flight tracking site Flightradar24, the two planes were flying parallel to each other 8 miles apart, and were on paths on which they could have converged 11 miles apart,

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) "Preliminary investigation shows aircraft maintained the required separation."

Air traffic control audio obtained by the BBC recorded controllers urgently and repeatedly telling the Spirit Airbus A321 to keep its distance.

"Spirit 1300 turn 20 degrees right," an air traffic controller said, according to LiveATC audio. "Pay attention, Spirit 1300 turn 20 degrees right. Spirit 1300 turn 20 degrees right, now. Spirit wings 1300 turn 20 degrees right, immediately."

The budget airline pilots acknowledged the transmission, although their responses were difficult to hear due to the static sounds on the recording.

The controller responded with: "Pay attention. Spirit 1300 traffic off your left wing by six mi— or eight miles, 747. I'm sure you can see who it is. ... Keep an eye out for him — he's white and blue" - the white and blue being a reference to the exterior colours of the president's aircraft.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in the UK on Tuesday evening.

Prosecutors have downgraded some of the most serious sex abuse charges against veteran broadcaster and former Wallabies coach Alan Jones after a court hearing on Thursday.

Mr Jones now faces 27 charges which allege that he indecently assaulted or groped nine men over two decades.

Eleven charges of aggravated indecent assault - deemed more serious as they allegedly related to people under his authority - were downgraded on Thursday. Some charges were also dropped altogether.

The influential 84-year-old media figure has denied all charges and the case - which will now be heard before a magistrate, not a jury - will return to court next month.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Sharon Freund said there was a reformation of the case after two alleged victims withdrew, though there was no explanation as to why they were no longer part of the case.

Mr Jones now faces 25 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching.

His lawyer Bryan Wrench told the court the dropped charges was a "very big development" and "significant concession," according to the reports from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"There is no suggestion that... he had these complainants in his authority. He did not have any power over these complainants," Mr Wrench said.

Police have previously said some of the alleged victims knew the radio titan personally, and that at least one had been employed by him.

Others were allegedly assaulted the first time they met him, NSW Police's Michael Fitzgerald told reporters late last year.

Speaking to journalists outside court in December, Jones told reporters the allegations were either "baseless" or "distort the truth".

A former teacher, Mr Jones coached Australia's national rugby union team between 1984 and 1988, before pivoting to a radio career.

He also, at times, worked as a speechwriter and advisor for Liberal Party figures - including former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser - and launched several failed bids to represent the party in both state and federal politics.

A staple of Sydney airwaves on local station 2GB for decades, Mr Jones juggled those duties with TV commentary gigs before he retired from full time work in 2020 citing health issues.

The broadcaster is a polarising figure, for years boasting one of the nation's biggest audiences but often courting controversy.

He made headlines in 2012 for suggesting that then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard's father had "died of shame", and in 2019 faced a massive advertiser boycott after saying someone should "shove a sock" down the throat of New Zealand's leader at the time, Jacinda Ardern.

Mr Jones has also been successfully sued for defamation many times.

A decomposing body found in a car registered to singer D4vd has been identified as a missing 15-year-old girl, US authorities say.

Police officers discovered the remains of Celeste Rivas inside the boot of the impounded Tesla on 8 September, after responding to reports of a foul smell at the Hollywood tow yard in Los Angeles.

Authorities said both the cause and time of her death remained unknown.

Rivas, from Lake Elsinore in California, was 13 at the time of her disappearance and was last seen on 5 April 2024, according to a missing person flyer cited by CBS, the BBC's US partner.

Earlier, officers said the Tesla was likely to have been at the Hollywood tow yard for "a couple of days" before the remains were found.

The car, which has a Texas licence plate, was towed from the Hollywood Hills after it was abandoned five days earlier.

The car is registered to 20-year-old David Anthony Burke, the official name of singer D4vd.

Last week, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said the person whose remains were discovered was 5ft 2in tall (157cm), had wavy black hair and was wearing a tube top and black leggings.

It added that the remains had a tattoo on the right index finger that read: "Shhh."

The remains were not intact and it appeared the girl had been dead for an extended period of time, according to law enforcement sources cited by NBC News.

D4vd, who has millions of followers on social media, is best best known for his viral hits Here With me and Romantic Homicide.

He released his debut album in April and was on tour when the remains were found in the Tesla. The tour's scheduled show in Seattle on Wednesday was cancelled.

Police say D4vd is co-operating with the investigation.

It's finally happening.

After months of economic debate and mounting attacks from US President Donald Trump, the US central bank is poised to cut interest rates on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce it is lowering the target for its key lending rate by 0.25 percentage points. That will put it in a range of 4% to 4.25% - the lowest level since late 2022.

The move - the bank's first rate cut since last December - is expected to kick off a series of additional reductions in the months ahead, which should help bring down borrowing costs across the US.

But they carry a warning about the economy, reflecting increased consensus at the Fed that a stalling job market needs a boost in the form of lower interest rates.

Nor are they likely to satisfy the president, who has called for far deeper cuts.

In many ways, it is no surprise that the Fed, which sets interest rate policy independent of the White House, is cutting.

The inflation that ripped through the post-pandemic economy and prompted the bank to raise interest rates in 2022 has come down significantly.

In the UK, Europe, Canada and elsewhere, central banks have already responded with lower rates, while the Fed's own policymakers have said for months that they expected to lower borrowing costs by at least half a percentage point this year.

At the Fed's last meeting, two members of the board even backed a cut.

They were outvoted, as other members remained worried that Trump's economic policies, including tax cuts, tariffs and mass detentions of migrant workers, might cause inflation to flare back up again.

And it's true that the US in recent months has seen inflation tick higher. Prices rose 2.9% over the 12 months to August, the fastest pace since January, and still above the Fed's 2% target.

But in recent weeks, those concerns have been eclipsed by weakness in the labour market. The US reported meagre job gains in August and July and an outright loss in June - the first such decline since 2020.

"It really comes down to what we've seen in the jobs market - the deterioration that we've seen over the past few months," said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo, which is expecting rates to drop by 0.75 percentage points by the end of the year.

"The Fed knows that when the labour market turns, it turns very quickly, so they're wanting to make sure they're not stepping on the brakes of the economy at the same time the labour market has already slowed."

Though Trump has rejected concerns about economic weakness, the rate cut should not be unwelcome to him - he has spent months blasting the Fed's hesitance to cut rates, which he says should be as low as 1%.

On social media, he has called Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell "a real dummy", accusing him of holding back the economy by leaving interest rates too high for too long.

"Too Late" MUST CUT INTEREST RATES, NOW, AND BIGGER THAN HE HAD IN MIND. HOUSING WILL SOAR!!!" Trump wrote in a social media post this week, referring to Powell.

Trump's pressure is not just rhetorical. He moved quickly to install the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, Stephen Miran, on the Fed in time for this week's meeting after a short-term vacancy opened up last month.

His administration has also threatened Powell with firing and investigation and is locked in a legal battle over its effort to fire economist Lisa Cook, another member of the board.

To critics, Trump's moves amount to an assault on the Fed's independence that is unprecedented in recent history.

But whatever awkwardness in the air at this week's Fed meeting, analysts say they believe the Fed's decision to cut would have come regardless of his campaign.

"The president's policies are certainly causing the economic activity that is forcing the hand of the Fed," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth.

"The president's jawboning of the Fed to lower rates I think has had zero impact whatsoever."

It has been a brutal week in America and I'm not the only one wondering whether the country can pull itself out of this spiral of hatred and violence.

After one of the most searing assassinations in US history, the governor of Utah pleaded for Americans to turn down the political temperature.

But hardly anyone that I've spoken to since Charlie Kirk's death thinks that will be the path the country will choose. Not anytime soon, at least.

Recent history is full of examples where America has chosen not to come together after a tragedy. It didn't happen 14 years ago after a Democratic congresswoman was shot in the head in Arizona. Nor eight years ago, when a Republican congressman was shot during baseball practice.

Americans didn't even come together in the face of a global pandemic. In fact, Covid made divisions worse.

The reason is simple, yet hard to change. The incentives that fuel American political life reward the people and platforms that turn up the heat, not those who dial tensions down.

Around the country, you're more likely to get elected to political office if you run on policies and rhetoric that appeal to your political base, rather than the political middle (it's the depressing byproduct of gerrymandering - the original sin behind America's dysfunctional, divided politics).

Equally, in the media, people who opine about politics are rewarded for being more extreme and stoking outrage — that's the way to get more eyeballs and, ultimately, more advertising dollars.

This incentive structure is what makes Utah Governor Spencer Cox something of an American exception.

After Charlie Kirk was killed, he urged Americans to "log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in the community".

He sounded so sane, so wholesome - an effort, in a sea of division, at reconciliation.

The 1960s and 70s versus today

Division and political violence are not new phenomena in America. Some 160 years ago, the country went to war with itself and it has never really stopped.

Over a period of five years in the 1960s, a US president was killed and then his brother was killed while campaigning to become president. In that same period, two of the nation's most prominent civil rights leaders were assassinated too.

In the 1970s, President Gerald Ford was shot at on two separate occasions. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was struck by a bullet while walking to his limousine.

And of course, just last year Trump was the victim of a failed attempt on his life by a gunman in Pennsylvania — and a second alleged attempt by a gunman in Florida, whose trial began the week Kirk was killed.

What makes this era so different from the 1960s and 70s, though, is what Governor Cox is worried about.

While he has carefully steered away from saying things that would further divide Americans, he hasn't been so gentle with the social media companies that he clearly blames for this tragedy.

"I believe that social media has played a direct role in every single assassination and assassination attempt that we have seen over the last five, six years," Cox said in an interview on Sunday.

He went on to say that "cancer" was likely too weak a word for what it has done to American society.

Most tech companies have stayed quiet in their official capacities. However, Elon Musk, billionaire boss of X, has weighed in, claiming that the "radical left celebrated the cold-blooded murder of Charlie Kirk," and adding, "unity is impossible with evil fanatics who celebrate murder".

He has also posted about the impact of social media, arguing: "While at times the discussion on X can become negative, it's still good that there is a discussion happening."

'This is like a bad marriage'

The pitfalls of this system that blends social media with politics concerns even those who are the most passionate about politics, regardless of who they support.

Earlier this week, Kaitlin Griffiths, a 19-year-old who is the president of Utah State University's chapter of Charlie Kirk's organisation, Turning Point USA, put it plainly: "Social media is definitely a really difficult thing for our society.

"You can't even hold a conversation with somebody who doesn't agree with your political beliefs — and I just think that's honestly tragic."

Tragic and ironic, since Kirk saw himself as a champion of free speech, even as his critics often disagreed with that framing. His death though may push the country further from civil discourse.

Within days of Kirk's death, the country's political camps had already retreated to opposing narratives.

Many on the left are eager to explore the ways that Kirk's killer might have been radicalised by internet subcultures and group chats. Many on the right prefer to unpack whether the suspect was part of a left-wing conspiracy.

Neither group seems particularly keen to prioritise reconciliation or healing.

The reality is that those who study extremism believe that left-right may not even be the most helpful way to look at the division of this current moment.

"It's better to look at what's causing people to be ungovernable," says Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who specialises in polarised democracies.

"It does take a desire to turn down the temperature… [and] requires people to have a little more courage than they're showing.

"I think it is more useful to focus on how we as a society turn a page and open a new chapter, because this is like a bad marriage. And like a bad marriage, you can only lose by pointing fingers."

What reconciliation would take

As for the question of whether America can break the hold of the algorithms that stoke the divisions, that would take a leader of enormous strength with an equally enormous commitment to reconciliation.

"I'm not sure how we pull out of this," the politics writer David Drucker told me. "It would help if both parties - and by parties I mean 'parties' not just political figures - agree to stop the recriminations and just say 'stop'."

"Usually only a president can facilitate that. Absent both sides agreeing there are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed, or absent the next president doing so, I'm not sure how we get there."

Trump is not that type of president. He often seems at his strongest, politically, when he has an adversary to fight against.

My understanding is that Trump does believe that people on the left want to destroy his Maga movement. And since Kirk's death, he has taken a very different tone from the governor of Utah.

"I'll tell you something that's going to get me in trouble, but I couldn't care less," he said, when asked how the nation can be fixed. "The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don't want to see crime... The radicals on the left are the problem."

And he went further in his Oval Office remarks following Kirk's killing: "Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives."

The framing by the president - that this was not just the deed of a twisted individual but of the radical left more broadly - is being echoed by other White House officials.

"With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have... to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks," said Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff.

"It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie's name."

However, a number of studies into politically-motivated killings and violence in the US - over several decades - suggest that more cases were carried out by people with "right-wing" ideologies than with "left-wing" ones, though more data is likely necessary to draw a firm conclusion.

'People say history repeats itself - it never has'

Some people I've spoken to point to bleak times in US history as a source of comfort.

"Few periods in America have been more politically bleak or violent than the years [in the 1960s and early 1970s] shaped by Vietnam and Watergate," former Republican congressman, turned influential TV host, Joe Scarborough told me.

"But the country moved forward, celebrated its bicentennial, and moved beyond its violent divides. It will do so again."

Also among the optimists I spoke to was Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, one of the country's most senior black officials. He condemned political violence as the most "anti-democratic" act, but also reminded me of the progress America has made on issues like race.

"The story of any family is always more complicated than the stories we tell ourselves at the family reunion," he told me.

"My father had to give up his seat [on a bus] while wearing his soldier's uniform to a teenager, but I now sit in a Senate seat."

Their hope is heartening - but I still don't see a clear path out.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about a conversation I had earlier this year with historian and filmmaker Ken Burns, as America prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding.

"People say history repeats itself," Burns told me. "It never has."

Burns instead prefers a quote that many have attributed to the writer Mark Twain: "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." In other words, even if the present looks like the past — things never happen the same way twice.

This moment of tension feels like it rhymes with so many other periods of discord in American history, but it isn't quite repeating them.

Yes, American history is full of anger and conflict — but I'm not sure this country's social and political systems were always so quick to reward the companies and people who stoke those emotions.

Meanwhile the United States will get weaker, not greater.

Former Defence Secretary Bob Gates once told me that the three greatest threats to America's national security were a rising China, a declining Russia and the country's own internal divisions.

America's adversaries certainly know how much its divisions damage this superpower. They work hard online to drive people further apart. And Americans make it easy for them.

Top picture credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images and Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

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Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, are planning to present photographic and scientific evidence to a US court to prove Mrs Macron is a woman.

Their lawyer says the French president and Mrs Macron will present the documentation in a defamation suit they have taken against the right-wing influencer Candace Owens after she promoted her belief that Brigitte Macron was born male.

Ms Owens' lawyers have responded with a motion to dismiss the claim.

Speaking to the BBC's Fame Under Fire podcast, the Macrons' lawyer in the case, Tom Clare, said Mrs Macron had found the claims "incredibly upsetting" and they were a "distraction" to the French president.

"I don't want to suggest that it somehow has thrown him off his game. But just like anybody who is juggling a career and a family life as well, when your family is under attack, it wears on you. And he's not immune from that because he's the president of a country," he said.

Mr Clare said there would be "expert testimony that will come out that will be scientific in nature" and while he would not reveal, at this stage, its exact nature, he said the couple were prepared to demonstrate fully "both generically and specifically" that the allegations are false.

"It is incredibly upsetting to think that you have to go and subject yourself, to put this type of proof forward," he said.

"It is a process that she will have to subject herself to in a very public way. But she's willing to do it. She is firmly resolved to do what it takes to set the record straight.

"If that unpleasantness and that discomfort that she has of opening herself up in that way is what it takes to set a record straight and stop this, she's 100% ready to meet that burden."

When asked if the Macrons would be supplying pictures of Brigitte pregnant and raising her children, Mr Clare said they existed and would be presented in court where there are rules and standards.

Ms Owens, a former commentator for conservative US outlet Daily Wire who has millions of followers on social media, has repeatedly promoted her view that Brigitte Macron is a man.

In March 2024, she claimed she would stake her "entire professional reputation" on the allegation.

The allegation originated in fringe online spaces years earlier, notably through a 2021 YouTube video by French bloggers Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey.

The Macrons initially won a defamation case in France against Roy and Rey in 2024, but that ruling was overturned on appeal in 2025 on freedom of expression grounds, not on the basis of truth. The Macrons are appealing the decision.

In July, the Macrons filed a lawsuit against Ms Owens in the US. It alleges she "disregarded all credible evidence disproving her claim in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists and proven defamers".

In American defamation cases against public figures, plaintiffs are required to prove "actual malice" - that the defendant knowingly spread false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

In August, Emmanuel Macron explained to French magazine, Paris Match, why they had chosen to pursue legal action.

"This is about defending my honour! Because this is nonsense. This is someone who knew full well that she had false information and did so with the aim of causing harm, in the service of an ideology and with established connections to far-right leaders."

Ms Owens' lawyers have responded to the Macrons' lawsuit with a motion to dismiss, arguing that the case should not have been filed in Delaware, as she says it does not relate to her businesses, which are incorporated in the state. They claim forcing her to defend the case in Delaware would cause "substantial financial and operational hardship".

The BBC has approached Candace Owens' legal team for a comment. She has previously said she believes what she is saying is true and there is nothing more American than free speech and the ability to criticise.

The Home Secretary has vowed to fight "vexatious, last-minute claims" after the deportation of an Eritrean man under the UK-France migrants returns deal was temporarily blocked.

On Tuesday, the High Court granted the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, a "short period of interim relief" ahead of his deportation to France, which was sceduled for 09:00 BST on Wednesday under the "one in, one out" pilot scheme.

Speaking after the High Court decision, Shabana Mahmood said "last minute attempts to frustrate a removal are intolerable".

The man, who arrived in the UK by small boat last month, argued he was a victim of modern slavery in an appeal made just hours before his flight.

In the first High Court challenge to the "one in, one out" scheme, the Eritrean man's lawyers argued he needed more time to present evidence that he might have been the victim of modern-day slavery - and the decision to remove him had been rushed.

The injunction raises serious questions about whether other migrants allocated to flights will use the same grounds to delay or block their removal.

The Home Office is set to appeal against the decision and is reviewing the Modern Slavery Act to ensure it is not being misused.

Lawyers for the Home Office had argued that he could have claimed asylum in France. They added that delaying his departure could encourage others allocated to the return flights this week to make similar claims, and undermine the public interest in deterring lethal small boat crossings.

Mahmood said: "Migrants suddenly deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal, having never made such a claim before, make a mockery of our laws and this country's generosity.

"I will fight to end vexatious, last-minute claims. I will robustly defend the British public's priorities in any court. And I will do whatever it takes to secure our border."

The deal with France was seen by the previous home secretary, Yvette Cooper, as one of her landmark policy achievements. It is now the job of her successor, Mahmood, to make it work.

Ministers agreed the "one in, one out" pilot deal with France in July to curb record small boat crossings this year.

The latest setback follows reports that the first flights to France left empty on Monday and Tuesday. Despite this, the first removals of migrants to France under the pilot scheme are still expected to go ahead this week.

Under the deal, the UK will send asylum seekers who have crossed the Channel back to France, in exchange for those who apply and are approved to come to Britain.

France has reportedly said it will only accept a small initial contingent of deportations, while the UK has said it hopes to increase numbers over the course of the scheme in an effort to stop small boat crossings in the Channel.

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1980 Wimbledon final 'most satisfying match I played'

'I was lost in the world'

The state banquet is the spectacular showstopper of a state visit, a glittering feast with speeches, royal toasts, trumpet fanfares and fancy food and wine.

It's diplomacy served up with fine dining. A cut-glass shock-and-awe approach to hospitality designed to make a visiting leader like President Trump feel special.

The setting in St George's Hall inside Windsor Castle is a remarkable sight, a mix of medieval banquet and Harry Potter film.

Elaborately uniformed staff around the hall are as drilled as the soldiers who have been on parade during the day. The table settings, five glasses per person, are terrifyingly neat.

For Trump's visit, the 160 guests, sitting behind 1,452 pieces of cutlery, will be eating from a menu, written in French, which translates as:

• Hampshire Watercress Panna Cotta with Parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad
• Organic Norfolk chicken ballotine wrapped in courgettes with a thyme and savoury infused jus
• Vanilla ice cream bombe with Kentish raspberry sorbet interior with lightly poached Victoria plums

Guests have a generous wine list.

• Wiston Estate, Cuvée, 2016
• Domaine Bonneau de Martray, Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, 2018
• Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, 2000
• Pol Roger, Extra Cuvée de Réserve, 1998

After dinner drinks will be drowning in symbolism. It's a 1945 vintage port, in honour of Trump having been the 45th US president, although he does not drink.

There's a 1912 cognac, from the birth year of the president's Scottish-born mother.

• LIVE: Follow the latest from Trump's state visit to UK
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• In pictures: Trump and Melania meet the royals
• America's unofficial party house where presidents stay in London
• Melania’s big hat, Kate’s feather brooch and other standout looks
• Security measures - from anti-drones and decoys to bringing in The Beast

If that doesn't seem enough there's a special cocktail, the Transatlantic Whisky Sour, which blends Johnnie Walker with the bright citrus of marmalade, with pecan foam and a toasted marshmallow on a biscuit.

Rupert Murdoch and Tim Cook

President Trump's banquet in Windsor Castle is conspicuously missing celebrity faces or screen stars. Were there people in Hollywood, or even west London, who suddenly found they had to be somewhere else tonight?

There's not even a hardy royal perennial like Sir David Beckham or Sir Elton John.

Instead the guest list is heavy on political operators and tech bros. Apple boss Tim Cook is there, sitting next to the president's daughter, Tiffany Trump.

Press baron Rupert Murdoch is sitting next to Sir Keir Starmer's key adviser Morgan McSweeney. The small talk must be interesting when Trump is suing the Murdoch press for billions in the US.

Like at a wedding, guests must be checking the nameplates around the ornately-decorated table to see who they're sitting beside.

The "head" of the table is in the middle for the Windsor state banquet, with the King and president in the centre of a dining table that is 47m long.

President Trump, as the guest of honour, is placed between King Charles and Catherine, the Princess of Wales.

The nameplate for Trump says "President of the United States of America", although in capital letters, oddly reminiscent of his social media messages.

Facing them is the first lady, whose nameplate says "Mrs Trump", with Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales on either side of her.

The seating arrangement throws some interesting groupings. There's the US ambassador Warren Stephens flanked by Princess Anne on one side and Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the other.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is beside mega-wealthy investor Stephen Schwarzman. If Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is searching for ideas, she's sitting next to Sam Altman, chief executive of the artificial intelligence firm, OpenAI.

Golfer Nick Faldo and athlete Dame Kathleen Grainger are among the more prominent sports stars at the banquet.

On the walls are royal portraits and suits of armour and the ceiling is studded with the coats of arms of Knights of the Garter.

St George's Hall was rebuilt after the fire of 1992. So perhaps like many stories about the royals, it feels new and old at the same time.

According to the travelling US press pack, the choice of music at the banquet reflects some of President Trump's favourites. Maybe they have their own messages to the politicians listening.

It includes Nessun Dorma, meaning "none shall sleep" and You Can't Always Get What You Want.

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US President Donald Trump will soon make an unprecedented second state visit to the UK.

Trump, who will be accompanied by his wife Melania, was hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II in June 2019.

What is a state visit?

A state visit is a formal trip to the UK by the head of a country. They are usually arranged at the invitation of the monarch, acting on government advice.

As well as being grand occasions with lots of pageantry, governments use the visits to further Britain's interests.

Traditionally, US presidents serving a second term - such as Trump - are not offered a state visit. Instead, they are invited for tea or lunch with the monarch, as happened with former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush.

However, in February Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump an invitation from King Charles III during a White House meeting to discuss a UK-US trade deal. Sir Keir said the invite was "truly historic" and "unprecedented".

Trump said it was a "great, great honour".

When is Donald Trump's state visit to the UK?

Donald and Melania Trump will arrive in the UK on Tuesday 16 September and leave on Thursday 18 September.

King Charles will host the president and first lady at Windsor Castle on the Wednesday and Thursday.

The trip comes two months after the president spent four days in Scotland, where he met politicians and visited his golf courses.

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• How is Windsor preparing for Trump's visit?

What will Trump do during the state visit?

On arrival to the UK, the Trumps will be met by the US Ambassador Warren Stephens. The Viscount Hood, Lord-in-Waiting, will welcome them on behalf of The King.

On Wednesday, they will travel to Windsor Castle where they will be greeted by the Prince and Princess of Wales, before being formally welcomed by the King and Queen. A royal salute will be fired in Windsor and at the Tower of London.

Following lunch, the president will visit St George's Chapel in Windsor to lay a wreath on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II.

Later, there will be a flypast by UK and US F-35 military jets and the Red Arrows.

On Wednesday evening, a traditional state banquet will be held at the castle, during which both the King and president will deliver speeches.

On Thursday, the president will travel to Chequers to meet the prime minister.

They will view the Sir Winston Churchill archives before holding a meeting and a news conference.

Melania Trump will remain at Windsor Castle where she will tour the Royal Library and see Queen Mary's Dolls' House, a famous miniature palace built in the 1920s.

Mrs Trump will then meet Chief Scout Dwayne Fields with Catherine, who is joint president of the Scout Association.

She will then join her husband at Chequers before they return to the US.

• Police plan airspace restrictions for Trump visit
• How is Windsor preparing for Trump's visit?
• Trump shrugs off giving Parliament speech when he visits UK

What vehicles and personnel will President Trump bring to the UK?

Final details about the equipment and personnel accompanying President Trump's second state visit have yet to be confirmed.

Trump arrived in the UK for his 2019 state visit on the customised Boeing 747-200B aeroplane known as Air Force One.

The presidential motorcade - including two identical limousines nicknamed The Beast and other security and communications vehicles - was flown in on US Air Force transport aircraft.

During the 2019 visit more than 6,300 police officers were deployed at a cost to London's Metropolitan Police of £3.4m.

• 2019 state visit: What did Trump bring with him?

Are protests expected during Trump's state visit?

The Stop Trump coalition is planning a "Trump Not Welcome" demonstration in London on Wednesday 17 September.

It has called on the government to cancel the visit, accusing the US President of "denying climate science" and "siding with war criminals - in Israel, Russia and beyond".

The group organised protests in Aberdeen and Edinburgh during Trump's recent visit. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the two cities.

Trump was also booed by protesters who gathered along the perimeter of his Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire, and a paraglider flew over the resort hotel with a banner criticising his presidency.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he would boycott the ceremonial banquet for Trump to "send a message" over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Which other state visits has King Charles hosted?

Since King Charles succeeded Queen Elizabeth in September 2022, he has hosted state visits from a number of international leaders and royals:

• July 2025: French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte
• December 2024: Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his wife Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani
• June 2024: Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan
• November 2023: Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee

He and Queen Camilla have carried out state visits to France, Italy, Germany, Kenya and Australia.