Black River was one of the worst hit areas by Hurricane Melissa with residents previously telling the BBC they have lived in a state of chaos since the storm
A flight carrying British aid arrived in Jamaica early on Saturday to help with recovery efforts after Hurricane Melissa, as the UK plans its first chartered flight to bring British nationals home later on Saturday.
The aid flight brought more than 3,000 emergency shelter kits as part of a £7.5 million regional emergency package.
Part of the funding will be used to match donations to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent - with King Charles and Queen Camilla among those who have donated.
Despite aid arriving in Jamaica in recent days, fallen trees and landslides have complicated distribution efforts after Hurricane Melissa devastated parts of the island, killing at least 19 people.
The hurricane made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a category five storm and was one of the most powerful hurricanes ever measured in the Caribbean.
Melissa swept across the region over a number of days and left behind a trail of destruction and dozens of people dead. In Haiti, at least 30 people were killed, while Cuba also saw flooding and landslides.
Jamaica's Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said on Friday "there are entire communities that seem to be marooned and areas that seem to be flattened".
The UK initially set aside a £2.5 million immediate financial support package, with an additional £5 million announced by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Friday.
Cooper said the announcement came as "more information is now coming through on the scale of devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, with homes damaged, roads blocks and lives lost".
The British Red Cross said, as of Saturday morning, that 72% people across Jamaica still do not have electricity and around 6,000 are in emergency shelters.
The organisation said the King and Queen's donation would help the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) "continue its lifesaving work" - which includes search and rescue efforts in Jamaica as well as ensuring access to healthcare, safe shelter and clean water.
Although aid is entering the country, landslides, downed power lines and fallen trees have made some roads impassable. The situation has made it difficult to get aid to the worst-hit areas.
Some communities are being affected by water shortages, while the BBC has seen queues for petrol pumps, with people waiting for hours to then be told there is no fuel left when they reach the front of the queue.
Some people are seeking fuel for generators, others for a car to reach an area in which they can contact people, as the power is still down across most of the island.
Around 8,000 British nationals were thought to have been on the island when the hurricane hit.
The UK's first chartered flight to bring British citizens home is set to leave Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport late on Saturday.
The UK foreign office has asked travellers to register their presence on the island.
The department also advises travellers to contact their airline to check whether commercial options are available.
埃森弗柯望博物馆（Museum Folkwang in Essen）：这家充满艺术氛围的博物馆用激动人心的方式展示了精美艺术。而更为贴心的是：这是德国首批不收费的博物馆之一。这也使得馆中气氛更为活跃，孩子们在这里也能有所收获。目前该馆正在举办德国女雕塑家卡塔琳娜·弗里茨（Katharina Fritsch）的作品。
柏林老国家画廊（Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin）：说起“高雅艺术”，位于柏林博物馆岛的老国家画廊可谓傲视群雄。即便在有些人嘴里，这个词几乎成了贬义词。美轮美奂的室内空间，精彩绝伦的绘画作品，令人心动的艺术氛围，宽敞的大厅和私密的小间，老国家画廊应有尽有。堪称高雅艺术的最高殿堂！
科隆科伦巴博物馆（Kolumba Museum in Köln）：2007年，在建筑师楚姆托尔（Peter Zumthor）的策划之下，科隆大主教的艺术博物馆搬迁新居。罗马时期的断垣残壁和后哥德风格的圣科伦巴教堂融为一体。这里珍藏了基督教文明两千年来的许多宝物，与周边建筑相得益彰。
波恩历史博物馆（Haus der Geschichte in Bonn）：德国的战后历史在这里得到生动形象的呈现，让人赞叹不已。一块柏林墙、一辆老汽车、一部点唱机还是一个土耳其肉饼铺：人们在这里都可以进行一番“亲密接触”。此外，这里还提供前往附近的前总理宅邸、联邦理事会大厅和总理府（沙姆博格宫）的导游项目。
柏林通讯博物馆（Museum für Kommunikation）：在电子邮件和Whatsapp还没有进入我们的日常生活之前，在数字化时代还没来临的时候，人们如何互通讯息？到柏林通讯博物馆便可了解。在这里参观犹“穿越历史”：从烟火讯号到机器人沟通。这里的互动装置最令人叫绝。如今你到哪里才能找到可以通过气动管道发送信件的地方呢？
Fleeing man shouted 'someone's got a knife', eyewitness tells BBC
Passengers travelling from Doncaster to London have been attacked in a mass stabbing on Saturday night.
Ten people were injured and taken to hospital. Nine of them are believed to have life-threatening injuries.
Two people were arrested after the train made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and witnesses reported that police used a Taser on one man holding a knife.
Counter-terror police have joined the investigation. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the attack was "appalling" and "deeply concerning".
Emergency crews and police rushed to Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire after 999 calls from the London-bound train
The stabbing took place on the 18.25 GMT Saturday night LNER train service from Doncaster to London's King Cross station.
Passengers reported that at least one person brandishing a knife began stabbing people on the train after the train stopped at Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.
Witnesses told the BBC of panic and confusion.
Olly Foster, who was on the train, said he heard people dashing across carriages shouting "run, there's a guy stabbing literally everyone and everything" - and thought it might have been a Halloween-type prank.
Another passenger heard someone shouting, "someone's got a knife"
Some passengers hid inside the toilets while others swarmed towards the front of the train.
At 19:39, the train driver made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, where dozens of armed police officers and emergency services rushed to the platform.
Witnesses said police used a Taser on one man. Two people, whose identities are not yet known, were arrested.
Altogether, the incident was estimated to last roughly 10 to 15 minutes.
The uninjured passengers were interviewed by police and some boarded a coach bound for London.
What do we know about the victims?
Emergency crews took 10 people to hospital, nine of whom are believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries, according to police.
The identities of the victims are not yet known.
Witnesses described some of the victims, including a man keeled over in pain on the platform, bleeding from his stomach.
Wren Chambers, a passenger on the train, told the BBC that one person had been stabbed in the arm and bolted down the train to alert others.
Olly Foster told the BBC how an older man had gashes on his head and neck after he "blocked" the attacker from stabbing a younger girl and passengers then used their jackets to try to staunch the bleeding.
London Underground worker Dean McFarlane told the BBC how he saw multiple people running down the platform bleeding, with one man in a white shirt "completely covered in blood".
What is happening with the train services?
London North Eastern Railway (LNER), which operates East Coast Mainline services in the UK, has urged passengers to avoid travelling on Sunday 2 November.
Ticketholders who are no longer planning to travel will be eligible for a full refund. Unused weekend LNER tickets will be valid until Tuesday 4 November.
Huntingdon station is not guaranteed to reopen on Sunday, LNER warned. Disruption to services between Stevenage and Peterborough are due to last all day.
Passengers are able to use their tickets on the following services without incurring extra cost:
• Avanti West Coast between London Euston, Manchester
• TransPennine Express between Manchester, Leeds and York/Newcastle
• ScotRail between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley
• Northern between Carlisle and Newcastle
• East Midlands Railway (EMR) between London St Pancras, Leicester and Sheffield.
• CrossCountry between Sheffield, Doncaster/Leeds, York and Newcastle/Edinburgh
• Greater Anglia between London Liverpool Street, Stevenage and Peterborough.
• Great Northern and Thameslink between London Kings Cross, Stevenage and Peterborough
• London Northwestern Railway services from Euston
LNER said delays are expected across the train system, including from other services and operators in the East of England and London, throughout Sunday.
Thameslink tickets that were not used on Saturday will be valid for Sunday.
In a statement published early on Sunday morning, LNER Managing Director David Horne wrote that he was "deeply shocked and saddened by this serious incident" and thanked emergency services for their "quick and professional" response.
Andrew met the owners of a crypto-mining firm which worked with Sarah Ferguson at Buckingham Palace
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor arranged a private tour of Buckingham Palace while the late Queen was in residence, for businessmen from a cryptocurrency mining firm which agreed to pay his ex-wife up to £1.4m, the BBC can reveal.
Jay Bloom and his colleague Michael Evers were driven through the palace gates in the former prince's own car after being collected from their five-star Knightsbridge hotel for the visit in June 2019.
Their company, Pegasus Group Holdings, which Mr Bloom co-founded, employed Sarah Ferguson as a "brand ambassador" for a crypto-mining scheme which would lose investors millions when it failed less than a year later.
Mr Bloom, an entrepreneur who had previously set up a failed Mafia-themed museum in Las Vegas, and Mr Evers, a former actor, were met by a greeter and escorted inside the palace.
Mr Evers told the BBC they then met the Queen, although Mr Bloom disputed this.
Both Mr Evers and Mr Bloom were invited by the then-prince to his Pitch@Palace event - a Dragons' Den-style business pitching competition - at nearby St James's Palace later that day, and they dined that evening with Andrew, Ms Ferguson and their daughter Princess Beatrice.
Ms Ferguson was working with Pegasus Group Holdings at the time of the palace visit, while she was Duchess of York, to promote plans to use thousands of solar power generators to mine Bitcoin at a remote site in the Arizona desert.
But the project ultimately failed with only 615 of the planned 16,000 generators acquired and just $33,779 (about £25,000) in cryptocurrency mined.
In April 2021, some investors took legal action, claiming millions of dollars of investor funds were unaccounted for. A tribunal awarded the investors $4.1m, but Mr Bloom is seeking permission to appeal.
The revelations add to growing questions about how Andrew and his former wife have funded their lifestyle, as well as long-standing concerns about their business connections and that the then-prince may have used his royal titles and connections for private gain.
Andrew and Ms Ferguson did not respond to a detailed list of questions about their involvement with Mr Bloom and the crypto-mining venture.
Facebook
Jay Bloom posted a photo on social media of one of his visits to Buckingham Palace
Sarah Ferguson was paid more than £200,000 for her work for the company and a leaked contract reveals she was in line for a separate bonus worth £1.2m.
She also received a stake in the business, which proposed using solar generators to reduce the cost of the energy-intensive computer calculations needed to generate or "mine" the digital currency Bitcoin.
Her contract stipulated that she required first-class travel, five-star hotels and the services of a professional hairdresser and make-up artist for the maximum of four "networking events" she would attend on the company's behalf.
It said she did not "hold herself out as an expert on the solar industry" and therefore accepted no responsibility for "industry-related information or commercial assessments" used as the basis for her statements promoting the company.
A royal friendship
Sarah Ferguson first met the Las Vegas businessman Jay Bloom in May 2018 when she was at a convention in the city to promote one of her children's books.
The pair struck up a friendship and business relationship.
Pegasus documents would subsequently describe her role as to "engage with the company's clients, investors and strategic relationships" as well as involvement with the company's planned "philanthropic activities".
For Mr Bloom, it was an introduction to royal circles which would lead to visits to Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, a tour of Ms Ferguson and Andrew's home, the Royal Lodge in Windsor, and dinners with her and her family in at least four different countries.
Eight years before the duchess signed up to be a brand ambassador for Pegasus, Mr Bloom had hit the Las Vegas headlines, accused of missing payments and deceiving investors in connection with a "mob experience" exhibition in the city. Mr Bloom denied wrongdoing, fought investors' lawsuits and vowed to repay them.
Publicity material for Pegasus Group Holdings touted Sarah Ferguson's role as "Brand Ambassador"
He now had a new company, Pegasus, and ambitions to build a hotel and casino in Greece.
It was there in July 2018, while considering investing in the company, that Michael Evers, a former actor and reality TV star who had made money from cryptocurrency investments, first met Ms Ferguson.
The hotel and casino did not get built, but Mr Bloom had soon pivoted Pegasus to a new idea, one that was inspired by seeing a mobile solar power generator in use at the Las Vegas motor speedway in early 2019, according to filings in the later legal action brought by investors.
Mr Bloom and his co-founders hit upon a plan to use vast banks of these units to power a crypto-mining operation. The endeavour, the company estimated, would generate millions of dollars a month.
In March 2019, Ms Ferguson had dinner with Mr Bloom in Los Angeles. They had lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel a few days later as she helped him try to close a deal for Pegasus. One of her daughters stopped by during the meal.
Mr Evers was now working for Pegasus as well as being an investor. He said he and Mr Bloom were regularly in London over the following months as they explored taking Pegasus public on the AIM market - part of the London Stock Exchange for growing companies.
Facebook
Jay Bloom had several dinners with Sarah Ferguson and her family, including Princess Beatrice
He said he got to know Ms Ferguson and her family and "through all that, I met Prince Andrew [and] Princess Beatrice and a lot of their family" who he described as "really great people, really friendly".
"We were there once a month for a week to two weeks at a time and every time the relationships just kind of grew stronger and stronger and they started offering tours of different places, I guess like behind the scenes or I don't know what you'd call it," Mr Evers said. "And just wanting to introduce us to more and more people."
As well as a tour of the Royal Lodge, Andrew and his ex-wife arranged for the pair to visit Buckingham Palace on a day in June 2019 when it was closed to the public.
They were picked up from their Knightsbridge hotel by an official driver in a dark blue Range Rover used by Andrew and driven through the palace gates in the early afternoon.
Once inside they were taken through to the inner courtyard, where a female greeter was waiting to meet them. A video taken by the men from inside the car captured their arrival.
Watch: The company owners filmed arriving at Buckingham Palace, with the driver speaking
A former Royal Household employee, who reviewed the footage, told BBC News that it was clear that palace security staff on the gate were expecting the vehicle.
"The ramp was dropped before they came out to speak to the driver," they said. "That was the reception we'd expect if we were carrying a member of the Royal Family."
What happened once they went inside is disputed by the two men.
Mr Evers said they had been told in advance that there would be an opportunity to meet the Queen. But once there, he said staff told him he was not allowed to take photos.
"They didn't want anyone knowing that we were meeting Elizabeth. And it was very, very brief, she was not doing super well, so it was more just like a hello and in passing. No touching or anything," he said.
He said it wasn't a formal meeting, "it was just like a quick, 'hello, goodbye'".
The Queen was in residence that day, with her published schedule including her regular weekly audience with the prime minister. The Palace was unable to confirm or deny whether the introduction with the two men took place.
Responding to questions by email, Mr Bloom initially said he had decided just to visit the palace as a tourist. He subsequently said the only person he met at the palace was a "staffer".
Getty Images
Mr Evers said Andrew arranged for them to briefly meet the late Queen, but Mr Bloom denied this
When challenged and presented with evidence from his own social media, which included footage of him being driven into the palace, and comments about spending time with Andrew, and there being "pictures I can post, the pictures I can't, and then the stuff I couldn't take pictures of... lol", Mr Bloom said he had misremembered.
He then admitted that he "was in fact shown to Andrews [sic] office and did thank him for the car and for him and Sarah arranging the tour".
He denied ever having met or been in the same room as the late Queen.
Mr Bloom made a second visit to Buckingham Palace in July 2019, photos show. On social media he made an apparently joking reference to "meeting HRH".
Helicopters and guns in the desert
Two months later, Ms Ferguson was one of two celebrity guests - alongside the motivational speaker Tony Robbins, who says he has coached figures such as Serena Williams and Hugh Jackman - at a "ground breaking" for Pegasus's energy project launch in the Arizona desert.
They were flown in, with Mr Bloom, Mr Evers and others, in two black-and-gold helicopters and posed with gold-coloured spades and construction hats at the remote site of what Pegasus promised would become a multi-billion-dollar off-grid data centre.
With armed guards with AR-15 rifles and pistols standing nearby, Mr Bloom introduced Ms Ferguson at a press conference as a "personal friend".
In the short speech that followed, Ms Ferguson praised the company, saying she was "so proud to be here" and touted the potential philanthropic uses of the technology in Africa.
Instagram
Sarah Ferguson, pictured with Michael Evers, had a contract which stipulated first-class travel
That October, a month before Andrew's fateful BBC Newsnight interview where he disastrously attempted to explain his connections to Mr Epstein, Ms Ferguson signed a contract agreeing to provide specific services for Pegasus.
For reasons that remain unexplained, the contract itself was with Alphabet Capital, a British company whose owner, Adrian Gleave, ran a number of caravan and holiday parks.
A High Court ruling in London in 2024 has previously revealed that Ms Ferguson received more than £200,000 for her work for Pegasus from Alphabet Capital.
Neither Andrew nor Mr Gleave have explained why this money was paid.
Mr Bloom said he has never heard of Alphabet or Mr Gleave and there was no connection with Pegasus.
Lawsuits and recriminations
A year after investing millions of dollars in the crypto solar scheme, some of its main investors became concerned about progress and began legal proceedings.
In 2023, judges from the Commercial Arbitration Tribunal in the US found in the investors' favour awarding them millions of dollars.
Jay Bloom has since mounted a number of legal challenges over the award in the Nevada courts.
Mr Bloom told BBC News that Pegasus emphatically disputed "any allegations of misconduct" and said they were "addressing the clearly flawed arbitral findings through established legal processes".
Andrew and Ms Ferguson did not respond to the BBC's questions, including whether Ms Ferguson planned to repay money received for her Pegasus work to the company's investors.
Mr Evers said he regretted being involved with Pegasus. He said Mr Bloom was "working very, very hard to get all the investors paid back" but that he was frustrated to still be owed money himself several years later.
If you have any information on stories you would like to share with the BBC Politics Investigations team, please get in touch at politicsinvestigations@bbc.co.uk
Black River was one of the worst hit areas by Hurricane Melissa with residents previously telling the BBC they have lived in a state of chaos since the storm
A flight carrying British aid arrived in Jamaica early on Saturday to help with recovery efforts after Hurricane Melissa, as the UK plans its first chartered flight to bring British nationals home later on Saturday.
The aid flight brought more than 3,000 emergency shelter kits as part of a £7.5 million regional emergency package.
Part of the funding will be used to match donations to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent - with King Charles and Queen Camilla among those who have donated.
Despite aid arriving in Jamaica in recent days, fallen trees and landslides have complicated distribution efforts after Hurricane Melissa devastated parts of the island, killing at least 19 people.
The hurricane made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a category five storm and was one of the most powerful hurricanes ever measured in the Caribbean.
Melissa swept across the region over a number of days and left behind a trail of destruction and dozens of people dead. In Haiti, at least 30 people were killed, while Cuba also saw flooding and landslides.
Jamaica's Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said on Friday "there are entire communities that seem to be marooned and areas that seem to be flattened".
The UK initially set aside a £2.5 million immediate financial support package, with an additional £5 million announced by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Friday.
Cooper said the announcement came as "more information is now coming through on the scale of devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, with homes damaged, roads blocks and lives lost".
The British Red Cross said, as of Saturday morning, that 72% people across Jamaica still do not have electricity and around 6,000 are in emergency shelters.
The organisation said the King and Queen's donation would help the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) "continue its lifesaving work" - which includes search and rescue efforts in Jamaica as well as ensuring access to healthcare, safe shelter and clean water.
Although aid is entering the country, landslides, downed power lines and fallen trees have made some roads impassable. The situation has made it difficult to get aid to the worst-hit areas.
Some communities are being affected by water shortages, while the BBC has seen queues for petrol pumps, with people waiting for hours to then be told there is no fuel left when they reach the front of the queue.
Some people are seeking fuel for generators, others for a car to reach an area in which they can contact people, as the power is still down across most of the island.
Around 8,000 British nationals were thought to have been on the island when the hurricane hit.
The UK's first chartered flight to bring British citizens home is set to leave Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport late on Saturday.
The UK foreign office has asked travellers to register their presence on the island.
The department also advises travellers to contact their airline to check whether commercial options are available.
Bella Culley, pictured at a previous hearing at Tbilisi City Court, is facing two years in jail
A British teenager - eight months pregnant and charged with drugs smuggling - is awaiting sentencing in prison in Georgia, South Caucasus. A payment of £137,000 by her family will reduce her sentence but what are the days like for Bella Culley, incarcerated 2,600 miles (4,180km) from home?
Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Bella Culley's mother reveals her daughter - now 35 weeks pregnant - has been transferred to a prison "mother and baby" unit.
This marks a significant change for the 19-year-old after five months in a cell in Georgia's Rustavi Prison Number Five, with only a hole in the ground for a toilet, one hour of fresh air daily, and communal showers twice a week.
Lyanne Kennedy says her daughter has been boiling pasta in a kettle and toasting bread over a candle flame but is now allowed to cook for herself and other women and children in the unit, and is learning Georgian.
"She now gets two hours out for walking, she can use the communal kitchen, has a shower in her room and a proper toilet," she says, describing the improved conditions since a transfer earlier this month.
"They all cook for each other," Ms Kennedy says. "Bella has been making eggy bread and cheese toasties, and salt and pepper chicken."
Miss Culley has been held in pre-trial detention since May, after police discovered 12kg (26lb) of marijuana and 2kg (4.4lb) of hashish in her hold luggage at Tbilisi International Airport.
Reuters
Bella Culley's mother Lyanne Kennedy said her daughter was "looking strong"
Some accounts from inside the jail paint a stark picture of conditions.
In September, Georgian media widely published an open letter they said had been sent from prison by Anastasia Zinovkina, a Russian political activist sentenced to eight-and-a-half years on drug possession charges.
Ms Zinovkina, who insisted the drugs were planted on her, described the sanitary conditions as "appalling" and "horrific".
"One single bar of soap is used to wash hair, body, socks, underwear, and dishes," she wrote. "If the soap runs out before the guards decide to give out a new one (which happens once every three months) then they simply don't wash.
"Toilet paper is provided once monthly, and only to those with no money on their prison account. Showering is permitted only twice weekly - on Wednesdays and Sundays - for 15 minutes.
"The girls who don't have slippers bathe barefoot or use shared slippers. They get fungal infections and pass them to each other."
Rayhan Demytrie/BBC
Bella Culley has been detained at Georgia's Rustavi Prison Number Five
The Georgian Ministry of Justice told the BBC in May that conditions in the prison had significantly improved since earlier monitoring reports by the Georgian Public Defender.
Under Georgia's new penitentiary code, which came into force in January last year, inmates "have the right to fresh air at least one hour on a daily basis", it said.
It also highlighted various reforms, including vocational education programmes, a digital university for distance learning, and improved healthcare through an online clinic.
"Georgian authorities put human-centered approach at the heart of the penitentiary reform to ensure the healthy management of prison system," it said in a statement.
The ministry also said the UN sub-committee on prevention of torture visited the prison in October 2023 and "did not express any concerns regarding the prison conditions, sanitary or issues related to out-of-cell activities/contact with outside world".
The committee's report is confidential but the UN said at the time it encouraged the Georgian government to make it public.
The case has drawn attention to Georgia's strict approach to drug-related offences and its extensive use of "plea bargaining" to resolve criminal cases.
Guram Imnadze, a criminal justice lawyer and drug policy expert based in Tbilisi, says in 2024 nearly 90% of drug-related crimes in Georgia were resolved in this way.
"Sentences are so severe that plea bargaining is in both sides' interests," Mr Imnadze explains. "The main strategy from a defence perspective is to have plea bargaining as fast as possible."
Earlier agreements typically result in softer conditions, with lower sentences and fines, he says.
For trafficking involving large amounts of drugs, Georgian law provides for sentences of up to 20 years or life imprisonment. Mr Imnadze says Miss Culley's case coincided with a new interior minister taking office, who made drug crimes a priority.
"What they want is to show the public right now what tangible results they have, and 12kg of marijuana is already a huge amount for public perception," he says.
Miss Culley claimed she had been tortured and forced to carry the drugs but was warned she was facing 20 years in prison. But, for a "substantial sum", she could be released, she was told.
Back in Tbilisi City Court last Tuesday, the teenager heard her family had managed to raise £137,000. Not the amount needed for her to walk free but enough to reduce her sentence significantly, to two years. She is due in court again on Monday to hear her final sentence.
Ms Kennedy says the family is doing everything they can to get her home "where she should be".
Reuters
Miss Culley's lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, said she had been tortured
Miss Culley's lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, has previously said that, once an agreement was reached, he would appeal to the President of Georgia to pardon the British teenager.
Mr Salakaia confirmed Miss Culley had pleaded guilty to bringing drugs into the country, flying from Thailand via Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, but said she was made to do so by gangsters who tortured her with hot iron.
Georgian police had launched a separate criminal investigation into her coercion allegations, he said.
When the teenager landed in Tbilisi on 10 May, her luggage was immediately flagged by Georgian authorities and, although she attempted to explain to police that someone was supposed to meet her at the arrivals hall, they did not follow this up and charged her, he said.
Reuters
Lyanne Kennedy was joined in Tbilisi by Bella Culley's grandmother Christine Cook
Mr Salakaia says there is a provision in Georgian law for pregnant women, raising the family's hopes that the teenager could be released before giving birth.
"It is written in the law that when a child is born, the mother must be outside until the child is one year old," he says.
Ms Kennedy, who has been traveling back and forth between the UK and Georgia, says her daughter is getting on well with staff and prisoners and she had been able to take in baby clothes for her.
Her daughter's full story "will come in time", she says.
"Until then we are just a family doing everything we can for my daughter and grandson."
As Zohran Mamdani walked the streets of the Upper East Side for a campaign event to greet early voters, he could barely walk a few steps without being stopped by his supporters.
Two smiling young women looked starstruck and told him they followed him on Instagram. The millennial Democratic nominee for mayor thanked them before posing with another young man who had readied his phone for a selfie.
Throngs of press surrounded Mamdani and captured his every moment, like running into the street to shake hands with a taxi driver shouting "we support you, man".
With a comfortable lead in the polls, the 34-year-old is on the brink of making history when New Yorkers vote on Tuesday, as the youngest mayor in over a century and the first Muslim and South Asian leader of the city.
A relatively unknown figure just months ago, few could have predicted his rise, from hip-hop artist and housing counsellor to New York State Assembleyman and frontrunner to lead the biggest city in the US, a job which comes with a $116bn budget and global scrutiny.
Leading a three-way race
Through viral videos and outreach to content creators and podcasters, Mamdani has reached disaffected voters at a time when faith in the Democratic party among its own members is at an all-time low.
But there are questions over whether he can deliver on his ambitious promises and how a politician with no executive experience will handle the onslaught sure to come from a hostile Trump administration.
There is also the complicated relationship he has with his party establishment, as he becomes a national figurehead for left-wing Democrats.
He describes himself as a democratic socialist, which essentially means giving a voice to workers, not corporations. It's the politics of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with whom Mamdani has often shared a stage.
Trump has threatened to withdraw federal funds if New Yorkers elect a "communist". Mamdani's retort is that he's more like a Scandinavian politician, only browner.
Reuters
Cuomo, Mamdani and Sliwa at the mayoral debate
Victory would be seen as a rejection of politics as usual by New Yorkers as they struggle with the cost of living - Mamdani's number one issue.
His main rival in Tuesday's vote is former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo who is running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the primary.
Cuomo accuses Mamdani of an anti-business agenda that would kill New York. He says he has shown he can stand up to Trump but Mamdani calls Cuomo the president's puppet.
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, mocks both of them. In the last debate, he said: "Zorhan, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin. And Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City."
Rent freezes and free buses
Mamdani's message has been laser-focused on affordability and quality of life issues. He has promised universal childcare, freezing rent in subsidised units, free public buses and city-run grocery stores.
It's a message that has landed with New Yorkers fed up with sky-high prices.
"I support him because I'm a housing attorney and I see how the cost of living just keeps going up and up and up," Miles Ashton told the BBC outside the candidates' debate earlier this month. "We all want an affordable city."
The costs of the Mamdani agenda would be covered by new taxes on corporations and millionaires which he insists would raise $9bn although some experts like the libertarian Cato Institute say his sums don't add up. He would also need the support of the state legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul to implement new taxes.
Watch moments from Zohran Mamdani's campaign for mayor
She has endorsed him but says she is against increased income taxes. She does, however, want to work with him to achieve universal healthcare which is by far the biggest ticket item on his agenda at $5bn.
As he rode the M57 bus across Manhattan to highlight his free buses plan, he told the BBC why his focus on affordability was the right approach in the Trump era.
"It's time for us to understand that to defend democracy, it's not just to stand up against an authoritarian administration. It is also to ensure that that democracy can deliver on the material needs of working class people right here. That's something we've failed to do in New York City."
Among New Yorkers who told the BBC they were not voting for Mamdani, doubts about him being able to pay for his agenda and his inexperience were two of the biggest factors.
What New York business world thinks
After Mamdani won the Democratic primary in June, Wall Street leaders were hardly celebrating. Some threatened to leave the city.
But there's been a noticeable shift since then - the mood is less panic, more collaboration. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon even said he would offer his help if Mamdani is elected.
Real estate developer Jeffrey Gural, who has met Mamdani, says he is too inexperienced to lead the nation's largest city. He thinks his rent freeze plan would hurt tenants and his taxes on wealthy people will drive high earners away.
He does, however, support Mamdani's universal childcare plan, a provision he gives his own staff at his casino upstate.
Getty Images
A trader on New York Stock Exchange
Part of the change in tone since the primary has been down to a concerted effort on Mamdani's part to meet his critics.
On 14 October, Alexis Bittar, a self-taught jewellery designer who grew his business into a global company, hosted Mamdani and 40 business leaders at his 1850s Brooklyn townhouse.
They were a mix of CEOs or business owners from financial, fashion and art sectors. More than half were Jewish and they were all either on the fence or opposed to Mamdani's candidacy.
There were questions about business, his management experience, and how he would finance his agenda.
"I think he came across great," Mr Bittar told the BBC. "The thing that's remarkable about him is he's incredibly equipped to answer them and diligently answer them."
Part of Mamdani's engagement with his critics has been a willingness to change his position.
In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, Mamdani called for the city to defund police and called the NYPD "racist". But he has since apologised and says he no longer holds those views.
Crime is the number one issue for Howard Wolfson, who worked for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and is now a Democratic strategist. He was present during a meeting last month between the mayoral hopeful and Bloomberg, who spent $8m during the primary race trying to beat him.
Wolfson told the BBC he will judge Mamdani on how the city is policed.
Reuters
New York police
"I think it's great that he reaches out and is engaged, but I'm much more interested in how he's going to govern," he said. "Public safety is really the prerequisite for success or failure."
Many see Mamdani's pledge to ask the police commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on as a way to allay concerns he would be soft on crime.
He says he would maintain the current level of NYPD staffing and create a new department of community safety that would deploy mental health care teams instead of armed officers to non-threatening, psychiatric calls.
A city divided over Gaza
One position Mamdani has stood firm on is his criticism of Israel and lifelong support for Palestinian rights.
It represents a break from the Democratic Party establishment and could be a deciding factor for many voters in a city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
He sparked outrage during the primary process when he refused to condemn the term "globalise the intifada". But after Jewish New Yorkers expressed their unease to him, telling him they felt unsafe on hearing it, he said he discouraged others from using it.
A letter signed by more than 1,100 rabbis cited Mamdani as it condemned the "political normalization" of anti-Zionism
Jewish voters are largely split between Mamdani and Cuomo in polling.
Brad Lander, the city's comptroller who teamed up in the Democratic primary with Mamdani to endorse each other's candidacy against Cuomo, says many Jewish New Yorkers like him are very enthusiastic about Mamdani.
He is a mayoral candidate deeply committed to keeping everyone safe, regardless of religious beliefs, Lander told the BBC.
Housing costs are a major issue in New York
Sumaiya Chowdhury and Farhana Islam of the group Muslims for Progress have canvassed for the mayoral hopeful.
Ms Islam said while they are all excited that he could be New York's first Muslim mayor, he doesn't need to lean on his identity for support.
"His policies speak for themselves and they alone are enough to make him popular."
Since his primary win, the Islamophobia Mamdani faces has increased. He now has police security and last month a Texas man was arrested on charges of making terroristic threats against him. In one message, the man said "Muslims don't belong here".
Mamdani decided to deliver an address on Islamophobia after Andrew Cuomo laughed along to a radio talkshow host saying that Mamdani would cheer another 9/11-style attack.
In an emotional speech he said he had hoped that by ignoring racist attacks and sticking to a central message, it would allow him to be more than just his faith. "I was wrong. No amount of redirection is ever enough."
Future of the party
What may propel Mamdani to victory in liberal New York may not be a recipe for success nationally. And Democrats in Congress seem worried about the implications of his ascendancy as party tensions between moderates and progressives persist.
Senator Chuck Schumer has not endorsed Mamdani while his fellow New Yorker House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries only endorsed him a few hours before early voting began.
Democratic strategists have said the problem posed by Mamdani for the party's establishment is that Trump and Republicans already cast Democrats, no matter how moderate, as socialists. And it's a tactic that is thought to have landed with some effect among Cuban and Venezuelan voters in the 2024 election.
Reuters
Sanders, Mamdani and AOC
Josh Gottheimer, the moderate Democratic representative of New Jersey, told the Washington Post he thinks Mamdani has "extremist views" at odds with the Democratic Party and he fears Republicans will use him as a kind of "bogeyman".
At a campaign event on the Upper East Side, Mamdani told the BBC how he plans to handle the intense scrutiny if he wins, pointing to the energy behind his candidacy.
There is no doubt that there will be opposition, he said, but the mass movement behind him will overcome it.
It was a ninth World Series title for the Dodgers, and their third in six years under manager Dave Roberts
Published
The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team for 25 years to win back-to-back World Series titles, coming from behind to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 after extra innings in the deciding seventh game.
Catcher Will Smith's home run in the top of the 11th inning broke the deadlock at Toronto's Rogers Centre, and when Alejandro Kirk grounded into a double play with the tying run on third base, it sparked wild celebrations.
The National League champions had trailed 3-0 to Bo Bichette's three-run homer in the third inning, but kept chipping away, and solo homers by Max Muncy and Miguel Rojas levelled the game at 4-4 in the top of the ninth.
The last team to win successive 'Fall Classics' were the New York Yankees, who triumphed in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
California edges Canada in epic series
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Will Smith's second home run of the World Series put the Dodgers 5-4 up in the top of the 11th inning, the first time they had led in game seven
The series had played out against the backdrop of political and trade battles between North America's neighbours since Donald Trump's re-election as US president, but it was ultimately the big-spending Dodgers who prevailed against Canada's only Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise.
Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, MLB's most high-profile player, started on the mound for the Dodgers but ran into trouble in the third inning.
George Springer led off with a base hit, was bunted over to second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Vladimir Guerrero Jr was intentionally walked, and Bichette raised the roof as he launched the ball over centre field.
The Dodgers hit straight back in the fourth, loading the bases for Teoscar Hernandez to send Smith home on a sacrifice fly for 3-1, but a superb diving catch by Guerrero at first base prevented further damage.
Tensions threatened to boil over when Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski hit Andres Gimenez with a pitch, and both benches cleared as players ran on the field to confront each other.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Both benches cleared in the fourth inning after Justin Wrobleski hit Andres Gimenez with an inside pitch. Both managers were warned against any retaliation after the mass confrontation
Toronto's veteran starter Max Scherzer came out of the game with the lead still 3-1 in the fifth inning, and the Dodgers rallied in the sixth when Tommy Edman's sacrifice fly scored Mookie Betts to reduce the deficit to one run.
Back came the Blue Jays, when Ernie Clement's stolen base put him in position for Gimenez to drive him in with a right-field double.
As is common in a World Series game seven, both sides made frequent pitching changes, even turning to starting pitchers from earlier in the series.
Trey Yesavage, who had started games one and five for Toronto, gave up Muncy's solo shot in the eighth, before Rojas' last-gasp effort off Jeff Hoffman levelled the scores.
Toronto loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but failed to conjure a run, and the Dodgers did the same in the 10th as expectation mounted, but both sides fluffed their lines.
It was only the sixth time in history that a World Series game seven had gone to extra innings, and Smith's homer put the Dodgers within sight of the title.
The Blue Jays were tantalisingly close to taking it to a 12th inning or even winning it with a walk-off, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers' winning pitcher from games two and six, picked up another win in relief and was named as the series' Most Valuable Player.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Miguel Rojas (centre) levelled the game at 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning when the Dodgers were down to their last two outs
Max Scherzer, already the first man to pitch in the World Series for four teams after appearing for the Detroit Tigers (2012), Washington Nationals (2019) and Texas Rangers (2023), became the oldest starter in a Fall Classic game seven at 41
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, who retired from tennis after this summer's Canadian Open, was among the famous faces watching at the Rogers Centre
Renovations to the Lincoln bathroom include marble and gold fixtures, which Trump says is 'very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln'
US President Donald Trump has unveiled renovations to the bathroom in the Lincoln Bedroom, as his remodelling of the White House continues.
Trump shared photos of the new bathroom on social media, saying it had been "renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era".
He claimed the new black and white marble is "very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!".
It is the latest change Trump has made to the White House this year. In October, its East Wing was demolished to make way for his new multi-million dollar ballroom.
Donald Trump Truth Social
The bathroom is a part of Abraham Lincoln's office and cabinet room, which former President Harry Truman fixed up as a part of his massive renovation of the White House in the late 1940s.
The wallpaper of Lincoln's office and bedroom was once coloured in green and gold, according to the White House Historical Association.
After Trump's remodelling, it now features gold fixtures and accents for the sink, bathtub faucet and shower door, as well as a chandelier.
Donald Trump Truth Social
The US president's attempts to put his own stamp on the White House has prompted criticism from conservation groups and his political opponents.
Trump previously said his ballroom addition to the East Wing would not "interfere with the current building". But in October, he said the "existing structure" had to be torn down.
Conservationists argued Trump should have sought public review before making the changes, which they say would overwhelm the classical style of the White House.
Other changes include his decision in August to pave over grass in the iconic Rose Garden with stone, transforming a lawn into a patio.
Trump also added touches of gilded gold all over the Oval Office, including additional portraits framed in gold, gold-framed mirrors and a gold leaf for the presidential seal on the ceiling of the office.
In response to his latest bathroom renovation, the Democrats accused Trump of being more focused on remaking the White House than solving the government shutdown, which is now entering its second month.
"Donald Trump actually cares more about his toilet than he does about fixing your healthcare," Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a post on social media.
Democrats are pushing to renew expiring health insurance subsidies, which they say will hit American families. Republicans say they will discuss the subsidies when the government reopens.
Login
