The United States has designated a notorious drug-trafficking organisation in Colombia as a terrorist group.

The US Treasury Department added the group, known as Clan del Golfo or Gulf Clan, to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTOs).

The designation came just hours after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order classifying the drug fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction".

The two moves are seen as a further ramping-up of the Trump administration's war on drugs which has also seen it carry out more than 20 lethal strikes on boats suspected to be carrying drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

More than 90 people were killed in the strikes on the boats, which some legal experts say breach the law.

Clan del Golfo is the latest Latin American criminal group to be added to US Treasury's list of FTOs.

The group has been engaging in criminal activities for decades, mainly trafficking cocaine from Colombia - the largest producer of the drug - to destinations in the US and Europe.

But the Clan del Golfo, which is based in the northern Urabá region of Colombia, also plays a key role smuggling migrants through the Darién Gap, the expanse of jungle linking Colombia to Panama.

In a statement announcing its designation as an FTO, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the group was also behind terrorist attacks against public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, and civilians in Colombia.

It is estimated to have thousands of members and is thought to be the largest cocaine-trafficking gang currently operating in Colombia.

It joins three other Colombian criminal groups on the list of FTOs: the left-wing guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN), and two groups which broke away from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - a Marxist guerrilla force - when it signed a peace agreement with the Colombian government in 2016.

The FTO designation of the Clan del Golfo by the US comes less than a fortnight after Colombia's President, Gustavo Petro, signed a landmark agreement with the criminal group aimed at bringing peace to the areas under its control.

Petro campaigned on a promise to bring "total peace" to the South American country, which has for decades suffered from cartel and guerrilla violence.

But more than three years after he took office, talks with most of the armed groups in the country have stalled or fallen apart altogether.

The announcement earlier this month that Colombian government officials had reached an agreement with the Clan del Golfo for the group to start taking steps towards laying down their arms was a win for Petro.

Part of that deal was an understanding that members of the Clan del Golfo would not face extradition to the UN.

The US designating Clan del Golfo as an FTO is likely to complicate the talks the Colombian government was having with the group.

Petro has not yet reacted to the move, but relations between the Colombian leader and the Trump administration have been acrimonious.

Petro has called the lethal strikes the US has carried out on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Pacific "murder".

In turn, Rubio has publicly labelled the Colombian president a "lunatic".

The immediate effect of the FTO designation is that the US will have more powers to punish the group.

Any assets the Clan del Golfo may hold at US financial institutions are frozen and individuals - even US citizens - who knowingly provide "material support" to the group can be prosecuted.

The move comes amid high tension in the region, with Trump repeatedly warning that "strikes on land" against "narco-terrorists" could soon follow those against alleged drug vessels at sea.

So far Trump has mainly homed in on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom he accuses of leading another group the US has designated as an FTO: the Cartel of the Suns.

But asked by journalists about his plans for Venezuela on Friday, he not only again invoked the possibility of attacking drug smugglers on land but also appeared to hint at the possibility of doing so in Colombia.

"Colombia has at least three cocaine factories. That's a different country," he said.

And later he added: "But it's not only land strikes on Venezuela, it's land strikes on horrible people that are bringing in drugs and killing our people."

Trump has argued that the strikes on the alleged drug boats are saving US lives by preventing the powerful opioid fentanyl from reaching the US.

Fentanyl abuse has triggered one of the worst public health emergencies to hit the US, with more than 110,000 drug-related deaths in the US in 2023.

While the number of fatal drug overdoses fell by 25% in 2024, tackling this crisis remains one of Trump's priorities.

Trump has said that every strike on an alleged drug boat "saves 25,00 American lives" but US officials have provided no evidence that any of the vessels they struck carried fentanyl, which is 50 times as powerful as heroin and much deadlier than cocaine.

Counternarcotics experts have pointed out that neither Colombia nor Venezuela produce fentanyl and have questioned the Trump administration's focus on those countries.

The executive order Trump signed on Monday classifying fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction" suggests he may be engaging in a twin-track approach, continuing to target boats suspected of carrying cocaine as well as expanding his administration's powers to fight fentanyl-smuggling.

However, the move has been met with criticism by Mexico's President, Claudia Sheinbaum.

The Mexican leader insisted that the causes of drug use must be addressed.

She added that fentanyl was also used legally in hospitals for pain relief and questioned what the unintended effects of the classification of fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction would be.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has disputed portions of a Vanity Fair article in which she paints an unflattering picture of the Trump administration and many of its top officials.

In the interview, Wiles described Donald Trump as having an "alcoholic's personality" and Vice President JD Vance as having been a "conspiracy theorist" for a decade.

But in a post on X, Wiles said that Vanity Fair disregarded "significant context" to create "an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative" about the administration.

Wiles, 68, played a key part in Trump's successful 2024 presidential campaign before becoming the first woman to be White House Chief of Staff.

Over the course of nearly a dozen interviews with Vanity Fair, Wiles talked about a wide range of issues, including handling of Epstein files, Trump's legal actions against politcal rivals, and also about personalities around the president.

She admitted that "there may be an element of" retribution in Trump's efforts to pursue criminal cases against political adversaries or perceived foes.

"I don't think he wakes up thinking about retribution," she added. "But when there's an opportunity, he will go for it."

Wiles is widely considered among the most powerful members of the Trump White House in his second term.

Prior to becoming Chief of Staff, Wiles had a long history working with Trump, including as his campaign manager in Florida in 2016 and as the head of his fundraising apparatus, Save America.

In the interview, she credits her upbringing with an alcoholic father as what enabled her to work with the president.

"High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink," she said. "So I'm a little bit of an expert in big personalities."

While the president does not drink, she said Trump has "an alcoholic's personality" and governs with the mindset that "there's nothing he can't do. Nothing, zero, nothing".

Among the other figures that Wiles commented on was JD Vance, a one-time critic of Trump who has since become a close ally and vice-president.

Wiles suggested that Vance's shift in perceptions was "sort of political".

Speaking to reporters at an event on Tuesday, Vance said he had not read the article, but that he only believes in conspiracy theories that are "true" - citing reports of former President Joe Biden's ill-health as an example.

Her strongest comments were reserved for tech billionaire Elon Musk, who led cost-cutting efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency - or Doge - before leaving the government in May.

Shortly thereafter, Musk and Trump had a public spat that saw the two men trade barbs and insults over social media.

Wiles described Musk as an "avowed Ketamine [user]" who "sleeps in a sleeping bag in the EOB", the Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House.

"He's an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are," she said. "You know, it's not helpful, but he is his own person."

Looking back on Musk's cost-cutting efforts, Wiles said that she was against the gutting of the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, saying she was "initially aghast" at the idea.

"I think that anybody that pays attention to government and has ever paid attention to USAID believed, as I did, that they do very good work," she recalled.

"Elon's attitude is you have to get it done fast. If you're an incrementalist, you just won't get your rocket to the moon," Wiles said. "With that attitude, you're going to break some china. But no rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody."

On Tuesday morning - hours after the Vanity Fair article was published - Wiles took to X, accusing the magazine of "disingenuously framed hit piece" aimed at her, Trump and other cabinet members.

"Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story. I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team," she wrote.

When contacted for comment on the story, the White House also defended Wiles.

In a statement sent to the BBC, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Wiles "has helped President Trump achieve the most successful first 11 months in office of any President in American history."

"President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie," Leavitt added. "The entire administration is grateful to her steady leadership and united fully behind her."

Speaking to reporters outside the West Wing later in the day, Leavitt accused Vanity Fair of "bias of omission" by excluding other interviews conducted with White House staff and taking Wiles' words "wildly out of context".

Trump and Musk have yet to comment on the Vanity Fair piece.

A California doctor who sold ketamine to Friends star Matthew Perry has been sentenced to eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release, making him the second person to be sentenced in the actor's death.

Dr Mark Chavez is among five people - including another doctor and a dealer known as the Ketamine Queen - who have pleaded guilty to drug-related charges stemming from sitcom star's 2023 death at his Los Angeles home.

The San Diego-based physician admitted to obtaining ketamine from his clinic and a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription and sold it to Dr Salvador Plasencia, who supplied the dissociative anaesthetic to Perry.

Plasencia was sentenced earlier this month to 30 months in prison.

The multiyear federal investigation into Perry's death examined how the Emmy-winning actor acquired ketamine through an underground drug network in Hollywood.

Ketamine, a surgical anaesthetic, is used as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain.

Perry, who had battled drug addiction and depression, had been prescribed the drug as part of his treatment but soon started seeking more than what he was allotted.

That ultimately led him to the drug ring that ensnared the two doctors, Perry's live-in assistant, a man named Erik Fleming and American-British dual-national Jasveen Sangha, the dealer known as the Ketamine Queen.

The latter three are due to be sentenced in the coming months.

A post-mortem examination of Perry found a high concentration of ketamine in his blood and determined that "acute effects" of the substance killed him.

Prosecutors said Perry's assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, worked with Chavez and Plasencia to provide the actor with more than $50,000 (£38,000) of ketamine in the weeks before his death.

In his plea agreement, Chavez admitted that he obtained ketamine from both his former clinic and a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription. He submitted a fraudulent prescription for 30 ketamine lozenges under a former patient's name - without her knowledge or consent - to sell to Plasencia to give to Perry.

He confessed to selling 22 vials of liquid ketamine and nine ketamine lozenges to Plasencia, according to his October 2024 plea agreement.

The transaction was part of a broader scheme in which Chavez and Plasencia discussed exploiting Perry's addiction for financial gain by mocking him in their text exchanges.

"I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia wrote to Chavez.

Chavez faced up to 10 years in federal prison. As part of his October 2024 plea deal, he surrendered his medical licence and passport.

To his close friends and family, Paul Doyle was a "diamond". A dependable, generous and successful father-of-three.

To his 134 victims - the babies, children and adults mown down at the Liverpool FC victory parade on 26 May - he represents sheer terror.

That is the paradox of Paul Doyle: Why did a man who served in the Royal Marines and then built a successful and stable life plough a 1.9 tonne Ford Galaxy Titanium into a joyous crowd of Liverpool FC fans?

The 54-year-old, from Croxteth in Liverpool, was jailed for 21 years and six months at Liverpool Crown Court earlier after admitting 31 offences - including dangerous driving, affray and multiple counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

• As it happened: Liverpool parade attacker Paul Doyle sentenced to 21 years and 6 months in prison

Over two days of extraordinary proceedings, the court heard and saw how IT networking engineer Doyle's car knocked prams aside and dragged children and an elderly woman under the wheels on Liverpool's packed Water Street.

Those victims included Ukrainian war refugee Anna Bilonozhenko and Manchester Arena bombing survivor Francesca Massey, who surely thought they had experienced more than their share of trauma before 26 May.

And yet, Doyle is still a man with friends.

"It's quite hard for some people to understand but from my perspective, he's still Paul to me," said one, who did not wish to be named.

"Obviously the harm he's caused to the victims isn't great, but I'm still grateful he's in my life."

That loyalty was a result of 32 blameless years of education and hard work.

He was a man who avoided drugs and alcohol and who loved the outdoors. His hobbies included triathlons and hiking with his close circle of friends in Eryri National Park or the Lake District.

One friend said Doyle would "drop anything to help you".

He highlighted how the 54-year-old had agreed to drop off and pick up his wife's friends in the city centre on the day of the parade amid crowds of around a million.

"If someone had asked me to do that, I probably would have told them to [expletive] off, but that was Paul," he said.

Those who worked with him in various companies across the UK, including fellow ex-soldier Mike Hern, told the BBC he was a well-liked colleague.

Mr Hern described him as a "mentor" with a "good sense of humour".

His neighbours in the smart, quiet Croxteth cul-de-sac on Burghill Road, where Doyle lived with his wife and three sons for around 10 years, saw the family as "lovely people".

Catherine Tremarco, who used to live next door to Doyle and his wife at a previous address before he moved to Burghill Road, echoed those sentiments.

She said: "They were lovely neighbours. When they moved in they were getting married and they invited the whole close to the wedding.

"My husband and I couldn't go because we had a pre-booked holiday, but I couldn't do them any injustice, they were lovely."

One man, who serviced the car that Doyle "used as a weapon" in the words of prosecutors, told the BBC: "To me he seemed like a sensible, family man.

"He gave no indication of being capable of something like that. I'm very surprised something like this happened."

Doyle 'bit sailor's ear off'

The news that Doyle was responsible for injuring and maiming helpless pedestrians was met by his friends and family with astonishment.

When he got the message to say Doyle was responsible for the carnage being broadcast on every national news network, his friend said: "I just went blank."

But deeper in his past, and unknown to even some of his closest friends, was evidence of a dangerous, explosive temper.

We now know that between the ages of 18 and 22, Doyle's life seemed likely to be heading down a troubling path.

Despite making it into the Royal Marines, he had racked up a series of convictions including for serious violence and was forced out of the military.

Most alarmingly, on 2 July 1993, a drunken fight in a Lancashire pub ended with Doyle biting the ear off a sailor, leading to a 12-month prison sentence for causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) without intent.

That offence was not out of the blue. While in the army he had military convictions for common assault, criminal damage, and using "violence against a superior officer".

He had also been convicted of another GBH offence over a drunken nightclub brawl.

That side of Paul Doyle appears to fit more with the man depicted in dashboard camera footage from inside his vehicle on 26 May, screaming obscenities at his innocent victims as they thud against the bonnet.

But after his release from prison in 1994, Doyle underwent a remarkable transformation.

He enrolled at the University of Liverpool where he studied maths and psychology. A successful career in IT followed.

One friend who met Doyle in the early 2000s told the BBC: "I don't suffer fools gladly, but he was just really competent.

"If he could help you he would, and if he didn't know he would say 'let me find that out for you'."

Companies House records indicate Doyle started a business selling baseball caps.

But his friends said that was a venture started to show his three sons how business worked and was never intended as a real source of income.

In the words of prosecutor Paul Greaney KC: "Those efforts to rehabilitate himself after a difficult early adulthood only serve to make more shocking, and tragic, what he did in Liverpool that day this May."

The court heard Doyle himself had taken months to get to grips with the reality of what he had done before pleading guilty.

His barrister, Simon Csoka KC, said: "The defendant wasn't able immediately to reconcile the man that he has been for the last 30 years with the way he behaved on 26 May.

"In the same way that nobody who knows him well could believe it; neither could he for some time."

'The fans were not to blame'

Whether Doyle has truly accepted responsibility for his atrocious decisions on 26 May is in dispute.

The court heard how his police interviews were peppered with false claims and outright lies, blaming the fans for making him fear for his life.

He claimed he had seen someone with a knife, he claimed a bottle had been thrown, he claimed he stopped as soon as he realised he had struck someone.

It was all untrue.

"The position should be stated clearly," said Judge Andrew Menary KC, as he passed sentence.

"The crowd did not cause this incident; they reacted to it... The chaos that unfolded was caused solely by your driving, and any attempt to place responsibility on the public or the Liverpool supporters present would be unfair and wholly unfounded."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.

The European Union has watered down its plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035.

Current rules state that new vehicles sold from that date should be "zero emission", but carmakers, particularly in Germany, have lobbied heavily for concessions.

Under the European Commission's new plan, 90% of new cars sold from 2035 would have to be zero-emission, rather than 100%.

According to the European carmakers association, ACEA, market demand for electric cars is currently too low, and without a change to the rules, manufacturers would risk "multi-billion euro" penalties.

The remaining 10% could be made up of conventional petrol or diesel cars, along with hybrids.

Carmakers will be expected to compensate for the extra emissions created by these vehicles by using biofuels and so-called e-fuels, which are synthesised from captured carbon dioxide.

They will also be expected to use low-carbon steel made in the European Union in the vehicles they produce.

Opponents of the move have warned that it risks undermining the transition towards electric vehicles and leaving Europe exposed in the face of foreign competition.

The green transport group T&E has warned that the UK should not follow the EU's lead by weakening its own plans to phase out the sale of conventional cars under the Zero Emission Vehicles Mandate.

"The UK must stand firm. Our ZEV mandate is already driving jobs, investment and innovation into the UK. As major exporters we cannot compete unless we innovate, and global markets are going electric fast", said T&E UK's director Anna Krajinska.

More on this story

• Follow your club with BBC Sport

  Published
  17 October

  

• Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast

• Get football news sent straight to your phone

  Published
  16 August

  

Ukraine's biggest energy provider is living in permanent crisis mode because of Russian attacks on the grid, its chief executive has told the BBC.

Most of Ukraine is suffering from lengthy power cuts as temperatures drop and Maxim Timchenko, whose company DTEK provides power for 5.6 million Ukrainians, says the intensity of strikes has been so frequent "we just don't have time to recover".

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russia knew the winter cold could become one of its most dangerous weapons.

"Every night Ukrainian parents hold their children in basements and shelters hoping our air defence will hold," he told the Dutch parliament.

As the fourth anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion approaches, Maxim Timchenko says Russia has repeatedly targeted DTEK's energy grid with "waves of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles" and his company has found it difficult to cope.

Tens of thousands of people in the southern city of Odesa have been without electricity for three days this week, following a co-ordinated Russian attack.

"Life has been difficult, but people are very supportive of each other," says Yana, who is among those lucky enough still to have power. She has invited friends to her home to charge their phones.

Power outages also cut off heat and water supplies and Yana says those still connected to the grid have offered strangers the chance to wash or take a shower.

Across Ukraine electricity is being rationed – with supplies turned on for a few hours each day.

Many Ukrainians rely on power banks and generators as a back-up, and the sound of generators in the capital is now more constant than the air raid warnings.

Kyiv resident Tetiana says the first thing she does in the morning is to check her phone to find out the daily schedule for when her power will be switched on. Like many she has invested in power banks to make life more bearable:

"You need to remember when you leave home to leave the powerbanks on so that you have them charged when you get back home."

About 50% of Ukraine's energy is currently supplied by three large nuclear power plants in central and western Ukraine. But the network that transfers that power has been severely damaged.

DTEK runs about 10 power stations, most of them fuelled by coal.

One was recently targeted by five 5 ballistic missiles and Mr Timchenko said some of their power plants and sub stations had been attacked "every three or four days".

"I don't remember a single day when I had no reports about some damage to our grid."

Finding spare parts to repair damaged equipment has become a significant challenge.

The energy provider used to be able to source equipment from within Ukraine, but now it has to scour the ret of Europe for replacement parts.

This year DTEK has had to spend $166m (£123m) on repairing its damaged thermal power plants and coal facilities.

"We will not give up," Maxim Timchenko insists: "We have a responsibility to millions of mothers to have power and heat".

DTEK's origins are in the Donbas in Eastern Ukraine where the fighting is fiercest and where power supplies have been disrupted the most.

Eight of its engineers have been killed doing their job.

"Every day they risk their lives to keep power in this area," Mr Timchenko said.

Additional reporting by Anastasia Levchenko and Kyla Herrmannsen.

A couple killed in the Bondi Beach shooting tried to stop one of the alleged attackers by grabbing his gun, dramatic dashcam footage shows.

Boris Gurman, 69, and his wife Sofia, 61, courageously stepped in to try and protect others before being shot themselves, their family said in a statement.

Video of the incident shows Mr Gurman, who was retired, wrestling with one of the alleged gunmen and taking the weapon off him, before they both fall onto the road.

Mr Gurman then gets up and appears to hit the suspected attacker with the gun. The attacker is then thought to have got another gun which he used to kill them.

"While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness," the family said.

"This encapsulates who Boris and Sofia were - people who instinctively and selflessly tried to help others."

The Gurman couple, who were Jewish, were the first two people killed in Sunday's attack, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

At least 15 people have been confirmed dead in the shooting, which happened during an event to mark the first day of Hanukkah.

In their statement, the family said the couple had been married for 34 years.

"We are heartbroken by the sudden and senseless loss of our beloved Boris and Sofia Gurman.

"Boris was a retired mechanic, known for his generosity, quiet strength and willingness to lend a hand to anyone in need.

"Sofia worked at Australia Post and was deeply loved by her colleagues and community.

"Bondi locals, together they lived honest, hardworking lives and treated everyone they met with kindness, warmth and respect. Boris and Sofia were devoted to their family and to each other. They were the heart of our family, and their absence has left an immeasurable void."

Witnesses have described Mr Gurman as a "hero".

The woman who owns the dashcam footage told Reuters that Mr Gurman "did not run away - instead, he charged straight toward the danger, using all his strength trying to wrestle away the gun and fighting to the death".

"I can see from my camera that the elderly man was ultimately shot and collapsed. That moment broke my heart," she said.

Another person who said they witnessed the incident told 9News: "He was a hero. He tried, he tried. We need to let his family know.

"Everyone needs to know what he tried, because it was right in the beginning. And he put himself in that face of danger. There were bullets flying already, and he put his self in the face of danger."

Police have described the attack as a terrorist incident targeting the Jewish community.

The other victims killed include a 10-year-old girl, a British-born rabbi, a retired police officer, and a Holocaust survivor.

The ages of the victims range from 10 to 87.

A further 22 people remain in hospital, nine of whom are in a critical condition.

Another bystander named Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, was also hailed a "hero" after he wrestled a gun from one of the attackers. He was shot multiple times and has since undergone surgery for his wounds.

Earlier this week, his father told BBC Arabic his son "saw the victims, the blood, women and children lying on the street, and then acted".

"Ahmed was driven by his sentiment, conscience and humanity," he said.

One of the two men suspected of carrying out a mass shooting at Bondi Beach was originally from southern India but had "limited contact" with his family there, police sources have said.

Sajid Akram, who died at the scene in Sydney on Sunday, was originally from the city of Hyderabad, a police official from the Indian state of Telangana said.

He had travelled to India just six times since moving to Australia in 1998 and his family "expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities," the official added.

Sajid, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed are suspected of killing 15 people and injuring dozens more at an event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on Sunday.

Hyderabad, where Sajid Akram's family is based, is the capital of Telangana state in southern India.

The Telangana police official told BBC Telugu Sajid had "visited India on six occasions after migrating to Australia, primarily for family-related reasons such as property matters and visits to his elderly parents".

"It is understood that he did not travel to India even at the time of his father's demise," the official said.

"The factors that led to the radicalisation of Sajid Akram and his son, Naveed appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana."

The official also said Sajid Akram had no criminal record in India, he had completed a degree and had moved to Australia in search of employment before marrying a woman "of European origin".

Sajid Akram was an Indian passport holder, but his children were born in Australia and are Australian citizens, the official added.

Police are currently investigating why the father and son travelled to the Philippines in the weeks leading up to the attack. They arrived on 1 November and left on 28 November, the country's immigration bureau confirmed to the BBC.

Sajid travelled using an Indian passport, while his son used Australian identification, the authorities said.

Citing security sources, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said that the pair travelled to the island nation to receive "military-style training", but officials have not been able to confirm those reports.

Philippines foreign affairs minister Maria Theresa Lazaro and her Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, have agreed to "keep each other closely informed" of any developments related to the investigation into the Bondi Beach shooting, according to a text message Lazaro sent to the media.

It is understood that Naveed Akram was previously investigated over ties to a Sydney-based IS terrorism cell, ABC reported.

IS is an extremist Islamist militant group that has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks across Europe and America, including the 2015 Paris attacks.

The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Naveed Akram first came to the attention of the authorities in 2019 "on the basis of being associated with others".

However, at the time, an "assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence".

The European Union has watered down its plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035.

Current rules state that new vehicles sold from that date should be "zero emission", but carmakers, particularly in Germany, have lobbied heavily for concessions.

Under the European Commission's new plan, 90% of new cars sold from 2035 would have to be zero-emission, rather than 100%.

According to the European carmakers association, ACEA, market demand for electric cars is currently too low, and without a change to the rules, manufacturers would risk "multi-billion euro" penalties.

The remaining 10% could be made up of conventional petrol or diesel cars, along with hybrids.

Carmakers will be expected to compensate for the extra emissions created by these vehicles by using biofuels and so-called e-fuels, which are synthesised from captured carbon dioxide.

They will also be expected to use low-carbon steel made in the European Union in the vehicles they produce.

Opponents of the move have warned that it risks undermining the transition towards electric vehicles and leaving Europe exposed in the face of foreign competition.

The green transport group T&E has warned that the UK should not follow the EU's lead by weakening its own plans to phase out the sale of conventional cars under the Zero Emission Vehicles Mandate.

"The UK must stand firm. Our ZEV mandate is already driving jobs, investment and innovation into the UK. As major exporters we cannot compete unless we innovate, and global markets are going electric fast", said T&E UK's director Anna Krajinska.

US President Donald Trump has repeated his criticism of Rob Reiner - after his earlier remarks about the killed Hollywood director, a longtime Trump critic, sparked widespread condemnation.

The US president told reporters the director was "very bad for our country", having earlier written on Truth Social that Reiner's death was linked to "Trump derangement syndrome" - a term he often uses to describe his critics.

Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their Los Angeles home on Sunday, and police have arrested their son Nick on suspicion of murder.

They have not suggested any motive in the case, or any evidence that Reiner's politics and criticism of Trump played any role.

In his social media post, which called the couple's deaths "very sad", Trump criticised Reiner, saying: "He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump."

Those comments were widely criticised, including by prominent Republicans.

Kentucky representative Thomas Massie, a Republican who has clashed with Trump since the president returned to the White House in January, wrote on X: "Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered."

He added: "I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they're afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it."

Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was once a staunch supporter of Trump before recently becoming a frequent critic, said that "this is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies" and that the murders should be "met with empathy".

Multiple other senior members of Trump's party appeared to distance themselves from the remarks. Senator John Kennedy, a Republican representing Louisiana, said he thought Trump should not have made the comments.

"I think a wise man once said nothing. Why? Because he was a wise man," Kennedy said. "I think President Trump should have said nothing. I think when the president says these sorts of things, it detracts from his policy achievements."

Reiner was a lifelong Democrat and prominent liberal activist, and frequently spoke out against Trump.

In 2017, for example, he called Trump "mentally unfit" for office. And as recently as October, Reiner said he believed Trump was ushering in an age of "full-on autocracy" in the US.

Hours after his social media post, Trump repeated his thoughts on Reiner in comments given in the Oval Office to reporters, describing the director as a "deranged person" who was partly "behind" previous claims of collusion between Russia and Trump's team.

"I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way, shape or form," he said.

Trump has in the past criticised political foes after their death.

Following the death of Arizona Senator John McCain - with whom he clashed regularly - in 2019, for example, Trump said he "was never a fan" and "never will be".

In another incident the same year, Trump quipped that the late Democratic lawmaker John Dingell could be "looking up" at him from the grave, a comment which was widely interpreted as a suggestion that Dingell was in hell.

In a statement following the remarks about Dingell, the White House said that the president was "just riffing".

Reiner, who was 78, was known for directing several iconic films in a variety of genres, including This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, Misery and A Few Good Men.

He married Michele, an actress, photographer and producer, in 1989, later recalling that they met during the making of one of his best-known films, When Harry Met Sally. The couple had three children together - including Nick, 32.

Michele, 68, owned the Reiner Light photography agency and production house.

Thousands of dinosaur footprints dating back 210 million years have been found in a national park in northern Italy.

The footprints - some of which are up to 40cm (15in) in diameter - are aligned in parallel rows, and many show clear traces of toes and claws.

It is thought the dinosaurs were prosauropods - herbivores with long necks, small heads and sharp claws.

"I never would have imagined I'd come across such a spectacular discovery in the region where I live," said Milan-based paleontologist Cristiano Dal Sasso.

Last September a photographer spotted the footprints stretching hundreds of metres on a vertical mountain wall in the Stelvio national park, north-east of Milan.

In the Triassic period - between about 250 and 201 million years ago - the wall was a tidal flat, which later became part of the Alpine chain.

"This place was full of dinosaurs; it's an immense scientific treasure," Mr Dal Sasso said.

The herds moved in harmony, he added, "and there are also traces of more complex behaviours, like groups of animals gathering in a circle, perhaps for the purposes of defence."

The prosauropods, which could be up to 10m (33ft) long, walked on two legs but in some cases handprints were found in front of footprints, indicating that they probably stopped and rested their forelimbs on the ground.

Elio Della Ferrera, the photographer who discovered the site, said he hoped the discovery would "spark reflection in all of us, highlighting how little we know about the places we live in: our home, our planet."

According to a press release from the Italian culture ministry, the area is remote and not accessible by paths, so drones and remote sensing technology will be employed instead.

The Stelvio national park is located in the Fraele valley by Italy's border with Switzerland, near where the Winter Olympics will take place next year.

"It's as if history itself wanted to pay homage to the greatest global sporting event, combining past and present in a symbolic passing of the baton between nature and sport," said the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Australia's Prime Minister has visited Bondi hero Ahmed al Ahmed in hospital, after the bystander tried to disarm one of the gunmen in the nation's deadliest gun attack since 1996.

"Your heart is strong", PM Anthony Albanese told the father-of-two, later calling him "the best of our country".

The fruit shop owner, who was born and raised in Syria, was shot several times in the shoulder after tackling one of the alleged gunmen. Albanese said Mr Ahmed would "undergo further surgery" on Wednesday.

At least 15 people have been confirmed dead after Sunday's attack in Sydney during an event to mark the first night of Hanukkah.

Police have declared the attack as a terrorist incident targeting the Jewish community.

"He was trying to get a cup of coffee and found himself at a moment where people were being shot in front of him," Albanese said after the bedside visit.

"He decided to take action, and his bravery is an inspiration for all Australians. He is a very humble man."

"At a moment where we have seen evil perpetrated, he shines out as an example of the strength of humanity," the prime minister added.

"We are a brave country. Ahmed al Ahmed represents the best of our country."

He later added: "Ahmed, you are an Australian hero."

There has been nationwide support for the 43-year-old including from US President Donald Trump who commended his courage, and a US billionaire who donated $99,999 (US$ 65,000; £49,000) to Mr Ahmed, calling him a "brave hero".

In the footage, Mr Ahmed is seen hiding behind a parked car before he leaps out.

He runs at the alleged gunman and seizes his weapon, before turning the gun round on him. The suspected attacker then begins to retreat.

Mr Ahmed then lowers the weapon and raises one hand in the air, appearing to show police he was not one of the attackers.

Mr Ahmed's father previously told the BBC that his son was driven to act by his "sentiment, conscience and humanity".

He "saw the victims, the blood, women and children lying on the street, and then acted".

Pop star Lizzo is celebrating a legal victory after a judge dismissed allegations of fat-shaming from a 2023 lawsuit filed by three of her former dancers.

The singer, whose hits include body positive anthems such as Good As Hell and Juice, marked the development with a video statement posted to her Instagram and TikTok feeds.

"There was no evidence that I fired them because they gained weight," Lizzo said. "They were fired for taking a private recording of me without my consent and sending it off to ex-employees."

While those specific allegations have been dropped, the case against Lizzo and her production company will continue, over claims that three dancers were subject to sexual harassment.

Lizzo's team has called the lawsuit a "fabricated sob story," but a Los Angeles judge ruled that the case could move forward last year.

Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez say they were pressured into attending sex shows and interacting with nude performers between 2021 and 2023.

The claims against Lizzo - whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson - include that she "pressured Ms Davis to touch the breasts" of a dancer in a nightclub in Amsterdam.

Although she initially resisted, Ms Davis eventually acquiesced, "fearing it may harm her future on the team" if she didn't do so, according to court documents.

Other incidents cited in the case include the claim that dancers were asked to eat fruit from the naked bodies of sex club workers.

Over the summer, Lizzo's lawyers appealed the decision to let those claims got to trial, arguing that group outings were part of the singer's creative process and thus should be shielded by First Amendment free speech protections.

In response, a lawyer for the dancers rejected that claim, saying it was not enough to say the sex shows had inspired Lizzo's own performances.

"Under that standard," wrote Ari Stiller, "Johnny Cash could shoot 'a man in Reno just to watch him die' and claim protection if he hoped it would inspire his performance".

Stiller urged the court to allow the claims to proceed to trial.

Lizzo's attorney, Melissa Glass, claimed that Stiller's brief "regurgitates the false accusations from their [original] complaint".

"As was true two years ago, the dancers cannot find a single person to corroborate their meritless claims," she Glass said in a statement to Billboard magazine.

"In contrast, 18 witnesses who worked with Lizzo on the Special tour submitted sworn statements refuting the claims made by Davis, Williams and Rodriguez. We look forward to the Court of Appeals ruling on this matter."

Lizzo has adamantly denied the allegations against her.

"I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not," she said when the claims first emerged in 2023.

In her latest statement, the singer added that the fat-shaming allegations had "haunted" her for the last two years, adding that it had been "devastating to suffer through this in silence".

She also stressed that she has "only encouraged and supported people with bigger bodies and shared my platform with them."

Thanking her lawyers, Lizzo said she intended to keep fighting the lawsuit.

"I am not settling," she said. "I will be fighting every single claim until the truth is out.

The US military says it has carried out strikes on three boats it has accused of trafficking drugs in the Pacific Ocean, killing eight people.

The US Southern Command posted footage of the strikes on social media and said the vessels were "transiting along known narco-trafficking routes... and were engaged in narco-trafficking".

More than 20 vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean have been targeted in recent months, killing at least 90 people, as part of President Donald Trump's escalating campaign against gangs he accuses of transporting drugs in the region.

Some experts say the strikes could violate laws governing armed conflict.

The first attack by the US - on 2 September - has drawn particular scrutiny as there was not one but two strikes, with survivors of the first killed in the second.

Several legal experts have told BBC Verify that the second strike on the alleged Venezuelan drug boat by the US military was probably illegal, and would likely be considered an extrajudicial killing under international law.

A former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court told the BBC that the US military campaign more generally fell into the category of a planned, systematic attack against civilians during peacetime.

In response, the White House said it had acted in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect the US from cartels "trying to bring poison to our shores... destroying American lives".

The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of funnelling narcotics into the US and has intensified its efforts to isolate President Nicolas Maduro in recent months.

Thousands of troops and the USS Gerald Ford have been positioned within striking distance of Venezuela.

On 10 December, US forces seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, which it claimed was being used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran in an "illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations".

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil called the seizure "international piracy" and has claimed Trump wants Venezuela's energy resources.

The South American nation - home to some of the world's largest proven oil reserves - also accuses Washington of seeking to steal its resources.

The New South Wales (NSW) premier has strongly rejected criticism of the police response to the attack on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, saying officers acted with "bravery and integrity".

Some witnesses have suggested police were too slow to disarm the two gunmen, who killed 15 people and injured dozens at an event celebrating Hanukkah at Australia's best known beach.

"There are two officers in critical care... at the moment," Chris Minns said after sustained questioning from reporters. "They weren't shot in the back as they were running away. They were shot in the front."

There have also been questions about whether adequate security was provided before the shooting took place.

"They shoot, shoot, change magazine and just shoot," one witness, Shmulik Scuri, told reporters the day of the assault, adding he thought officers "froze".

Asked about these criticisms, Minns said the "rush to conclusions" about the police operation was "disrespectful".

"They didn't take a backward step. They engaged the gunmen on the footbridge with handguns. The offenders had long range rifles," Minns said.

"If there's any suggestion that NSW Police didn't live up to their responsibilities to the people of this state, it should be rejected because it's not consistent with the facts."

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon avoided questions about how many officers had been deployed to police the event in advance. He told reporters police "regularly patrol that area as we did on that day" and that police presence was based "on the threat that exists at the time".

Australia's security agency has said the younger alleged gunman in the father-son duo, Naveed Akram, had come to their attention in 2019 due to his associations, but that there was nothing to suggest he was a risk of violence.

"Had there been intelligence that there was a particular threat at that location, or to that event, we may have had a different policing response," Commissioner Lanyon said.

NSW Police established Operation Shelter after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel to investigate antisemitic hate crimes. As part of the operation, regular patrols are conducted of high-risk locations. The eastern suburbs of Sydney, including Bondi, which has a significant Jewish population, is a key focus.

Another taskforce, Strike Force Pearl, was set up later to investigate hate crimes in Sydney.

Police received reports of gunfire at a park in Bondi Beach at 18:47 (07:47 GMT) on Sunday. The gunmen carried out a shooting spree that lasted around ten minutes before police shot both men, killing one and critically injuring the other.

Dr Vincent Hurley, a former police officer who lectures on policing at Macquarie University, told the BBC it was "unrealistic" to expect police to be able to know how to react to every possible scenario.

"To respond to a mass shooting and mass killing event like that, there's no training that can be done."

He pointed out that police officers would have initially been reliant on calls to emergency operators "and everyone would have given them a different story".

"Then they have to fight through traffic at Bondi Beach which is a nightmare at the best of times."

At the scene, police would have been confronted with "absolute chaos" as thousands of people attempted to flee.

Individual officers would also have been faced with difficult choices such as whether to stop and render assistance to injured individuals or to go and look for the gunmen, decisions for which there is no protocol.

And even once the offenders had been identified, he says the risk of hurting bystanders in the crossfire would have complicated responses.

"There would be no way as a police officer, I would have drawn my firearm because all of the innocent individuals", he added. "It's not what you see on Netflix."

A rebel leader in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo says his fighters will withdraw from a key city at the request of the US.

Corneille Nangaa's statement came days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the capture of Uvira by rebel forces violated a peace deal, and the US would "take action to ensure promises made to the President [Donald Trump] are kept".

Nangaa said that rebel forces would pull out of the city as a "trust-building measure".

The US accuses Rwanda of backing the rebels. Rwanda denies the allegation, but its President, Paul Kagame, signed a peace accord on 4 December with his DR Congo counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, at a ceremony in Washington hosted by Trump.

The US president hailed the deal as "historic" and "a great day for Africa".

The rebels were not signatories to it - and have been taking part in a parallel peace process led by Qatar, a US ally that has strong ties with Rwanda.

Nangaa is the coordinator of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a coalition of rebel groups. It includes the M23, the most powerful force that European countries, along with the US, say is backed by Rwanda.

DR Congo's army is supported by troops from neighbouring Burundi.

The M23's capture of Uvira was a major blow to them, as the city is only 27km (17 miles) from Burundi's economic capital, Bujumbura, on the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika.

"AFC/M23 will unilaterally withdraw its forces from the city of Uvira as requested by the United States mediation," Nangaa said in a statement, adding that this was being done to give the Qatar-brokered peace process the "maximum chance to succeed".

He did not indicate when the withdrawal would take place, but called for the deployment of a "neutral force" to monitor a ceasefire and to prevent DR Congo's army from regaining control of territory it had lost.

About 200,000 people have fled their homes in eastern DR Congo since the latest round of fighting started early this month, the UN says.

At least 74 people, mostly civilians, had been killed, and 83 others had been admitted to hospital with wounds, it added.

Eastern DR Congo has been wracked by conflict for more than 30 years, with numerous peace initiatives aimed at ending the fighting having failed.

The Trump administration hopes that its peace initiative will work and pave the way for US companies to boost their investments in the resource-rich region.

The US State Department said in 2023 that DR Congo had an estimated $25tn (£21.2tn) in mineral reserves.

This included cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese and tantalum - needed to make the electronic components used in computers, electric vehicles, mobile phones, wind turbines and military hardware.

The rebels began a major advance earlier this year when they captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, on the border with Rwanda.

At the time, South African troops were deployed to help DR Congo's army, but they were forced to withdraw after the M23 seized the city in January.

Shortly afterwards the rebels captured the next big city in eastern DR Congo, Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province.

The move on Uvira - the government's last major foothold in South Kivu - came after the rebels broke the defence lines of the DR Congo army, militias allied with it and Burundian troops.

The offensive started a few days before Kagame and Tshisekedi flew to Washington to ratify the agreement first hammered out in June.

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

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

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been trying to cover up mass killings in the city of el-Fasher by burying and burning bodies, a research team from Yale University says.

The RSF had drawn international condemnation amid reports of executions and crimes against humanity when its fighters captured the city in October.

Now, analysis of satellite images by Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) shows the RSF likely disposed of tens of thousands of bodies after seizing el-Fasher.

The RSF has not responded to the report, but its leader previously admitted his fighters had committed some violations in the city.

The HRL's report said the RSF "engaged in a systematic multi-week campaign to destroy evidence of its widespread mass killings" and "this pattern of body disposal and destruction is ongoing".

The paramilitary group has been fighting Sudan's regular army since April 2023, when a power struggle between the two parties erupted into a brutal civil war.

The United Nations (UN) has described the conflict as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

After 18 months of besieging el-Fasher, the RSF captured the city - a major victory pushing the army out of its last foothold in the vast Darfur region.

The UN was among the many global voices accusing the RSF of massacring civilians as el-Fasher fell.

The HRL has been monitoring the situation in the city for months, and its latest report is part of efforts to understand the extent of the violence suffered by the city's residents.

Fresh analysis of satellite imagery found clusters in multiple locations changing in size in the weeks after el-Fasher fell, the HRL says, adding that this demonstrates continued efforts by the RSF to clean up evidence of massacres.

The images also show more than 80 clusters located outside of the city, which, the HRL says, shows that the RSF was killing people as they tried to flee.

Satellite evidence from November suggests limited civilian activity in the city since it was seized, the researchers say.

Following an international backlash, RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo declared an investigation into what he called violations committed by his soldiers during the capture of el-Fasher.

However, the group continued to deny widespread allegations that killings in the city are ethnically motivated and follow a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries targeting non-Arab populations.

The latest HRL report follows warnings from aid agencies about the low number of civilians who managed to succesfully flee el-Fasher after the RSF seizure.

The UN estimates roughly 250,000 people were still trapped in the city, with less than half of that number thought to have arrived in external camps for displaced people.

The RSF has used the seizure of el-Fasher to consolidate its power in western Sudan, and has established a parallel government in Darfur's city of Nyala.

Sudan's army still controls most of the country, with fighting between the two groups rumbling on.

More than 13m people are believed to have been displaced since the war began in April 2023.

More BBC stories about Sudan:

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

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