A mass robotaxi outage in the Chinese city of Wuhan caused at least a hundred self-driving cars to stop mid-traffic, sparking renewed debate around the safety of driverless vehicles.

Local police said initial findings suggested a "system malfunction" caused multiple vehicles to stop in the middle of the road on Tuesday.

Videos on social media have documented the outage, with one appearing to show it resulting in a highway collision, although police said no injuries had been reported and passengers exited their vehicles safely.

Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the police statement, posted on social media site Weibo, the cause of the incident is still under further investigation.

Baidu operates its Apollo Go driverless taxi service in dozens of cities across the world, mostly in China.

In December 2025, ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft announced partnerships with the Chinese technology giant to test its Apollo Go cars on UK roads, aiming to start trials in 2026.

However, both still need approval from regulators before they can begin the pilot programmes.

While driverless tech may be safer on average than human drivers, this incident showed it could "still go wrong in completely new ways," said Jack Stilgoe, professor of science and technology policy at University College London.

"If we're going to make good choices about this technology, we need to understand entirely new types of risk," he told BBC News.

The outage is not the first time self-driving cars have faced technical difficulties.

In December 2025, a large power outage in San Francisco led Waymo taxis to stop working around the city, causing huge traffic jams.

Meanwhile in August 2025, an Apollo Go robotaxi carrying a passenger in Chongqing fell into ​a construction pit.

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Even if the US and Israel had not struck Iran just over a month ago, Sir Keir Starmer probably would have been giving a press conference today - and it would have contained much of the same content.

April has long been earmarked in government as a crucial moment for the prime minister to advertise various decisions made previously which take effect either today or next week, for example increases in minimum wage rates and the abolition of the two-child benefit cap.

As the prime minister acknowledged, these are not new announcements. And some of them will continue to be criticised by his political opponents as the wrong priority for limited government resources.

Still, it was striking to see the prime minister today redeploy these announcements as part of an argument for why the UK was well-placed to handle whatever the economic impacts of this conflict turn out to be.

Otherwise, though, this was a prime ministerial address peppered with gloomy language. Sir Keir spoke of a coming "storm", which may well be "fierce".

If the prime minister's message could be summarised in just one sentence, it was his admission that "this will not be easy".

Sir Keir was using that phrase to describe both the general economic impact of the Iran conflict and the particular difficulties in getting the Strait of Hormuz open again.

Indeed, at one point he warned that even if the conflict ends that does not necessarily mean the strait will reopen.

"This will not be easy" would also serve perfectly well as a description of the political impact of this conflict for the prime minister.

It is a simple statement of political fact that no government welcomes an economic shock. Historically - both in the 1970s and over the past few years - incumbent governments across the world have been punished by voters in such moments.

In that political context, the prime minister has made three big calls, all of them on display at today's press conference.

First, while talking up the gravity of the moment, he has decided not to respond with emergency measures.

Other than a package of support for those who use heating oil, the government is warning that any support for household energy bills will not come until the autumn.

The prime minister argues that households are protected, first, by the energy price cap for the next three months, and then by the fact that when the current cap elapses it will be the summer, when energy use is lower.

This is one of the areas where Sir Keir is coming under most criticism from other parties.

To his left, the Greens say he should commit billions to subsidise energy bills from July, while to his right the Conservatives and Reform UK say VAT should be removed from household energy bills now.

The Liberal Democrats want to change how renewable energy projects are funded to reduce bills. Plaid Cymru is calling for more support for households and businesses, while the SNP argues independence would allow Scottish minister to cut bills by reducing energy costs.

But household bills are just one element of this.

The prime minister has also resisted pressure, including from the Conservatives, Reform, the SNP and the Lib Dems, to introduce emergency measures to reduce fuel prices at the pump.

He insisted again today that the proposed increase in fuel duty in September was under review, but it is hard to find anybody in Westminster who believes this will go ahead. Some Labour MPs privately question why Starmer does not just say so now.

In holding off before taking action, the prime minister is putting himself out of step with some of his allies.

To take just one example, Australia - led by a Labour government from which this government often takes inspiration - has halved its fuel taxes.

On Tuesday, a member of the European Commission urged people to work from home, drive less, drive more slowly and fly less.

The UK government's messaging, while gloomy about the overall situation, is in starkly different place.

The second big call from Sir Keir is to embrace his disagreements with US President Donald Trump.

It's only a couple of months ago that the prime minister was still prioritising sticking close to the president as much as possible in order to protect the UK-US relationship.

That personal relationship has clearly ruptured in a serious way over Sir Keir's decision to resist US demands to play a bigger role in the war.

While insisting that the transatlantic alliance remains strong in terms of security and intelligence cooperation, the prime minister today emphasised, as he has done several times in recent days, that "this is not our war".

The third big call is related and formed a surprisingly prominent part of today's press conference: to use this moment to seek closer ties with the EU.

We already knew that there was going to be a second annual UK-EU summit in a month or two's time, and we already knew that the UK government hoped to use it not only to complete existing negotiations on areas of cooperation but also to seek deeper ties in other areas.

But Sir Keir's decision to emphasise it in today's press conference, called in the context of a spiralling conflict about which the UK and the US profoundly disagree, was deliberate and meaningful.

Having stressed the economic impact of the Iran conflict, the prime minister then stressed the economic dividends he hopes to secure from a closer post-Brexit relationship.

Notably, he said that Labour's 2024 general election manifesto still stood, which is to say the commitments that the UK would neither rejoin the EU's customs union or its single market.

But it feels increasingly like the government wants to get as close as possible to single market membership as it can from outside the bloc.

Of course, former Conservative prime minister Theresa May wanted that once too, but the EU resisted "cherrypicking" - the idea that the UK could have what it saw as the benefits of the single market (economic cooperation through shared regulations) without what it saw as the drawbacks (the free movement of people).

Those questions about economic support, the UK-US relationship and post-Brexit ties with Europe will now be at the heart of British politics as this storm gathers pace.

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He's-a back!

The most famous plumber in the world returns to cinemas this week with a sequel to the mega-successful Super Mario Brothers Movie.

It has been three years since Nintendo's mustachioed mascot appeared alongside brother Luigi, Princess Peach and their nemesis Bowser, making more than $1.3bn (almost £1bn) worldwide.

The Super Mario Galaxy movie, named after the Wii game of the same name, moves the action to space and adds beloved characters Yoshi and Rosalina to the cast.

Reviews of the new release are mixed, with some critics praising its imagination and pace, but others are saying it falls flat compared to the first film.

What is Super Mario Galaxy about?

Super Mario Galaxy picks up where the first film left off, with Bowser (voiced by Jack Black) imprisoned by brothers Mario and Luigi after being shrunk to pocket-sized.

When his son Bowser Jr., voiced by filmmaker and actor Benny Safdie, stages a breakout, it sparks an intergalactic chase.

Along the way, Mario and Luigi befriend dinosaur Yoshi, voiced by actor and musician Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino), and Rosalina, a princess voiced by Captain Marvel star Brie Larson.

Anya Taylor-Joy reprises her role as Princess Peach, and Wednesday star Luis Guzmán plays Wart - the main enemy from 1988 NES game Super Mario Bros 2.

Other characters from Super Mario Galaxy, widely considered one of the greatest video games ever released, also feature in promotional material for the film.

They include Lumas - glowing star-shaped characters that players encounter throughout the game.

What do reviews say?

The first Mario movie didn't get much love from critics, with a score of just 59%, based on 288 reviews, on film and TV review website Rotten Tomatoes.

But audiences loved it, helping to make it the second-biggest film of 2023, just behind the Barbie movie.

This time, the critical reaction has been around the plot and how it struggles to stay connected throughout the film.

The Guardian called the film a "bland screensaver of a movie" and gave it a one star rating, while The Independent gave it a slightly higher two stars but also lamented its "blandness".

One of the biggest complaints about the original movie from fans was the inclusion of various pop and rock songs on the game's soundtrack.

Many felt hits from the likes of Beastie Boys, AC/DC and Bonnie Tyler didn't fit well with the Mario Universe.

However, entertainment reporter Jonathan Sim says Galaxy pulls things back, which allows composer Brian Tyler's "excellent musical score" to take centre stage.

Sim adds that the cosmic film is a "gorgeously animated love letter to Mario fans".

Gaming content creator Sophie Keen, known online as Cadaea, told BBC Newsbeat that she feels The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a good additional storyline for fans to enjoy.

"I see it as a nice extra", says Keen.

Keen says she actually preferred Galaxy to the first film as it has "loads of funny moments" alongside "cute, wholesome moments".

"If you like the first film, you probably will like the second," she explains.

"The only thing I really want people to know is that it's not a perfect 100% adaptation of the game.

"Don't expect the exact same plot to come out, just take it as a nice addition to Mario lore."

Nintendo's future

Nintendo is arguably the world's most famous video game company, but in recent years it's been moving into other forms of entertainment.

After both Mario movies, a film based on the Legend of Zelda is due to be released next year, and there appear to be plans for an animation based on Donkey Kong.

The company has also opened Mario-themed attractions at several Universal Studios resorts, as well as a string of Nintendo-branded merchandise stores in Japan and the USA.

It still makes most of its money from video games, but some fans have been upset at the lack of a brand new 3D Mario game this year.

For Keen, she thinks the movie is a "nice way to keep the fans happy" whilst they wait for the next game release.

Additional reporting by Tom Richardson and Peter Gillibrand

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

A mass robotaxi outage in the Chinese city of Wuhan caused at least a hundred self-driving cars to stop mid-traffic, sparking renewed debate around the safety of driverless vehicles.

Local police said initial findings suggested a "system malfunction" caused multiple vehicles to stop in the middle of the road on Tuesday.

Videos on social media have documented the outage, with one appearing to show it resulting in a highway collision, although police said no injuries had been reported and passengers exited their vehicles safely.

Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the police statement, posted on social media site Weibo, the cause of the incident is still under further investigation.

Baidu operates its Apollo Go driverless taxi service in dozens of cities across the world, mostly in China.

In December 2025, ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft announced partnerships with the Chinese technology giant to test its Apollo Go cars on UK roads, aiming to start trials in 2026.

However, both still need approval from regulators before they can begin the pilot programmes.

While driverless tech may be safer on average than human drivers, this incident showed it could "still go wrong in completely new ways," said Jack Stilgoe, professor of science and technology policy at University College London.

"If we're going to make good choices about this technology, we need to understand entirely new types of risk," he told BBC News.

The outage is not the first time self-driving cars have faced technical difficulties.

In December 2025, a large power outage in San Francisco led Waymo taxis to stop working around the city, causing huge traffic jams.

Meanwhile in August 2025, an Apollo Go robotaxi carrying a passenger in Chongqing fell into ​a construction pit.

Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.

The BBC knew about a police investigation into DJ Scott Mills in 2017, the corporation has confirmed.

But the Radio 2 presenter was sacked after "new information" about his conduct came to light in recent weeks, the BBC said.

Mills was previously questioned by police over historical allegations of serious sexual offences, but no charges were brought after prosecutors decided in 2019 there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case.

Mills has not yet responded to repeated requests for comment.

BBC News understands that the director general at the time of the police investigation, Tony Hall, did not know about the allegations.

The BBC's statement on Wednesday came after mounting pressure on the broadcaster to explain what led to the Radio 2 DJ's sudden departure.

In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: "Scott Mills had a long career across the BBC, he was hugely popular and we know the news this week has come as a shock and surprise to many.

"We also recognise there's been much speculation in the media and online since Monday. We hope people understand that there is a limit to what we can say because we have to be mindful of the rights of those involved.

"What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values and terminated his contracts on Friday 27 March."

The spokesperson added: "Separately, we can confirm the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the existence of an ongoing police investigation, which was subsequently closed in 2019 with no arrest or charge being made. We are doing more work to understand the detail of what was known by the BBC at this time."

The statement concluded that the BBC has made "a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards".

"Last year, following an independent culture review, we set out the behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC and we were clear action would be taken if these were not met."

On Monday, it was announced that the former Radio 1 presenter had been sacked by the BBC over allegations related to his personal conduct.

The allegations, first published on Monday by the Mirror, relate to the period between 1997 and 2000, police said, when Mills would have been in his mid-twenties.

On Tuesday, the BBC apologised for not looking into a separate allegation of "inappropriate communications" involving Mills, first reported in the Telegraph, raised by a freelance journalist last year.

The UK will pursue closer economic ties with the European Union in light of the war in Iran, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister told a news conference he would use a summit with the EU later this year to seek more cooperation with the bloc on the economy and security.

It comes as relations between the US and the UK have been increasingly strained by the PM's refusal to be drawn further into the war with Iran.

In his speech, Sir Keir warned the conflict would impact the UK but sought to reassure the public the government was taking action to ease the cost of living.

The PM is facing calls from opposition parties to set out now how the government plans to protect people from rising energy costs.

The Conservatives and Reform UK are both calling for VAT to be taken off household energy bills, while arguing the hike in fuel duty scheduled for September should be cancelled.

The Liberal Democrats are also calling for the increase not to go ahead, while the Greens say the government should commit billions of pounds now to subsidise energy bills from July, when the price cap is recalculated.

Plaid Cymru said the government should set out now what support would be available if energy bills rise, while the SNP argues Holyrood should control energy policy.

Sir Keir said: "No matter how fierce this storm we are well-placed to weather it and we have a long-term plan to emerge from it a stronger and more secure nation."

He highlighted a number of measures coming into force from this month aimed at easing the cost of living, including removing some green levies from energy bills and increasing the national living wage.

The PM insisted the government had been "ahead of the game" in its focus on the cost-of-living.

However, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development has warned the UK is facing the biggest hit to economic growth from the war out of major economies.

Asked if he would reassure motorists that the increase in fuel duty would not go ahead, Sir Keir said the rate remained set until September.

He added that support for households would be kept under review but "a lot will depend on how long the conflict goes on" and how quickly the Strait of Hormuz can be reopened.

Meanwhile, the foreign secretary is hosting 35 nations - including European and Gulf counties - on Thursday.

The PM said the meeting would discuss possible measures to make the Strait of Hormuz "accessible and safe after the fighting has stopped".

He added that "this will not be easy" but said it was in the UK's national interest for the strait to reopen.

Iran has effectively blocked the strait - one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels - leading to soaring wholesale oil and gas prices.

A sustained rise in the price of oil is likely to lead to a jump in household energy bills in the UK, when the current cap is reset in July.

The PM and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have made a number of interventions in recent months arguing for a closer trading relationship with the EU.

However, Sir Keir argued that this was more urgent because of the impact of the US-Israel conflict with Iran.

"It is increasingly clear that as the world continues down this volatile path, our long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe and with the European Union," he said.

He added that Brexit "did deep damage to our economy" and "the opportunities to strengthen our security and cut the cost of living.... are simply too big to ignore".

A UK-EU summit is expected this summer, after the two sides struck a deal last May on areas including fishing rights, trade, defence and energy.

Sir Keir said this year's summit "will not just ratify existing commitments made at last year's summit" but would be "more ambitious".

The PM was asked if the UK was heading towards rejoining the EU single market, which enables goods, service and people to move freely between member states, with countries applying many common rules and standards.

"I do think that we should strengthen our cooperation on defence, security, energy, emissions and the economy," he replied.

"I'm ambitious that we can do more in relation to the single market, because I think that's hugely in our economic interests."

However, he said Labour's election manifesto commitment that there would be no return to the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement remained.

Pressed over whether he was choosing Europe over the US, Sir Keir insisted: "I'm not going to choose because I think it's in our interest to have a strong relationship with the US and with Europe."

He argued that closer ties with Europe would strengthen the UK's relationship with the US as well, since successive US presidents had been pushing for Europe to do more on defence and security.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Sir Keir in recent weeks, following his refusal to allow the US to use UK bases for its initial offensive strikes against Iran.

The UK has since given permission for its bases to be used for defensive action against Iranian missile strikes.

In his latest comments, Trump told the Daily Telegraph he was considering pulling out of the Nato military alliance with European countries after they did not join his war in Iran.

Asked about the remarks, Sir Keir said the UK was "fully committed to Nato", which he described as "the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen".

He added: "Whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I'm going to act in the British national interest in the decisions that I make.

"That's why I've been absolutely clear that this is not our war and we're not going to get dragged into it."

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A mass robotaxi outage in the Chinese city of Wuhan caused at least a hundred self-driving cars to stop mid-traffic, sparking renewed debate around the safety of driverless vehicles.

Local police said initial findings suggested a "system malfunction" caused multiple vehicles to stop in the middle of the road on Tuesday.

Videos on social media have documented the outage, with one appearing to show it resulting in a highway collision, although police said no injuries had been reported and passengers exited their vehicles safely.

Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the police statement, posted on social media site Weibo, the cause of the incident is still under further investigation.

Baidu operates its Apollo Go driverless taxi service in dozens of cities across the world, mostly in China.

In December 2025, ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft announced partnerships with the Chinese technology giant to test its Apollo Go cars on UK roads, aiming to start trials in 2026.

However, both still need approval from regulators before they can begin the pilot programmes.

While driverless tech may be safer on average than human drivers, this incident showed it could "still go wrong in completely new ways," said Jack Stilgoe, professor of science and technology policy at University College London.

"If we're going to make good choices about this technology, we need to understand entirely new types of risk," he told BBC News.

The outage is not the first time self-driving cars have faced technical difficulties.

In December 2025, a large power outage in San Francisco led Waymo taxis to stop working around the city, causing huge traffic jams.

Meanwhile in August 2025, an Apollo Go robotaxi carrying a passenger in Chongqing fell into ​a construction pit.

Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.

Leaning against a wall near a news-stand in central Rome, Tommaso Silvestri, 65, scans the morning's front pages, their headlines swinging between "apocalypse," "scandal" and "disaster" after Italy's latest footballing collapse.

"We've made a real mess of it," he says, shaking his head. "We had players who couldn't even find the target."

"The golden days of Italian football are well and truly gone."

On Tuesday night in Zenica, four-time World Cup winners Italy failed to qualify for the tournament for a third consecutive time, losing 4-1 on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina after being reduced to 10 men before halftime.

Since winning the World Cup in 2006, the Azzurri have largely disappointed in international tournaments - with the exception of their surprise victory at the Euros in 2021 against England at Wembley.

"We are what our results say we are," Silvestri said. "When you shoot and can't even hit the goal, you're not going to go far. When it comes to taking the game home, Italy just doesn't get there anymore."

Last night's defeat drew swift and emotional reactions across Italian politics and society.

"Everything has a limit," lamented Ignazio La Russa, president of the Senate and a senior figure in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party.

In a post on X, he wrote: "We're not going to the World Cup. We supported them, we hoped, we even railed against a couple of questionable refereeing decisions... but deep down we feared it. In fact, we knew it."

Gomorrah author and anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano also weighed in, pointing to deeper structural failures in Italian football, from governance to youth development.

"Clubs are corrupt and at the mercy of criminal organisations. True laundering vaults. No investment in young players, no care for second-generation talent. It's easier to buy foreign players than to develop new athletes," he said in a post on Instagram.

Across Italy, a legendary football nation with a rich history of producing world-class talent, many are wondering what went wrong. Giovanni Colli, 71, rolling his eyes while sipping an espresso at a café near the Pantheon, says he feels "betrayed."

"Not going to the World Cup three times in a row, how on earth did it happen? What a huge disappointment. Everyone should resign. Give the young players a chance," he says.

Italy's World Cup heartbreak was crystallised in the tear-streaked face of coach Rino Gattuso, who struggled to hold back his emotions after the national team's defeat.

"We don't deserve this, it's not fair. I'm sorry I couldn't make it happen," Gattuso said, eyes glistening, before retreating to the dressing room.

The legendary 2006 World Cup-winning midfielder was only given the job of coach last June.

Despite the disappointment, Gattuso expressed pride in his players: "I'm proud of my boys and what they gave on the pitch."

The match, decided on penalties after Italy were reduced to 10 men following Alessandro Bastoni's early red card, gave a brief moment of hope to Italians with Moise Kean's goal, only for it to end in dismay.

Gattuso admitted the team's shortcomings: "When you have chances and don't take them, football punishes you."

Reflecting on their elimination, he added: "This hurts. We gave everything we could. It's a real shock."

Sport journalist Elisabetta Esposito of La Gazzetta dello Sport told the BBC that Italian football was facing a difficult period - one that would take time to overcome, during which loyalty to individual clubs was outweighing support for the national team.

"The risk is that this third consecutive failure to qualify will deepen young people's disengagement from the Azzurri," she said.

"The disappointment is profound, but the country is not only disappointed but almost disillusioned. It's as if a new generation no longer knows what it means to cheer for their country."

Reflecting on Tuesday's match, Esposito added: "From a technical standpoint, everything went wrong. The team hasn't worked together enough. Rebuilding will require a long-term strategy, chasing immediate wins with rushed decisions won't succeed."

On a busy street in central Rome, 56-year-old Teresa is walking her dog among tourists and commuters rushing to work.

"Oh, we are not going to the World Cup?" she asks. "I don't know much about football, but that's a bit of disaster, isn't it?"

A judge in Brazil has blocked a project to build a zipline connecting the famous Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro to a nearby hill, Morro da Urca.

The attraction's developer said it would allow visitors to descend from Sugarloaf Mountain at speeds of almost 100km/h (62mph) via four ziplines covering a distance of 755m (0.47 miles).

The project - which started four years ago - had triggered protests from locals and environmentalists, who argued that the construction work was causing irreparable damage to the Unesco World Heritage Site.

The developer is expected to appeal against the decision.

Gricel Osorio Hor-Meyll, one of the activists who had led the campaign against the zipline told AFP news agency that the ruling was "a huge victory".

Those opposed to the attraction argued that in order to build the platforms needed to access the zipline, the rock on top of Sugarloaf Mountain would have to be excavated.

The company which manages the site said that excavation would be kept to a minimum by using areas with existing construction.

The project had the approval of both Rio City Council and the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN).

As part of Tuesday's ruling, the judge ordered that IPHAN and the project's developer pay 30m reals ($5.77m, £4.35m) in damages, stressing the "inestimable value of Sugarloaf Mountain, not only for Brazilians but for people worldwide".

The project has been at the centre of a legal battle for years and construction had been halted on a number of occasions as the company argued its case in court.

In January, construction work restarted after the high court had ruled that stopping would cause more damage than finishing the project at this late stage.

It added that the project was 95% completed.

That decision has now been overturned by Tuesday's ruling.

However, the legal saga is likely to continue with the company behind the project expected to lodge an appeal.

Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon this week, hitting areas outside of Hezbollah's control on Tuesday.

Strikes without warning hit a vehicle north of Beirut and the Jnah neighbourhood in the heart of the capital.

Attacks also continued in the city's southern suburbs and the country's south, both where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

A building was destroyed on the road to Beirut's airport after an evacuation order, and in the south, a strike hit a health facility, killing a paramedic, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

Israel's military said it had hit Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut and killed a senior commander and another senior figure from the Iran-backed armed group.

Hezbollah joined the ongoing regional war on 2 March, sending missiles towards Israel, after the US and Israel attacked the armed group's ally Iran on 28 February.

Israeli attacks have kept bombarding Lebanon as its troops have moved into the country's south.

On Tuesday, a vehicle was targeted in the Mansourieh area, a predominantly Christian residential neighbourhood north of Beirut.

Meanwhile, the Jnah neighbourhood in the heart of the capital was attacked after midnight. The Lebanese health ministry said the Al-Zahraa Hospital had received and treated "a number of those injured in the air strike".

Hassan Jalwan, who lives near Jnah, told AFP he heard several "big explosions" overnight.

"Nobody knows what's happening," he said, adding that "displaced people have been sleeping in the open" in the area.

The Dahieh neighbourhood to the south of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, continues to be a target. A building was destroyed on Tuesday in Ghobeiry on the road to the airport following an evacuation order.

Also on Tuesday, Lebanon's health ministry said at least seven people had been killed by Israeli strikes in the country's south, including the paramedic.

The number of health workers who have been killed since the start of the war has now reached 53.

Earlier, the Lebanese army cleared its last positions in the south, pulling out from Ain Ibel and Rmeish villages a day after an army checkpoint was hit and a soldier was killed by an Israeli air strike, according to the Lebanese Armed Forces. The Israeli military has not appeared to have commented yet on the reported death.

However, some residents of the villages refuse to leave.

In the predominantly Christian village of Rmeish, Father Najib Al Amil appeared in a video on social media, where he said: "There is grass and soil. We rely on God and will stay in our village. We either all die together and lose our land or live and our villages will live with us."

Israel has announced its decision to control large swathes of land in southern Lebanon - up to the Litani River, about 30km from the border with Israel - to create a buffer security zone.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would keep security control over the territory even after the end of the current war against Hezbollah. The plan has drawn criticism from the UN.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave the south, but there are still tens of thousands who have refused to go.

Supply lines to the south have been cut by Israel targeting bridges and infrastructure, making villages in the south uninhabitable.

Katz said more than 600,000 displaced Lebanese residents would be "completely prohibited" from returning to that area until the safety of residents of northern Israel was guaranteed.

The Israeli defence minister also said all houses in villages near the border in Lebanon will be destroyed "according to the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza".

In total, 1,268 people in Lebanon have been killed since the beginning of the attacks, the country's health ministry said on Tuesday.

More than one million people have been displaced, the UN reported.

This is critical time for Lebanon and the residents of the south. Many see Israel's strategy in the south mimicking that of Gaza - destruction, depopulation and occupation.

The government said earlier that this constitutes a violation of the country's sovereignty.

South Lebanon previously lived under Israeli occupation for nearly 18 years, between 1982 and 2000.

Some Lebanese have lived the displacement and loss of land generation after generation.

Many in Lebanon believe that Israel is more powerful than Hezbollah and capable of destroying the south with its advanced missiles and drones. At the same time, if Israel is to stay in the south, Hezbollah is more powerful on the ground and can engage in a guerrilla war to wear out the Israelis and prevent them from staying put.

In short, for the hundreds of thousands who have been forced out of their homes, this war is not ending anytime soon.

A Russian military plane has crashed in the occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, killing 29 people on board, the Russian defence ministry has said.

Wreckage of the An-26 aircraft was found on Tuesday after the plane lost contact with authorities during a "routine flight", according to the ministry.

It blamed a "technical failure" and reported no external damage to the aircraft, implying that missiles, drones or birds are not suspected of causing the crash.

Seven crew members and 23 passengers had been on board as it flew over the Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed the crash and said it had opened an inquiry into a flight safety violation.

News agency Tass reported that communication with the plane was lost at about 18:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, and the wreckage was found following a search and rescue effort.

Ukraine has not commented on the crash.

The An-26 is a Soviet-era aircraft mainly used in a military capacity to transport heavy cargo and smaller numbers of passengers over a short-to-medium distance. It is manufactured by the Ukrainian aerospace company Antonov.

The planes have been used since the late 1960s, and have been involved in several deadly crashes.

Twenty-six people, mostly cadets, were killed when a Ukrainian An-26 came down in Kharkiv in 2020. The following year, 28 people were killed in a crash in the Russian Far East and in 2022, one person was killed in a crash in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region.

Fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces has been ongoing in Crimea since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion four years ago.

Ukrainian strikes have largely targeted Russian military bases in the peninsula, which borders the partly Russian-occupied Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly demanded Russia withdraw from Crimea as part of a ceasefire. In November, a US-backed peace plan proposed Kyiv would cede control of Crimea.

Authorities in the Democratic Republic Congo have declared Wednesday a public holiday after the national football team qualified for their first World Cup in 52 years.

The Leopards reached the finals on Tuesday when Axel Tuanzebe's extra-time goal gave them a 1-0 win over Jamaica in the play-off.

DR Congo's ministry of labour and employment said that as a result of the "historic" victory, the nation could have the day off work to "celebrate in unity, fervour and national pride".

The central African nation has only played in the World Cup once before - in 1974 when the country was named Zaire.

Tuesday's match was an intense affair, with former Manchester United player Tuanzebe only breaking the deadlock in the 100th minute.

Videos of elated football fans celebrating in the capital, Kinshasa, have been circulating on social media. In the neighbourhood of Kingabwa, supporters took to the streets chanting "Christiano Ronaldo is next".

DR Congo's first match will be against Ronaldo's Portugal in the US city of Houston on 17 June.

They will also play Colombia and Uzbekistan in the group stages.

DR Congo are the 10th African nation to reach this year's expanded World Cup finals, hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.

Additional reporting from Emery Makumeno in Kinshasa

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Divorced couples in Japan are now allowed to share custody of their children, after a landmark revision to Japan's Civil Code took effect on Wednesday.

Before the amendment was approved by parliament in 2024, Japan was the only G7 country that did not recognise the legal concept of joint custody.

Custody was typically granted to one parent - in most cases the mother - who had power to cut off the other parent's access to their children.

Domestic and international criticism has been mounting against the sole custody system in Japan, which critics say led many divorcees to become estranged from their children after losing custody of them.

Previously, divorcing couples in Japan were free to decide custody and visitation arrangements. But if they went to court over it, custody would only be awarded to one parent.

Under the new law, a family court can decide whether to grant sole or joint custody to divorcing couples.

Parents who divorced under the old system are also now eligible to have their custody arrangement reviewed by the family court.

The Civil Code revision also mandates child support payments after divorce, allowing the parent living with the child to claim 20,000 yen (£95; $125) from their ex-spouse every month.

Some are hopeful that the changes will help prevent cases of parental abduction, which have come into the spotlight in recent years - especially after allegations made by foreigners with Japanese ex-spouses.

In 2023, Japanese table tennis star Ai Fukuhara was accused by her Taiwanese ex-husband of abducting their son. He said she had cut off contact with him and refused to bring their son back to Taiwan. The pair later came to a settlement.

During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, a French father who was based in Japan staged a hunger strike, calling attention to what he said was the kidnapping of his children by his ex-wife.

While some see the joint custody bill as a way to solve such controversies, not everyone is supportive of the revision. Some previously told BBC that they feared joint custody would force women to maintain ties with husbands even in cases of domestic violence.

Under the new law, the court will grant sole custody to divorcing couples if it finds instances of domestic violence or abuse.