Donald Trump's transition team is already vetting potential candidates who could serve in his administration when he returns to the White House in January.

On Thursday, he made the first announcement naming his campaign co-manager Susan Summerall Wiles as his White House chief of staff.

Many of the figures who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, though a handful of loyalists are rumoured to be making a comeback.

But the US president-elect is now surrounded by a new cast of characters who may fill his cabinet, staff his White House and serve in key roles across government.

Here is a look at the some of the names being floated for the top jobs.

Robert F Kennedy Jr

The past two years have been quite a journey for the nephew of former President John F Kennedy.

An environmental lawyer by trade, he ran for president as a Democrat, with most of his family speaking out against his anti-vaccine views and conspiracy theories as they endorsed Joe Biden's re-election.

He then switched to an independent candidacy but, failing to gain traction amid a series of controversies, dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.

In the last two months of the 2024 election cycle, he spearheaded a Trump campaign initiative called "Make America Healthy Again".

Trump recently promised he would play a major role related to public health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Safety Administration (FDA).

RFK Jr, as he is known, recently asserted he would push to remove fluoride from drinking water because "it's a very bad way to deliver it into our systems" - though this has been challenged by some experts.

And in an interview with NBC News, Kennedy rejected the idea that he was "anti-vaccine", saying he wouldn't "take away anybody's vaccines" but rather provide them with "the best information" to make their own choices.

Rather than a formal cabinet position, Kennedy used the interview to suggest he could take on a broader role within the White House.

Susie Wiles

Trump's landslide victory over Kamala Harris was masterminded by campaign co-chairs Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, who he referred to in his victory speech on Wednesday as "the ice baby".

She has since been confirmed to be the incoming chief of staff under the second Trump administration - Trump's first confirmed appointment for his second term - making her the first woman to take on the role.

Wiles, who Trump claimed "likes to stay in the background”, is considered one of the most feared and respected political operatives in the country.

Less than a year after she started working in politics, she worked on Ronald Reagan’s successful 1980 presidential campaign and later became a scheduler in his White House.

In 2010, she turned Rick Scott, a then-businessman with little political experience, into Florida’s governor in just seven months. Scott is now a US senator.

Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary and she became the co-chair of his Florida campaign, at the time considered a swing state. Trump went on to narrowly defeat Hillary Clinton there in 2016.

Wiles has been commended by Republicans for her ability to command respect and check the big egos of those in the president-elect's orbit, which could enable her to impose a sense of order that none of his four previous chiefs of staff could.

Elon Musk

The world's richest man announced his support for the former president earlier this year, despite saying in 2022 that "it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset".

The tech billionaire has since emerged as one of the most visible and well-known backers of Trump and donated more than $119m (£91.6m) this election cycle to America PAC - a political action committee he created to support the former president.

Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, also launched a voter registration drive that included a $1m (£771,000) give-away to a random swing-state voter each day during the closing stretch of the campaign.

Since registering as a Republican ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Musk has been increasingly vocal on issues including illegal immigration and transgender rights.

Both Musk and Trump have concentrated on the idea of him leading a new "Department of Government Efficiency", where he would cut costs, reform regulations and streamline what he calls a "massive, suffocating federal bureaucracy".

The would-be agency's acronym - DOGE - is a playful reference to a "meme-coin" cryptocurrency Musk has previously promoted.

Mike Pompeo

The former Kansas congressman served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and then secretary of state during Trump's first administration.

A foreign policy hawk and a fierce supporter of Israel, he played a highly visible role in moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He was among the key players in the implementation of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

He remained a loyal defender of his boss, joking that there would be "a smooth transition to a second Trump administration" amid Trump's false claims of election fraud in late 2020.

He has been tipped as a top contender for the role of defence secretary, alongside Michael Waltz, a Florida lawmaker and military veteran who sits on the armed services committee in the US House of Representatives.

Richard Grenell

Richard Grenell served as Trump's ambassador to Germany, special envoy to the Balkans and his acting director of national intelligence.

The Republican was also heavily involved in Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, in the swing state of Nevada.

Trump prizes Grenell's loyalty and has described him as "my envoy".

In September, he sat in on Trump's private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The former president has often claimed he will end the war in Ukraine "within 24 hours" of taking office and Grenell has advocated for setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine as a means to that end - an idea seen as unacceptable by Kyiv.

He's considered a contender for secretary of state or national security advisor, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

Karoline Leavitt

The Trump 2024 campaign's national press secretary previously served in his White House press office, as an assistant press secretary.

The 27-year-old Gen-Zer made a bid to become the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress in 2022, to represent a seat in her home state of New Hampshire, but fell short.

She is tipped to become the White House press secretary - the most public-facing position in the cabinet.

Tom Homan

Tom Homan served as the acting director of the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) during the first Trump administration, where he was a proponent of separating migrant children from their parents as a way to deter illegal crossings.

At the time, he made headlines for saying politicians who support sanctuary city policies should be charged with crimes. He later resigned from his Ice position in 2018, mid-way through the Trump presidency.

He has since emerged as a key figure in developing Trump's mass migrant deportation plan, and has been floated as a potential pick to head the Department of Homeland Security.

Homan spoke on the deportation plan last month in an interview with BBC's US partner CBS News, saying that "it's not going to be - a mass sweep of neighbourhoods."

"They'll be targeted arrests. We’ll know who we’re going to arrest, where we’re most likely to find ‘em based on numerous, you know, investigative processes," he said.

A senior official at COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals, the BBC can report.

A secret recording shows the chief executive of Azerbaijan's COP29 team, Elnur Soltanov, discussing "investment opportunities" in the state oil and gas company with a man posing as a potential investor.

"We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed," he says.

A former head of the UN body responsible for the climate talks told the BBC that Soltanov's actions were "completely unacceptable" and a "betrayal" of the COP process.

As well as being the chief executive of COP29, Soltanov is also the deputy energy minister of Azerbaijan and is on the board of Socar.

Azerbaijan's COP29 team has not responded to a request for comment.

Oil and gas accounts for about half of Azerbaijan's total economy and more than 90% of its exports, according to US figures.

COP29 will open in Baku on Monday and is the 29th annual UN climate summit, where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for climate change, and raise global ambition to tackle the issue.

However, this is the second year in a row the BBC has revealed alleged wrongdoing by the host government.

The BBC has been shown documents and secret video recordings made by the human rights organisation, Global Witness.

It is understood that one of its representatives approached the COP29 team posing as the head of a fictitious Hong Kong investment firm specialising in energy.

He said this company was interested in sponsoring the COP29 summit but wanted to discuss investment opportunities in Azerbaijan's state energy firm, Socar, in return. An online meeting with Soltanov was arranged.

During the meeting, Soltanov told the potential sponsor that the aim of the conference was "solving the climate crisis" and "transitioning away from hydrocarbons in a just, orderly and equitable manner".

Anyone, he said, including oil and gas companies, "could come with solutions" because Azerbaijan’s "doors are open".

However, he said he was open to discussions about deals too – including on oil and gas.

Initially, Soltanov suggested the potential sponsor might be interested in investing in some of the "green transitioning projects" Socar was involved in - but then spoke of opportunities related to Azerbaijan's plans to increase gas production, including new pipeline infrastructure.

"There are a lot of joint ventures that could be established," Soltanov says on the recording. "Socar is trading oil and gas all over the world, including in Asia."

Soltanov then described natural gas as a "transitional fuel", adding: "We will have a certain amount of oil and natural gas being produced, perhaps forever."

The UN climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, acknowledges there will be a role for some oil and gas up to 2050 and beyond. However, it has been very clear that "developing… new oil and gas fields is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5C".

It also goes against the agreement the world made at the last global climate summit to transition away from fossil fuels.

Soltanov appeared eager to help get discussions going, telling the potential sponsor: "I would be happy to create a contact between your team and their team [Socar] so that they can start discussions."

A couple of weeks later the fake Hong Kong investment company received an email - Socar wanted to follow up on the lead.

Attempting to do business deals as part of the COP process appears to be a serious breach of the standards of conduct expected of a COP official.

These events are supposed to be about reducing the world's use of fossil fuels – the main driver of climate change – not selling more.

The standards are set by the UN body responsible for the climate negotiations, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UN said it could not comment directly on our findings but remarked that "the same rigorous standards" are applied to whoever hosts the conference, and that those standards reflect "the importance of impartiality on the part of all presiding officers".

Its code of conduct for COP officials states they are "expected to act without bias, prejudice, favouritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference, strictly based on sound, independent and fair judgement.

"They are also expected to ensure that personal views and convictions do not compromise or appear to compromise their role and functions as a UNFCCC officer."

Christiana Figueres, who oversaw the signing of the 2015 Paris agreement to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C, told the BBC that she was shocked anyone in the COP process would use their position to strike oil and gas deals.

She said such behaviour was "contrary and egregious" to the the purpose of COP and "a treason" to the process.

The BBC has also seen emails between the COP29 team and the fake investors.

In one chain, the team discusses a $600,000 (£462,000) sponsorship deal with a fake company in return for the Socar introduction and involvement in an event about "sustainable oil and gas investing" during COP29.

Officials offered five passes with full access to the summit and drafted a contract which initially required the firm to make some commitments to sustainability. Then it pushed back, one requirement was dropped and "corrections" were considered to another.

The BBC asked Azerbaijan's COP29 team and Socar for comment. Neither responded to the requests.

The findings come a year after the BBC obtained leaked documents that revealed plans by the UAE to use its role as host of COP28 to strike oil and gas deals.

COP28 was the first time agreement was reached on the need to transition away from fossil fuels.

Dutch police have arrested 57 people in the centre of Amsterdam after clashes broke out, reportedly involving young locals and Israeli football supporters.

Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned "antisemitic attacks" and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said two "rescue planes" were being sent to Amsterdam after what Israel's military described as "severe and violent incidents against Israelis".

A police spokeswoman told Dutch media that unrest had broken out around Dam Square in the heart of the capital, but did not say who was involved.

Supporters of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv had travelled to Amsterdam for a Europa Cup match against Ajax.

Schoof said he had followed developments with horror, adding that he had spoken to Netanyahu and emphasising that the "perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted".

There had already been arrests and trouble in Dam Square ahead of the match involving Maccabi fans and pro-Palestinian protesters, and there were reports of supporters setting off fireworks and tearing down a Palestinian flag on a nearby street.

But the unrest grew after the game. Police said it was unclear who had taken part in the riots, telling local media that those involved were wearing dark clothing.

Several videos circulated on social media, with one showing a man being kicked and beaten on the ground and another showing someone being run over. In some videos, people could be heard shouting pro-Palestinian slogans, although the footage has not been verified by the BBC.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke of a "pogrom" against Maccabi fans and Israeli citizens. Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders who leads the biggest party in parliament also spoke of a pogrom, saying "authorities will be held accountable for their failure to protect the Israeli citizens".

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema had earlier sought to prevent trouble by moving pro-Palestinian protesters away from the Johan Cruyff Arena. But Dutch reports said a large group had then tried to head to the stadium, only to be stopped by riot police.

Herzog said on X that he trusted the Dutch authorities would act immediately to "protect, locate and rescue all Israelis and Jews under attack".

Is it legal to import Sir Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses in India?

This question has been puzzling legal experts since the Delhi High Court suggested this week that the notification banning the novel’s import - issued in 1988 - might no longer be valid, as the government couldn't locate it.

The Satanic Verses, criticised by some Muslims as blasphemous, was banned in India shortly after its release, sparking protests worldwide. Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989, calling for Rushdie’s assassination. This forced the Indian-born Booker Prize-winning author into hiding for nearly a decade.

Although the book remains officially banned in India, some legal experts now believe it could be imported unless the government reaffirms the ban. Others, however, caution that practical obstacles may still exist.

The ban on the book came under scrutiny after Sandipan Khan, a resident of West Bengal state, tried to buy the book but learnt that it was not published in India nor could it be imported.

In 2017, he filed a Right to Information (RTI) request for the official notification banning the book’s import, but was sent through a series of departments without finding it.

In 2019, Khan took the matter to the Delhi High Court, arguing that the ban impacted his freedom to read.

Over five years, government departments repeatedly failed to produce the notification, despite customs having similar records from as far back as 1968.

Finally, on 5 November, the court declared it had no option but to “presume” that no such ban notification exists and therefore couldn’t assess its validity.

The case raises a perplexing question: is a notification valid if no copy of it can be found?

The simple answer is, we don't yet.

The court has not clarified if the book could be accessed in India but advised Mr Khan to pursue any legal options to obtain it.

Uddyam Mukherjee, Mr Khan’s lawyer, told the BBC that federal departments couldn’t provide a clear answer either, when asked by the court.

“I have never come across a situation like this,” said Madan Lokur, a former judge of the Supreme Court.

If the notification is not found then “technically no ban exists” and the book can be imported.

“However, the government may pass a fresh notification [banning the book's import],” Mr Lokur added, since the court has not declared the ban to be unconstitutional, but only said that the notification is presumed to not exist.

Mr Mukherjee argued that the book could now be imported “as there is no legal impediment” against the book.

However, some legal experts disagree.

Raju Ramachandran, a senior lawyer, said he found the suggestion a “little extreme”.

“All that the high court says is that this particular petition has become infructuous [invalid] since the notification could not be found,” he said. “It has not given the right to the petitioner to import the book.”

Senior lawyer Sanjay Hegde said the book could have been published in India if “someone was brave enough to print it” as only its import was banned, not its publication.

“But after all the brouhaha, nobody wanted to print it in India."

In 2012, the government of Rajasthan state sought the arrest of four Indian authors - Hari Kunzru, Ruchir Joshi, Amitava Kumar and Jeet Thayil - after they downloaded a few passages from the Satanic Verses and read them out at a literary festival in the city.

At the time, many legal experts were of the opinion that downloading a book whose import had been banned could not be considered a crime. But online copies of the book have been hard to find in India.

Rushdie, 76, continues to face threats over his outspoken views on Islam.

In 2022, he lost an eye and spent six weeks in hospital after being stabbed up to 10 times on stage at an event in New York state. The suspect, Hadi Matar, has been charged with attempted murder.

In his recent memoir, the writer has criticised the response to his book, noting that "no properly authorised body [in India] had reviewed the book, nor was there any semblance of a judicial process".

The bar facing the US consulate in Jerusalem is called Deja Bu - a witty reference to something you’ve drunk before.

And outside the gates of the US compound, Israel is eager for a second round of Donald Trump.

"I'm very pleased," said Rafael Shore, a rabbi who lives in Jerusalem's Old City. "He understands the language of the Middle East.

"Iran will think twice about doing anything. I think if Kamala had been elected, there wouldn't be much fear in the Middle East of attacking America or Israel."

Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was one of the first to congratulate the new president-elect this morning. "Congratulations on history's greatest comeback!" he tweeted.

Netanyahu has previously called Trump the "best friend Israel has ever had in the White House".

Trump previously won favour here by scrapping an Iran nuclear deal that Israel opposed, brokering historic normalisation agreements with several Arab countries and upending decades of US policy - and international consensus - by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Donald Trump's first term in office was "exemplary" as far as Israel is concerned, said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the US.

"The hope is that he'll revisit that. [But] we have to be very clear-sighted about who Donald Trump is and what he stands for."

Firstly, he said, the former president "doesn't like wars", seeing them as expensive. Trump has urged Israel to finish the war in Gaza quickly.

He's also "not a big fan" of Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank, said Amb Oren, and has opposed the wishes of some Israeli leaders to annex parts of it.

Both those policies could put him in conflict with far-right parties in Netanyahu's current governing coalition, who have threatened to bring down the government if the prime minister pursues policies they reject.

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When called upon to choose between the recent demands of his US ally and the demands of his coalition partners, Benjamin Netanyahu has tended to choose his coalition.

Friction with the current US President, Joe Biden, has grown sharply as a result.

Michael Oren believes Netanyahu will need to take a different approach with the incoming president.

"If Donald Trump comes into office in January and says, 'OK, you have a week to finish this war,' Netanyahu is going to have to respect that."

In Gaza, where the Israeli military has been battling Palestinian group Hamas, desperation has narrowed the focus of some residents to that single goal.

Trump "has some strong promises", Ahmed said. "We hope he can help and bring peace."

Ahmed's wife and son were both killed in the war and his house destroyed.

"Enough is enough, we are tired," he said. "We hope Trump is strong so that he can resolve this issue with Israel."

Mohammed Dawoud, displaced eight times during the Gaza conflict, said a Trump victory meant that the end of the war would come soon.

Another displaced resident, Mamdouh, said he didn't care who won - he just wanted someone to help.

"There’s no medicine, no hospitals, no food. There’s nothing left in Gaza," he said. "We want someone strong who can separate us and the Jews."

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In the occupied West Bank, home of the Palestinian Authority (PA), there is widespread scepticism about American influence, with many viewing US administrations from both sides of the political aisle as siding with Israel.

"Mediocre solutions which come at the expense of the Palestinians, or endless military support for Israel, is going to be nothing but a catalyst for future confrontations," said Sabri Saidam, a senior member of the PA's main faction, Fatah.

"We would like to see a new version of Trump, more like a Trump 2.0 who's serious about immediately ending the war, and addressing the root cause of conflict in the Middle East."

Recent polls suggested that more than two-thirds of Israelis wanted to see Trump back in the White House. But here too, there are those who caution about his unpredictability and his approach.

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"He's going to make the situation here more uncertain and unsafe," one Israeli woman said. "I don't trust him to keep the peace. I honestly think he'll just make the war worse."

The former Israeli ambassador, Michael Oren, said he believed there were "tremendous achievements ahead" if Israel co-operated with Trump, including the potential for a historic peace deal with Saudi Arabia and checks on Iran's influence.

But it could also be harder for Netanyahu to navigate the demands and compromises involved in those regional goals.

Since Trump's last term in office, moderate voices around both leaders have dwindled.

Many in Israel view Trump's first term with fond memories. But relationships can be radically different the second time around - and past performance is no guarantee of future returns.

Botswana’s new president has told the BBC that he wants undocumented Zimbabweans to be legalised by granting them temporary work and residence permits.

"They do jobs that would otherwise not get done," Duma Boko told the BBC Africa Daily podcast before his historic inauguration on Friday.

Botswana hosts the world’s second-largest community of Zimbabweans fleeing their country’s economic woes - and they are often resented, with deportations taking place daily.

The decision is not likely to be popular in the diamond-rich southern African nation, but Boko, 54, who has just unseated the ruling party that was in power for 58 years, said it was part of his plans to revive the economy.

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President Boko said it was a challenge when thousands of Zimbabweans entered Botswana through the long and porous border between the two countries.

"They come in and are undocumented. Then their access to amenities is limited, if it is available at all, and what they then do is they live outside the law and they commit crimes - and this brings resentment," he said.

"So what we need to do is to formalise, have a proper arrangement that recognises that people from Zimbabwe are already here."

It is unclear exactly how many Zimbabweans are in Botswana, but thousands have been coming back and forth since Zimbabwe's economy imploded because of hyperinflation two decades ago. Some have also sought political refuge.

Statistics that are available show that Zimbabweans account for 98% of what is termed "irregular migrants".

Responding to a parliamentary question earlier this year, a minister said that from 2021 to 2023, out of a total of 13,489 recorded, 13,189 were Zimbabwean nationals.

Every day, police stations around the country organise deportations of Zimbabweans arrested for not having papers or involvement in crimes.

They tend to work doing cheap labour often as domestic workers and farm workers.

"A lot of these workers from Zimbabwe perform tasks that the citizen finds unattractive... they do jobs that would otherwise not get done and so there's no conflict there," Boko said.

However, there was a backlash against the government late last year after it was proposed that identity cards be used instead of passports for those travelling between Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The overall sentiment was that the move would lead to the arrival of more Zimbabweans.

But President Boko told the BBC Africa Daily podcast that his initiative would also be an opportunity for his countrymen to learn basic skills, like welding and plumbing, from Zimbabweans.

"In any and every construction site in Botswana the majority of people with those skills are from Zimbabwe, so we need to do a twin programme of allowing them to come in and we utilise the skills that they have and in the process of utilising these skills we also engage in some sort of skills transfer," he said.

"We can’t stop people with skills from coming in when we don't have the skills ourselves - we need to develop these skills and it takes time, so in the interregnum we need to have them come in properly, come in legally and be rewarded appropriately for the skills that they bring."

Boko, a human rights lawyer who founded the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) party in 2012, is at pains to show he is a man of the people, encouraging colleagues around him to take selfies.

He says his intention is to break down barriers and "make sure everybody has easy access, not just access to come close, but also bring ideas and suggestions".

His main focus - and the reason behind his victory - is his promise to improve the economy.

He says amongst his first moves will be to to sign new deal with global diamond giant De Beers.

Boko believes the agreement has been in jeopardy because of how his predecessor handled negotiations over diamond sales.

With diamond revenues assured, investors would have confidence in Botswana, which would bring in money to the country, Boko told the BBC Africa Daily podcast.

This would aid his ambition to create jobs - 100,000 a year over the next five years.

"We are facing a crisis of unemployment - for a population that's 2.4 million when you have almost 30% of those people unemployed, it is a crisis. It’s a ticking time bomb," he said.

Twinned with his proposal of sharing skills brought in by Zimbabweans, the new president added that he wanted young people to engage in business "to become entrepreneurs, employ themselves and employ others".

"What they need from government is access to affordable finance and access to markets, and government should facilitate these," Boko said.

His inauguration will take place at the national stadium in the capital, Gaborone, on Friday - which has been declared a public holiday - and international dignitaries are expected to be in attendance.

Additional reporting from Innocent Selatlhwa in Gaborone.

You may also be interested in:

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

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A senior official at COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals, the BBC can report.

A secret recording shows the chief executive of Azerbaijan's COP29 team, Elnur Soltanov, discussing "investment opportunities" in the state oil and gas company with a man posing as a potential investor.

"We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed," he says.

A former head of the UN body responsible for the climate talks told the BBC that Soltanov's actions were "completely unacceptable" and a "betrayal" of the COP process.

As well as being the chief executive of COP29, Soltanov is also the deputy energy minister of Azerbaijan and is on the board of Socar.

Azerbaijan's COP29 team has not responded to a request for comment.

Oil and gas accounts for about half of Azerbaijan's total economy and more than 90% of its exports, according to US figures.

COP29 will open in Baku on Monday and is the 29th annual UN climate summit, where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for climate change, and raise global ambition to tackle the issue.

However, this is the second year in a row the BBC has revealed alleged wrongdoing by the host government.

The BBC has been shown documents and secret video recordings made by the human rights organisation, Global Witness.

It is understood that one of its representatives approached the COP29 team posing as the head of a fictitious Hong Kong investment firm specialising in energy.

He said this company was interested in sponsoring the COP29 summit but wanted to discuss investment opportunities in Azerbaijan's state energy firm, Socar, in return. An online meeting with Soltanov was arranged.

During the meeting, Soltanov told the potential sponsor that the aim of the conference was "solving the climate crisis" and "transitioning away from hydrocarbons in a just, orderly and equitable manner".

Anyone, he said, including oil and gas companies, "could come with solutions" because Azerbaijan’s "doors are open".

However, he said he was open to discussions about deals too – including on oil and gas.

Initially, Soltanov suggested the potential sponsor might be interested in investing in some of the "green transitioning projects" Socar was involved in - but then spoke of opportunities related to Azerbaijan's plans to increase gas production, including new pipeline infrastructure.

"There are a lot of joint ventures that could be established," Soltanov says on the recording. "Socar is trading oil and gas all over the world, including in Asia."

Soltanov then described natural gas as a "transitional fuel", adding: "We will have a certain amount of oil and natural gas being produced, perhaps forever."

The UN climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, acknowledges there will be a role for some oil and gas up to 2050 and beyond. However, it has been very clear that "developing… new oil and gas fields is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5C".

It also goes against the agreement the world made at the last global climate summit to transition away from fossil fuels.

Soltanov appeared eager to help get discussions going, telling the potential sponsor: "I would be happy to create a contact between your team and their team [Socar] so that they can start discussions."

A couple of weeks later the fake Hong Kong investment company received an email - Socar wanted to follow up on the lead.

Attempting to do business deals as part of the COP process appears to be a serious breach of the standards of conduct expected of a COP official.

These events are supposed to be about reducing the world's use of fossil fuels – the main driver of climate change – not selling more.

The standards are set by the UN body responsible for the climate negotiations, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UN said it could not comment directly on our findings but remarked that "the same rigorous standards" are applied to whoever hosts the conference, and that those standards reflect "the importance of impartiality on the part of all presiding officers".

Its code of conduct for COP officials states they are "expected to act without bias, prejudice, favouritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference, strictly based on sound, independent and fair judgement.

"They are also expected to ensure that personal views and convictions do not compromise or appear to compromise their role and functions as a UNFCCC officer."

Christiana Figueres, who oversaw the signing of the 2015 Paris agreement to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C, told the BBC that she was shocked anyone in the COP process would use their position to strike oil and gas deals.

She said such behaviour was "contrary and egregious" to the the purpose of COP and "a treason" to the process.

The BBC has also seen emails between the COP29 team and the fake investors.

In one chain, the team discusses a $600,000 (£462,000) sponsorship deal with a fake company in return for the Socar introduction and involvement in an event about "sustainable oil and gas investing" during COP29.

Officials offered five passes with full access to the summit and drafted a contract which initially required the firm to make some commitments to sustainability. Then it pushed back, one requirement was dropped and "corrections" were considered to another.

The BBC asked Azerbaijan's COP29 team and Socar for comment. Neither responded to the requests.

The findings come a year after the BBC obtained leaked documents that revealed plans by the UAE to use its role as host of COP28 to strike oil and gas deals.

COP28 was the first time agreement was reached on the need to transition away from fossil fuels.

Donald Trump's transition team is already vetting potential candidates who could serve in his administration when he returns to the White House in January.

On Thursday, he made the first announcement naming his campaign co-manager Susan Summerall Wiles as his White House chief of staff.

Many of the figures who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, though a handful of loyalists are rumoured to be making a comeback.

But the US president-elect is now surrounded by a new cast of characters who may fill his cabinet, staff his White House and serve in key roles across government.

Here is a look at the some of the names being floated for the top jobs.

Robert F Kennedy Jr

The past two years have been quite a journey for the nephew of former President John F Kennedy.

An environmental lawyer by trade, he ran for president as a Democrat, with most of his family speaking out against his anti-vaccine views and conspiracy theories as they endorsed Joe Biden's re-election.

He then switched to an independent candidacy but, failing to gain traction amid a series of controversies, dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.

In the last two months of the 2024 election cycle, he spearheaded a Trump campaign initiative called "Make America Healthy Again".

Trump recently promised he would play a major role related to public health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Safety Administration (FDA).

RFK Jr, as he is known, recently asserted he would push to remove fluoride from drinking water because "it's a very bad way to deliver it into our systems" - though this has been challenged by some experts.

And in an interview with NBC News, Kennedy rejected the idea that he was "anti-vaccine", saying he wouldn't "take away anybody's vaccines" but rather provide them with "the best information" to make their own choices.

Rather than a formal cabinet position, Kennedy used the interview to suggest he could take on a broader role within the White House.

Susie Wiles

Trump's landslide victory over Kamala Harris was masterminded by campaign co-chairs Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, who he referred to in his victory speech on Wednesday as "the ice baby".

She has since been confirmed to be the incoming chief of staff under the second Trump administration - Trump's first confirmed appointment for his second term - making her the first woman to take on the role.

Wiles, who Trump claimed "likes to stay in the background”, is considered one of the most feared and respected political operatives in the country.

Less than a year after she started working in politics, she worked on Ronald Reagan’s successful 1980 presidential campaign and later became a scheduler in his White House.

In 2010, she turned Rick Scott, a then-businessman with little political experience, into Florida’s governor in just seven months. Scott is now a US senator.

Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary and she became the co-chair of his Florida campaign, at the time considered a swing state. Trump went on to narrowly defeat Hillary Clinton there in 2016.

Wiles has been commended by Republicans for her ability to command respect and check the big egos of those in the president-elect's orbit, which could enable her to impose a sense of order that none of his four previous chiefs of staff could.

Elon Musk

The world's richest man announced his support for the former president earlier this year, despite saying in 2022 that "it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset".

The tech billionaire has since emerged as one of the most visible and well-known backers of Trump and donated more than $119m (£91.6m) this election cycle to America PAC - a political action committee he created to support the former president.

Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, also launched a voter registration drive that included a $1m (£771,000) give-away to a random swing-state voter each day during the closing stretch of the campaign.

Since registering as a Republican ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Musk has been increasingly vocal on issues including illegal immigration and transgender rights.

Both Musk and Trump have concentrated on the idea of him leading a new "Department of Government Efficiency", where he would cut costs, reform regulations and streamline what he calls a "massive, suffocating federal bureaucracy".

The would-be agency's acronym - DOGE - is a playful reference to a "meme-coin" cryptocurrency Musk has previously promoted.

Mike Pompeo

The former Kansas congressman served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and then secretary of state during Trump's first administration.

A foreign policy hawk and a fierce supporter of Israel, he played a highly visible role in moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He was among the key players in the implementation of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

He remained a loyal defender of his boss, joking that there would be "a smooth transition to a second Trump administration" amid Trump's false claims of election fraud in late 2020.

He has been tipped as a top contender for the role of defence secretary, alongside Michael Waltz, a Florida lawmaker and military veteran who sits on the armed services committee in the US House of Representatives.

Richard Grenell

Richard Grenell served as Trump's ambassador to Germany, special envoy to the Balkans and his acting director of national intelligence.

The Republican was also heavily involved in Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, in the swing state of Nevada.

Trump prizes Grenell's loyalty and has described him as "my envoy".

In September, he sat in on Trump's private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The former president has often claimed he will end the war in Ukraine "within 24 hours" of taking office and Grenell has advocated for setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine as a means to that end - an idea seen as unacceptable by Kyiv.

He's considered a contender for secretary of state or national security advisor, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

Karoline Leavitt

The Trump 2024 campaign's national press secretary previously served in his White House press office, as an assistant press secretary.

The 27-year-old Gen-Zer made a bid to become the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress in 2022, to represent a seat in her home state of New Hampshire, but fell short.

She is tipped to become the White House press secretary - the most public-facing position in the cabinet.

Tom Homan

Tom Homan served as the acting director of the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) during the first Trump administration, where he was a proponent of separating migrant children from their parents as a way to deter illegal crossings.

At the time, he made headlines for saying politicians who support sanctuary city policies should be charged with crimes. He later resigned from his Ice position in 2018, mid-way through the Trump presidency.

He has since emerged as a key figure in developing Trump's mass migrant deportation plan, and has been floated as a potential pick to head the Department of Homeland Security.

Homan spoke on the deportation plan last month in an interview with BBC's US partner CBS News, saying that "it's not going to be - a mass sweep of neighbourhoods."

"They'll be targeted arrests. We’ll know who we’re going to arrest, where we’re most likely to find ‘em based on numerous, you know, investigative processes," he said.

For over two millennia, the Roman temples at Baalbek in eastern Lebanon have stood as some of the finest examples of Roman architecture anywhere in the world.

On Wednesday, a car park just metres away from the Unesco World Heritage site was hit by an Israeli air strike.

The attack, which also destroyed a centuries-old Ottoman building, highlighted what some archaeologists say is the risk of irreparable damage to historical sites across Lebanon from the current war between Israel and Hezbollah.

"Baalbek is the major Roman site in Lebanon. You couldn't replace it if someone bombed it," says Graham Philip, an archaeology professor at Durham University.

"It would be a huge loss. It would be a crime."

Since late September, Israel has pummelled Lebanon with thousands of air strikes in an escalation of its campaign against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group it has been fighting in nearly a year of cross-border strikes.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has largely been targeting southern Lebanon, suburbs in the capital Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

But in the past fortnight, the campaign has moved into new areas, or rather, very old ground.

The IDF told the BBC that it only targets military sites. But those targets are incredibly close to the Baalbek temples and Roman ruins in Tyre, a major port of the Phoenician Empire around 2,500 years ago.

According to legend, Tyre is the place where purple pigment was first created - the dye crushed out of snail shells to embroider royal robes.

On 23 October, the IDF issued evacuation orders for neighbourhoods close to the city's Roman ruins, including the remains of a necropolis and a hippodrome.

Hours later it began striking targets. More bombing of the sites was reported last week.

Videos from the strikes showed huge clouds of black smoke rising from seafront areas only a few hundred metres from the ruins.

There is no evidence that the Roman sites in Tyre and Baalbek have been damaged by the Israeli strikes. But Lebanese archaeologists are alarmed at how close the fighting has been to the millennia-old ruins, recognised by Unesco as having outstanding value to humanity.

"For Baalbek it was even worse than Tyre, because the temples are located within the area that is targeted and [the IDF] did not make any exemption for the temples," says local archaeologist Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly.

She says there are no Hezbollah facilities at the Baalbek site: "No one knows what the excuse or the message behind the hit is."

The IDF disputes this. In a statement, it told the BBC it targets military sites in accordance with strict protocol, adding that it is "aware of the existence of sensitive sites and this is taken into account and constitutes an essential part of the planning of strikes".

"Each strike that poses a risk to a sensitive structure is weighed carefully and goes through a rigorous approval process as required."

Some ordinary Lebanese attempting to escape Israeli bombing reportedly fled to the Baalbek ruins, judging that ancient sites would not be targeted by Israel and would therefore offer protection.

Ms Farchakh Bajjaly says "those who didn't have a car to flee" moved closer to the ruins, in the belief that the Unesco sites are considered more valuable than their lives.

It prompted the local government to issue a warning urging people against travelling to the ruins.

"They see the site as their shelter. But the site is not a shelter," Ms Farchakh Bajjaly says.

The war puts Israel in a "difficult situation", says Israeli archaeologist Erez Ben-Yosef.

He said that war damage to important archaeological sites would be a "huge loss to the cultural heritage of Lebanon and indeed the entire world.

"However, I know personally that Israel is doing everything it can to prevent such damage.

"Many of my fellow archaeologists, both colleagues and students, serve in the army and participate in the war... they actively work to prevent such damage, in accordance with the general guidelines of our military."

Graham Philip, the Durham University archaeology professor, says he doesn’t believe Israel would intentionally hit Baalbek or other sites.

"It's hard to see what they would gain in a military sense, bombing a Roman temple."

But he cautioned about the risk of some bombs or missiles going off target and hitting the ruins, even unintentionally: "If you drop enough ordnance, not all of that lands within 25 metres of the target."

Mr Philip has been closely monitoring the impact of Israel's strikes on heritage sites in Gaza where it is fighting Hamas, leading a British university team documenting archaeological destruction across the territory.

He says it is still too early to assess how much damage has been done by the current wars in Lebanon and Gaza. But a Unesco survey published in September found that 69 cultural heritage sites in Gaza had been damaged by the war, which was triggered by the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023.

The oldest mosque in Gaza, the Great Omari Mosque, is one. It was built on the site of an ancient Philistine temple before being converted into a church and then a mosque. It was reportedly mostly destroyed by an Israeli strike in December 2023.

Mr Philip says these ancient sites are not only important anchors to the classical past, but are "almost like the soul of a population".

"Imagine how people would feel in Britain if the Tower of London or Stonehenge were destroyed.

"It's part of their identity."

Police are on the hunt for 43 monkeys that escaped from a research facility in South Carolina after a keeper left their pen open.

The rhesus macaque fugitives busted out of Alpha Genesis, a company that breeds primates for medical testing and research, and are on the loose in a part of the state known as the Lowcountry.

Authorities have urged residents to keep their doors and windows securely closed and to report any sightings immediately. The escaped monkeys are young females, weighing about 7lbs (3.2kg) each, according to the Yemassee Police Department.

Police said on Thursday that the company had located the "skittish" group, and "are working to entice them with food".

"Please do not attempt to approach these animals under any circumstances," police said.

The statement added that traps had been set in the area, and police were on-site "utilizing thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to locate the animals".

Police say the research company has told them that because of their size, the monkeys have not yet been tested on and "are too young to carry disease".

• What should you do if you encounter an escaped monkey?

Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis, has said that the escape is "frustrating".

He told CBS News, the BBC's US partner network, that he was "hoping for a happy ending" and that the monkeys would return to the facility on their own.

Mr Westergaard said the monkeys had escaped on Wednesday after a keeper left open a door to their outdoor enclosure. He said they were now "hanging out in the woods".

"It's really like follow-the-leader. You see one go and the others go," Mr Westergaard said.

"It was a group of 50 and 7 stayed behind and 43 bolted out the door."

"There are some little things to eat in the woods but no apples which what they really like, " he said, "so we are hoping that will draw them in the next day or two".

Speaking to South Carolina newspaper The Post and Courier, he added that capturing the monkeys had been made more difficult due to the weather, saying efforts were "hampered a bit by the rain as the monkeys are hunkered down".

According to The Post and Courier, this is not the first time that monkeys have escaped from the facility.

In 2016, 19 monkeys escaped before being returned about six hours later. Two years earlier, 26 primates escaped the facility.

The town of Yemassee, 60 miles (100km) east of Charleston, has a population of less than 1,100 resident.

Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who represents South Carolina in the House of Representatives, tweeted that her office is "diligently gathering all relevant information to keep our constituents informed regarding the recent escape of primates".

Macaques are known for being aggressive and competitive, however, Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said in a news conference on Thursday that "there is almost no danger to the public".

Earlier this year, a Japanese macaque named Honshu escaped from a zoo in Scotland.

After more than five days on the loose, he was located by a drone and then shot with a tranquiliser dart before being returned to the zoo.

Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory, calling him a "courageous man".

Speaking at an event in the Russian city of Sochi, the Russian president said that Trump was "hounded from all sides" during his first term in the White House.

Putin also said that Trump's claim that he can help end the war in Ukraine "deserves attention at least".

During his campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly said he could end the war “in a day” but has never elaborated on how that could happen.

During Putin's address, which lasted several hours and covered a wide range of topics, he also spoke of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July, saying it "made an impression" on him.

After being shot, Trump punched his fist into the air and mouthed the words "fight, fight, fight", before being hauled away by Secret Service agents.

"He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a man," Putin said.

Asked if he was ready to have discussions with Donald Trump, Putin replied: "We're ready, we're ready."

Trump had already said on Thursday that he was prepared to speak with Putin, telling NBC News: "I think we'll speak".

The Kremlin was widely accused of interfering in the 2016 presidential election to boost Donald Trump's campaign against Hilary Clinton, claims rejected by Moscow.

US Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigated allegations of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia in 2016, but said in a report three years later that had found no evidence of conspiracy.

Elsewhere on Thursday, leaders gathering for the European Political Community in Budapest discussed Trump's return to the White House.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a "very warm" and "productive conversation" with the president-elect.

"But we have to do everything to ensure that the results of our interaction between Ukraine and America, the whole of Europe and America, are productive and positive," he added.

Many in Ukraine and Europe are worried that Trump might slow, if not halt, the flow of American military aid to Kyiv upon taking power in January.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer assured Zelensky at the summit that the UK's support for Ukraine in its war with Russia remains "iron-clad".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban - who previously said he celebrated Trump's win by "tapping into the vodka supply happily" - said the US and Europe now face tough talks on trade.

Orban, who is a close ally of Trump, told a press conference that "the trade issue with the US will come up and it will not be easy".

Before winning the election, Trump said he would impose tariffs of 10% on all imports.

“There was an agreement that Europe should assume greater responsibility for its own peace and security in the future. To put it even more bluntly, we cannot expect Americans to be the only ones to take care of us," Orban said.

The US central bank has cut its key interest rate again as Donald Trump's election as president raises new uncertainty about the future for borrowing costs.

The cut puts the Federal Reserve's lending rate in the range of 4.5%-4.75%.

It marks the second drop in a row after the Fed lowered rates for the first time in more than four years in September, indicating confidence that price rises were finally stabilising.

Forecasters have been expecting borrowing costs to fall further in the months ahead but warned that Trump's plans for tax cuts, immigration and tariffs could keep pressure on inflation and drive up government borrowing, complicating those bets.

Interest rates on US debt have already jumped this week, reflecting those concerns.

The Fed's key rate - what it charges banks for short-term borrowing - sets a benchmark for lending across the economy, influencing how banks set interest rates for credit cards, mortgages and other loans.

Those borrowing costs have been hovering at the highest rates in two decades, after the Fed rapidly hiked rates in response to inflation in 2022, bringing its key rate to roughly 5.3%.

The cut announced on Thursday, which was widely expected, lowered rates by 0.25 percentage points.

Three people have been charged in connection with the death of Liam Payne, Argentinian authorities have said.

The singer died three weeks ago after falling from a third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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Officials in Cuba have begun restoring power after the country suffered a nationwide blackout on Wednesday caused by Hurricane Rafael, the country's president says.

Hurricane Rafael brought strong winds of up to 185km/h (115mph), causing a shutdown of the country's electricity system for the second time in just weeks.

At least 70,000 people were evacuated from their homes before the storm made landfall on Wednesday with warnings of storm surges, flash flooding, and mudslides.

No fatalities have been reported.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque as well as the capital Havana were severely hit.

"Every step from this point forward is geared towards recovery. Together we will do it," he added.

Th western parts of the country saw widespread flooding and damage to properties brought on by the hurricane. Most of the country's 10 million population are still without power.

In Havana, residents used shovels, brooms and buckets to clear rubbish, mud and branches as they assessed the damage on Thursday.

Fallen electricity pylons lined the motorway from the capital's west to Artemisa, and towns along the route were strewn with branches and debris from damaged homes.

One Artemisa resident said people were having to "improvise" to deal with the power cuts.

"If you don't have gas, you have to improvise with coal," Elias Perez said.

"Yesterday my wife and I got by with coal. It's a mess, but we have to keep going."

Last month, millions in Cuba were left without power for four days after issues with the country's old energy infrastructure caused a blackout.

That blackout also coincided with Hurricane Oscar, a less powerful category one storm that left a trail of destruction along the island's north-eastern coast.

Natalia Martinez, also from Artemisa, said: "We know how to survive, we're in the dark all the time, you know."

The US central bank has cut its key interest rate again as Donald Trump's election as president raises new uncertainty about the future for borrowing costs.

The cut puts the Federal Reserve's lending rate in the range of 4.5%-4.75%.

It marks the second drop in a row after the Fed lowered rates for the first time in more than four years in September, indicating confidence that price rises were finally stabilising.

Forecasters have been expecting borrowing costs to fall further in the months ahead but warned that Trump's plans for tax cuts, immigration and tariffs could keep pressure on inflation and drive up government borrowing, complicating those bets.

Interest rates on US debt have already jumped this week, reflecting those concerns.

The Fed's key rate - what it charges banks for short-term borrowing - sets a benchmark for lending across the economy, influencing how banks set interest rates for credit cards, mortgages and other loans.

Those borrowing costs have been hovering at the highest rates in two decades, after the Fed rapidly hiked rates in response to inflation in 2022, bringing its key rate to roughly 5.3%.

The cut announced on Thursday, which was widely expected, lowered rates by 0.25 percentage points.

The Israeli parliament has passed a law allowing the government to deport the family members of people convicted of terrorism offences, including Israeli citizens.

The controversial legislation, passed by 61 votes to 41, applies to first-degree relatives, meaning the parents, siblings or children of those found guilty.

Israeli human rights organisations say the law is unconstitutional.

Some opposition members of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, suggested it is targeted only at Palestinian citizens of Israel, sometimes called Israeli Arabs.

The law allows for the deportation of the family members of those who had advance knowledge and either failed to report the matter to the police or “expressed support or identification with an act of terrorism”.

Relatives of those who published “praise, sympathy or encouragement for an act of terrorism or a terrorist organisation” could also be deported.

Relatives would be deported by order of the interior minister. Some members of the Knesset suggested during the debate on the bill that it would not be used against Jewish Israeli citizens, the Times of Israel website reported.

“Yigal Amir’s family will not be deported anywhere," said Merav Michaeli of the Democrats, referring to former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassin, a Jewish extremist.

Launching a similar attack, Yesh Atid's Mickey Levy asked “whether you will deport Ben Gvir’s family,” a reference to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s conviction in his youth for incitement to violence and supporting a terror group.

Dr Dahlia Scheindlin, an Israeli political analyst, told the BBC there was "no question" the law was intended to apply to Arabs and Palestinians.

"It is very unlikely that a Jewish citizen of Israel would ever be deported under this law," Dr Scheindlin said.

"This is clear from certain provisions in the law itself but also important elements which will determine how the law is applied, including that in normal Israeli parlance, the term 'terror' is almost never applied to Jewish acts of violence against Palestinian civilians."

About 20% of the country's population are Palestinian citizens of Israel, also referred to as Israeli Arabs.

Over the past year, a number of them have been convicted for posting support or sympathy for Hamas on social media.

Both the justice ministry and the attorney general’s office have raised concerns about how the legislation, which will likely be challenged in court, can be enforced.

Eran Shamir-Borer, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute and a former international law expert for the Israeli military, said that if the legislation reaches the Supreme Court, it would likely to be struck down based on previous Israeli cases regarding deportation.

“The bottom line is this is completely non-constitutional and a clear conflict to Israel’s core values,” Shamir-Borer told the Associated Press news agency.

Those deported will be sent to Gaza or to “another destination determined according to the circumstances".

Other than the military, ordinary Israeli citizens are not legally allowed to enter Gaza.

About 100 Israelis are thought to be being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas, including around 60 who are thought to still be alive.

Israeli citizens would retain their citizenship even after being expelled from the country. They would not be allowed to return for between seven and 15 years.

For permanent residents, they could be deported for between 10 and 20 years.

The majority of the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem hold permanent Israeli residency.

In addition, a five-year temporary order was approved allowing for prison sentences for children under the age of 14 convicted of murder as part of an act of terrorism or as part of the activities of a terrorist organisation.

Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate a part of California that has been savaged by wildfire for a second day running.

The fast-moving wildfire was first reported near Moorpark, 40 miles north-west of Los Angeles, early on Wednesday and has been boosted by heavy winds.

California governor Gavin Newsom confirmed in a statement that more than 10,000 evacuation orders had been issued, while 3,500 homes and other structures were under threat and federal funds had been secured to help fight the fire.

The National Weather Service said winds were expected to decrease significantly by Thursday night, but warned that conditions for high fire danger would stay in effect for now.

Video footage and images show large plumes of smoke rising in the sky, covering entire neighbourhoods.

Ventura County fire chief Dustin Gardner said on Wednesday that the fire was moving "dangerously fast" and destroying everything in its path.

"Bushes are burning, grass is burning, hedgerows are burning, agricultural fields are burning and structures are burning," he said.

Fire officials also confirmed that two people suffered apparent smoke inhalation and were taken to hospitals on Wednesday. No firefighters reported significant injuries.

Officials in several southern Californian counties have meanwhile urged residents to watch out for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees.

The City of Ventura also posted on social media asking residents to limit their water use to ensure firefighters have enough water available to fight the blaze.

According to CBS, more than 20 schools in Ventura County will also be shut on Thursday.

The fire started during a Santa Ana wind event, featuring strong and dry winds that are sometimes referred to as devil winds.

Forecasters had reported gusts ranging from 70 to 80mph in some parts of Los Angeles County on Wednesday.

According to the Associated Press, the fire grew from just under 0.5 sq miles (about 1.2 sq km) to more than 16 sq miles (62 sq km) in just over five hours.

California is a state that is prone to wildfires. The amount of burned areas in the summer in northern and central California increased five times from 1996 to 2021 compared with the 24-year period before, which scientists attributed to human-caused climate change.

Not all wildfires can automatically be linked directly to climate change. The science is complicated and human factors, including how we manage land and forests, also contribute.

However, scientists say that climate change is making weather conditions that lead to wildfires, such as heat and drought, more likely.

South Korea’s president has apologised for a string of controversies surrounding his wife that included allegedly accepting a luxury Dior handbag and stock manipulation.

Addressing the nation on television, Yoon Suk Yeol said his wife, Kim Keon Hee, should have conducted herself better, but her portrayal had been excessively "demonised", adding that some of the claims against her were "exaggerated”.

The president said he would set up an office to oversee the first lady's official duties, but rejected a call for an investigation into her activities.

Yoon's apology came as he tries to reverse a dip in his popularity among the South Korean public, linked to the controversies surrounding his wife.

Late in 2023, left-wing YouTube channel Voice of Seoul published a video that purportedly showed Kim accepting a 3m won ($2,200; £1,800) Dior bag from a pastor, who filmed the exchange in September 2022 using a camera concealed in his watch.

In February, Yoon said that the footage was leaked as a "political manoeuvre", and did not apologise.

South Korea's Democratic Party, the opposition to Yoon's conservative People Power Party, at the time labelled the president's "shameless attitude" as "hopeless".

The scandal also caused rifts within Yoon's party, with one leader comparing Ms Kim with Marie Antoinette, the queen of France notorious for her extravagant lifestyle.

The opposition party has also long accused the first lady of being involved in stock price manipulation. Earlier in the year, Yoon vetoed a bill calling for his wife to be investigated over those allegations.

The party that will control the US House of Representatives for the next two years is currently unknown.

All 435 seats in the lower chamber of Congress were up for votes this year, and it may take days to get final results and see if Republicans will keep their slim majority. That would put the party in control of Congress and the White House when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in in January.

Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping that the last votes trickling in in a handful of tight races will be enough to give them a majority in the House.

A party needs 218 seats to take control. As it stands on Wednesday, Republicans have 197 and Democrats 188.

Here are some of the races that have yet to be called.

California: Democrats hold out hope for 5 potential gains

Democrats are closely monitoring five seats in California as crucial to winning back the House.

Challengers are hoping to defeat the incumbent Republicans and flip the seats blue, but initial polling shows incumbents holding onto their seats by narrow margins.

The key races to watch are:

• California's 45th: Republican Congresswoman Michelle Steel, the incumbent, is currently leading against Democrat Derek Tran with 66% of votes reported. She has a lead of 5 points.
• California's 27th: Democrat George Whitesides is challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Mike Garcia. With 67% of votes counted, Garcia leads by a narrow margin 2.4 points.
• California's 41st: Incumbent Republican Congressman Ken Calvert is running against Democrat Will Rollins. Calvert is winning by a narrow margin of 1 point with 60% of votes counted.
• California's 22nd: Democrat Rudy Salas is challenging incumbent Republican Congressman David Valadao, who currently leads with a margin of 10 points. A little over 50% of votes have been counted.
• California's 13th: Incumbent Republican Congressman John Duarte is running against Democrat Adam Gray. With 48% of votes counted, Duarte is leading by nearly 3 points.

Arizona: 2 toss-up seats too close to call

The two closely watched races in the state currently have margins of less than 2%.

Republican Juan Ciscomani currently leads his Democratic challenger, Kirsten Engel, by 1.5 points in Arizona's 6th district located in the southeast corner of the state. About 60% of votes have been counted.

In Arizona's 1st district, David Schweikert has a lead of 1.6 points over Democratic challenger Amish Shah, with 62% of votes counted.

Schweikert's district covers north-eastern Maricopa County, outside of Phoenix.

Maine: Democrat looks to defend seat in toss-up race

In Maine, incumbent Democratic Congressman Jared Golden is fighting to keep his seat - one of two congressional districts in the state.

Maine's 2nd Congressional district encompasses the majority of the state north of Augusta and Portland.

Golden is currently leading in the race against his Republican challenger, Austin Theriault, by nearly 4 points. Around 77% of votes have been counted.

Ohio: Democrat leads by less than one point

Democrats are looking to hold onto one seat in Ohio's 9th congressional district, which encompasses Toledo in northern Ohio.

Incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who has served in Congress since 1983, leads in the race against her Republican challenger, Derek Merrin.

Kaptur has a narrow 0.3 point lead. Around 94% of votes have been counted.

When Israel declared last month that it would target a Hezbollah-linked Lebanese microloan charity it triggered a frenzied search for a list of the organisation’s branches.

People across the country tried to figure out whether they needed to flee their homes where the branches were located before Israel started bombing.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association (AQAH), a charity that offers interest-free microloans, had grown in prominence over the past decade amid US sanctions and the collapse of Lebanon’s banking sector.

Hassan lives with his family in Beirut, 200m (655ft) away from a branch of AQAH.

“We heard about it from this guy Avichay,” he said, referring to Avichay Adraee, a spokesman in Arabic for the Israeli army who announces evacuation orders on social media.

“Then the bombing started in [the southern Beirut suburb of] Dahieh. We could hear it: ‘Boom, boom, boom.’ The kids jump at every ‘boom’.”

With nowhere else to go, Hassan took his family to the seaside, where they spent a sleepless night squeezed together in the car.

The Israeli air force attacked around 30 AQAH branches that night, but the branch next to Hassan’s home was spared, and he went back the next morning.

Israel has been hitting some of the civilian organisations linked to Hezbollah, as part of its campaign in Lebanon.

Aside from the AQAH, it has hit the Islamic Health Society (IHS), funded by Hezbollah, which operates emergency services, hospitals and medical centres across the county. It has also struck its search-and-rescue teams, killing dozens of rescue workers. Israel claims Hezbollah “is using the IHS as a cover for terrorist activities” and that those killed were carrying out military roles - but that is denied by the IHS.

Israel has also hit buildings housing people who had been displaced by its bombing and evacuation orders.

Such attacks raised widespread suspicion here in Lebanon that Israel is targeting the civilian population that is supportive of Hezbollah - widely referred to here as the ‘bi’a’ of Hezbollah, a word that translates literally as “environment”, and is taken to refer to the social base of the group.

It is a community made up of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who support the party, vote for it, are employed by various civilian organisations linked to it, or are relatives of Hezbollah fighters and members.

Hezbollah’s relationship with that social base - concentrated in Shia-majority areas in the south, the eastern Bekaa valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut – has long been considered a source of strength for the group.

But it has also placed it in the crosshairs of Hezbollah’s enemies.

Israel says AQAH finances Hezbollah’s military activities - a claim denied by the group, which says it has no role beyond offering small, interest-free loans to ordinary Lebanese, in line with Islamic law’s prohibition on charging interest.

Following the strikes on AQAH branches last month, Israel’s then-defence minister said on X that Israel was “destroying the terrorist organisation’s ability to both launch and buy missiles”.

From an international humanitarian law perspective, experts say AQAH is not a lawful military target regardless of Israel’s claims that it plays a role in financing Hezbollah.

“International humanitarian law does not permit attacks on the economic or financial infrastructure of an adversary, even if they indirectly sustain its military activities,” according to Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism.

Mr Saul said the bombing “obliterates the distinction between civilian objects and military objectives” and “opens the door to ‘total war’ against civilian populations”.

So what could Israel hope to achieve by bombing civilian organisations linked to Hezbollah?

Amal Saad, a lecturer in politics and international relations at Cardiff University and a leading expert on Hezbollah, believes the attacks are aimed at dismantling what is also known as Hezbollah’s “community of resistance.”

“Hezbollah is probably the second biggest employer after the state,” says Ms Saad. “Its civilian institutions affect hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, mainly Shia. It’s a way of strangulating the community further.”

It would not be the first time Hezbollah’s social base came under attack. During the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, Israel flattened neighbourhoods in Dahieh, and two years later, revealed a military strategy drawn from that experience - what came to be known as the Dahieh Doctrine.

It was first articulated by then-Maj Gen Gadi Eizenkot in 2008 when he was head of the Israeli military’s Northern Command. This doctrine - as it came to be known - called for applying “disproportionate force” against civilian areas where Israel believes it is attacked from, with the goal of pressuring the people of Lebanon to turn on Hezbollah to undermine support for it.

‘From our perspective, these are military bases…,” he said at the time. “Harming the population is the only means of restraining [Hassan] Nasrallah," he said, referring to the then-leader of Hezbollah. Nasrallah was killed in an air strike in Dahieh in September 2024.

Now, Israel is striking that population in areas far removed from combat, such as Wardaniyeh, north-east of Sidon, in addition to striking Hezbollah’s network of civilian organisations.

In a response to the BBC, the IDF said it was “operating solely against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, not against the Lebanese population or medical facilities, and as such takes many measures to mitigate harm to civilians”.

“The IDF operations have been planned based on extensive intelligence gathering and in strict accordance with international law,” it added.

AQAH is just one of several organisations linked to Hezbollah that throws lifelines to hundreds of thousands of Lebanese - especially those that form the movement’s base.

Its story is intertwined with that of Lebanon’s financial and economic collapse.

Founded in the early 1980s, it gave out loans to families and newly-weds, helping them meet different personal needs. More recently, the association was also beginning to offer loans for such things as agricultural projects and solar panels.

The US imposed sanctions on AQAH in 2007, saying it was being used by Hezbollah “as a cover to manage its financial activities”.

It was thrust into the spotlight again in August 2019, when the US treasury sanctioned Jammal Trust Bank, claiming, among other things, that it “knowingly facilitates the banking activities of US-designated entities openly affiliated with Hezbollah”, including AQAH. The bank was forced to close less than three weeks later.

But the combination of US sanctions and the collapse of Lebanon’s banking sector in October 2019 caused the association to grow like never before. As a result of sanctions on individuals and entities the US said had links to Hezbollah, Lebanese banks closed accounts of people they suspected might cause them trouble with the US treasury. Many of them took their money to AQAH.

Then, even more people deposited money there due to the collapse of trust in the banking system - after Lebanese banks withheld people’s savings, following the financial and economic collapse in 2019.

AQAH ended up being a support for many Lebanese who were ejected from the financial system due to US sanctions, and then for more people who had nowhere to deposit their savings following the crash.

Many of them will be among the million or so displaced people scattered across Lebanon today - mostly from the south, the Bekaa, and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Many of them are crammed together in government-run shelters and empty buildings. They watch helplessly as much of their villages and cities has been decimated by the Israeli military.

Those whose homes are still standing live in fearful anticipation of the next wave of bombing, while those with deposits with AQAH now worry that their savings are gone, in their hour of greatest need.

The displaced have themselves also been bombed, in areas far removed from combat zones - such as in the Christian majority northern village of Aitou, where 23 people were killed in an air strike last month - and their host communities across the country are increasingly uneasy; no-one knows when and where Israel might strike.

Meanwhile in the south, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been clashing directly for a month now, after Israel launched an invasion of south Lebanon in early October.

Whichever way the fighting on the ground goes, Israel is exerting pressure on Lebanese society as a whole, through its strikes on civilian institutions like AQAH.

Some have argued that such attacks may be part of a strategy aimed at ripping through Lebanon’s social fabric, and transforming the country into a hostile environment for Hezbollah and its “community of resistance”.

While the world has been watching Washington, Germany is quietly going into political meltdown.

This is a very German crisis involving coalition infighting and complicated constitutional questions.

But behind the complex political wrangling, Europe’s most powerful economy has been left rudderless, at a time when economic growth has stalled and EU leaders are nervous about an impending Trump presidency.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the leader of one of the three coalition parties, on Wednesday night. Two of Lindner's three colleagues in cabinet promptly quit, effectively breaking apart the coalition government.

Scholz now leads a minority government until fresh elections, which means ordinary business can continue.

But because he no longer has a majority in parliament, the chancellor now needs opposition support to push through anything new, including crucially the 2025 budget, which is supposed to be agreed next week.

New measures to help Ukraine or boost defence spending would also be difficult to agree without help from opposition parties.

The Social Democrat chancellor has called on opposition conservative leader Friedrich Merz to support him to push through key policies, many of which the conservatives also agree with, such as more support for Ukraine.

They met on Thursday, with Scholz appealing for "constructive co-operation on issues that are crucial for our country".

Donald Trump's victory is likely to mean less funding for Ukraine, and as Germany is second to the US in financial support for Kyiv, the onus may fall on Berlin to increase its help.

Greens Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had just returned from a visit to Ukraine when she said the coalition collapse was "not a good day for Germany and not a good day for Europe".

Scholz wants to hold a parliamentary vote of confidence on 15 January, which would then lead to elections in March, six months before their scheduled date.

But it looks like Merz, who wants to be Germany's next chancellor as head of the Christian Democrats, is not playing ball.

He has demanded an immediate vote of confidence and snap elections in January, saying there is a range of decisions within the EU that need to be made, and that they need a functioning German government.

“We just cannot afford to have a government without a majority for several months, and then another few months of election campaigning, and then possibly another few months of coalition negotiations,” he said.

Other opposition parties have called for snap elections too.

Whenever they do happen, it's clear that campaigning season has already begun.

Germany's president has called for "reason and responsibility" to prevail, but this was a coalition collapse that was months in the making. And it was all about money.

This uncomfortable three-way coalition was pulled apart by two very different visions of how to stimulate Germany’s flagging economy.

Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats and the Greens want to use debt to modernise infrastructure, shift to environmental energy and help industry, as well as Ukraine.

But Christian Lindner’s free-market liberal FDP is ideologically opposed to new borrowing, instead calling for lower taxes, cuts in social spending and pushing back environmental targets.

The crunch came in crisis talks this week, when it became clear that both sides were irreconcilable.

After the talks collapsed on Wednesday night, the chancellor delivered a scathing attack on his finance minister, calling Lindner egotistical and irresponsible for his unwillingness to compromise for the good of the country.

“He broke my trust too often,” said the chancellor, accusing Lindner of putting the short-term survival of his party over the welfare of the country.

Such public vitriol from a chancellor about a minister and coalition partner is unprecedented in German politics. If this was the televised public statement, just imagine what the mood was like behind closed doors.

Before the US election, Scholz allies argued that now was not the time for early elections and political instability in Germany.

But for the past year, coalition rows have regularly blown up over spending. And for voters, the bickering has become unbearable, meaning that poll numbers for all three parties have slumped.

Some argue that allowing a dysfunctional government to hobble on for another year would have led to more instability and deadlock.

There are also fears that a perceived inability of mainstream parties to govern plays into the hands of the far-right AfD and the new populist far-left BSW party.

Although the conservative Christian Democrats and their allies are well ahead in the polls, the AfD regularly comes second.

The prospect of a Trump presidency has begun to concentrate minds in Berlin. It could harm the German economy with tariffs and undermine national security by rolling back support for Ukraine.

Many have now come to the conclusion that Germany needs a united and effective government now more than ever.

One of Russia's youngest political prisoners has lost an appeal to overturn a five-year jail sentence.

Arseny Turbin was only 15 when he was arrested in the summer of 2023.

Authorities accused him of joining the Freedom of Russia Legion - a paramilitary unit composed of Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine against the Russian army.

The Freedom of Russia Legion is designated as terrorist organisation by Russia, and Arseny was sentenced to five years in a juvenile colony. On Thursday, the court of appeal reduced his five-year term - but only by 24 days.

Arseny is one of nine minors who have faced politically motivated criminal charges since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent crackdown on civil liberties, according to Russian human rights organisation OVD-Info.

He denies all the charges against him. He says he researched the legion but that he never applied and has committed no crime. His mother Irina also maintains he is innocent.

“I just don’t understand the judge who handed down the sentence,” she told the BBC.

Investigators have also claimed Arseny distributed leaflets critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the legion’s behalf.

He admitted to distributing leaflets but denied following instructions from anybody.

Arseny did openly criticise Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin in school.

He was also politically active on social media, reposting content from Russian opposition figures and occasionally sharing his own political content, including a video in which he can be seen holding a solo picket in support of late opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

His mother says he was acting of his own accord and not on the instructions of the Freedom of Russia Legion.

Yet, in late August 2023, agents from the FSB, Russia’s security service, searched Arseny’s home in the small town of Livny, 450km (280 miles) south of Moscow, and confiscated his electronic devices.

The next day he was summoned for questioning and accused of joining the Freedom of Russia Legion.

“I was hysterical, I was shaking, crying," says his mother. "Arseny told me: 'Mum, calm down, I didn’t commit any crime, they will work it out.'"

No lawyer was present during the interrogation, which Irina deeply regrets. She believes the FSB subsequently added to the transcript a confession of guilt that Arseny never made.

Some of his schoolmates were questioned by investigators and said Arseny would often criticise Putin and Russia's actions in Ukraine. But in their statements - which the BBC has seen - none of them said he had a connection to the Freedom of Russia Legion.

Nevertheless, Arseny was formally arrested the following week.

He spent several months under house arrest as he awaited sentencing. Then, last June, he was transferred to a Moscow detention centre, where he has been detained ever since.

In that time, his mother says his weight has dropped from 69kg to 52kg as he struggled with lack of appetite due to constant stress.

Irina also noticed he has withdrawn emotionally, and that he often asks why he is punished for something he did not do.

For a time Arseny also had a violent cellmate who attacked him, hit him on the head and threatened him.

Speaking to the BBC, Irina and Arseny’s teachers painted a picture of a highly intelligent and politically engaged young man who now faces several long years in jail for a crime he did not commit.

His mother said from a young age Arseny had been passionate about science, particularly physics and economics.

He had dreamed of studying political science at a prestigious Moscow university. “He wanted to improve life in Russia,” his mother said.

She spoke of her son having a strong sense of justice, which he developed after experiencing bullying at school.

He was frequently mocked and called derogatory names because he was born in Dubai and his father was from the United Arab Emirates.

Irina says that since his arrest Arseny no longer has any friends, as most have distanced themselves from him.

Her neighbours and co-workers even accuse her of having “raised a terrorist”, she says.

If Arseny really was innocent, they argue, the court would have acquitted him. She believes they don’t fully understand how the Russian judicial system works.

Her standard response is to hope they never have to encounter the system themselves.

"But if you do, you’ll find out.”

The re-election of Donald Trump to the White House is focusing minds in Europe, and with dozens of leaders meeting in Budapest, they have the perfect chance to talk it through.

Trump's first term in office saw a dramatic souring of relations. He was angry European countries didn’t pay more towards their own security.

He was livid about the US trade deficit with Europe. And he seemed particularly irate with EU big power Germany on both those counts. Just ask German ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel.

So what will the future Trump presidency mean for the continent? And in particular, for Ukraine?

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky is in the Hungarian capital for a meeting of the European Political Community. It was the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron - launched following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a talking-shop to jointly tackle continental challenges.

The fear here is that the new US administration will slow, if not stop, the flow of American military aid to Kyiv. The US has been the largest single donor to Ukraine. By far. And Europe will struggle to take up the slack.

Donald Trump boasted in the past he could end the war with Russia in a day. What isn’t clear is whether he wants Ukraine to win.

Europe’s leaders, notably UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have repeatedly pledged to stand by Ukraine.

Zelensky will appeal to them on Thursday to stay true to their word.

Things look challenging for Kyiv, to say the least.

Not only is the future of US military aid now insecure, there’s a question mark too over Ukraine’s second largest donor, Germany. Its three-party coalition government crumbled late on Wednesday.

On top of all this, the host of Thursday’s meeting is none other than Hungary’s Trump-enthusiastic Prime Minister, Viktor Orban. Also well-known for his close ties to Moscow, his reluctance to impose sanctions on Russia and to provide self-defence weapons to Ukraine.

He has repeatedly called on the EU to demand an "unconditional and immediate ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia: going against the insistence among Ukraine’s Western allies to date that Kyiv should dictate its own terms.

Orban describes Donald Trump as being in what he calls his "pro-peace" camp.

All that said, President Zelensky and others in Budapest this Thursday hope to maintain friendly relations with the new Trump administration for as long as possible.

The mainly gushing congratulatory messages from Europe’s leaders on social media made that abundantly clear. But Trump will know that most of them favoured his Democrat rival for the presidency, Kamala Harris.

The US electoral race was always predicted to be tight, and EU officials insist they are better prepared for Trump 2.0 than in 2016, when they were taken by surprise.

But Donald Trump’s isolationism still worries Europe deeply.

The continent looks to the US for security. It has done so since the end of World War Two. It seeks protection from Russian expansionism and help in defending Ukraine. Problem is: Trump is no fan (and that’s putting it politely) of Nato, the transatlantic military alliance.

Trade is another concern, especially for the EU.

The US is its biggest trade partner. But Donald Trump is protectionist. He loves slapping tariffs on imports, he says.

This is bad news for Europe’s already sluggish economies. Like export-reliant Germany, with its ailing automobile industry. The European Commission says it’s ready, if needs be, with retaliatory measures, but would rather avoid marching down the trade war path with Trump.

Unity is another niggle. Trump, with his America First policy, not unlike Russia's Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping of China, who push their own nationalist agendas on the world stage, would prefer not to face off against a strong, united Europe. Divide and rule is their preference.

Viktor Orban is not the only huge Trump fan here. So is Slovakia’s prime minister, and, to an extent, Italy’s premier too. They lean towards Donald Trump in a way that divides them from most of the rest.

Brussels frets about other EU member states now potentially rushing to secure good bilateral relations with Donald Trump at the expense of unity. Leaving the bloc weaker.

But an EU diplomat I spoke to, who asked not to be named in order to speak freely, believes the opposite could also be true.

“We in Brussels angst-ed about Brexit at the time,” he told me.

“We thought other member states would follow the UK out the EU door. But the reverse happened. EU countries melded together more through the Brexit process. Donald Trump might have the same effect on us. Drive us closer together. Force us to be more self-reliant.”

Just before US election day, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, himself a former big figure in Brussels proclaimed on X: “The future of Europe no longer depends on presidential elections in the US, but primarily on Europe itself.”

Maybe. Or maybe not.

Another, rather scared school of thought amongst traditional politicians in Europe is that this victory for Donald Trump could prove a boost for right-wing nationalists far closer to home.

European populists who share his belief that they are the true voice of voters: upset about the economy, about immigration, about the state of their respective countries and demanding change now.

• Seven things Trump says he will do in power
• When does he become president again?
• What happens to his legal cases now
• How he pulled off an incredible comeback

The US Department of Justice is in talks with the office of special counsel Jack Smith over winding down the two federal cases he is overseeing against president-elect Donald Trump, according to US media reports.

Last year, Mr Smith brought charges against Trump over the alleged mishandling of classified documents and his suspected role in attempting to thwart the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election.

But the justice department has a long-standing policy that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted - which would apply when Trump returns to office in January.

Trump said during the election campaign that he would fire Mr Smith "within two seconds" if he was returned to office.

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According to the BBC's US partner CBS News, two sources close to the talks say they centre on rules which prevent sitting presidents from being prosecuted and the need for a smooth transition between the outgoing Biden administration and Trump.

Deciding not to continue with the federal cases before Trump's inauguration in January would also avoid a showdown between the incoming president and the justice department, the Associated Press reported.

Mr Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022.

The two indictments brought by Mr Smith accuse Trump of conspiracy to reverse the 2020 election results in the run-up to the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot, and with retaining top secret records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and obstructing FBI efforts to recover them.

The classified documents case is currently stalled in the appeal court after a US judge dismissed it on the grounds that Mr Smith was not properly appointed by the justice department. Mr Smith appealed against the ruling and the case is currently pending.

The election interference prosecution has been put on hold after the US Supreme Court ruled that presidents have some immunity from criminal charges relating to official actions. Mr Smith's team revised the indictment in August saying it showed the actions alleged in the indictment were carried out by Trump as a political candidate.

The two sides in that case are currently debating whether the charges still stand.

• Results: Who did each state vote for?
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The re-election of Donald Trump to the White House is focusing minds in Europe, and with dozens of leaders meeting in Budapest, they have the perfect chance to talk it through.

Trump's first term in office saw a dramatic souring of relations. He was angry European countries didn’t pay more towards their own security.

He was livid about the US trade deficit with Europe. And he seemed particularly irate with EU big power Germany on both those counts. Just ask German ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel.

So what will the future Trump presidency mean for the continent? And in particular, for Ukraine?

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky is in the Hungarian capital for a meeting of the European Political Community. It was the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron - launched following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a talking-shop to jointly tackle continental challenges.

The fear here is that the new US administration will slow, if not stop, the flow of American military aid to Kyiv. The US has been the largest single donor to Ukraine. By far. And Europe will struggle to take up the slack.

Donald Trump boasted in the past he could end the war with Russia in a day. What isn’t clear is whether he wants Ukraine to win.

Europe’s leaders, notably UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have repeatedly pledged to stand by Ukraine.

Zelensky will appeal to them on Thursday to stay true to their word.

Things look challenging for Kyiv, to say the least.

Not only is the future of US military aid now insecure, there’s a question mark too over Ukraine’s second largest donor, Germany. Its three-party coalition government crumbled late on Wednesday.

On top of all this, the host of Thursday’s meeting is none other than Hungary’s Trump-enthusiastic Prime Minister, Viktor Orban. Also well-known for his close ties to Moscow, his reluctance to impose sanctions on Russia and to provide self-defence weapons to Ukraine.

He has repeatedly called on the EU to demand an "unconditional and immediate ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia: going against the insistence among Ukraine’s Western allies to date that Kyiv should dictate its own terms.

Orban describes Donald Trump as being in what he calls his "pro-peace" camp.

All that said, President Zelensky and others in Budapest this Thursday hope to maintain friendly relations with the new Trump administration for as long as possible.

The mainly gushing congratulatory messages from Europe’s leaders on social media made that abundantly clear. But Trump will know that most of them favoured his Democrat rival for the presidency, Kamala Harris.

The US electoral race was always predicted to be tight, and EU officials insist they are better prepared for Trump 2.0 than in 2016, when they were taken by surprise.

But Donald Trump’s isolationism still worries Europe deeply.

The continent looks to the US for security. It has done so since the end of World War Two. It seeks protection from Russian expansionism and help in defending Ukraine. Problem is: Trump is no fan (and that’s putting it politely) of Nato, the transatlantic military alliance.

Trade is another concern, especially for the EU.

The US is its biggest trade partner. But Donald Trump is protectionist. He loves slapping tariffs on imports, he says.

This is bad news for Europe’s already sluggish economies. Like export-reliant Germany, with its ailing automobile industry. The European Commission says it’s ready, if needs be, with retaliatory measures, but would rather avoid marching down the trade war path with Trump.

Unity is another niggle. Trump, with his America First policy, not unlike Russia's Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping of China, who push their own nationalist agendas on the world stage, would prefer not to face off against a strong, united Europe. Divide and rule is their preference.

Viktor Orban is not the only huge Trump fan here. So is Slovakia’s prime minister, and, to an extent, Italy’s premier too. They lean towards Donald Trump in a way that divides them from most of the rest.

Brussels frets about other EU member states now potentially rushing to secure good bilateral relations with Donald Trump at the expense of unity. Leaving the bloc weaker.

But an EU diplomat I spoke to, who asked not to be named in order to speak freely, believes the opposite could also be true.

“We in Brussels angst-ed about Brexit at the time,” he told me.

“We thought other member states would follow the UK out the EU door. But the reverse happened. EU countries melded together more through the Brexit process. Donald Trump might have the same effect on us. Drive us closer together. Force us to be more self-reliant.”

Just before US election day, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, himself a former big figure in Brussels proclaimed on X: “The future of Europe no longer depends on presidential elections in the US, but primarily on Europe itself.”

Maybe. Or maybe not.

Another, rather scared school of thought amongst traditional politicians in Europe is that this victory for Donald Trump could prove a boost for right-wing nationalists far closer to home.

European populists who share his belief that they are the true voice of voters: upset about the economy, about immigration, about the state of their respective countries and demanding change now.

• Seven things Trump says he will do in power
• When does he become president again?
• What happens to his legal cases now
• How he pulled off an incredible comeback

Nearly a month ago, Kamala Harris appeared on ABC's The View in what was expected to be a friendly interview aimed at pitching herself to Americans who wanted to know more about her.

But the sit-down was quickly overshadowed by her response to a question on what she would have done differently from incumbent president, Joe Biden: "Not a thing comes to mind."

Harris's answer - which became a Republican attack ad on loop - underscored the political headwinds that her jumpstart campaign failed to overcome in her decisive loss to Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Publicly, she conceded the race late on Wednesday afternoon, telling supporters "do not despair".

But soul-searching over where she went wrong and what else she could have done will likely take longer as Democrats begin finger-pointing and raising questions about the future of the party.

Harris campaign officials were silent in the early Wednesday hours while some aides expressed tearful shock over what they had expected to be a much closer race.

"Losing is unfathomably painful. It is hard," Harris campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said in an email to staff on Wednesday. "This will take a long time to process."

As the sitting vice-president, Harris was unable to untether herself from an unpopular president and convince voters that she could offer the change they were seeking amid widespread economic anxiety.

Biden's baggage

After Biden dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate performance, Harris was anointed to the top of the ticket, bypassing the scrutiny of a primary without a single vote being cast.

She began her 100-day campaign promising a "new generation of leadership", rallying women around abortion rights and vowing to win back working-class voters by focusing on economic issues including rising costs and housing affordability.

With just three months until election day, she generated a wave of initial momentum, which included a flurry of memes on social media, a star-studded endorsement list that included Taylor Swift and a record-setting donation windfall. But Harris couldn't shake the anti-Biden sentiment that permeated much of the electorate.

The president's approval rating has consistently hovered in the low 40s throughout his four years in office, while some two-thirds of voters say they believe the US is on the wrong track.

Some allies have privately questioned whether Harris remained too loyal to Biden in her bid to replace him. But Jamal Simmons, the vice-president's former communication director, called it a "trap", arguing any distance would have only handed Republicans another attack line for being disloyal.

"You can't really run away from the president who chooses you," he said.

Harris tried to walk the fine line of addressing the administration's record without casting shade on her boss, showing a reluctance to break with any of Biden's policies while also not outwardly promoting them on the campaign trail.

But she then failed to deliver a convincing argument about why she should lead the country, and how she would handle economic frustrations as well as widespread concerns over immigration.

About 3 in 10 voters said their family's financial situation was falling behind, an increase from about 2 in 10 four years ago, according to data from AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 US voters conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago.

Nine in 10 voters were very or somewhat concerned about the price of groceries.

The same survey found that 4 in 10 voters said immigrants living in the US illegally should be deported to their country of origin, up from around 3 in 10 who said the same in 2020.

And though Harris tried to spend the home stretch of her campaign underlining that her administration would not be a continuation of Biden's, she failed to clearly outline her own policies, often skirting around issues instead of addressing perceived failures head on.

Struggle to build on Biden's network of support

The Harris campaign had hoped to reassemble the voting base that powered Biden's 2020 victory, winning over the core Democratic constituencies of black, Latino and young voters as well as making further gains with college-educated suburban voters.

But she underperformed with these key voting blocs. She lost 13 points with Latino voters, two points with black voters, and six points with voters under 30, according to exit polls, which may change as votes are counted, but are considered representative of trends.

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who lost the 2016 Democratic presidential primary to Hillary Clinton and the 2020 primary to Biden, said in a statement it was "no great surprise" that working class voters abandoned the party.

"First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and Black workers as well. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change," he said. "And they're right."

While women largely threw their support behind Harris over Trump, the vice-president's lead did not exceed the margins that her campaign had hoped her historic candidacy would turn out. And she was unable to deliver on her ambitions of winning over suburban Republican women, losing 53% of white women.

In the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, Democrats had hoped her focus on the fight for reproductive rights would deliver a decisive victory.

While some 54% of female voters cast their ballots for Harris, it fell short of the 57% who backed Biden in 2020, according to exit poll data.

Making it about Trump backfired

Even before she was catapulted to the top of the ticket, Harris had sought to frame the race as a referendum on Trump, not Biden.

The former California prosecutor leaned into her law enforcement record to prosecute the case against the former president.

But her nascent campaign opted to ditch Biden's core argument that Trump posed an existential threat to democracy, prioritising a forward-looking "joyful" message about protecting personal freedoms and preserving the middle class.

In the final stretch, however, Harris made a tactical decision to again highlight the dangers of a second Trump presidency, calling the president a "fascist" and campaigning with disaffected Republicans fed up with his rhetoric.

After Trump's former White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly, told the New York Times that Trump spoke approvingly about Adolf Hitler, Harris delivered remarks outside her official residence describing the president as "unhinged and unstable".

• Why Harris moved from 'joy' to calling Trump 'a fascist"

"Kamala Harris lost this election when she pivoted to focus almost exclusively on attacking Donald Trump," veteran Republican pollster Frank Luntz said on Tuesday night.

"Voters already know everything there is about Trump – but they still wanted to know more about Harris’ plans for the first hour, first day, first month and first year of her administration."

“It was a colossal failure for her campaign to shine the spotlight on Trump more than on Harris’s own ideas,” he added.

Ultimately, the winning coalition Harris needed to beat Trump never materialised, and voters' resounding rejection of Democrats showed that the party has a deeper problem than just an unpopular president.

• GLOBAL: What does Trump victory mean for UK?
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• IN FULL: All our election coverage in one place

Germany's governing coalition is in crisis after Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired a key minister and said he would call a vote of confidence in his government early next year.

Scholz said he had no confidence in Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who leads a rival party that has been part of the coalition along with Scholz's SDP and the Greens.

The move means Scholz's government no longer has a majority in parliament and the confidence vote could lead to early elections by March.

The so-called “traffic light” coalition led by the chancellor has ruled Germany since 2021.

Scholz said he did not have trust in any future cooperation with Lindner. He harshly criticised his former finance minister, saying he had "betrayed my confidence" and accusing him of putting the interests of his party base over those of the country.

He added that Germany needed to show it could be relied upon by other countries, particularly following the election of Donald Trump.

The chancellor leads the centre-left Social Democrats, which formed a coalition with the environmentalist Greens and economically liberal FDP in 2021. The trio's alliance was nicknamed the "traffic light" coalition for their party colours.

The traffic light coalition took office after 16 years of rule by Angela Merkel, of the conservative CDU.

The crisis inside the coalition plunged the government of Europe's largest economy into chaos, hours after Trump's election triggered deep uncertainty about the continent's future economy and security.

Lindner reportedly favoured cutting taxes and weakening climate regulations in a dispute over strengthening Germany's public finances, positions rejected by his coalition partners.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens said the party would not quit the government and that its ministers would remain in office.

Scholz announced that a vote of confidence would be held in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, on 15 January. If MPs vote down the government, the country would fresh elections go to early elections within weeks, instead of the scheduled date in September.

The CDU is currently far ahead in the polls. Scholz's Social Democrats and the far-right Alternative for Germany are tied for second.

Australian scientists have solved a mystery which has gripped Sydney: what were the sticky dark blobs which washed up on some of the city's famed beaches last month?

Initially believed to be tar balls, they were in fact a "disgusting" combination of human faeces, cooking oil, chemicals and illicit drugs, researchers say.

Eight beaches including Bondi were closed for several days and a massive clean-up ordered after thousands of the black deposits started appearing from 16 October.

Testing by chemists has determined the balls were most likely the result of a sewage spill, though their exact origin remains unknown.

Last month authorities in New South Wales (NSW) said they suspected the objects were a mixture of fatty acids, fuel oil and chemicals found in cleaning and cosmetic products.

But further testing found the material is unlikely to have originated solely from an oil spill or waste from a ship, as some had thought.

Each ball was slightly different but had a firm surface - hardened partially by accumulating sand and minerals like calcium - and a soft core.

Inside was everything from cooking oil and soap scum molecules, to blood pressure medication, pesticides, hair, methamphetamine and veterinary drugs.

"They smell absolutely disgusting, they smell worse than anything you've ever smelt," lead investigator Associate Professor Jon Beves, from the University of NSW, told 9News.

Professor William Alexander Donald said they resembled fat, oil, and grease blobs - often called fatbergs - which are commonly formed in sewerage systems.

Detecting this along with recreational drugs and and industrial chemicals had "pointed us to sewage and other sources of urban effluent", he explained.

The researchers said they had received unconfirmed reports of smaller but otherwise similar balls washing up over the past two years.

Sydney Water has reported that there are no known issues with waste systems in the city.

Donald Trump has won the presidency of the United States, gaining a historic second term.

Votes are still being counted, but a picture is emerging of what tipped the balance in Trump’s favour: relatively small shifts in support in many different places.

The map below shows in red the states where Trump won. Kamala Harris’s victories are shown in blue.

For the data in the map, click here

Trump gathered the 270 electoral college votes needed to win after capturing three battleground states from the Democrats: Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, shown in red stripes.

His margin of victory was slim in all three, but in Wisconsin he won by less than one percentage point - just over 28,000 votes at latest count.

It is difficult to identify a single group or area in the state that moved the needle towards Trump.

Neither party increased its share of the vote by more than 5% in any county across the state, compared with 2020. If you look at the map below the change is almost imperceptible.

Harris did well in her traditional urban strongholds of Milwaukee and Madison. Voters did come out for her in large numbers, yet it was Trump’s small but widespread gains in counties across the state that did the trick.

In 2020, Biden’s wins in Georgia and Pennsylvania were key to clinching the presidency.

This election, Trump took both states. The precise reason is unclear as votes are still being counted, but what is emerging is a similar pattern of slight but widespread shifts towards Trump.

Trump gains with Hispanic Nevadans

In the western battleground of Nevada, Trump is leading. In the vote tally so far, there has been little change among the largest groups of voters.

Black voters chose Harris in similar numbers as they did Biden, while white voters maintained their support for Trump.

Yet the exit poll suggested Trump saw a substantial increase in support among Hispanic and Asian voters, with Harris losing ground compared with Biden four years ago.

Trump raised his share among Hispanic voters by 13 points compared with 2020, which meant he and Harris ended up in a tie, both securing 48% of that vote.

He also enjoyed a very substantial swing among Nevada’s Asian voters, from 35% in 2020 to 57% in 2024.

While the Asian community accounts for just 4% of voters surveyed, we’ve seen how similarly small shifts made the difference elsewhere.

Margins of victory

A picture seems to be forming once again of a divide between rural and urban voters, as shown in the county level map below, although counting continues in many states particularly in the west.

Harris led by tens of thousands of votes in major cities across the country.

But Trump dominated the rural counties that lie between them. His wins may not appear to be as sizeable, but they are pervasive. And those margins add up.

People voted for change

While the picture in the states that flipped will become clearer in the coming days, we can see some emerging trends on how different groups of people voted across the nation from US exit polls.

These cut across demographic groups and regions.

On immigration and the economy, Trump was seen as the overwhelming favourite among voters for whom either was the most important issue.

For voters who felt strongly about abortion or the state of democracy, more than three in four voted for Harris.

This suggests a stark difference in priorities across the two groups of voters.

Both campaigns emphasised these diverging issues in recent weeks, and it’s clear the messaging cut through.

The personalities of the candidates themselves may also have played a role in how ballots were cast.

For those looking for a presidential candidate who would “bring needed change” to the country, a large majority voted for Trump. And two-thirds of those who most valued leadership skills did the same.

A large majority of Harris voters chose her because they felt she had good judgement and “cared about people like me”.

But the desire for change can be a powerful force when it comes to the way voters choose to cast their ballot.