Samuel Paty was 47 when beheaded on the street outside his school in 2020
Eight people have gone on trial in Paris accused of encouraging the killer of Samuel Paty, the teacher who was beheaded on the street outside his school four years ago.
Abdoullakh Anzorov, the young man of Chechen origin who wielded the knife, is dead – shot by police in the minutes after his attack.
So the trial is less about the murder itself, and more about the circumstances that led to it.
Over seven weeks, the court will hear how a 13-year-old’s schoolgirl lie span out of control thanks to social media, triggering an international hate campaign, and inspiring a lone mission of vengeance from a self-styled defender of Islam.
On trial are two men accused of identifying Mr Paty as a “blasphemer” over the Internet, two friends of Anzorov who allegedly gave him logistical help, and four others who offered support on chatlines.
Mr Paty’s murder horrified – and petrified – France.
He was a conscientious and much-liked history teacher in a secondary school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, in the prosperous western suburbs of Paris.
On 6 October 2020 he gave a lesson on freedom of speech – the same lesson he had given several times before – to a class of young teenagers.
Drawing on the tragically famous episode of Charlie Hebdo magazine – how publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad had led to the 2015 murder of most of its staff – he briefly showed an example of the cartoons.
Before doing so he recommended that those who feared being offended avert their eyes.
The next day one of his pupils – the 13-year-old girl – was asked by her father why she was not going to school.
She told him she had been disciplined because she dared to stand up to Mr Paty when he told Muslims to leave the class so he could show a naked picture of the prophet.
It was a triple lie.
Mr Paty had not told Muslims to leave the class. The girl had been disciplined, but not for the reason she said. She had not even been in the room on the day Mr Paty gave the lesson on freedom of speech.
Getty Images
Thousands paid tribute to Samuel Paty after his murder
But with the Internet to send it on its way, the lie spread... and spread.
First the girl’s father – Brahim Chnina - made her repeat the claim on videos, which he posted on Facebook, naming the teacher.
Then, a local Islamist - Abdelhakim Sefrioui - created a 10-minute online video entitled “Islam and the prophet insulted in a public college.”
Within a couple of days the school was inundated with threats and messages of hate from around the world. Paty told colleagues that he was living through a difficult time because of the campaign against him.
Meanwhile, the denunciation had reached the attention of an 18-year-old Chechen refugee living in Rouen, 80km (50 miles) to the west.
Anzorov made an initial note on his telephone that read: “A teacher has shown his class a picture of the messenger of Allah naked.”
Anzorov then sought the help of two friends, who are now on trial.
One of them was allegedly present when he bought a knife in a Rouen shop. The other helped him buy two replica pistols on 16 October, the day of the attack, and then drove him to the school.
The four last defendants - including one woman - are people with whom Anzorov conversed on Snapchat and Twitter and who allegedly offered him encouragement.
The defendants admit their connection to the case, but they contest the charges of "terrorist association" or "complicity to commit terrorist murder".
Lawyers for the girl’s father and the Islamist preacher will argue that though they publicly condemned Mr Paty, they never called for his murder.
In a similar vein, lawyers for Anzorov’s friends – actual and online – will say they had no notion he planned a killing.
For the prosecution, context is key. Samuel Paty’s murder took place at a time of heightened awareness of the jihadist threat. In October 2020, Charlie Hebdo had just re-published some of the cartoons, to mark the start of a trial resulting from the original attack.
Divers have concentrated their search for missing bodies in garages and a multi-storey car park in the town of Aldaia
Spanish rescuers are focusing their search for missing people on underground garages and a multi-storey car park following last week's devastating floods in Valencia.
The death toll after a year's worth of rain fell in parts of the region last week now stands at 217.
A car park in the nearby town of Aldaia capable of holding thousands of vehicles, has become central to the search, but rescue teams have reportedly not yet found any bodies.
It comes as Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) placed part of the north-eastern Catalonia region on red alert for torrential rain, with its capital Barcelona experiencing flooding on Monday morning.
The car park at the Bonaire shopping centre in Aldaia was inundated during flash floods last week.
According to Spanish news agency Europa Press, police have confirmed that search teams did not locate any victims in the first 50 vehicles inspected at the site.
EPA-EFE/REX/Shuttershock
Divers are searching a car park in Aldaia which was inundated by the flash floods
The storm caught many victims in their vehicles on roads and in underground spaces such as car parks, tunnels and garages where rescue operations are particularly difficult.
Objects were also thrown at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was quickly evacuated.
The Civil Guard has opened an investigation into the chaotic scenes, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told public broadcaster TVE.
He blamed "marginal groups" for instigating the violence where mud spattered the monarchs' face and clothes.
Video shows angry crowd throwing objects at Spanish king on Sunday
Local authorities in Valencia have extended travel restrictions for another two days to facilitate the work of the emergency services, cancelled school classes and urged people to work from home.
In Catalonia, train services have been suspended due to adverse weather conditions, while footage shared online appears to show vehicles submerged in floodwater on roads.
A video showed the woman sitting in her underwear on steps at Islamic Azad University before walking down a nearby street
Human rights activists have called on authorities in Iran to release a woman who was detained after removing her clothes at a university, in what they said was a protest against the compulsory hijab laws.
A video surfaced on social media on Saturday showing the woman in her underwear sitting on some steps and then walking calmly along a pavement at the Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University in Tehran.
In a second video, the woman appears to remove her underwear. Shortly afterwards, plainclothes agents are seen forcibly detaining her and pushing her into a car.
Azad University said the woman suffered from a “mental disorder” and had been taken to a “psychiatric hospital”.
Many Iranians on social media questioned the claim and portrayed her actions as part of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement that has seen many women publicly defy the laws requiring them to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothing.
More than 500 people were reportedly killed during nationwide protests that erupted two years ago after a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, died in police custody after being detained for not wearing hijab “properly”.
It said the woman’s head hit the door or frame of the plainclothes agents’ car while she was being detained, causing it to bleed, and that she was taken to an undisclosed location.
Witness told BBC Persian that the woman entered their class at Azad University and began filming students. When the lecturer objected, she left, yelling, they said.
According to witnesses, the woman told the students: “I’ve come to save you.”
Iranian media meanwhile released a video of a man with his face blurred who claimed to be the woman’s ex-husband and asked the public not to share the video for the sake of her two children. BBC Persian has not been able to verify the man's claims.
“When I protested against mandatory hijab, after security forces arrested me, my family was pressured to declare me mentally ill,” said Canada-based women’s rights activist Azam Jangravi, who fled Iran after being sentenced to three years in prison for removing her headscarf during a protest in 2018.
“My family didn’t do it, but many families under pressure do, thinking it’s the best way to protect their loved ones. This is how the Islamic Republic tries to discredit women, by questioning their mental health,” she added.
Amnesty International said Iran “must immediately and unconditionally release the university student who was violently arrested”.
“Pending her release, authorities must protect her from torture and other ill-treatment, and ensure access to family and lawyer. Allegations of beatings and sexual violence against her during arrest need independent and impartial investigations. Those responsible must held to account,” it added.
Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is currently imprisoned in Iran, issued a statement saying she was gravely concerned about the case.
“Women pay the price for defiance, but we do not bow down to force,” she said.
“The student who protested at the university turned her body - long weaponized as a tool of repression - into a symbol of dissent. I call for her freedom and an end to the harassment of women.”
There have been numerous incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts among migrants
Migrants stranded for years on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia will be offered the right to come to the UK, under a government proposal.
Around 60 Sri Lankan Tamils have spent more than three years in a makeshift camp on the island, which hosts a secretive UK-US military base, after becoming the first people ever to file asylum claims there.
The government has previously opposed bringing the group to the UK and complex legal battles have been fought for years over their fate.
In a letter on Monday, government lawyers said that “following further consideration”, the government had proposed a “change of policy”.
Under this, “all families, children and those of the unaccompanied males who do not have criminal convictions, outstanding charges or investigations would be offered the opportunity to be transferred directly to the UK”.
It added that work on the offer was “ongoing” and a formal decision would be made within 48 hours. “Details will be provided as soon as possible,” it said.
In a phone call with one of the Tamils, an official said the decision to bring them to the UK was due to the “exceptional circumstances” of the island, adding that entry would be for “a short period of time”.
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesperson told reporters at a daily news briefing in Downing Street that “the government inherited a deeply-troubling situation that remained unresolved under the previous administration when it came to migrants who had arrived at Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia had clearly never been a suitable long-term location for migrants”.
He added “the government has been working to find a solution that protects their welfare and the integrity of British territorial borders”.
Lawyers representing the Tamils described the move as a “very welcome step” in a “long battle for justice”.
“After three years living in inhumane conditions, having to fight various injustices in court on numerous occasions, His Majesty’s Government [HMG] has now decided that our clients should now come directly to the UK. We hope that HMG will now take urgent steps to give effect to this decision,” Simon Robinson of UK law firm Duncan Lewis told the BBC.
“It looks like a dream. I don’t know what to think,” one Tamil said after receiving a call from an official with the news.
The UK had previously offered some of the group a temporary move to Romania with the possibility of then coming to the UK. Others were offered financial incentives to return to Sri Lanka.
Under a separate deal last month, future migrants arriving on Biot before the arrangement with Mauritius comes into force will be transferred to the island of St Helena - another UK territory some 5,000 miles away.
In court on Monday, lawyers said three people with criminal convictions may be sent to the island of Montserrat - a British territory in the Caribbean - to serve their sentences.
During the visit, the migrants walked the court through military tents they have been living in, pointing out damp, tears in the canvas, droppings, and a rats’ nest above one of the beds.
Over the past three years, there have been multiple hunger strikes on the island, and numerous incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts after which some people have been transferred to Rwanda for medical care.
“For three years I have been caged. Now they are releasing me but I don’t know what to do. I feel a bit blank,” one man in Rwanda said.
“I am very happy because I am coming to the UK. I thought they would send me to some other country.”
The group includes 16 children. Most are awaiting final decisions on claims for international protection - which the United Nations says is akin to refugee status - or appealing against rejections. In total, eight have been granted international protection.
Venâncio Mondlane got 20% of the vote, but says he was the real winner
Mozambique opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, the runner-up in last month's disputed presidential election, says he has escaped an assassination attempt in South Africa, where he sought refuge after challenging the results.
In a video posted to Facebook, Mondlane said he was in "mortal danger" after assassins had gone to his home to try to kill him.
Mondlane said he had to jump through the back door and run through a hair salon, while carrying his bags, accompanied by his wife and daughter.
He did not provide any evidence to back up his claim and the Mozambican authorities have not commented.
Daniel Chapo, the candidate of the ruling party Frelimo, was officially declared the winner with over 71% of the vote, as opposed to Mondlane's 20%.
Mondlane didn't specify exactly where the alleged assassination attempt had taken place.
In the video, he said he had been staying in the affluent Sandton neighbourhood in Johannesburg.
"I was with my wife and my daughter, running from one place to another," he said.
South Africa's foreign ministry told the AFP news agency they didn't even know Mondlane was in the country and that the matter should have been reported to the police.
The BBC reached out to South African police, but they didn't respond.
Mondlane went into hiding before the results were announced, claiming his home had been surrounded by members of the security forces.
He has called on Mozambicans to hold nationwide demonstrations against the election results, which are being challenged in court by the Podemos party which backed Mondlane.
The protests have led to violent clashes with the police and several people have been killed, with dozens injured.
The internet and social media have also been restricted.
A general strike called by Mondlane has continued, despite the prime minister's call for people to return to work.
Three children were reportedly shot dead by police in different parts of the capital Maputo on Monday, while eight people were reportedly killed in the northern province of Nampula over the weekend.
Two different Frelimo offices were reportedly attacked in Nampula, prompting the police to respond with tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition, killing one person.
The demonstrators then set fire to the house allegedly belonging to a police officer accused of killing a protester.
Mondlane has been rallying people to come together for a "final march" in Maputo, on Thursday.
It is due to be the end of a seven-day protest he called last week.
A lawyer for the families say they want TikTok's legal liability for harmful content to be recognised in court
TikTok is being sued by seven families in France, who accuse the social media giant of exposing their children to harmful content - leading two to take their own lives.
The case alleges the video platform's algorithm exposed them to content promoting self-harm, eating disorders and suicide, said Laure Boutron-Marmion, a lawyer for the families.
She told French media that the lawsuit was the first of its kind in Europe.
TikTok, which is one of the world's most popular social media platforms, said it had not received any notifications of legal proceedings relating to the claims.
The company added in a statement that its community guidelines do not allow for the showing, promoting or sharing plans for suicide or self-harm, and that it uses a combination of technology and moderation to ensure these standards are upheld.
The group lawsuit, which has been filed in the Créteil judicial court, is separate to a criminal complaint filed against TikTok last year by the parents of Marie - one of the two teenagers who killed herself.
Marie, whose surname has not been used in reporting, was 15 when she took her own life in 2021. Her death, according to her mother, was due in part to the video content that she was able to access on TikTok without moderation.
Another girl whose family is involved in the lawsuit also died by suicide, while four of the other five young women attempted to take their own lives. At least one of them had developed an eating disorder.
If you are experiencing any of the issues mentioned in this story you can visit BBC Action Line for a list of websites and helplines that can offer direct help at any time.
"The parents want TikTok's legal liability to be recognised in court", Ms Boutron-Marmion told broadcaster Franceinfo.
"This is a commercial company offering a product to consumers who are, in addition, minors. They must, therefore, answer for the product's shortcomings."
TikTok, like other major social networks, has faced scrutiny and criticism over its safeguarding practices.
Last year, the European Union opened an investigation into whether it had breached new safety laws relating to the protection of minors, among other areas.
In an interview in April, Ms Boutron-Marmion told French legal news site Actu-Juridique that cases such as that of Molly Russell, the British schoolgirl who killed herself in 2017 after seeing graphic images of self-harm and suicide online on Instagram and Pinterest, were increasing awareness of the need for greater accountability when it comes to social media content.
"Parents are starting to wake up. Many of them were unaware of the horrors that were circulating on the platforms. While I have noticed a change in mentalities, the problem remains: addiction persists, including among adults."
With just one day to go, the race for the White House is deadlocked - both at the national level and in the all-important battleground states.
The polls are so close, within the margin of error, that either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris could actually be two or three points better off - enough to win comfortably.
There is a compelling case to make for why each may have the edge when it comes to building a coalition of voters in the right places, and then ensuring they actually turn out.
Let’s start with the history-making possibility that a defeated president might be re-elected for the first time in 130 years.
The economy is the number one issue for voters, and while unemployment is low and the stock market is booming, most Americans say they are struggling with higher prices every day.
Inflation hit levels not seen since the 1970s in the aftermath of the pandemic, giving Trump the chance to ask “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”
In 2024, voters around the world have several times thrown out the party in power, partly due to the high, post-Covid, cost of living. US voters also seem hungry for change.
Only a quarter of Americans say they are satisfied with the direction the country is going in and two-thirds have a poor economic outlook.
Harris has tried to be the so-called change candidate, but as vice-president has struggled to distance herself from an unpopular Joe Biden.
2. He seems impervious to bad news
Despite the fallout from the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol, a string of indictments and an unprecedented criminal conviction, Trump’s support has remained stable all year at 40% or above.
While Democrats and “Never-Trump” conservatives say he is unfit for office, most Republicans agree when Trump says he’s the victim of a political witch-hunt.
With both sides so dug in, he just needs to win over enough of the small slice of undecided voters without a fixed view of him.
3. His warnings on illegal immigration resonate
Beyond the state of the economy, elections are often decided by an issue with an emotional pull.
Democrats will hope it’s abortion, while Trump is betting it’s immigration.
After encounters at the border hit record levels under Biden, and the influx impacted states far from the border, polls suggest voters trust Trump more on the immigration - and that he’s doing much better with Latinos than in previous elections.
4. A lot more people don’t have a degree than do
Trump’s appeal to voters who feel forgotten and left behind has transformed US politics by turning traditional Democratic constituencies like union workers into Republicans and making the protection of American industry by tariffs almost the norm.
If he drives up turnout in rural and suburban parts of swing states this can offset the loss of moderate, college-educated Republicans.
5. He’s seen as a strong man in an unstable world
Trump’s detractors say he undermines America’s alliances by cosying up to authoritarian leaders.
The former president sees his unpredictability as a strength, however, and points out that no major wars started when he was in the White House.
Many Americans are angry, for different reasons, with the US sending billions to Ukraine and Israel - and think America is weaker under Biden.
Despite Trump’s advantages, he remains a deeply polarising figure.
In 2020, he won a record number of votes for a Republican candidate, but was defeated because seven million more Americans turned out to support Biden.
This time, Harris is playing up the fear factor about a Trump return. She’s called him a “fascist” and a threat to democracy, while vowing to move on from “drama and conflict”.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll in July indicated that four in five Americans felt the country was spiralling out of control. Harris will be hoping voters - especially moderate Republicans and independents - see her as a candidate of stability.
2. She’s also not Biden
Democrats were facing near-certain defeat at the point Biden dropped out of the race. United in their desire to beat Trump, the party quickly rallied around Harris. With impressive speed from a standing start, she delivered a more forward-looking message that excited the base.
While Republicans have tied her to Biden’s more unpopular policies, Harris has rendered some of their Biden-specific attack lines redundant.
The clearest of these is age - polls consistently suggested voters had real concerns about Biden’s fitness for office. Now the race has flipped, and it is Trump who’s vying to become the oldest person to ever win the White House.
3. She's championed women's rights
This is the first presidential election since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion.
Voters concerned about protecting abortion rights overwhelmingly back Harris, and we’ve seen in past elections - notably the 2022 midterms - that the issue can drive turnout and have a real impact on the result.
This time around, 10 states, including the swing state Arizona, will have ballot initiatives asking voters how abortion should be regulated. This could boost turnout in Harris’s favour.
The historic nature of her bid to become the first female president may also strengthen her significant lead among women voters.
4. Her voters are more likely to show up
The groups Harris is polling more strongly with, such as the college-educated and older people, are more likely to vote.
Democrats ultimately perform better with high-turnout groups, while Trump has made gains with relatively low-turnout groups such as young men and those without college degrees.
Trump, for example, holds a huge lead among those who were registered but didn’t vote in 2020, according to a New York Times/Siena poll.
A key question, then, is whether they will show up this time.
5. She’s raised - and spent - more money
It’s no secret that American elections are expensive, and 2024 is on track to be the most expensive ever.
But when it comes to spending power - Harris is on top. She’s raised more since becoming the candidate in July than Trump has in the entire period since January 2023, according to a recent Financial Times analysis, which also noted that her campaign has spent almost twice as much on advertising.
This could play a role in a razor-tight race that will ultimately be decided by voters in swing states currently being bombarded by political ads.
North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.
Divers have concentrated their search for missing bodies in garages and a multi-storey car park in the town of Aldaia
Spanish rescuers are focusing their search for missing people on underground garages and a multi-storey car park following last week's devastating floods in Valencia.
The death toll after a year's worth of rain fell in parts of the region last week now stands at 217.
A car park in the nearby town of Aldaia capable of holding thousands of vehicles, has become central to the search, but rescue teams have reportedly not yet found any bodies.
It comes as Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) placed part of the north-eastern Catalonia region on red alert for torrential rain, with its capital Barcelona experiencing flooding on Monday morning.
The car park at the Bonaire shopping centre in Aldaia was inundated during flash floods last week.
According to Spanish news agency Europa Press, police have confirmed that search teams did not locate any victims in the first 50 vehicles inspected at the site.
EPA-EFE/REX/Shuttershock
Divers are searching a car park in Aldaia which was inundated by the flash floods
The storm caught many victims in their vehicles on roads and in underground spaces such as car parks, tunnels and garages where rescue operations are particularly difficult.
Objects were also thrown at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was quickly evacuated.
The Civil Guard has opened an investigation into the chaotic scenes, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told public broadcaster TVE.
He blamed "marginal groups" for instigating the violence where mud spattered the monarchs' face and clothes.
Video shows angry crowd throwing objects at Spanish king on Sunday
Local authorities in Valencia have extended travel restrictions for another two days to facilitate the work of the emergency services, cancelled school classes and urged people to work from home.
In Catalonia, train services have been suspended due to adverse weather conditions, while footage shared online appears to show vehicles submerged in floodwater on roads.
Bangladesh is already suffering from increased power shortages
Bangladesh is ramping up payments to Adani Power after the Indian conglomerate cut electricity supplies by half, reportedly over an unpaid $800m bill.
Two senior government officials told the BBC they are already processing partial payments to Adani, which supplies 10% of the electricity used by Bangladesh.
“We have addressed payment glitches and already issued a $170 million [£143m] letter of credit to Adani group,” a senior Bangladesh Power Development Board official told the BBC.
Adani supplies Bangladesh from its 1600 megawatt coal-fired plant in eastern India. The company hasn't responded to BBC queries about cuts to its supply to Bangladesh, which suffers regular power shortages.
Officials say the company has threatened to suspend all supplies if the money owed to it is not cleared by 7 November. But the Bangladesh Power Development Board official said they did "not believe it would not come to a stage where full supplies are cut off".
Bangladesh officials told the BBC they will make payments gradually and regularly and are confident of resolving the payment crisis.
“We are shocked and surprised that despite us ramping up payments, supplies have been cut. We are ready to repay and will make alternate arrangements, but will not let any power producer hold us hostage and blackmail us,” said Fouzul Kabir Khan, energy adviser to the interim government.
Bangladesh stepped up repayments from $35m in July, to $68m in September and $97m in October, he said.
The country is already suffering from increased power shortages in rural areas.
Political turmoil
Bangladesh has been struggling to generate dollar revenues to pay for costly essential imports like electricity, coal and oil. Foreign currency reserves fell during months of student-led protests and political turmoil that ousted the Sheikh Hasina government in August.
The interim government which replaced her has sought an additional $3bn loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in addition to its existing $4.7bn bailout package.
Adani’s power deal with Bangladesh, signed in 2015, was one of the many under Sheikh Hasina, which the current interim government has called opaque. A national committee is now reassessing 11 previous deals, including the one with Adani, which has often been criticised as expensive.
Besides Adani Power, other Indian state-owned firms also sell power to Bangladesh, including NTPC Ltd and PTC India Ltd. Power Development Board officials confirmed that partial payments of money owed to other Indian power suppliers are also being made.
Bangladesh is restarting some of the gas-fired and oil-fired power plants to bridge the supply shortfall, although experts say it will increase the cost of power. With winter approaching, power demands on the grid is expected to ease as air conditioners are switched off.
“Other coal-fired plants are running at 50% capacity and the country is unable to buy enough coal owing to the dollar crisis, so it is important to continue readymade power supply from Adani. It is marginally more expensive than local producers but it is a crucial supply,” said Dr Ajaj Hossain, energy expert and a retired professor.
Bangladesh is planning to commission its first nuclear power plant in December to diversify its energy mix. Built with Russian assistance, it is costing $12.65bn, mostly financed by long-term Russian loans.
Divers have concentrated their search for missing bodies in garages and a multi-storey car park in the town of Aldaia
Spanish rescuers are focusing their search for missing people on underground garages and a multi-storey car park following last week's devastating floods in Valencia.
The death toll after a year's worth of rain fell in parts of the region last week now stands at 217.
A car park in the nearby town of Aldaia capable of holding thousands of vehicles, has become central to the search, but rescue teams have reportedly not yet found any bodies.
It comes as Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) placed part of the north-eastern Catalonia region on red alert for torrential rain, with its capital Barcelona experiencing flooding on Monday morning.
The car park at the Bonaire shopping centre in Aldaia was inundated during flash floods last week.
According to Spanish news agency Europa Press, police have confirmed that search teams did not locate any victims in the first 50 vehicles inspected at the site.
EPA-EFE/REX/Shuttershock
Divers are searching a car park in Aldaia which was inundated by the flash floods
The storm caught many victims in their vehicles on roads and in underground spaces such as car parks, tunnels and garages where rescue operations are particularly difficult.
Objects were also thrown at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was quickly evacuated.
The Civil Guard has opened an investigation into the chaotic scenes, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told public broadcaster TVE.
He blamed "marginal groups" for instigating the violence where mud spattered the monarchs' face and clothes.
Video shows angry crowd throwing objects at Spanish king on Sunday
Local authorities in Valencia have extended travel restrictions for another two days to facilitate the work of the emergency services, cancelled school classes and urged people to work from home.
In Catalonia, train services have been suspended due to adverse weather conditions, while footage shared online appears to show vehicles submerged in floodwater on roads.
Relatives of hostages and their supporters demonstrate by Netanyahu's residence
Attempts to secure a peace deal in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas may have been compromised by leaked and falsified documents involving a close aide to the prime minister, an Israeli court has said.
In its partial lifting of a gagging order, the court in the town of Rishon LeZion said Eli Feldstein and three others were under investigation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing by his staff, but opposition figures and hostage families have accused his government of sabotaging negotiations.
The leaking of the documents – to Britain’s Jewish Chronicle and Germany’s tabloid Bild - came at a crucial time for hostage negotiations.
The documents claimed Hamas was planning to smuggle Israeli hostages to Egypt - intent on scuppering any proposed ceasefire deal.
Some commentators say the revelations were politically useful for Netanyahu’s hardline position on the talks, which have made almost no progress.
Over 100 hostages out of 251 taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023 remain unaccounted for.
After the stories were published in September, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an inquiry to discover the source of the leaks.
This eventually led to the arrest of Eli Feldstein, along with the three others, whose identities have not been revealed.
Mr Feldstein had been working as a government spokesperson and was often seen accompanying the prime minister on visits. He had previously worked for the far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and before that he served as an IDF spokesperson.
Following news of his arrest, two leading opposition politicians held a press conference.
Benny Gantz, who until recently was in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, said that if sensitive security information was used for a "political survival campaign”, it would not only be a criminal offense, but "a crime against the nation".
Speaking at the same event, the leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, said that if the prime minister knew about the leaks, "he is complicit in one of the most serious security offenses” and that if he didn’t know, he is not fit for office.
The revelations also led to strong criticism from the families of the hostages, who have become increasingly frustrated with the government’s failure to secure the release of their loved ones.
They said it implied an active campaign to discredit them, calling it "a moral low that has no depth. This is a fatal injury to the remnants of trust between the government and its citizens”.
The documents were published in European newspapers, allegedly to circumvent military censorship laws in Israel.
The Jewish Chronicle (JC) was engulfed in a scandal after it emerged it had published stories based on a single anonymous source. The freelance writer behind the pieces was fired, with the articles eventually being taken down.
The articles claimed that Yahya Sinwar was surrounded by a ring of around 20 hostages and that plans had been discovered to smuggle both the captives and the Hamas leader into Egypt. Leading Israeli security journalists questioned the veracity of the reports.
A number of high-profile writers resigned from the paper, accusing it of lacking journalistic standards.
Jonathan Freedland, Hadley Freeman and David Aaronovitch announced they were quitting their columns over what Freedland described as a "great disgrace" at the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper.
At the time, the JC said it conducted a "thorough investigation" into one of its freelance journalists, Elon Perry, "after allegations were made about aspects of his record".
It said it was "not satisfied" with some of the claims made by the writer, and therefore had deleted his articles and ended its association with him.
Elon Perry told BBC News the JC "made a huge mistake with its statement". He said he could not reveal his source to JC editors and described a "witch-hunt against me caused by jealousy".
The Bild articles, meanwhile, were based on a different set of intelligence documents. While they were found to be authentic, leading security journalist Ronan Bergman found their significance had been greatly exaggerated.
It was the publication of this story that triggered the investigation by the IDF and security services, ultimately leading to the arrests.
Netanyahu has sought to distance himself from the allegations, saying the arrested spokesperson had never had access to classified information.
Despite that, this is a growing scandal that has further damaged the already frayed relationship between the government and the hostage families.
Alexandr Stoianoglo has denied being a pro-Kremlin candidate
The man challenging Moldova's pro-EU leader Maia Sandu for the presidency has taken a narrow lead, according to preliminary results, in a pivotal presidential election run-off seen as a choice between Europe and Russia.
Alexandr Stoianoglo, who was backed by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists, had promised a closer relationship with Moscow, after Sandu spearheaded Moldova into talks on EU membership.
The Central Election Commission said with more than 90% of the vote counted, Stoianoglo was on 50.5% of the vote and Sandu 49.5%.
During the vote, the president's national security adviser said there had been "massive interference" from Russia in Moldova's electoral process that had "high potential to distort the outcome".
Russia had already denied meddling in the vote, which came a week after another key Eastern European election in Georgia, whose president said it had been a "Russian special operation".
Alexandr Stoianoglo, who was fired as prosecutor general by Sandu, has denied being pro-Kremlin.
Voting ended in Moldova at 21:00 (19:00 GMT), with a 54% turnout higher than four years ago, and especially high among expat voters at polling stations abroad.
The result is likely to become even tighter as results from polling stations in the EU and the US become clear. The final result will be declared on Monday.
As polls closed, both Maia Sandu and her rival thanked voters, with Stoianoglu speaking in Russian as well as Romanian. Although Romanian is Moldova's main language, Russian is widely spoken because of its Soviet past.
Casting his ballot, he promised to be an "apolitical president" for everyone, telling reporters he had voted for "a Moldova that should develop in harmony with both the West and the East".
Stoianoglu polled particularly well in rural areas and the south, while Sandu was ahead in the cities and abroad, Moldovan media reported.
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu
Maia Sandu has spearheaded Moldova's drive into talks on membership with the EU
Sandu appealed after casting her ballot for Moldovans to preserve their independence, warning of "thieves" who sought to buy their vote and their country.
Presidential national security adviser Stanislav Secrieru said Russia had organised buses and large charter flights to bring voters to polling stations.
Bomb scares had briefly disrupted voting in Moldova, at UK polling stations in Liverpool and Northampton and at Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern in Germany, he added.
EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Moldovan expats queued to vote in big numbers in Moscow and many other cities
A Soviet republic for 51 years, Moldova is flanked by Ukraine and Romania and one of Europe's poorest countries. It has a population of 2.5 million and an expat population of 1.2 million.
Moldova's authorities have long warned that a fugitive oligarch called Ilan Shor has spent $39m (£30m) trying to buy the election for Moscow with handouts to 138,000 Moldovans.
Shor, who is based in Moscow, denies wrongdoing but did promise cash payments to anyone prepared to back his call for a "firm No" to the EU.
Commentators and politicians had warned that a Stoianoglu victory could radically change the political landscape in the Danube and Black Sea region, not because he was some kind of "Trojan horse", but rather because Russia has thrown its weight behind him.
There were queues at polling stations in Moscow, Italy and among voters from a mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transnistria, who had to cross the River Dniester into Moldovan-controlled territory to vote. Transnistria is home to a Russian military base and a huge arms depot.
Moldova's election commission said it was aware of reports of organised and illegal transports of voters by air and land in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and appealed to the public to report further violations.
Although Sandu had easily won the first round of the vote, several candidates swung behind Stoianoglo, although the third-placed candidate refused to back either of the two.
The first round coincided with a nail-biting referendum on backing a change to the constitution embracing the commitment to join the EU.
In the end the vote passed by a tiny margin in favour, and Maia Sandu said there had been clear evidence of attempts to buy 300,000 votes.
Jones was best known as the producer of Michael Jackson's Thriller album
Quincy Jones, musician and producer who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and many others, dies aged 91.
Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, said he "passed away peacefully" on Sunday night at his home in Bel Air.
"Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him," the family said in a statement.
Jones was best known as the producer of Michael Jackson's Thriller album.
Over his career that spanned more than 75 years he won 28 Grammy awards and was named as one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by Time magazine.
He produced and conducted the recording of the 1985 charity record, We Are The World.
He also composed the soundtrack to more than 50 films and TV programmes including Heat of the Night, The Color Purple and The Italian Job.
Early in his career, Jones worked closely with Frank Sinatra and re-worked Sinatra's classic Fly Me To The Moon taking it from a waltz to a swing.
One the film The Wiz, Jones found himself working alongside a 19-year-old Michael Jackson.
The pair worked together for decades and Jones produced albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad.
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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The government of Uttarakhand state has ordered an inquiry into the accident
At least 36 people have died and several have been injured after a bus fell into a gorge in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand.
Officials said 44 people were on board when the driver lost control and the bus fell into a 50m-deep ditch in Marchula, located in the state’s Almora district.
The state government has ordered an inquiry into the accident.
Buses are the main mode of transport in the Himalayan state and accidents are not uncommon.
The bus was on its way to the state's Ramnagar district when the accident took place on Monday morning.
Photos and videos from the site showed the badly damaged vehicle overturned at the bottom of a hill.
Several passengers died on the spot, while those injured were rushed to nearby hospitals. Rescue operations are still under way.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his condolences for the families of the victims.
He has announced compensation of 200,000 rupees [$2378; £1834] for the families of the deceased and 50,000 rupees to those who were wounded.
Uttarakhand's Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also announced financial assistance for the victims and their families.
Buses are a common mode of transport in India, especially between smaller towns and districts. However, operators often flout safety rules and overcrowd them beyond capacity.
Approximately 160,000 people are killed in road accidents in India every year - the highest in the world - mainly due to speeding and careless driving.
With just one day to go, the race for the White House is deadlocked - both at the national level and in the all-important battleground states.
The polls are so close, within the margin of error, that either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris could actually be two or three points better off - enough to win comfortably.
There is a compelling case to make for why each may have the edge when it comes to building a coalition of voters in the right places, and then ensuring they actually turn out.
Let’s start with the history-making possibility that a defeated president might be re-elected for the first time in 130 years.
The economy is the number one issue for voters, and while unemployment is low and the stock market is booming, most Americans say they are struggling with higher prices every day.
Inflation hit levels not seen since the 1970s in the aftermath of the pandemic, giving Trump the chance to ask “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”
In 2024, voters around the world have several times thrown out the party in power, partly due to the high, post-Covid, cost of living. US voters also seem hungry for change.
Only a quarter of Americans say they are satisfied with the direction the country is going in and two-thirds have a poor economic outlook.
Harris has tried to be the so-called change candidate, but as vice-president has struggled to distance herself from an unpopular Joe Biden.
2. He seems impervious to bad news
Despite the fallout from the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol, a string of indictments and an unprecedented criminal conviction, Trump’s support has remained stable all year at 40% or above.
While Democrats and “Never-Trump” conservatives say he is unfit for office, most Republicans agree when Trump says he’s the victim of a political witch-hunt.
With both sides so dug in, he just needs to win over enough of the small slice of undecided voters without a fixed view of him.
3. His warnings on illegal immigration resonate
Beyond the state of the economy, elections are often decided by an issue with an emotional pull.
Democrats will hope it’s abortion, while Trump is betting it’s immigration.
After encounters at the border hit record levels under Biden, and the influx impacted states far from the border, polls suggest voters trust Trump more on the immigration - and that he’s doing much better with Latinos than in previous elections.
4. A lot more people don’t have a degree than do
Trump’s appeal to voters who feel forgotten and left behind has transformed US politics by turning traditional Democratic constituencies like union workers into Republicans and making the protection of American industry by tariffs almost the norm.
If he drives up turnout in rural and suburban parts of swing states this can offset the loss of moderate, college-educated Republicans.
5. He’s seen as a strong man in an unstable world
Trump’s detractors say he undermines America’s alliances by cosying up to authoritarian leaders.
The former president sees his unpredictability as a strength, however, and points out that no major wars started when he was in the White House.
Many Americans are angry, for different reasons, with the US sending billions to Ukraine and Israel - and think America is weaker under Biden.
Despite Trump’s advantages, he remains a deeply polarising figure.
In 2020, he won a record number of votes for a Republican candidate, but was defeated because seven million more Americans turned out to support Biden.
This time, Harris is playing up the fear factor about a Trump return. She’s called him a “fascist” and a threat to democracy, while vowing to move on from “drama and conflict”.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll in July indicated that four in five Americans felt the country was spiralling out of control. Harris will be hoping voters - especially moderate Republicans and independents - see her as a candidate of stability.
2. She’s also not Biden
Democrats were facing near-certain defeat at the point Biden dropped out of the race. United in their desire to beat Trump, the party quickly rallied around Harris. With impressive speed from a standing start, she delivered a more forward-looking message that excited the base.
While Republicans have tied her to Biden’s more unpopular policies, Harris has rendered some of their Biden-specific attack lines redundant.
The clearest of these is age - polls consistently suggested voters had real concerns about Biden’s fitness for office. Now the race has flipped, and it is Trump who’s vying to become the oldest person to ever win the White House.
3. She's championed women's rights
This is the first presidential election since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion.
Voters concerned about protecting abortion rights overwhelmingly back Harris, and we’ve seen in past elections - notably the 2022 midterms - that the issue can drive turnout and have a real impact on the result.
This time around, 10 states, including the swing state Arizona, will have ballot initiatives asking voters how abortion should be regulated. This could boost turnout in Harris’s favour.
The historic nature of her bid to become the first female president may also strengthen her significant lead among women voters.
4. Her voters are more likely to show up
The groups Harris is polling more strongly with, such as the college-educated and older people, are more likely to vote.
Democrats ultimately perform better with high-turnout groups, while Trump has made gains with relatively low-turnout groups such as young men and those without college degrees.
Trump, for example, holds a huge lead among those who were registered but didn’t vote in 2020, according to a New York Times/Siena poll.
A key question, then, is whether they will show up this time.
5. She’s raised - and spent - more money
It’s no secret that American elections are expensive, and 2024 is on track to be the most expensive ever.
But when it comes to spending power - Harris is on top. She’s raised more since becoming the candidate in July than Trump has in the entire period since January 2023, according to a recent Financial Times analysis, which also noted that her campaign has spent almost twice as much on advertising.
This could play a role in a razor-tight race that will ultimately be decided by voters in swing states currently being bombarded by political ads.
North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.
Footage shows houses burned and damaged by the rain of rocks
At least 10 people have been killed after a volcano erupted in eastern Indonesia in the early hours of Monday, officials have said.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, located on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted at 23:57 local time, according to the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMG).
Hadi Wijaya, a PVMG spokesperson, said fiery lava and rocks had hit the villages about 4km (two miles) from the crater, burning and damaging residents' houses.
According to local officials, the eruption has affected seven villages.
PVMG has raised the status of the volcano to the highest alert level, warning that a 7km (four-mile) radius from the crater must be cleared.
"We have started evacuating residents since this morning to other villages located around 20km (13 miles) from the crater," local official Heronimus Lamawuran told Reuters.
HANDOUT
Flames were seen in a nearby settlement in footage shared with the BBC
Video footage shared with BBC News by eyewitnesses shows people covered in volcanic ash, rock showers and homes ablaze, as well as the scorched aftermath of the disruption.
HANDOUT
Some residents were covered with ash in footage seen by the BBC
A spokesperson from Indonesia's disaster agency warned of potential flash floods and cold lava flows in the coming days.
They added that the local government had declared a state of emergency for the next 58 days, meaning the central government could help provide aid to 10,000 affected residents.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.
Pakistani municipal corporation workers spray water on roads to control the smog situation.
Unprecedented air pollution in the Pakistani city of Lahore has forced authorities to close all primary schools for a week.
From Monday, 50% of office workers will also work from home, as part of a "green lockdown" plan. Other measures include bans on engine-powered rickshaws and vendors that barbecue without filters.
"This smog is very harmful for children, masks should be mandatory in schools," Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said.
Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, topped the world list of cities with the most polluted air for a second time on Sunday.
The air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, exceeded 1,000 on Saturday, well above the benchmark of 300 considered "dangerous" by the World Health Organization, according to data from IQAir.
The level of fine particulate matter in the air, the most damaging to health, also soared well into hazardous levels.
Raja Jehangir Anwar, a senior environment official, said the "biggest headache" causing the smog was the practice of burning crop waste, known as stubble, across the Indian border.
Aurangzeb said the fumes were “being carried by strong winds into Pakistan”.
"This cannot be solved without talks with India," she said, adding that the provincial government would initiate such discussions through the foreign ministry.
The government is urging people to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel.
Vehicles equipped with pumps are spraying water into the air to help control the smog level. Construction work has been halted in certain areas.
The situation will be assessed again next Saturday to establish whether schools should remain shut.
Inhaling toxic air can have catastrophic health consequences, including strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and some respiratory diseases, according to the WHO.
Last month pupils were banned from outdoor exercise until January and school hours were adjusted to prevent children from travelling when pollution levels are the highest.
"As a mother, I am full of anxiety," 42-year-old Lilly Mirza told AFP news agency.
"Last year was not this bad... Somebody needs to tell us what has happened. Did a pollution bomb explode somewhere?"
The smog crisis is worse in winter, when cold, denser air traps pollutants closer to the ground.
Alexandr Stoianoglo has denied being a pro-Kremlin candidate
The man challenging Moldova's pro-EU leader Maia Sandu for the presidency has taken a narrow lead, according to preliminary results, in a pivotal presidential election run-off seen as a choice between Europe and Russia.
Alexandr Stoianoglo, who was backed by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists, had promised a closer relationship with Moscow, after Sandu spearheaded Moldova into talks on EU membership.
The Central Election Commission said with more than 90% of the vote counted, Stoianoglo was on 50.5% of the vote and Sandu 49.5%.
During the vote, the president's national security adviser said there had been "massive interference" from Russia in Moldova's electoral process that had "high potential to distort the outcome".
Russia had already denied meddling in the vote, which came a week after another key Eastern European election in Georgia, whose president said it had been a "Russian special operation".
Alexandr Stoianoglo, who was fired as prosecutor general by Sandu, has denied being pro-Kremlin.
Voting ended in Moldova at 21:00 (19:00 GMT), with a 54% turnout higher than four years ago, and especially high among expat voters at polling stations abroad.
The result is likely to become even tighter as results from polling stations in the EU and the US become clear. The final result will be declared on Monday.
As polls closed, both Maia Sandu and her rival thanked voters, with Stoianoglu speaking in Russian as well as Romanian. Although Romanian is Moldova's main language, Russian is widely spoken because of its Soviet past.
Casting his ballot, he promised to be an "apolitical president" for everyone, telling reporters he had voted for "a Moldova that should develop in harmony with both the West and the East".
Stoianoglu polled particularly well in rural areas and the south, while Sandu was ahead in the cities and abroad, Moldovan media reported.
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu
Maia Sandu has spearheaded Moldova's drive into talks on membership with the EU
Sandu appealed after casting her ballot for Moldovans to preserve their independence, warning of "thieves" who sought to buy their vote and their country.
Presidential national security adviser Stanislav Secrieru said Russia had organised buses and large charter flights to bring voters to polling stations.
Bomb scares had briefly disrupted voting in Moldova, at UK polling stations in Liverpool and Northampton and at Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern in Germany, he added.
EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Moldovan expats queued to vote in big numbers in Moscow and many other cities
A Soviet republic for 51 years, Moldova is flanked by Ukraine and Romania and one of Europe's poorest countries. It has a population of 2.5 million and an expat population of 1.2 million.
Moldova's authorities have long warned that a fugitive oligarch called Ilan Shor has spent $39m (£30m) trying to buy the election for Moscow with handouts to 138,000 Moldovans.
Shor, who is based in Moscow, denies wrongdoing but did promise cash payments to anyone prepared to back his call for a "firm No" to the EU.
Commentators and politicians had warned that a Stoianoglu victory could radically change the political landscape in the Danube and Black Sea region, not because he was some kind of "Trojan horse", but rather because Russia has thrown its weight behind him.
There were queues at polling stations in Moscow, Italy and among voters from a mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transnistria, who had to cross the River Dniester into Moldovan-controlled territory to vote. Transnistria is home to a Russian military base and a huge arms depot.
Moldova's election commission said it was aware of reports of organised and illegal transports of voters by air and land in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and appealed to the public to report further violations.
Although Sandu had easily won the first round of the vote, several candidates swung behind Stoianoglo, although the third-placed candidate refused to back either of the two.
The first round coincided with a nail-biting referendum on backing a change to the constitution embracing the commitment to join the EU.
In the end the vote passed by a tiny margin in favour, and Maia Sandu said there had been clear evidence of attempts to buy 300,000 votes.
Alexandr Stoianoglo has denied being a pro-Kremlin candidate
The man challenging Moldova's pro-EU leader Maia Sandu for the presidency has taken a narrow lead, according to preliminary results, in a pivotal presidential election run-off seen as a choice between Europe and Russia.
Alexandr Stoianoglo, who was backed by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists, had promised a closer relationship with Moscow, after Sandu spearheaded Moldova into talks on EU membership.
The Central Election Commission said with more than 90% of the vote counted, Stoianoglo was on 50.5% of the vote and Sandu 49.5%.
During the vote, the president's national security adviser said there had been "massive interference" from Russia in Moldova's electoral process that had "high potential to distort the outcome".
Russia had already denied meddling in the vote, which came a week after another key Eastern European election in Georgia, whose president said it had been a "Russian special operation".
Alexandr Stoianoglo, who was fired as prosecutor general by Sandu, has denied being pro-Kremlin.
Voting ended in Moldova at 21:00 (19:00 GMT), with a 54% turnout higher than four years ago, and especially high among expat voters at polling stations abroad.
The result is likely to become even tighter as results from polling stations in the EU and the US become clear. The final result will be declared on Monday.
As polls closed, both Maia Sandu and her rival thanked voters, with Stoianoglu speaking in Russian as well as Romanian. Although Romanian is Moldova's main language, Russian is widely spoken because of its Soviet past.
Casting his ballot, he promised to be an "apolitical president" for everyone, telling reporters he had voted for "a Moldova that should develop in harmony with both the West and the East".
Stoianoglu polled particularly well in rural areas and the south, while Sandu was ahead in the cities and abroad, Moldovan media reported.
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu
Maia Sandu has spearheaded Moldova's drive into talks on membership with the EU
Sandu appealed after casting her ballot for Moldovans to preserve their independence, warning of "thieves" who sought to buy their vote and their country.
Presidential national security adviser Stanislav Secrieru said Russia had organised buses and large charter flights to bring voters to polling stations.
Bomb scares had briefly disrupted voting in Moldova, at UK polling stations in Liverpool and Northampton and at Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern in Germany, he added.
EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Moldovan expats queued to vote in big numbers in Moscow and many other cities
A Soviet republic for 51 years, Moldova is flanked by Ukraine and Romania and one of Europe's poorest countries. It has a population of 2.5 million and an expat population of 1.2 million.
Moldova's authorities have long warned that a fugitive oligarch called Ilan Shor has spent $39m (£30m) trying to buy the election for Moscow with handouts to 138,000 Moldovans.
Shor, who is based in Moscow, denies wrongdoing but did promise cash payments to anyone prepared to back his call for a "firm No" to the EU.
Commentators and politicians had warned that a Stoianoglu victory could radically change the political landscape in the Danube and Black Sea region, not because he was some kind of "Trojan horse", but rather because Russia has thrown its weight behind him.
There were queues at polling stations in Moscow, Italy and among voters from a mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transnistria, who had to cross the River Dniester into Moldovan-controlled territory to vote. Transnistria is home to a Russian military base and a huge arms depot.
Moldova's election commission said it was aware of reports of organised and illegal transports of voters by air and land in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and appealed to the public to report further violations.
Although Sandu had easily won the first round of the vote, several candidates swung behind Stoianoglo, although the third-placed candidate refused to back either of the two.
The first round coincided with a nail-biting referendum on backing a change to the constitution embracing the commitment to join the EU.
In the end the vote passed by a tiny margin in favour, and Maia Sandu said there had been clear evidence of attempts to buy 300,000 votes.
King Felipe VI of Spain has faced angry protesters while visiting the Valencia region, which has been hit by unprecedented floods.
Footage shows an angry crowd shouting "murderer" and "shame" at the king, who was also asked why nothing had been done to avoid the tragedy.
Spain's worst floods in decades have left whole neighbourhoods covered in mud and strewn with mangled cars and debris.
More than 200 people were killed in the floods, with many more missing. Emergency workers are continuing to comb through underground car parks and tunnels in the hope of finding survivors and recovering bodies.
There has been anger at a perceived lack of warning and insufficient support from authorities after the floods.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia have been visiting Paiporta, a town that has been severely affected.
The footage shows the king making his way down a street with a hostile crowd shouting and chanting. Some protesters threw what appeared to be objects and mud at him.
On Saturday Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ordered 10,000 more troops, police officers and civil guards to the area.
He said the deployment was Spain's largest in peacetime. But he added that he was aware the response was "not enough" and acknowledged "severe problems and shortages".
This is a breaking story and is being updated regularly
Rumours, misleading allegations and outright lies about voting and fraud are flooding online spaces in unprecedented numbers in advance of the US election.
Hundreds of incidents involving purported voting irregularities are being collected and spread by individuals, as well as both independent and Republican-affiliated groups. A small number of posts are also coming from Democrats.
The whirlwind of claims spreading online poses a challenge to election officials who are having to debunk rumours and reassure voters, while preparing to administer election day on Tuesday.
In nearly every case, the posts support the Trump campaign’s false claim that the former president won the 2020 election and suggestions that he will potentially be cheated out of victory again on 5 November.
When asked whether he will accept the 2024 election result, Donald Trump said during the presidential debate in September that he would if it was a "fair and legal and good election".
A majority of Americans - 70% - expect him to reject the result if he loses, according to a CNN/SSRS poll released Monday.
Just this week, Trump himself claimed widespread fraud in a key swing state.
“Pennsylvania is cheating, and getting caught, at large scale levels rarely seen before,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network. “REPORT CHEATING TO AUTHORITIES. Law Enforcement must act, NOW!”
The allegation followed officials in three Pennsylvania counties saying they were working with local law enforcement to investigate some voter registration applications for potential fraud.
While Trump and allies seized on the announcements, the state's top election official, Republican Al Schmidt, has urged caution and warned voters to be aware of "half-truths" and disinformation circulating on social media.
“This is a sign that the built-in safeguards in our voter registration process are working,” he said.
Flood of misleading content
The BBC has seen hundreds of allegations of election fraud online, on social networks and on message boards and in chat groups. Some of these posts have been viewed millions of times each.
The posts have implied it's easy for non-citizens to vote, made false claims about voting machines and sowed distrust in the ballot-counting process.
One video claimed to show recently-arrived Haitians voting in Georgia.
The BBC has found clear indications, including false addresses and stock photos, which indicate the video is a fake. On Friday US security officials said it was made by "Russian influence actors".
Another person on X claiming they were Canadian posted a picture of a ballot and said: “Figured I would drive across the border and vote."
It, too, is a fake, and part of an effort co-ordinated on the fringe message board 4chan. The ballot shown is from Florida, a state that requires identification to vote in person and is about a 20-hour drive from the Canadian border.
Meanwhile in Northhampton County, Pennsylvania, a video was posted on X showing a man dropping off a container of ballots at a courthouse, alleging suspicious activity. It turned out he was a postal worker delivering mail-in ballots, but the video was seen more than five million times.
Echoes of 2020
Experts worry the burst of misinformation just before election day could undermine people's trust in the results - or lead to threats and violence in the lead-up to the election and beyond.
It's happened before.
In the hours and days that followed the 2020 presidential election, while votes were still being counted, then-President Trump turned to social media to allege fraud and falsely claim that he was the real winner of the election. "Stop the steal" became a slogan of his supporters' movement to overturn the results.
On social media, chatrooms and during street protests, conspiracy theorists alleged widespread voter fraud, culminating with a riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
Meanwhile, in battleground states like Georgia, election officials - civil servants whose job it is to oversee the election - faced death threats.
While false claims about voting ramped up after the 2020 vote, groups that monitor this kind of activity say this year it has started well before election day.
Wendy Via, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), said some far-right and right-wing activists “are preparing themselves for the election to be stolen in a way they weren’t in 2020”.
“We cannot overstate the role of conspiracy theories in all of this,” she said.
These doubts have already reached Trump supporters on the ground. At a rally this week in Wisconsin, another key swing state, a number of people said they believed only illegal activity would prevent the Republican nominee from winning.
“I feel very confident about Trump, as long as there’s no cheating,” said Brad Miller of Green Bay, who mentioned that he’d already heard rumours about fraud. “Our only hope is that it’s not big enough to change the result.”
After the 2020 election, dozens of court cases alleging election fraud were lodged by Trump's team across multiple states, but none succeeded.
Experts say that isolated incidents of ballot fraud and administrative errors always happen in US presidential elections, which run across all 50 states and in 2020 involved more than 150 million voters.
But real incidents are now being catalogued and shared online to an unprecedented degree and being used, alongside fake posts, as evidence of widespread cheating.
In southern California, dozens of ballots were found in a storm drain. Despite the unknown circumstances around the event, online partisans immediately suspected deliberate fraud.
“They WILL cheat,” says one of the thousands of comments posted.
BBC Verify examines claims of US voter fraud
As cases have cropped up in recent days - including those in Pennsylvania and a Chinese student being charged with illegally voting in Michigan - authorities have repeatedly pointed to their investigations as examples of the robustness of election safeguards.
But those who believe conspiracy theories about widespread fraud see these incidents as evidence of a co-ordinated plan by Democrats to “rig” the election.
“Look at this new cheat voter fraud,” read one typical comment responding to the news from Pennsylvania. “Dems already doing their best to steal another election.”
The overall effect can have a disastrous impact on trust in democracy, experts say.
“These incidents are catnip for those who seek to undermine confidence in the election result,” said Luis Lozada, chief executive of Democracy Works, a not-for-profit group that distributes information about voting.
The mass of election fraud claims spreading on social media have been aided by a network of groups that crowdsource allegations.
Groups like Texas-based True The Vote, founded in 2009, have long been on the forefront of questioning election security.
On an app developed by True the Vote called VoteAlert, supporters post examples of alleged election irregularities.
They have collected a wide range of claims, from minor security oversights to allegations of deliberate vote tampering. The organisation also has people monitoring live-streamed cameras that have been pointed on ballot drop boxes in a number of states. Many local officials have repeatedly outlined the steps they have taken to make the boxes secure.
“Our hope is we see exactly nothing at these drop boxes,” said True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht during one of her recent regular online meetings for supporters.
But she also hinted that Democratic-aligned groups were aiming to commit election fraud on a vast scale.
“If they want to try to pull the kinds of things that we saw being pulled in 2020, they’re highly unlikely to get away with it because we have, literally, eyes everywhere,” she added.
The BBC contacted True the Vote for comment.
A number of other groups are asking supporters to report alleged irregularities.
Elon Musk’s America political action committee has started a community – akin to a message board – on X, filled with rumours and allegations about voting. With 50,000 members, several posts go up every minute, almost around the clock.
Other efforts include the Election Integrity Network, a group founded by a former Trump lawyer who is challenging voter registrations and recruiting poll watchers – partisan observers who attend polling places.
The volume of messages on these platforms – along with the vagueness of some of the claims, with often anonymous sources – makes it nearly impossible to verify each allegation.
The groups, and the Trump campaign, say that these efforts are solely meant to ensure the integrity of the vote. The BBC contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
EPA
Experts say the same rumours and false allegations about widespread fraud that inspired the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 are resurfacing in advance of this year's election
Bad information will continue to spread
The effect of this is unpredictable.
The Department of Homeland Security, in a memo reported on by US outlets including the BBC’s partner CBS, said on Monday that election conspiracy theories could spark action by domestic extremists.
And observers expect the wave of misinformation to continue well beyond election day. Polls suggest the election will be among the closest in modern US history. It may take days to count all the votes and determine the winner.
Luis Lozada of Democracy Works says the election is being conducted in an “ecosystem of distrust”.
But despite the doubts being sown, he says, “accurate information is getting out there".
“Election officials work very hard to ensure that elections are run properly, as they were in 2020,” Mr Lozada said. “That’s not going to stop folks from taking anecdotes, and trying to punch holes.”
More than 442,000 children in Gaza's central and southern areas received a second dose of the polio vaccine last month following the start of the second round
The final phase of a two-stage polio vaccination campaign will resume in north Gaza on Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
The second phase was postponed in October by UN agencies due to intense Israeli bombardments, mass displacement and lack of access in the region.
Gaza recorded its first case of polio in 25 years in August, which left a baby boy paralysed and prompted the rollout of the programme.
The immunisations are set to resume as 15 UN and humanitarian organisations have described the situation in north Gaza as "apocalyptic" nearly a month after an Israeli ground offensive began.
A humanitarian pause in the fighting has been agreed upon to allow vaccinations to restart in Gaza City, the WHO said.
About 15,000 children under 10 years old in towns across north Gaza, such as Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, "still remain inaccessible" and will be missed by the vaccination campaign, compromising its effectiveness, the agency said.
The WHO had aimed to give 119,000 children in the area a second dose of the oral polio vaccine.
The agency added that achieving this target "is now unlikely due to access constraints".
The first round of the vaccine campaign successfully reached 559,000 children under 10 years old over three phases in south, central and north Gaza between 1 and 12 September, during which there were local “humanitarian pauses” agreed by Israel and Palestinian groups.
However, the area agreed in the latest humanitarian pause "has been substantially reduced" compared to the first round of vaccinations and is now limited to just Gaza City, according to the WHO.
From the start of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, medical experts stressed that delays in administering the second dose could jeopardise overall efforts to halt transmission of the contagious, potentially deadly disease.
To interrupt transmission, at least 90% of all children need to be given a minimum of two doses.
The UN human rights chief said last week that the Gaza war's “darkest moment” is unfolding in the north of the territory.
Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed since the Israeli military launched a ground offensive in Beit Lahia as well as neighbouring Jabalia and Beit Hanoun on 6 October, saying it was acting against regrouping Hamas fighters.
At least 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate from north Gaza towards Gaza City for safety, the WHO said.
The joint statement from UN agencies, including the WHO, released on Friday, said the situation was "apocalyptic", with the entire Palestinian population in the area "at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence".
The UN estimates that about 100,000 residents remain in dire conditions, with severe shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
The US warned Israel this week to immediately increase humanitarian aid into Gaza as a deadline approaches to boost aid or face cuts to American military assistance. The US envoy to the UN said on Tuesday that Israel's words "must be matched by action", which was "not happening".
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 43,160 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Police in South Africa have forced 540 illegal miners out of an abandoned mine shaft and arrested them.
Earlier this week, security forces blocked deliveries of food and water to the miners in a bid to push them out of the mine.
The miners experienced "starvation and dehydration" and were forced to resurface, police say.
Individuals have been emerging from the mine, located in the northern town of Orkney, since Saturday, though hundreds are believed to remain in the shaft.
On Sunday the national police boss encouraged security forces on the ground "not to back down" and to "ensure the rule of law is restored", a statement from the force says.
The statement says that earlier this week, security forces "blocked communities in and around these abandoned mining shifts in Orkney from delivering food parcels, water and necessities to these illegal miners".
The police reported on Saturday that 225 miners had resurfaced, but "hundreds if not a thousand" were thought to still be underground.
In an update on Sunday, the national force said an additional 340 had emerged from the mine and placed under arrest.
Thousands of illegal miners, known as "zama zamas" ("those who try their luck" in Zulu), operate in the mineral-rich country.
National Police Commissioner Lt Gen Shadrack Sibiya said that since December 2023, more than 13,690 suspects have been arrested across seven provinces.
"We have seized R5 million ($283,000; $220,000) in cash and uncut diamonds worth R32 million ($1.8m; £1.4m)," he said.
School children in some areas of Pakistan have been told they won't be taking part in outdoor activities until the end of January 2025 because of an increase in air pollution.
Lahore became the world's most polluted city on Monday when the Air Quality Index (AQI) hit hazardous levels.
The AQI measures pollution levels in the air.
Health officials in Pakistan have asked the most vulnerable people to stay inside.
The Environment Protection Department Punjab issued a high alert warning last week.
Lahore in Pakistan is one of the world's most polluted cities
Meanwhile, air quality levels in India's northern states have also been affected.
In India's capital city Delhi, pollution levels were more than 30 times the World Health Organisation's safe limit in several areas.
Weather conditions, the burning of crops and the use of firecrackers during the Hindu festival of Diwali could add to the problem.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
School lessons for many children have been affected
Farmers burn the remaining stubble of their harvested crops during the months of November and December in order to clear the fields to make way for more planting.
But this can cause huge amounts of smoke, lowering the overall air quality in the surrounding regions.
Palabek refugee camp is home to more than 80,000 people
A lighting strike at a refugee camp in Uganda had killed 14 people, police say.
They say the victims were attending a church service on Saturday evening when the lightning struck. Another 34 people were injured.
A local official told state-run radio that all those who died were children.
The incident occurred at Palabek Refugee Settlement in the north-west of the country. The area has recently seen heavy rains with thunder and lightning.
Palabek Refugee Settlement is home to more than 80,000 refugees and asylum seekers, according to the UN's refugee agency. Many are from neighbouring South Sudan.
Although Maia Sandu was well ahead after the first round, her rival has the support of several other candidates
Moldovans are going to the polls on Sunday in the second round run-off of a presidential election seen as a choice between a European future or a return to Russian influence.
Pro-European President Maia Sandu faces Alexandr Stoianoglo, a man she fired as chief prosecutor, who has promised to balance foreign policy between the West and Russia and has the backing of the pro-Russian Party of Socialists.
Sandu and Moldova's authorities have warned that a fugitive oligarch now based in Russia is trying to buy the election for Moscow.
The Kremlin has denied interfering in the vote, much as it did during last weekend's disputed elections in Georgia, whose president described the vote as a "Russian special operation".
"We resolutely reject any accusations that we are somehow interfering in this. We are not doing this," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Sandu won the first round of the vote two weeks ago with 42.4%, well ahead of Alexandr Stoianoglo on 26%, but short of the 50% she needed to win outright. His vote is likely to increase because of the votes of candidates who failed to reach the run-off.
Stoianoglo has told Moldovans he would be an "apolitical president" for everyone, with a goal of security, peace and prosperity, and a "truly European model".
But commentators and politicians have warned that a Stoianoglu victory could radically change the political landscape in the Danube and Black Sea region, not because he is some kind of "Trojan horse", but rather because Russia has thrown its weight behind him.
Reuters
Alexandr Stoianoglo promises Moldovans to save their country from four more years of "abuse and ruin"
Former Moldovan Defence Minister Anatol Salaru said the election would decide whether Moldova would "continue the process of European integration or return to the Russia fold".
A former Soviet republic flanked by Ukraine and Romania and one of Europe's poorest countries, Moldova has a population of 2.5 million. It also has a large expat population of 1.2 million, whose votes could prove key to Maia Sandu in the run-off.
Moldova has opened talks on joining the European Union, and on the same day of the first round Moldovans voted by a whisker to back a change to the constitution embracing the commitment to join the EU.
The tiny margin in favour came as a surprise, although Maia Sandu said there was clear evidence of attempts to buy 300,000 votes.
The BBC spoke to one voter who said she and others had sold their votes for up to 1,000 roubles (£8).
Whatever Russia's role behind the scenes, police said fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor had moved $39m (£30m) over two months from Moscow into Moldovan bank accounts in September and October, benefiting at least 138,000 voters.
Shor denies wrongdoing but did promise cash handouts to people prepared to back his call for a "firm No" to the EU. He faces a lengthy jail sentence in Moldova for money laundering and embezzlement.
Stoianoglo denies links to Ilan Shor but he does have the backing of the opposition pro-Russian Party of Socialists, led by ex-president Igor Dodon.
A populist ex-mayor who came third has refused to back either him or Maia Sandu, criticising both in equal measure.
"Do what you see fit. You must decide on your own," Renato Usatii told his supporters, blowing the race wide open.
Palabek refugee camp is home to more than 80,000 people
A lighting strike at a refugee camp in Uganda had killed 14 people, police say.
They say the victims were attending a church service on Saturday evening when the lightning struck. Another 34 people were injured.
A local official told state-run radio that all those who died were children.
The incident occurred at Palabek Refugee Settlement in the north-west of the country. The area has recently seen heavy rains with thunder and lightning.
Palabek Refugee Settlement is home to more than 80,000 refugees and asylum seekers, according to the UN's refugee agency. Many are from neighbouring South Sudan.
More than 442,000 children in Gaza's central and southern areas received a second dose of the polio vaccine last month following the start of the second round
The final phase of a two-stage polio vaccination campaign will resume in north Gaza on Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
The second phase was postponed in October by UN agencies due to intense Israeli bombardments, mass displacement and lack of access in the region.
Gaza recorded its first case of polio in 25 years in August, which left a baby boy paralysed and prompted the rollout of the programme.
The immunisations are set to resume as 15 UN and humanitarian organisations have described the situation in north Gaza as "apocalyptic" nearly a month after an Israeli ground offensive began.
A humanitarian pause in the fighting has been agreed upon to allow vaccinations to restart in Gaza City, the WHO said.
About 15,000 children under 10 years old in towns across north Gaza, such as Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, "still remain inaccessible" and will be missed by the vaccination campaign, compromising its effectiveness, the agency said.
The WHO had aimed to give 119,000 children in the area a second dose of the oral polio vaccine.
The agency added that achieving this target "is now unlikely due to access constraints".
The first round of the vaccine campaign successfully reached 559,000 children under 10 years old over three phases in south, central and north Gaza between 1 and 12 September, during which there were local “humanitarian pauses” agreed by Israel and Palestinian groups.
However, the area agreed in the latest humanitarian pause "has been substantially reduced" compared to the first round of vaccinations and is now limited to just Gaza City, according to the WHO.
From the start of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, medical experts stressed that delays in administering the second dose could jeopardise overall efforts to halt transmission of the contagious, potentially deadly disease.
To interrupt transmission, at least 90% of all children need to be given a minimum of two doses.
The UN human rights chief said last week that the Gaza war's “darkest moment” is unfolding in the north of the territory.
Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed since the Israeli military launched a ground offensive in Beit Lahia as well as neighbouring Jabalia and Beit Hanoun on 6 October, saying it was acting against regrouping Hamas fighters.
At least 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate from north Gaza towards Gaza City for safety, the WHO said.
The joint statement from UN agencies, including the WHO, released on Friday, said the situation was "apocalyptic", with the entire Palestinian population in the area "at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence".
The UN estimates that about 100,000 residents remain in dire conditions, with severe shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
The US warned Israel this week to immediately increase humanitarian aid into Gaza as a deadline approaches to boost aid or face cuts to American military assistance. The US envoy to the UN said on Tuesday that Israel's words "must be matched by action", which was "not happening".
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 43,160 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Rumours, misleading allegations and outright lies about voting and fraud are flooding online spaces in unprecedented numbers in advance of the US election.
Hundreds of incidents involving purported voting irregularities are being collected and spread by individuals, as well as both independent and Republican-affiliated groups. A small number of posts are also coming from Democrats.
The whirlwind of claims spreading online poses a challenge to election officials who are having to debunk rumours and reassure voters, while preparing to administer election day on Tuesday.
In nearly every case, the posts support the Trump campaign’s false claim that the former president won the 2020 election and suggestions that he will potentially be cheated out of victory again on 5 November.
When asked whether he will accept the 2024 election result, Donald Trump said during the presidential debate in September that he would if it was a "fair and legal and good election".
A majority of Americans - 70% - expect him to reject the result if he loses, according to a CNN/SSRS poll released Monday.
Just this week, Trump himself claimed widespread fraud in a key swing state.
“Pennsylvania is cheating, and getting caught, at large scale levels rarely seen before,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network. “REPORT CHEATING TO AUTHORITIES. Law Enforcement must act, NOW!”
The allegation followed officials in three Pennsylvania counties saying they were working with local law enforcement to investigate some voter registration applications for potential fraud.
While Trump and allies seized on the announcements, the state's top election official, Republican Al Schmidt, has urged caution and warned voters to be aware of "half-truths" and disinformation circulating on social media.
“This is a sign that the built-in safeguards in our voter registration process are working,” he said.
Flood of misleading content
The BBC has seen hundreds of allegations of election fraud online, on social networks and on message boards and in chat groups. Some of these posts have been viewed millions of times each.
The posts have implied it's easy for non-citizens to vote, made false claims about voting machines and sowed distrust in the ballot-counting process.
One video claimed to show recently-arrived Haitians voting in Georgia.
The BBC has found clear indications, including false addresses and stock photos, which indicate the video is a fake. On Friday US security officials said it was made by "Russian influence actors".
Another person on X claiming they were Canadian posted a picture of a ballot and said: “Figured I would drive across the border and vote."
It, too, is a fake, and part of an effort co-ordinated on the fringe message board 4chan. The ballot shown is from Florida, a state that requires identification to vote in person and is about a 20-hour drive from the Canadian border.
Meanwhile in Northhampton County, Pennsylvania, a video was posted on X showing a man dropping off a container of ballots at a courthouse, alleging suspicious activity. It turned out he was a postal worker delivering mail-in ballots, but the video was seen more than five million times.
Echoes of 2020
Experts worry the burst of misinformation just before election day could undermine people's trust in the results - or lead to threats and violence in the lead-up to the election and beyond.
It's happened before.
In the hours and days that followed the 2020 presidential election, while votes were still being counted, then-President Trump turned to social media to allege fraud and falsely claim that he was the real winner of the election. "Stop the steal" became a slogan of his supporters' movement to overturn the results.
On social media, chatrooms and during street protests, conspiracy theorists alleged widespread voter fraud, culminating with a riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
Meanwhile, in battleground states like Georgia, election officials - civil servants whose job it is to oversee the election - faced death threats.
While false claims about voting ramped up after the 2020 vote, groups that monitor this kind of activity say this year it has started well before election day.
Wendy Via, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), said some far-right and right-wing activists “are preparing themselves for the election to be stolen in a way they weren’t in 2020”.
“We cannot overstate the role of conspiracy theories in all of this,” she said.
These doubts have already reached Trump supporters on the ground. At a rally this week in Wisconsin, another key swing state, a number of people said they believed only illegal activity would prevent the Republican nominee from winning.
“I feel very confident about Trump, as long as there’s no cheating,” said Brad Miller of Green Bay, who mentioned that he’d already heard rumours about fraud. “Our only hope is that it’s not big enough to change the result.”
After the 2020 election, dozens of court cases alleging election fraud were lodged by Trump's team across multiple states, but none succeeded.
Experts say that isolated incidents of ballot fraud and administrative errors always happen in US presidential elections, which run across all 50 states and in 2020 involved more than 150 million voters.
But real incidents are now being catalogued and shared online to an unprecedented degree and being used, alongside fake posts, as evidence of widespread cheating.
In southern California, dozens of ballots were found in a storm drain. Despite the unknown circumstances around the event, online partisans immediately suspected deliberate fraud.
“They WILL cheat,” says one of the thousands of comments posted.
BBC Verify examines claims of US voter fraud
As cases have cropped up in recent days - including those in Pennsylvania and a Chinese student being charged with illegally voting in Michigan - authorities have repeatedly pointed to their investigations as examples of the robustness of election safeguards.
But those who believe conspiracy theories about widespread fraud see these incidents as evidence of a co-ordinated plan by Democrats to “rig” the election.
“Look at this new cheat voter fraud,” read one typical comment responding to the news from Pennsylvania. “Dems already doing their best to steal another election.”
The overall effect can have a disastrous impact on trust in democracy, experts say.
“These incidents are catnip for those who seek to undermine confidence in the election result,” said Luis Lozada, chief executive of Democracy Works, a not-for-profit group that distributes information about voting.
The mass of election fraud claims spreading on social media have been aided by a network of groups that crowdsource allegations.
Groups like Texas-based True The Vote, founded in 2009, have long been on the forefront of questioning election security.
On an app developed by True the Vote called VoteAlert, supporters post examples of alleged election irregularities.
They have collected a wide range of claims, from minor security oversights to allegations of deliberate vote tampering. The organisation also has people monitoring live-streamed cameras that have been pointed on ballot drop boxes in a number of states. Many local officials have repeatedly outlined the steps they have taken to make the boxes secure.
“Our hope is we see exactly nothing at these drop boxes,” said True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht during one of her recent regular online meetings for supporters.
But she also hinted that Democratic-aligned groups were aiming to commit election fraud on a vast scale.
“If they want to try to pull the kinds of things that we saw being pulled in 2020, they’re highly unlikely to get away with it because we have, literally, eyes everywhere,” she added.
The BBC contacted True the Vote for comment.
A number of other groups are asking supporters to report alleged irregularities.
Elon Musk’s America political action committee has started a community – akin to a message board – on X, filled with rumours and allegations about voting. With 50,000 members, several posts go up every minute, almost around the clock.
Other efforts include the Election Integrity Network, a group founded by a former Trump lawyer who is challenging voter registrations and recruiting poll watchers – partisan observers who attend polling places.
The volume of messages on these platforms – along with the vagueness of some of the claims, with often anonymous sources – makes it nearly impossible to verify each allegation.
The groups, and the Trump campaign, say that these efforts are solely meant to ensure the integrity of the vote. The BBC contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
EPA
Experts say the same rumours and false allegations about widespread fraud that inspired the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 are resurfacing in advance of this year's election
Bad information will continue to spread
The effect of this is unpredictable.
The Department of Homeland Security, in a memo reported on by US outlets including the BBC’s partner CBS, said on Monday that election conspiracy theories could spark action by domestic extremists.
And observers expect the wave of misinformation to continue well beyond election day. Polls suggest the election will be among the closest in modern US history. It may take days to count all the votes and determine the winner.
Luis Lozada of Democracy Works says the election is being conducted in an “ecosystem of distrust”.
But despite the doubts being sown, he says, “accurate information is getting out there".
“Election officials work very hard to ensure that elections are run properly, as they were in 2020,” Mr Lozada said. “That’s not going to stop folks from taking anecdotes, and trying to punch holes.”
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