The last hospital providing health services in the North Gaza governorate is out of service after the Israeli military ordered its immediate evacuation, the hospital's director has said.

Dr Mohammed Salha said patients were evacuated from al-Awda hospital in Jabalia on Thursday evening.

He told the BBC "we are feeling really bad about this forced evacuation" after "two weeks of siege", saying there is now "no health facility working in the north".

Israel has not yet commented, but the BBC has contacted the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

"We're really sad that we evacuated the hospital, but the Israeli occupation forces threatened us that if we didn't evacuate, they would enter and kill whoever is inside," Dr Salha said in a voice note to the BBC.

"Or they would bomb the hospital. We were thinking of the lives of patients and our staff."

Dr Salha told the BBC the hospital faced "a lot of bombing and shooting from the tanks" from around noon local time (09:00 GMT) on Thursday.

He received a call from the Israeli forces at about 13:00 to evacuate, and initially refused because there were patients in need of healthcare. He offered to stay with another 10 of his staff and evacuate the others, but the military refused, he said.

After seven hours of negotiations, the evacuation occurred at about 20:30.

Staff carried patients more than 300 metres (984 feet) to ambulances parked far away from the hospital "because the roads are totally destroyed".

A video sent by Dr Salha of the evacuation, and verified by the BBC, shows a line of ambulances with lights and sirens on driving at night.

"Due to impassable roads" the hospital's medical equipment could not be relocated, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

UN humanitarian agency OCHA said on Thursday "ongoing hostilities over the past two weeks have damaged the hospital, disrupted access, and created panic, deterring people from seeking care".

Patients were evacuated to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

Dr Salha told the BBC they would provide services through a primary health centre in Gaza City and said another might be established in a shelter.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said the closure of al-Awda meant there was no remaining functioning hospital in the North Gaza governorate, "severing a critical lifeline for the people there".

"WHO pleads for the hospital's protection and staff and patients' safety, and reiterates its call for the active protection of civilians and healthcare," he said. "Hospitals must never be attacked or militarized."

The IDF had ordered evacuations of the areas of Al-Atatra, Jabalia Al-Balad, Shujaiya, Al-Daraj and Al-Zeitoun on Thursday evening, spokesperson Avichay Adraee said at the time on social media.

"Terrorist organisations continue their subversive activity in the region, and therefore the IDF will expand its offensive activity in the areas where you are present to destroy the capabilities of the terrorist organisations," he said.

"From this moment on, the mentioned areas will be considered dangerous combat."

Al-Awda hospital was inside an evacuation zone announced last week, but had still been functioning, its director previously said.

A statement from 18 charities on Thursday said the hospital was under military besiegement "for the fourth time since October 2023 and has been struck at least 28 times".

The emergency room was hit, injuring four staff, and the desalination plant and storage unit also struck, leading to the loss of all medicine, supplies and equipment, the charities said.

The IDF told the BBC last week it was "operating in the area against terror targets", but that it was "not aware of any siege on the hospital itself".

Apart from hospitals, some primary healthcare centres are still operating in Gaza, with 61 out of 158 partially or fully functional as of 18 May, OCHA said.

Nine out of 27 UN Palestinian refugee agency health centres were also functioning.

OCHA did not report how many, if any, centres were in the north Gaza governorate.

Israel is continuing its bombardment of Gaza, which most Palestinians are not currently able to leave, after a brief ceasefire earlier this year.

Israel began to allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza last week, after a nearly three-month blockade that halted the delivery of supplies including food, medicine, fuel and shelter.

Security broke down and looting took place as Palestinians searched for food in Gaza City on Thursday.

Scenes of chaos have also broken out at aid distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - a US-and Israeli-backed group.

The UN and many aid groups have refused to co-operate with the GHF's plans, which they say contradict humanitarian principles and appear to "weaponise aid".

Israel said it imposed the blockade on Gaza to pressurise Hamas to release the remaining hostages, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. It has also accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.

A UN-backed assessment this month said Gaza's 2.1 million people were at a "critical risk" of famine. The UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the BBC people in the territory were being subjected to "forced starvation" by Israel.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 54,249 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,986 since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Additional reporting by Naomi Scherbel-Ball and Alice Cuddy in Jerusalem

President Donald Trump's administration can temporarily revoke the legal status of over 500,000 migrants living in the US, the US Supreme Court ruled on Friday.

The ruling put on hold a previous federal judge's order stopping the administration from ending the "parole" immigration programme, established by former President Joe Biden. The programme protected immigrants fleeing economic and political turmoil in their home countries.

The new order puts roughly 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela at risk of being deported.

Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor, two of the court's three liberal justices, dissented.

The parole programme allows immigrants temporary status to work and live in the US for two years because of "urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit", according to the US government.

The Trump administration had filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court after a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the administration from ending the programme, also known as CHNV humanitarian parole.

The White House "celebrated" the opportunity to deport 500,000 "invaders", White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told CNN. "The Supreme Court justly stepped in".

In her dissent, Justice Jackson wrote that the court's order would "have the lives of half a million migrants unravel all around us before the courts decide their legal claims".

On the day he took office, Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to get rid of parole programmes. Then, in March, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the end of CHNV humanitarian parole.

Several immigrants rights groups and migrants from the programme sued the Trump administration over the decision, arguing they could "face serious risks of danger, persecution and even death" if deported back to their home countries.

The ruling comes after the Supreme Court earlier this month allowed Trump officials to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) - a separate programme - for some 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants living and working in the US.

Humanitarian parole programmes have been used for decades to allow immigrants fleeing war and other tumultuous conditions in their home countries to come to the US, including Cubans in the 1960s following the revolution.

The Biden administration also established a parole programme in 2022 for Ukrainians fleeing after Russia's invasion.

The French scientist who created the abortion pill has died at the age of 98.

Étienne-Émile Baulieu helped develop the oral drug RU-486, also known as mifepristone, which has provided millions of women across the world with a safe and inexpensive alternative to a surgical abortion.

Dr Baulieu died at his home in Paris on Friday, his widow confirmed in a statement.

Simone Harari Baulieu said: "His research was guided by his commitment to progress through science, his dedication to women's freedom and his desire to enable everyone to live better and longer lives."

French President Emmanuel Macron called Dr Baulieu "a beacon of courage" and "a progressive mind who enabled women to win their freedom".

"Few French people have changed the world to such an extent," he added in a post on X.

Aurore Bergé, France's gender equality minister, said Dr Baulieu "was guided throughout his life by one requirement: that of human dignity" in a post on X.

Dr Baulieu was born Étienne Blum on 12 December 1926 in Strasbourg. He changed his name to join the French resistance against the Nazi occupation when he was 15.

Following his graduation, he travelled to the United States where he worked with the man known as the father of the contraceptive pill, Dr Gregory Pincus. Dr Pincus advised him on focusing on sex hormones.

Back in France, Dr Baulieu designed a method to block the effect of the hormone progesterone – which is essential for the egg to implant in the uterus following fertilisation.

While the abortion pill was developed within 10 years, Dr Baulieu spent decades pushing international governments to authorise the drug despite facing fierce criticism and sometimes threats from opponents of abortion.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) added it to its list of essential medication only in 2010.

Presenting him with the Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur in 2023, Macron said: "You, a Jew and a member of the resistance, were heaped with the most atrocious insults and compared to Nazi scientists.

"But you held firm, out of love for freedom and science."

Upon Wyoming becoming the first US state to ban the abortion pill in 2023, Dr Baulieu noted he had spent a large part of his life trying to increase "the freedom of women", adding such bans were a step in the wrong direction.

His recent research included trying to find a way to prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease, as well as a treatment for severe depression.

Loretta Swit, who won two Emmy awards for her role on the popular comedy TV series MASH, died on Friday, according to her representative.

She died at her home in New York at the age of 87, the BBC's news partner CBS reported, citing a statement from her representative. It likely died of natural causes, although a coroner's report is pending.

On MASH, Swit played the Army nurse Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan. The series, which followed the fortunes of a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War, ran for 11 seasons from 1974 to 1983.

Swit was nominated for numerous awards, and appeared in nearly every episode of the series, including the finale which attracted a record 106m US viewers.

France's President Emmanuel Macron warned the US and Europe risked losing their credibility and being accused of "double standards" if they do not resolve the wars in Ukraine and Gaza soon.

He also appealed to Asian countries to build a new alliance with Europe to ensure they do not become "collateral damage" in the struggle for power between the US and China.

Macron was speaking at the Shangri-la Dialogue, a high-level Asia defence summit held in Singapore.

Among the guests listening were US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as top military officials from the region.

Macron pointed out that if Russia could take Ukrainian territory "without any restrictions, without any constraints… what could happen in Taiwan? What will you do the day something happens in the Philippines?"

"What is at stake in Ukraine is our common credibility, that we are still able to preserve territorial integrity and sovereignty of people," he said. "No double standards."

Many in Asia worry of instability in the region should China attempt to forcibly "reunify" with Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of its territory. China has also increasingly clashed with the Philippines over competing claims in the South China Sea.

Macron later answered a question posed by the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner on Europe's military role in Asia while a full-scale war was still raging on the continent.

"If both the US and Europeans are unable to fix in the short term the Ukrainian situation, I think the credibility of both the US and Europeans pretending to fix any crisis in this region would be very low," the French leader said.

US President Donald Trump has put increasing pressure on both Russia and Ukraine's leaders to end the war, and has appeared to give Vladimir Putin a two-week deadline. Trump has also previously berated Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and accused him of being "not ready for peace".

Macron also made his point about double standards on the war in Gaza, acknowledging there was a perception the West has given a "free pass" to Israel.

He stressed the importance of working towards a ceasefire and mutual recognition of a Palestinian state, saying: "If we abandon Gaza, if we consider there is a free pass for Israel, even if we do condemn the terrorist attacks, we kill our own credibility in the rest of the world."

He said this was why it was "very important to be consistent and follow our principles and rules".

In recent weeks, European leaders have criticised Israel's attacks for exacerbating the increasingly desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a blistering attack on Macron and the leaders of Canada and the UK, accusing them of effectively siding with Hamas and being "on the wrong side of humanity".

Meanwhile the US has worked with Israel to table a ceasefire proposal to Hamas, while creating a much-criticised aid distribution model in Gaza.

Macron also used his speech on Friday to sell his vision of "strategic autonomy", where countries protect their interests while also working closely together to uphold a rules-based global order not dominated by superpowers.

He touted France as an example of being friends with both the US and China while guarding its own sovereignty, and said this model could form the basis of a new alliance between Europe and Asia.

"We want to co-operate but we don't want to depend... we don't want to be instructed on a daily basis on what is allowed, what is not allowed and how our life can change because of a decision by a single person," he said, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Trump or Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He also made references to Trump's global tariffs and allies' uncertainty of the US's security commitments, saying: "We cannot just remain seated and say… what do we do with tariffs, okay we are not so sure that we have the full-fledged guarantee in the existing alliance, what do we do?"

"We want to act, we want to preserve our stability and our peace and our prosperity," he said, calling for a "positive new alliance between Europe and Asia" where they would ensure "our countries are not collateral damage of the imbalances linked to the choices made by the superpowers".

He noted that both Europe and Asia's challenges were increasingly intertwined, and referenced the Ukraine war again where North Korea has been aiding Russia's efforts with thousands of its troops.

Macron said that in the past he had objected to the Western alliance Nato having a role in Asia, "because I don't want to be involved with someone else's strategic rivalry".

"But what's happening with North Korea being present alongside Russia on European soil is a big question for all of us," he said.

"So this is why if China doesn't want Nato involved in South-East Asia or Asia, they should prevent clearly [North Korea] from being engaged on European soil."

Mathieu Duchatel, director of international studies at the Paris-based think tank Institut Montaigne, said Macron's comments on credibility had "implied criticism of the US's Middle East policy, and a direct call on the US to adjust its diplomacy towards Russia".

Observers agree China would likely be angered by Macron's speech, with Dr Duchatel noting the French leader's comments on Taiwan were "the furthest he has gone" on the issue.

Some parts of Asia may welcome Macron's message on strategic autonomy given their anxieties about choosing between the US and China, said Andrew Small, senior fellow of the Asia-Pacific programme of Washington-based think tank GMF.

"His argument is that most of the rest of the world does not want to be stuck with this dichotomy and wants to hold together some version of global order - that's what a number of states in Asia would agree," he said.

Among several European and Asian states, Dr Small said, there was "genuine concern about how China will interpret a Russian victory" in Ukraine, while "the Trump administration takes a different view and is trying to make the case that there is no read across".

He added that Macron's mention of the recognition of a Palestinian state - on which France has been leading European efforts - was to signal "we are moving on this".

Russia says it will send a delegation to Istanbul on Monday for a second round of peace talks with Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow's conditions for a temporary truce were being developed and would be discussed in Turkey.

Ukraine has said it remains committed to dialogue but will not send a delegation until it receives details of Russia's ceasefire proposal.

The first round of talks between low-level Russian and Ukrainian delegations took place earlier this month, resulting in both sides returning hundreds of prisoners in the biggest exchange since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine had already sent its own "vision of future steps" to Russia, adding that Moscow "must accept an unconditional ceasefire" to pave the way for broader negotiations.

"We are interested in seeing these meetings continue because we want the war to end this year," Sybiha said during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Friday.

If the talks do go ahead on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are not expected to attend.

But Fidan said Turkey was hoping to eventually host a high-level summit: "We sincerely think it is time to bring President Trump, President Putin and President Zelensky to the table."

Peskov said Russia would only entertain the idea of a high-level summit if meaningful progress was achieved in preliminary discussions between the two countries.

He welcomed comments made by Trump's envoy to Ukraine, retired Gen Keith Kellogg, who described Russian concerns over Nato enlargement as "fair".

Gen Kellogg said Ukraine joining the military alliance, long-hoped for by Kyiv, was not on the table.

He added that President Trump was "frustrated" by what he described as Russia's intransigence, but emphasised the need to keep negotiations alive.

On Wednesday, Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, told Ukraine's Zelensky that Berlin would help Kyiv produce long-range missiles to defend itself from future Russian attacks.

The Kremlin said any decision to end range restrictions on the missiles Ukraine could use would represent a dangerous change in policy that would harm efforts to bring an end to the war.

Moscow currently controls 20% of Ukraine's internationally-recognised territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

Trade talks between the US and China are "a bit stalled", the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.

His comment comes less than three weeks after a temporary trade truce was agreed between the world's two largest economies, with both agreeing to reduce tit-for-tat tariffs.

Bessent told Fox News on Thursday: "I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require [leaders of both the countries] to weigh in with each other".

Donald Trump's global tariff regime was dealt a blow on Wednesday following a ruling that he had exceeded his authority. His plans have been temporarily reinstated after the White House appealed the decision.

Both the US and China confirmed they would reduce tariffs imposed on each other's imports earlier this month, following talks in Switzerland.

The deal involved both nations cancelling some tariffs altogether and suspending others for 90 days by 14 May.

Bessent said talks on a further deal had lost momentum, but stressed that they were continuing.

"I believe that we will be having more talks with [China] in the next few weeks and I believe we may at some point have a call between the president and [Chinese President Xi Jinping]," Bessent said on Thursday.

He added that the pair had "a very good relationship" and he was "confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his preferences known".

Under the deal struck earlier this month, the US lowered tariffs imposed on goods from China from 145% to 30%.

China's retaliatory tariffs on US goods dropped from 125% to 10%.

The US President has argued imposing tariffs on foreign goods would encourage US consumers to buy more American-made goods, bringing back manufacturing jobs while increase the amount of tax revenue raised.

They have been used by the Trump administration as leverage in negotiations as it seeks to reduce trade deficits with other nations.

A delegation from Japan are continuing trade talks with their US counterparts in Washington on Friday.

Bessent said "a couple" of US trade deals were "very close", but "a couple of them are more complicated".

Trump's tariff regime remains in the balance following the decision by the US Court of International Trade, which ruled that Trump had overstepped his power by imposing the duties.

Some analysts believe it will mean countries will be less likely to rush to secure trade deals with the US.

A federal appeals court has granted a bid from the White House to temporarily suspend the lower court's order, which Trump described as "horrific".

"Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country [sic] threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Taylor Swift has bought back the rights to her first six albums, ending a long-running battle over the ownership of her music.

"All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me," said the star, announcing the news on her official website. "I've been bursting into tears of joy... ever since I found out this is really happening."

The saga began in June 2019, when music manager Scooter Braun bought Swift's former record label Big Machine and, with it, all of the songs from Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation.

Swift had personal objections to the deal, blaming Braun for complicity in the "incessant, manipulative bullying" against her by Kanye West, one of his clients.

She responded by vowing to re-record those records, effectively diminishing the value of those master tapes, and putting ownership back in her hands.

To date, she has released four re-recorded albums - known as "Taylor's Versions" - with dozens of bonus tracks and supplementary material.

Braun later sold his stake in her back catalogue to Shamrock Holdings, a Los Angeles investment fund founded by the Disney family in 1978, in November 2020.

The deal was said to be worth $300 million (£222 million). It is not known how much Swift paid Shamrock to re-acquire the masters.

In the music industry, the owner of a master controls all rights to exploit the recording. That includes distributing music to streaming services, pressing new physical CDs and vinyl, creating box sets, or licensing songs to movies or video games.

The artist still earns royalties from those recordings but controlling the master offers a level of protection over how the work is used in the future.

Swift, as the writer or co-writer of her music, always maintained her publishing rights, which meant she was able to veto attempts to license songs like Shake It Off and Love Story to other companies.

"I do want my music to live on. I do want it to be in movies. I do want it to be in commercials. But I only want that if I own it," she told Billboard in 2019.

How did the sale of Taylor Swift's masters happen?

When 14-year-old Taylor Swift moved to Nashville in 2004 to chase her dream of becoming a country pop star, she signed a record deal with Big Machine.

Label boss Scott Borchetta gave the unproven singer a big cash advance in exchange for having ownership of the master recordings to her first six albums "in perpetuity".

This was fairly common practice in the era before streaming, when artists needed record label backing to get played on the radio, and for the manufacture and distribution of CDs.

Swift's deal with Big Machine expired in 2018, at which point she left and signed with Republic Records and Universal Music Group (UMG).

A year later, Borchetta sold his label to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings.

Swift said she only learned about the deal when it was announced; characterising it as an act of aggression that "stripped me of my life's work".

She labelled Braun - who rose to prominence as the manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande - as "the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry".

She also expressed frustration that she had been unable to make a counter offer for her music.

"I spent 10 years of my life trying rigorously to purchase my masters outright and was then denied that opportunity," she told Billboard, adding that: "Artists should maybe have the first right of refusal to buy."

• Was Taylor Swift really banned from playing her hits?
• What is the Swift vs Braun dispute all about
• Taylor Swift's Red: The stories behind the songs
• Taylor Swift releases a 'perfect replica' of Fearless

Braun later told Variety that the dispute had "gotten out of hand" after he and his family received death threats.

When he sold the catalogue to Shamrock Holdings in 2020, Swift felt betrayed again.

"This is the second time my music had been sold without my knowledge," she said in a social media post.

While she was "open to the possibility of a partnership with Shamrock", she subsequently learnt that, under the terms of the sale, Braun would "continue to profit off my old music" for years.

"I simply cannot in good conscience bring myself to be involved in benefiting Scooter Braun's interests," she wrote in a letter to the company, which she posted on X.

She began releasing her re-recorded albums in 2021, starting with her breakthrough, coming-of-age album Fearless.

Produced with forensic attention to detail, they were often indistinguishable from the originals - albeit with slightly cleaner mixes, and greater separation between the instruments.

But the big attraction was the bonus tracks, including the unabridged, 10-minute version of her break-up ballad All Too Well - described by Variety magazine as the "holy grail" of the star's back catalogue.

The song went on to top the US charts, and made number three in the UK - where it is the longest song ever to reach the top five.

So far, four "Taylor's Version" albums have been released, with only her 2006 debut album, Taylor Swift, and 2017's Reputation still to receive the deluxe treatment.

In the meantime, the singer continued to release original material, including the Grammy Award-winning albums Folklore and Midnights.

In 2023, Forbes magazine reported that Swift had become the first musician to make $1 billion (£740,000) solely from songwriting and performing.

Half of her fortune came from music royalties and touring, while the rest came from the increasing value of her music catalogue, including her re-recordings.

Revisiting the old material also inspired Swift's career-spanning Eras tour, which made more than $2 billion (£1.48 billion) in ticket sales across 2023 and 2024.

A Chinese paraglider has survived being accidentally propelled 8,500m (27,800ft) into the sky above north-west China, state media report.

Peng Yujiang, 55, was testing new equipment at 3,000m above sea level, over the Qilian mountains, when a rare updraft or air current known as a "cloud suck" pulled him about 5,000m higher into a cloud formation.

Saturday's events were filmed on a camera that was mounted on Mr Peng's glider and the footage has gone viral after being posted on Douyin, China's version of TikTok.

It showed Mr Peng holding on to the glider's controls, with his face and much of his body covered in ice crystals.

"It was terrifying... Everything was white. I couldn't see any direction. Without the compass, I wouldn't have known which way I was going. I thought I was flying straight, but in reality, I was spinning," he told China Media Group.

Mr Peng narrowly survived death as oxygen levels are thin at that altitude, which is slightly lower than the 8,849m peak of Mount Everest. Temperatures can also plummet to -40C.

"I wanted to come down quickly, but I just couldn't. I was lifted higher and higher until I was inside the cloud," he said.

Mr Peng, who has been paragliding for four-and-a-half years, said he might have lost consciousness during his descent, adding that the most frightening part of his ordeal was trying to regain control of the glider as it spiralled in the air.

Chinese authorities are investigating the incident and Mr Peng has been suspended for six months because the flight was unauthorised, state-run Global Times reported.

Mr Peng had no intention to fly that day and was only testing the fit and comfort of his parachute on the ground, Global Times said.

However, strong winds lifted him off the ground and grew even stronger, until he encountered the updraft that shot him up into the clouds.

At least 110 people have died in floods caused by torrential rain in central Nigeria, officials have told the BBC.

The rainfall lasted for several hours, said the head of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (Nsema), Abullahi Baba-Arah.

He added that "surging flood water submerged and washed away over 50 residential houses with their occupants".

According to Nsema, the Tiffin Maza and Anguwan Hausawa districts of Mokwa town were worst affected.

Mokwa's District Head, Muhammad Shaba Aliyu, said it has been "60 years" since the community had suffered this kind of flooding.

"I beg the government to support us," Mr Aliyu said.

This is the start of the rainy season in Nigeria.

Many parts of northern Nigeria experienced heavy rainfall and flooding in 2024 which caused deaths, displacement of people and destruction of houses and infrastructure.

The country also suffered severe flooding in 2022, which forced around 1.3 million people out of the homes and caused more than 600 deaths.

Additional reporting from Cecilia Macaulay

You may also be interested in:

• Nigeria's floods and drought worsening food insecurity
• Songs and testimonies from a drowning world
• Nigeria floods: 'I have nowhere to go'

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

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

Russia says it will send a delegation to Istanbul on Monday for a second round of peace talks with Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow's conditions for a temporary truce were being developed and would be discussed in Turkey.

Ukraine has said it remains committed to dialogue but will not send a delegation until it receives details of Russia's ceasefire proposal.

The first round of talks between low-level Russian and Ukrainian delegations took place earlier this month, resulting in both sides returning hundreds of prisoners in the biggest exchange since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine had already sent its own "vision of future steps" to Russia, adding that Moscow "must accept an unconditional ceasefire" to pave the way for broader negotiations.

"We are interested in seeing these meetings continue because we want the war to end this year," Sybiha said during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Friday.

If the talks do go ahead on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are not expected to attend.

But Fidan said Turkey was hoping to eventually host a high-level summit: "We sincerely think it is time to bring President Trump, President Putin and President Zelensky to the table."

Peskov said Russia would only entertain the idea of a high-level summit if meaningful progress was achieved in preliminary discussions between the two countries.

He welcomed comments made by Trump's envoy to Ukraine, retired Gen Keith Kellogg, who described Russian concerns over Nato enlargement as "fair".

Gen Kellogg said Ukraine joining the military alliance, long-hoped for by Kyiv, was not on the table.

He added that President Trump was "frustrated" by what he described as Russia's intransigence, but emphasised the need to keep negotiations alive.

On Wednesday, Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, told Ukraine's Zelensky that Berlin would help Kyiv produce long-range missiles to defend itself from future Russian attacks.

The Kremlin said any decision to end range restrictions on the missiles Ukraine could use would represent a dangerous change in policy that would harm efforts to bring an end to the war.

Moscow currently controls 20% of Ukraine's internationally-recognised territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

Trade talks between the US and China are "a bit stalled", the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.

His comment comes less than three weeks after a temporary trade truce was agreed between the world's two largest economies, with both agreeing to reduce tit-for-tat tariffs.

Bessent told Fox News on Thursday: "I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require [leaders of both the countries] to weigh in with each other".

Donald Trump's global tariff regime was dealt a blow on Wednesday following a ruling that he had exceeded his authority. His plans have been temporarily reinstated after the White House appealed the decision.

Both the US and China confirmed they would reduce tariffs imposed on each other's imports earlier this month, following talks in Switzerland.

The deal involved both nations cancelling some tariffs altogether and suspending others for 90 days by 14 May.

Bessent said talks on a further deal had lost momentum, but stressed that they were continuing.

"I believe that we will be having more talks with [China] in the next few weeks and I believe we may at some point have a call between the president and [Chinese President Xi Jinping]," Bessent said on Thursday.

He added that the pair had "a very good relationship" and he was "confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his preferences known".

Under the deal struck earlier this month, the US lowered tariffs imposed on goods from China from 145% to 30%.

China's retaliatory tariffs on US goods dropped from 125% to 10%.

The US President has argued imposing tariffs on foreign goods would encourage US consumers to buy more American-made goods, bringing back manufacturing jobs while increase the amount of tax revenue raised.

They have been used by the Trump administration as leverage in negotiations as it seeks to reduce trade deficits with other nations.

A delegation from Japan are continuing trade talks with their US counterparts in Washington on Friday.

Bessent said "a couple" of US trade deals were "very close", but "a couple of them are more complicated".

Trump's tariff regime remains in the balance following the decision by the US Court of International Trade, which ruled that Trump had overstepped his power by imposing the duties.

Some analysts believe it will mean countries will be less likely to rush to secure trade deals with the US.

A federal appeals court has granted a bid from the White House to temporarily suspend the lower court's order, which Trump described as "horrific".

"Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country [sic] threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Elon Musk's time in the Trump administration is coming to an end after a tempestuous 129 days in which the world's richest man took an axe to government spending - stirring ample controversy along the way.

Earlier this week, the South African-born billionaire, on his social media platform, X, thanked President Trump for his time at the Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge.

His departure was confirmed by the White House, although Trump has yet to comment directly.

Trump announced that he will host a news conference in the Oval Office on Friday with Musk, writing: "This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way."

While Musk's time in government lasted little more than four months, his work with Doge upended the federal government and had an impact not just in the halls of power in Washington - but around the world.

Let's take a look at some of the ways Musk has left a mark.

Doge's chainsaw to federal spending

Musk took a job with the Trump White House with one mission: to cut spending from the government as much as possible.

He began with an initial target of "at least $2 trillion", which then shifted to $1tn and ultimately $150bn.

To date, Doge claims to have saved $175bn through a combination of asset sales, lease and grant cancellations, "fraud and improper payment deletion", regulatory savings and a 260,000-person reduction from the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce.

A BBC analysis of those figures, however, found that evidence is sometimes lacking.

This mission has at times caused both chaos and controversy, including some instances in which federal judges halted mass firings and ordered employees reinstated.

In other instances, the administration has been forced to backtrack on firings.

In one notable instance in February, the administration stopped the firing of hundreds of federal employees working at the National Nuclear Security Administration, including some with sensitive jobs related to the US nuclear arsenal.

Musk himself repeatedly acknowledged that mass firings would inevitably include mistakes.

"We will make mistakes," he said in February, after his department mistook a region of Mozambique for Hamas-controlled Gaza while cutting an aid programme. "But we'll act quickly to correct any mistakes."

Doge's efforts to access data also garnered controversy, particularly the department's push for access to sensitive treasury department systems that control the private information of millions of Americans.

Polls show that cuts to government spending remain popular with many Americans - even if Musk's personal popularity has waned.

Blurred lines between business and politics

The presence of Musk - an unelected "special government employee" with companies that count the US government as customers - in Trump's White House has also raised eyebrows, prompting questions about potential conflicts of interest.

His corporate empire includes large companies that do business with US and foreign governments. SpaceX has $22 billion in US government contracts, according to the company's chief executive.

Some Democrats also accused Musk of taking advantage of his position to drum up business abroad for his satellite internet services firm, Starlink.

The White House was accused of helping Musk's businesses by showcasing vehicles made by Tesla - his embattled car company - on the White House lawn in March.

Musk and Trump have both shrugged off any suggestion that his work with the government is conflicted or ethically problematic.

A nudge for US isolationism?

Around the world, Musk's work with Doge was most felt after the vast majority - over 80% - of the US Agency for International Development's (USAID's) programmes were eliminated following a six-week review by Doge. The rest were absorbed by the State Department.

The Musk and Doge-led cuts formed part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to bring overseas spending closer in line with its "America First" approach.

The cuts to the agency - tasked with work such as famine detection, vaccinations and food aid in conflict areas - quickly had an impact on projects including communal kitchens in war-torn Sudan, scholarships for young Afghan women who fled the Taliban and clinics for transgender people in India.

USAID also was a crucial instrument of US "soft power" around the world, leading some detractors pointing to its elimination as a sign of waning American influence on the global stage.

Conspiracies and misinformation

While Musk - and Trump - have for years been accused by detractors of spreading baseless conspiracy theories, Musk's presence in the White House starkly highlighted how misinformation has crept into discourse at the highest levels of the US government.

For example, Musk spread an unfounded internet theory that US gold reserves had quietly been stolen from Fort Knox in Kentucky. At one point, he floated the idea of livestreaming a visit there to ensure the gold was secured.

• Fact-checking Trump's Oval Office confrontation with Ramaphosa

More recently, Musk spread widely discredited rumours that the white Afrikaner population of South Africa is facing "genocide" in their home country.

Those rumours found their way into the Oval Office earlier in May, when a meeting aimed at soothing tensions between the US and South Africa took a drastic twist after Trump presented South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with videos and articles he said were evidence of crimes against Afrikaners.

Revealed divisions inside Trump's camp

Musk's work in government also showed that, despite public pledges of unity, there are tensions within the "Trump 2.0" administration.

While Trump publicly - and repeatedly - backed the work of Musk and Doge, Musk's tenure was marked by reports of tension between him and members of the cabinet who felt Doge cuts were impacting their agencies.

"They have a lot of respect for Elon and that he's doing this, and some disagree a little bit," Trump acknowledged in a February cabinet meeting. "If they aren't, I want them to speak up."

At one point, he was asked whether any cabinet members had expressed dissatisfaction with Musk and turned to the room to ask them. No one spoke.

The announcement of Musk's departure also came the same day CBS - BBC's US partner - publicised part of an interview during which Musk said he was "disappointed" by Trump's "big, beautiful" budget bill. The bill includes multi-trillion dollar tax breaks and a pledge to increase defence spending.

Musk said the bill "undermines" the work of Doge to cut spending - reflecting larger tensions within the Republican Party over the path forward.

Russell Brand has arrived at court for a hearing at which he is expected to enter his plea on charges of rape, sexual assault and indecent assault.

The broadcaster, comedian and actor did not speak to reporters and looked straight ahead as he entered Southwark Crown Court wearing a dark suit and unbuttoned shirt.

He faces one allegation of rape, one of indecent assault, one of oral rape and two further counts of sexual assault. The offences are alleged to have taken place between 1999 and 2005, and relate to four women.

Friday's one-day plea and trial preparation hearing is being held in advance of a possible trial at a later date.

After being charged in April, Mr Brand, 49, released a video saying he was not a rapist and had never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity.

"I'm now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court and I'm incredibly grateful for that," he told followers at the time.

Mr Brand, who was born in Essex, rose to fame as a stand-up comedian and became a household name as host of TV shows like Big Brother's Big Mouth, and with his own radio programmes on stations including BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music.

He went on to establish a Hollywood career, starring in films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek.

Banksy's latest piece of grafitti art has been revealed to the world - but where it was painted remains a mystery for now.

Images posted on the elusive artist's Instagram depict a lighthouse stencilled on a drab, beige wall, along with the words: "I want to be what you saw in me".

A false shadow appears to have been drawn on the pavement from a nearby bollard, giving the illusion that the lighthouse is itself a silhouette of the mundane street furniture.

But unlike a lighthouse, the post gives little away as to the artwork's location. A second, wider shot showing two people walking their dogs offers little more.

Geoguessers on social media have speculated that the street art may lurk in Marseille, in the south of France, while others debate how to interpret the work's meaning.

Another image of the art circulating online shows a blurred person riding a scooter in front of the piece, with a graffiti tag seemingly reading "Yaze" further along the wall.

The tag matches that used by a Canadian graffiti artist Marco The Polo, whose Instagram account features photos of his own work but who has called Banksy an inspiration.

Banksy has kept his true identity a secret throughout his career, and it is only through the Instagram account that works are identified as genuine.

Often imbuing his works with a political message, his previous pieces have alluded to immigration, the war in Ukraine and homelessness, among other things.

The meaning of some of his works, though, is less clear - such as his motivation behind the series of animals painted in various locations across London last summer.

Prior to the lighthouse, in December, Banksy posted another piece, depicting a Madonna and child with a fixture in the wall appearing like a bullet wound in her chest.

Trade talks between the US and China are "a bit stalled", the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.

His comment comes less than three weeks after a temporary trade truce was agreed between the world's two largest economies, with both agreeing to reduce tit-for-tat tariffs.

Bessent told Fox News on Thursday: "I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require [leaders of both the countries] to weigh in with each other".

Donald Trump's global tariff regime was dealt a blow on Wednesday following a ruling that he had exceeded his authority. His plans have been temporarily reinstated after the White House appealed the decision.

Both the US and China confirmed they would reduce tariffs imposed on each other's imports earlier this month, following talks in Switzerland.

The deal involved both nations cancelling some tariffs altogether and suspending others for 90 days by 14 May.

Bessent said talks on a further deal had lost momentum, but stressed that they were continuing.

"I believe that we will be having more talks with [China] in the next few weeks and I believe we may at some point have a call between the president and [Chinese President Xi Jinping]," Bessent said on Thursday.

He added that the pair had "a very good relationship" and he was "confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his preferences known".

Under the deal struck earlier this month, the US lowered tariffs imposed on goods from China from 145% to 30%.

China's retaliatory tariffs on US goods dropped from 125% to 10%.

The US President has argued imposing tariffs on foreign goods would encourage US consumers to buy more American-made goods, bringing back manufacturing jobs while increase the amount of tax revenue raised.

They have been used by the Trump administration as leverage in negotiations as it seeks to reduce trade deficits with other nations.

A delegation from Japan are continuing trade talks with their US counterparts in Washington on Friday.

Bessent said "a couple" of US trade deals were "very close", but "a couple of them are more complicated".

Trump's tariff regime remains in the balance following the decision by the US Court of International Trade, which ruled that Trump had overstepped his power by imposing the duties.

Some analysts believe it will mean countries will be less likely to rush to secure trade deals with the US.

A federal appeals court has granted a bid from the White House to temporarily suspend the lower court's order, which Trump described as "horrific".

"Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country [sic] threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

A suspect wanted for the murder of a South African university student has been killed in a shootout with the police.

Olorato Mongale's body was found on Sunday in Lombardy, north of Johannesburg, about two hours after she was reported missing having gone on a date.

In the early hours of Friday morning, police officers found the main suspect hiding at a residential complex in the coastal town of Amanzimtoti, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said.

The suspect, who has not been named by the police, shot at the officers, who returned fire and killed him, Brigadier Mathe added.

Ms Mongale's death has sparked a fierce debate about the levels of violence faced by women in South Africa.

The search for two other men linked to her killing continues, while police have arrested the parents of the deceased suspect.

The suspect's mother is accused of enabling him to "evade arrest" by tipping him off about the police's presence at her house.

The police say they the suspect's father is the owner of a VW Polo allegedly used in Ms Mongale's murder.

You may also be interested in:

• Chris Brown concert shines spotlight on violence against women in South Africa
• Sexual violence in South Africa: 'I was raped, now I fear for my daughters'
• Tears and heartbreak over tragic story of South African girl sold by her mother

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

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

A US government report on children's health cited "totally fabricated" studies to back up its findings, academics wrongly listed as the authors of those studies have said.

First released on 22 May, the report detailed causes of a "chronic disease crisis" among children in the US. An amended version was issued on 29 May after digital outlet NOTUS found it had used seven non-existent sources.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there were "formatting issues" and the report would be updated, but it did "not negate the substance of the report".

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has promoted debunked claims that vaccines cause autism, leads the department behind the report.

It comes on the back of one of US President Donald Trump's sweeping executive orders earlier this year, specifically to "study the scope of the childhood chronic disease crisis and any potential contributing causes".

Issued by the Make America Healthy Again Commission, the report concluded that poor diet, environmental toxins, stress, insufficient physical activity and "overmedicalisation" may contribute to chronic illness among American children.

But the authors of several studies cited in the report told news outlets they did not write them, and that the studies never existed.

Guohua Li, a Columbia University professor who was named as an author of a report on the mental health of children in the pandemic, told Agence France-Presse that the reference was "totally fabricated" and that he does not even know the listed co-author.

He was listed as an author alongside Noah Kreski, a researcher at Columbia University, who also denied writing it, telling AFP it "doesn't appear to be a study that exists at all."

Katherine Keyes, an epidemiology professor who told news agency Reuters she was also wrongly named as an author, said: "It does make me concerned given that citation practices are an important part of conducting and reporting rigorous science."

Another study cited about the advertising of psychotropic medications for youth was not written by the listed author, the university that employs him told AFP and Reuters.

The Democratic National Committee accused RFK Jr.'s Department of Health and Human Services of "justifying its policy priorities with sources that do not exist" and using citations that "are rife with errors, from broken links to misstated conclusions".

RFK Jr was sworn in as US Health Secretary in February. Since taking office he has cut thousands of jobs in the health department and made plans to introduce placebo trials for all new vaccines.

The UN's humanitarian chief has said people in Gaza are being subjected to forced starvation by Israel.

In an interview with the BBC, Tom Fletcher said he believed this had led to a change in the international response to Gaza.

Asked if his assessment of forced starvation amounted to a war crime, he said: "Yeah, it is. It is classified as a war crime. Obviously, these are issues for the courts to take the judgement on, and ultimately for history to take a judgement on."

Mr Fletcher also expressed regret for saying recently that 14,000 babies could die within 48 hours in Gaza if aid was not allowed in - a claim the UN later drew back - and acknowledged a need to be "precise" with language.

Israel began to allow limited aid into Gaza last week, after an almost three-month blockade had halted the delivery of supplies such as food, medicine, fuel and shelter.

It also resumed its military offensive two weeks after imposing the blockade, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

Israel said the steps were intended to put pressure on the armed group to release the 58 hostages still held in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Since the easing of the blockade, scenes of chaos have broken out at aid distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - a US- and Israeli-backed group.

The UN, which refuses to cooperate with the GHF, said 47 people were injured earlier this week after crowds overwhelmed one of the centres.

Mr Fletcher said: "We're seeing food set on the borders and not being allowed in when there is a population on the other side of the border that is starving, and we're hearing Israeli ministers say that is to put pressure on the population of Gaza."

He said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should "absolutely" disavow a statement made by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich - who had said people in Gaza would be "totally despairing understanding that there's no hope and nothing to look for", and would be looking to relocate to begin a "new life in other places".

"We would expect governments all over the world to stand for international humanitarian law, the international community is very, very clear on that," Mr Fletcher said.

He called on Netanyahu to ensure that "this language, and ultimately, this policy... of forced displacement, isn't enacted".

Israel has faced growing international criticism over its conduct of the war.

On Tuesday, the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said: "Israeli strikes in Gaza go beyond what is necessary to fight Hamas."

Her remarks followed an intervention by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who declared he "no longer understands" Israel's objectives.

Earlier this month, the leaders of the UK, France and Canada called on the Israeli government to "stop its military operations" and "immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza". In response, Netanyahu accused them of siding with Hamas.

On 14 May, Mr Fletcher called on the UN Security Council to act to prevent genocide in Gaza.

Asked why he had made that statement, he referred to reporting from colleagues on the ground in Gaza.

"What they're reporting is forced displacement. They're reporting starvation, they're reporting torture, and they're reporting deaths on a massive scale," he said.

Mr Fletcher said in the cases of Rwanda, Srebrenica and Sri Lanka, "the world had told us afterwards that we didn't act in time, that we didn't sound a warning".

"And that's my call to the [UN] Security Council and the world right now, 'will you act to prevent genocide?'"

Mr Fletcher came under strong criticism from Israel after he claimed 14,000 babies in Gaza would die in 48 hours if aid was not allowed into the Strip.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Mr Fletcher of ignoring Hamas's atrocities and echoing their propaganda. "It's not humanitarian work, it's blood libel," the ministry said at the time.

Mr Fletcher said: "At the point when I made those comments, we were desperately trying to get that aid in.

"We were being told we couldn't get it in, and we knew that we'd probably have a couple of days, a window to get as much aid in as possible, and that was being denied, and we were desperate to get that in. And so yes, we've got to be utterly precise with our language, and we've clarified that."

Asked about his claim – repudiated by Israel - that thousands of lorries were waiting on the border to enter Gaza, Mr Fletcher repeated that he especially needed to be "careful and really precise".

He agreed there was a risk of being seen to hype the situation, but he added: "I'm not going to stop speaking up for the need to save these lives in Gaza, to save as many survivors as possible. That's my job, and I've got to do it better, and I will do it."

He said mediation and negotiation was the way to resolve the crisis in Gaza and repeated his call for Hamas to release the Israeli hostages being held by the militant group.

"We all want to see those hostages freed and back with their with their families," he said.

"I don't know now what the aim of this war is anymore. I think it has clearly gone beyond just the hostage releases. There's a lot of talk about finishing off Hamas.

"And clearly, as many people have said, there can't be a part for Hamas in the new equation, the new governance of Gaza and the Palestinian territories."

Mr Fletcher rejected Israeli claims Hamas was stealing large amounts of food aid.

"I don't want to see any of that aid getting to Hamas. That matters to us because these are our principles, neutral, impartial, independent. Its in our interest to stop that aid getting to Hamas and ensure it gets to civilians."

"As a humanitarian, my interest is just in getting as much of that aid in as possible, as quickly as possible, and saving as many lives as we're allowed to do in the time we have."

Mr Fletcher is also dealing with crises in Ukraine, Sudan and Syria, among others, and said the world was facing a "profoundly dangerous" moment.

"The Security Council is polarized, divided," he said.

"That means it makes it much harder for us to end conflicts; the conflicts we're dealing with are more ferocious, there's more impunity, and they're lasting longer.

"It's getting harder and harder to end wars and we humanitarians... deal with the consequences."

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 54,249 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,986 since Israel resumed its offensive, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

With additional reporting by Olivia Lace-Evans and Maarten Lernout.

Mr Fletcher's full interview will be broadcast on the BBC News Channel at 00:30BST and 16:30BST on Saturday.

Flights were temporarily disrupted at Liberia main airport on Thursday night after a private jet carrying President Joseph Boakai almost crashed while landing.

Part of the presidential jet's landing gear malfunctioned while approaching the runway, causing a rough landing, airport authorities said.

The incident, which sparked panic at the airport, forced the cancellation of all scheduled flights for the night, local media reported.

President Boakai, who was returning from a trip in Nigeria with his entourage, was safely evacuated unharmed, as authorities announced an investigation.

Photos of the stalled jet at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) circulated on social media, triggering concerns about the president's safety.

Local media, citing airport authorities, said one of the plane's tyres had burst upon landing leaving it stranded on the runway.

In a statement, the Liberia Airport Authority (LAA) confirmed the "unfortunate near-accident situation" involving the presidential jet.

The authority dismissed reports suggesting that the incident was caused by poor runway conditions.

"The runway infrastructure remains fully compliant with international aviation safety standards," the LAA said.

The aircraft has since been removed from the runway and normal operations have resumed at the airport, the authorities said.

"At this stage, investigation to establish the actual cause of the incident is ongoing, and the airport authority will keep the public informed," the LAA said.

The Liberian presidency is yet to comment on the incident but it shared photos of Boakai arriving at the airport, where he briefly spoke to journalists without mentioning the plane scare.

He had gone to Nigeria to attend the 50th anniversary of the regional Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

More BBC stories on Liberia:

• Top Liberian doctor struck off over qualification doubts
• How President Joseph Boakai hopes to rid Liberia of its problems
• Liberia's war and peace: Lessons from 30 years' reporting
• How returning $50,000 changed a taxi driver's life

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

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

A senior Hamas official has told the BBC the Palestinian armed group will reject the latest US proposal for a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

The White House said on Thursday that Israel had "signed off" on US envoy Steve Witkoff's plan and that it was waiting for a formal response from Hamas.

Israeli media cited Israeli officials as saying it would see Hamas hand over 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages in two phases in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The Hamas official said the proposal did not satisfy core demands, including an end to the war, and that it would respond in due course.

The Israeli government has not commented, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told hostages' families on Thursday that he accepted Witkoff's plan.

Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza and resumed its military offensive against Hamas on 18 March following the collapse of a two-month ceasefire brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt.

It said it wanted to put pressure on Hamas to release the 58 hostages it is still holding, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

On 19 May, the Israeli military launched an expanded offensive that Netanyahu said would see troops "take control of all areas" of Gaza. The next day, he said Israel would also ease the blockade and allow a "basic" amount of food into Gaza to prevent a famine.

Almost 4,000 people have been killed in Gaza over the past 10 weeks, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

The UN says another 600,000 people have been displaced again by Israeli ground operations and evacuation orders, and a report by the UN-backed IPC warns that about 500,000 people face catastrophic levels of hunger in the coming months.

At a news conference in Washington DC on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked whether she could confirm a report by Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV that Israel and Hamas had agreed a new ceasefire deal.

"I can confirm that Special Envoy Witkoff and the president submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed and supported. Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas," she said.

"I can also confirm that those discussions are continuing, and we hope that a ceasefire in Gaza will take place so we can return all of the hostages home," she added.

However, a senior Hamas official later said the deal contradicted previous discussions between the group's negotiators and Witkoff.

The official told the BBC that the offer did not include guarantees the temporary truce would lead to a permanent ceasefire, nor a return to the humanitarian protocol that allowed hundreds of trucks of aid into Gaza daily during the last ceasefire.

Nevertheless, he said Hamas remained in contact with the mediators and would submit its written response in due course.

Earlier, Israel's Channel 12 TV reported the Netanyahu told hostages' families at a meeting: "We agree to accept the latest Witkoff plan that was conveyed to us tonight. Hamas has not yet responded. We do not believe Hamas will release the last hostage, and we will not leave the Strip until all the hostages are in our hands."

His office later issued a statement accusing one of the channel's reporters of trying to "smuggle" a recording device into the room where the meeting took place. But it did not deny that he had agreed to the US proposal.

Netanyahu has previously said that Israel will end the war only when all the hostages are released, Hamas is either destroyed or disarmed, and its leaders have been sent into exile.

Hamas has said it is ready to return all of those held captive, in exchange for a complete end to hostilities and full Israeli pull-out from Gaza.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Another four people, two of them dead, were already being held captive in Gaza before the conflict.

So far, Israel has secured the return of 197 hostages, 148 of them alive, mostly through two temporary ceasefire deals with Hamas.

At least 54,249 people have been killed in Gaza during the war, including 3,986 since Israel resumed its offensive, according to the territory's health ministry.

On Thursday, at least 54 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency. They included 23 people who died when a home in the central Bureij area was hit, it said.

The Israeli military said it had struck "dozens of terror targets" over the past day.

There is a state of chaos, a breakdown of security, and looting in north Gaza's main city, where Palestinians are desperately searching for food and where aid is difficult to access.

The Hamas-run interior ministry said seven of its police officers deployed to a market in Gaza City on Thursday were killed by an Israeli air strike as they attempted to restore order and confront what it called "looters".

The Israeli military has not commented on the incident, but it did say it had struck "dozens of terror targets" throughout Gaza over the past day.

Local medics and rescuers said at least 44 people were killed across the territory on Thursday, including 23 at the central Bureij refugee camp.

It comes a day after the UN's World Food programme (WFP) said at least two people were shot dead as what it described as "hordes of hungry people" broke into its warehouse in the central town of Deir al-Balah in search of food after 11 weeks of a total Israeli blockade. It was not clear who opened fire.

Almost 50 people were also reportedly shot and injured when thousands overran a new aid distribution centre run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday, according to a senior UN official in Gaza. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots into the air but not at the crowds.

On Thursday, interior ministry police officers armed with Kalashnikov-style rifles and handguns went to a market near Gaza City's central al-Saraya junction, which houses a number of small stalls selling canned food and vegetables.

Videos circulating on social media, too graphic to share, show bodies, blood, and scattered remains lying on the ground following what the ministry said was an Israeli attack.

"Israeli occupation aircraft targeted a number of police officers... while they were performing their duty in confronting a group of looters earlier today, leading to the martyrdom of several officers and civilians in yet another massacre," a statement said.

The BBC sought comment from the Israeli military about the incident.

A statement from the military on Thursday afternoon said aircraft had struck dozens of targets over the past day, including "terrorists, military structures, observation and sniper posts that posed a threat to [Israeli] troops in the area, tunnels, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites".

There has been increased lawlessness in Gaza since Israel began targeting the Gaza interior ministry's police officers last year, citing their role in Hamas governance.

After the territory's police chief and his deputy were killed in a strike in January, the ministry insisted the force was a "civilian protection agency". The Israeli military accused the force of "violating human rights and suppressing dissent".

There were reports of a breakdown of order elsewhere in Gaza on Thursday, as desperate people searched for food and other supplies.

One witness who had gone to a GHF aid distribution centre near Rafah told the BBC that thousands of people had gathered in the area from dawn, and that they ended up breaking through the site's gate to try to obtain supplies.

At 08:00 local time, the witness said, the Israeli military issued a warning via a quadcopter drone instructing people to head to the distribution centre, and that they began moving in an orderly way towards the area.

"For exactly 10 minutes, things were organised but then the crowd broke through the gate and rushed into the courtyard."

"People grabbed boxes and sacks of flour and left, all under the surveillance of the Israeli quadcopter," they added.

Footage from near the GHF site shows thousands of Palestinians walking near the centre on Thursday morning. Some are in horse-drawn carts, while others wheel bicycles covered with goods.

Young men, for the most part, can be seen carrying sacks of flour on their heads and backs. One exhausted woman appears to struggle to walk among the crowd.

Abu Fawzi Faroukh, a 60-year-old Palestinian man who was at the site on Thursday morning, told AFP news agency that aid supplies were more difficult for the elderly and vulnerable to obtain.

"The young men are the ones who have received aid first, yesterday and today, because they are young and can carry loads. But the old people and women cannot enter due to the crowding."

"We have been humiliated, the Palestinian people are humiliated," he added.

People described similar scenes at the newly opened GHF distribution site in central Gaza, with a number telling the BBC they had come away empty-handed.

Umm Mohammed Abu Hajar said she had heard there was aid being distributed in the area, so took her ID and went to see what she could get.

"I found all the people hungry," she said. "So, I couldn't get anything. I left like this... empty-handed."

She said more organisation was needed in order to distribute aid "fairly", adding that currently, "some people eat and some people don't".

Another man, Hani Abed, who was at the same distribution centre, said he'd failed to get any aid for him and his 10 family members.

"I came empty-handed and I left empty-handed," he said. "I will take dirt for my children to eat."

The GHF said approximately 17,280 food boxes, containing the equivalent of 997,920 meals, were handed out to Gazans at its three operational distribution sites on Thursday.

"Operations will continue scaling, with plans to build additional sites across Gaza, including in the northern region, in the weeks ahead," it added.

It also rejected the reports of Palestinians being shot at while trying to obtain aid at its centres. "No shots have ever been fired," it said.

The GHF's new aid system bypasses the UN and requires Palestinians to collect food parcels from distribution sites protected by US security contractors in areas controlled by the Israeli military in southern and central Gaza.

The UN has refused to co-operate with the system, saying it is unethical and workable.

The head of the UN's humanitarian office in Gaza, Jonathan Whittall, said on Wednesday that GHF could not possibly meet the needs of the 2.1 million population and was "essentially engineering scarcity".

The US and Israeli governments have said the new system is preventing aid from being stolen by Hamas, which the armed group denies doing.

Israel imposed a total blockade on humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to Gaza on 2 March and resumed its military offensive two weeks later, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

It said the steps put pressure on the armed group to release the 58 hostages still held in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

On 19 May, the Israeli military launched an expanded offensive that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would "take control of all areas" of Gaza. The following day, he said Israel would also temporarily ease the blockade and allow a "basic" amount of food in.

The families of the remaining hostages have urged Netanyahu to agree a new ceasefire with Hamas to secure their release.

On Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Israeli government "supported" a new ceasefire proposal that was sent to Hamas by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

"Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas," she said.

However, a senior Hamas official later told the BBC that the group rejected the proposal because it contradicted the discussions that it had with Witkoff.

The official said it did not include guarantees that the temporary ceasefire would lead to a permanent end to the fighting or that Israeli troops would withdraw to the positions they held before 2 March.

Israeli and US media cited Israeli officials as saying Witkoff's proposal included releasing 10 living hostages and the remains of dead hostages in two phases in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 54,249 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,986 since Israel resumed its offensive, according to the territory's health ministry.

The Trump administration has said it will take its tariffs case to the Supreme Court Friday, unless an order that struck down many of President Donald Trump's new import taxes is put on hold.

In a filing on Thursday, lawyers for the White House asked the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to block that decision, issued late on Wednesday, from going into effect.

That response came as a second court ruled that Trump had overstepped his power in imposing the tariffs.

The decisions, victories for small businesses and states that have challenged the measures, took aim at policies at the heart of Trump's economic and international agendas.

They drew fury from Trump officials, who said they were examples of judicial overreach.

"America cannot function if President Trump, or any other president, for that matter, has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing.

In its appeal, the Trump administration said the decision issued Wednesday by a lower trade court had improperly second-guessed the president and threatened to unravel months of hard-fought trade negotiations.

"The political branches, not courts, make foreign policy and chart economic policy," it said in the filing.

"Absent at least interim relief from this Court, the United States plans to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court tomorrow to avoid the irreparable national-security and economic harms at stake."

The eruption of the legal battle raised new questions about the fate of the tariffs, which have rattled the global economy since the White House started threatening the measures earlier this year.

In February, Trump ordered tariffs on goods from China, Mexico and Canada, saying the move was intended to help address a fentanyl crisis.

Then last month, he unveiled a blanket 10% tariff on goods from most countries around the world, with higher duties on products from certain trade partners, including the European Union and China, that it called "bad actors".

The White House has since suspended parts of many of those orders, while it pursues trade negotiations.

'Power grab'

To impose the tariffs in question, Trump used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law more typically applied in cases of trade sanctions, such as those on Iran.

Those challenging the case said the law did not grant him such sweeping power over trade and tax policy, traditionally the responsibility of Congress.

It put a spotlight on questions of the limit of presidential power, which Trump has tested repeatedly since re-entering office in January.

Lawyer Ilya Somin, who helped work on the case brought by businesses before the trade court, said he was "guardedly optimistic" that the ruling would be upheld on appeal, noting that the trade court order came from justices appointed by both Democratic and Republican presidents, including one by Trump himself.

"It's not normal for the president of the United States to make such an enormous power grab and start the biggest trade war since the Great Depression," he said.

But Terry Haines, founder of the Pangaea Policy, which advises firms on Washington policies, said he thought the decision may not ultimately make a difference once higher courts take the case.

"All these things are going to be litigated through and the president is probably going to be given the benefit of the doubt," he said.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs and other firms said Trump was likely to look for other ways to justify tariffs, if the administration loses this case.

Business owners, while expressing relief, said they did not yet feel like the situation was resolved.

"I was incredibly happy and relieved but I'm also still very cautious," said Kara Dyer, the owner of Boston-based Story Time Toys, which makes toys in China and imports them to the US for sale.

"It's just been so chaotic and so impossible to plan as a business," she said.

"I want this to work its way through our court system so we have a little bit more certainty about what tariffs will be in the future."

However the process plays out, Dmitry Grozoubinski, a former trade negotiator who represented Australia at the World Trade Organization, said the decision would make it more difficult for the White House to suddenly impose tariffs, weakening Trump's ability to use the duties for leverage over other countries.

"It will be a lot harder for him to raise tariffs in the future," he said. "This was ultimately a negotiation in which President Trump was threatening other countries with a big stick and that stick just got considerably more ephemeral."

With reporting from the BBC's World Business Report and Opening Bell.

The FBI is investigating an effort by one or more unknown people to access the personal phone of Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, sources told the BBC's US news partner CBS.

The key Trump ally told people that her phone had been hacked after a impersonator - or impersonators - used her contacts file to message other top US officials, sources told CBS.

Some recipients of the messages raised suspicions after they were asked if they could continue a conversation in another platform, such as Telegram.

"The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated," a White House spokesperson said.

The period of time over which the messages were received is unknown.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the incident and the FBI probe launched in response.

The impersonation was targeted at her personal phone, not government phone, the Wall Street Journal reported. It also reported that the recipients included US senators, governors and top business executives.

Wiles is the first female White House chief of staff and was seen as a key architect of US President Donald Trump's re-election campaign.

It is not the first time she has been at the centre of concerns around cybersecurity.

Last year, three members of a cyber espionage unit associated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards - a powerful branch of Iran's armed forces - were indicted for launching cyber attacks on the Trump campaign team, which Susie Wiles led.

Responding to the latest incident, FBI director Kash Patel said in a statement to CBS News: "The FBI takes all threats against the President, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness; safeguarding our administration officials' ability to securely communicate to accomplish the President's mission is a top priority."

Russia has continued to make billions from fossil fuel exports to the West, data shows, helping to finance its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – now in its fourth year.

Since the start of that invasion in February 2022, Russia has made more than three times as much money by exporting hydrocarbons than Ukraine has received in aid allocated by its allies.

Data analysed by the BBC show that Ukraine's Western allies have paid Russia more for its hydrocarbons than they have given Ukraine in aid.

Campaigners say governments in Europe and North America need to do more to stop Russian oil and gas from fuelling the war with Ukraine.

How much is Russia still making?

Proceeds made from selling oil and gas are key to keeping Russia's war machine going.

Oil and gas account for almost a third of Russia's state revenue and more than 60% of its exports.

In the wake of the February 2022 invasion, Ukraine's allies imposed sanctions on Russian hydrocarbons. The US and UK banned Russian oil and gas, while the EU banned Russian seaborne crude imports, but not gas.

Despite this, by 29 May, Russia had made more than €883bn ($973bn; £740bn) in revenue from fossil fuel exports since the start of the full-scale invasion, including €228bn from the sanctioning countries, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

The lion's share of that amount, €209bn, came from EU member states.

EU states continued importing pipeline gas directly from Russia until Ukraine cut the transit in January 2025, and Russian crude oil is still piped to Hungary and Slovakia.

Russian gas is still piped to Europe in increasing quantities via Turkey: CREA's data shows that its volume rose by 26.77% in January and February 2025 over the same period in 2024.

Hungary and Slovakia are also still receiving Russian pipeline gas via Turkey.

Despite the West's efforts, in 2024 Russian revenues from fossil fuels fell by a mere 5% compared with 2023, along with a similar 6% drop in the volumes of exports, according to CREA. Last year also saw a 6% increase in Russian revenues from crude oil exports, and a 9% year-on-year increase in revenues from pipeline gas.

Russian estimates say gas exports to Europe rose by up to 20% in 2024, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports reaching record levels. Currently, half of Russia's LNG exports go the EU, CREA says.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, says the alliance has not imposed "the strongest sanctions" on Russian oil and gas because some member states fear an escalation in the conflict and because buying them is "cheaper in the short term".

LNG imports have not been included in the latest, 17th package of sanctions on Russia approved by the EU, but it has adopted a road map towards ending all Russian gas imports by the end of 2027.

Data shows that money made by Russia from selling fossil fuels has consistently surpassed the amount of aid Ukraine receives from its allies.

The thirst for fuel can get in the way of the West's efforts to limit Russia's ability to fund its war.

Mai Rosner, a senior campaigner from the pressure group Global Witness, says many Western policymakers fear that cutting imports of Russian fuels will lead to higher energy prices.

"There's no real desire in many governments to actually limit Russia's ability to produce and sell oil. There is way too much fear about what that would mean for global energy markets. There's a line drawn under where energy markets would be too undermined or too thrown off kilter," she told the BBC.

'Refining loophole'

In addition to direct sales, some of the oil exported by Russia ends up in the West after being processed into fuel products in third countries via what is known as "the refining loophole". Sometimes it gets diluted with crude from other countries, too.

CREA says it has identified three "laundromat refineries" in Turkey and three in India processing Russian crude and selling the resulting fuel on to sanctioning countries. It says they have used €6.1bn worth of Russian crude to make products for sanctioning countries.

India's petroleum ministry criticised CREA's report as "a deceptive effort to tarnish India's image".

"[These countries] know that sanctioning countries are willing to accept this. This is a loophole. It's entirely legal. Everyone's aware of it, but nobody is doing much to actually tackle it in a big way," says Vaibhav Raghunandan, an analyst at CREA.

Campaigners and experts argue that Western governments have the tools and means available to stem the flow of oil and gas revenue into the Kremlin's coffers.

According to former Russian deputy energy minister Vladimir Milov, who is now a diehard opponent of Vladimir Putin, sanctions imposed on trade in Russian hydrocarbons should be better enforced - particularly the oil price cap adopted by the G7 group of nations, which Mr Milov says "is not working".

He is fearful, though, that the US government shake-up launched by President Donald Trump will hamper agencies such as the US Treasury or the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which are key for sanctions enforcement.

Another avenue is continued pressure on Russia's "shadow fleet" of tankers involved in dodging the sanctions.

"That is a complex surgery operation. You need to periodically release batches of new sanctioned vessels, shell companies, traders, insurers etc. every several weeks," Mr Milov says. According to him, this is an area where Western governments have been much more effective, particularly with the introduction of new sanctions by Joe Biden's outgoing administration in January 2025.

Mai says that banning Russian LNG exports to Europe and closing the refining loophole in Western jurisdictions would be "important steps in finishing the decoupling of the West from Russian hydrocarbons".

According to Mr Raghunandan from CREA, it would be relatively easy for the EU to give up Russian LNG imports.

"Fifty percent of their LNG exports are directed towards the European Union, and only 5% of the EU's total [LNG] gas consumption in 2024 was from Russia. So if the EU decides to completely cut off Russian gas, it's going to hurt Russia way more then it's going to hurt consumers in the European Union," he told the BBC.

Trump's oil-price plan to end war

Experts interviewed by the BBC have dismissed Donald Trump's idea that the war with Ukraine will end if Opec brings oil prices down.

"People in Moscow are laughing at this idea, because the party which will suffer the most… is the American shale oil industry, the least cost-competitive oil industry in the world," Mr Milov told the BBC.

Mr Raghunandan says that Russia's cost of producing crude is also lower than in Opec countries like Saudi Arabia, so they would be hurt by lower oil prices before Russia.

"There is no way that Saudi Arabia is going to agree to that. This has been tried before. This has led to conflict between Saudi Arabia and the US," he says.

Ms Rosner says there are both moral and practical issues with the West buying Russian hydrocarbons while supporting Ukraine.

"We now have a situation in which we are funding the aggressor in a war that we're condemning and also funding the resistance to the war," she says. "This dependence on fossil fuels means that we are really at the whims of energy markets, global energy producers and hostile dictators."

A former assistant of rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has told a New York court that he repeatedly sexually assaulted her while she was employed by him for eight years.

The witness - who testified anonymously under the pseudonym "Mia" - also tearfully said she lived in fear of violent rages from Mr Combs as she worked by his side.

The hip-hop mogul watched from the defence table with arms folded in his lap as she testified about her fears of retribution for reporting his alleged abuse.

Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find distressing

"I couldn't tell him no about a sandwich," she said. "I couldn't tell him no about anything."

Mr Combs' legal team has not yet had the chance to question Mia, or respond to her claims.

She is the second witness in the New York trial to allege that Mr Combs sexually abused her, along with Mr Combs' ex-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura.

Mia testified that she started working for Mr Combs as a personal assistant in 2009 when she was in her mid-20s, joining what she described as a "chaotic" and "toxic" work environment.

"The highs were really high and the lows were really, really low," she told the court on Thursday.

The job required her being "always within eyesight" of Mr Combs, she testified, and "anticipating his needs, whims and moods".

She said she was often required to stay at his homes, where she could not lock the door or leave without the rapper's permission.

During her time working for Mr Combs, he was frequently violent towards her, Mia testified.

On one occasion, she said he threw a spaghetti bowl at her, which narrowly missed her head, Mia told the court.

Another time, she said Mr Combs forcefully threw his computer at Mia's head when she told him the wifi nearby was still being fixed, she testified.

She also testified about another situation when she witnessed Mr Combs being violent with his ex-girlfriend, Ms Ventura, who had became close friends with Mia during her time working for the rapper.

Mia once went on holiday with the couple in the Turks and Caicos, she told the court. One late night on the trip, she said Ms Ventura ran into her room screaming that Mr Combs was "going to kill me", she testified. They ran away and hid on the beach, she said.

Also on that holiday, Mia testified that she and Ms Ventura had used a paddle board to go into the water to escape Mr Combs, who was pacing back and forth on the beach. Before they knew it, the sky turned dark, portending a storm.

"I was trying to weigh if it was scarier to face mother nature, or go back to Puff [Mr Combs]," Mia testified.

Mia was also there one night in 2013 when she said that Mr Combs was banging on Ms Ventura's door in Los Angeles.

She testified that he attacked her and cut open her eyebrow when throwing her on to the bed frame. Mia told the court that she tried to jump on Mr Combs' back, but he threw her against the wall.

"He's actually going to kill her," Mia said she remembered thinking to herself.

Mia told the court that despite witnessing Mr Combs's abuse toward Ms Ventura, she did not report him because she "believed that Puff's authority was above the police".

She testified about multiple instances where she alleged Mr Combs sexually assaulted her, including one time when she said she woke up to him trying to rape her.

Mia told the court that the assaults began early in her career working for Mr Combs, including one night on his 40th birthday at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

She said he gave her two vodka shots that hit her "very hard" and kissed her and put his hand up her dress.

Another night, between the years of 2009-10, while Mia was sleeping in a bunk bed at Mr Combs' Los Angeles home, she said she woke up to the "weight" of Mr Combs on top of her. She was confused, she said, and Mr Combs began to rape her.

"I just froze," she said. "It was very quick but it felt like forever."

Mia told the court that Mr Combs sexually assaulted her "sporadically" throughout her time working for the rapper.

But she told the court she didn't always remember the details, only a "dark feeling in my stomach".

Pressed by a prosecutor on why she did not say "no" when Mr Combs assaulted her or go to the police, Mia told the court she feared what he would do.

"I knew his power," she said. "I knew his control over me and I didn't want to lose everything I worked so hard for."

She told the court that another assistant had been fired for reporting Mr Combs' violence toward Ms Ventura.

Mr Combs also threatened to tell Ms Ventura, Mia's close friend, about the sexual encounters between them, she testified.

After the alleged assaults, Mia told the court that she tried her best to pretend the "most shameful thing" of her life never happened.

Asked by prosecutors why she was telling her story in court, she replied: "I had to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

Mia will continue to testify on Friday and Mr Combs' defence team will be able to question her on the stand.

Get all the latest trial updates on the BBC Sounds 'Diddy on Trial' podcast available wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Airline passengers to Turkey are to be fined if they stand up before the seatbelt sign turns off after landing, regulators have said.

The Turkish civil aviation authority said it imposed the order after receiving complaints from passengers. The rules came into effect earlier this month.

Turkish media reports say fines will be about about US$70 (£50), although no amount is mentioned in the authority's guidance.

The authority warned that there was a "serious increase" in such incidents, with many complaints about passengers grabbing overhead baggage before the plane has been parked.

Turkey is a destination for tens of millions of tourists every year.

The aviation authority said commercial airlines must now issue an in-flight announcement and report those who do not follow orders.

Passengers must be told to keep their seatbelts locked, and refrain from standing and opening overhead lockers until the seatbelt sign is off.

Those who do not follow these rules must be reported to the authority, it says.

Turkish Airlines, the national carrier, has updated its landing announcement, according to Euronews.

"Passengers who do not comply with the rules will be reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation through a Disruptive Passenger Report, and an administrative fine will be imposed in accordance with the applicable legal regulations," the airline says upon landing, according to the TV network.

The BBC has contacted the airline for comment.

Poles will vote for a new president on Sunday in a tight election that will have major consequences for the future of the country's pro-EU government.

Opinion polls say Warsaw's liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski and national conservative historian Karol Nawrocki are running neck and neck.

Poland's president is a largely ceremonial role, but it does come with significant negative power.

The president has the right to veto legislation, and the coalition government lacks a big enough parliamentary majority to overturn it.

Karol Nawrocki is a staunch opponent of Donald Tusk's coalition, and he is expected to use the veto as much if not more frequently than the incumbent conservative President Andrzej Duda, who cannot run for a third consecutive term.

Tusk has been unable to deliver many of his campaign promises since taking office 18 months ago due to Duda's veto and divisions within his coalition which includes conservatives, centrists and leftists.

Tusk promised Polish women legal abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy and voters he would repair the rule of law in the judiciary.

Many critics say Poland's top courts were politicised under the previous Law and Justice-led (PiS) government that lost power in late 2023.

On both issues, Tusk has made little headway.

After narrowly winning the election's first round on 18 May, Rafal Trzaskowski pledged to co-operate with the government to accomplish both.

Whichever candidate mobilises their voters in Sunday's second round run-off will be key to who becomes the next president.

Another significant factor is who can attract the votes of two far-right candidates who placed third and fourth in the first round.

The anti-establishment candidates received three times as many votes as they did in the last presidential election in 2020.

While those voters support Nawrocki's socially conservative views, some libertarians disagree with his support for generous state benefits for the less well-off.

Both candidates led large, rival patriotic marches in Warsaw last Sunday to show who had the biggest support.

Almost all the participants at Nawrocki's rally carried the red-and-white Polish flag. No-one had the blue EU flag. One banner read "Enough of Tusk's [demolition] of democracy".

Magdalena and her sister Marta said Nawrocki's patriotism was important. "We care first for our family, then the nation and after that the world," Magdalena told me.

"A lot of politicians say, 'Oh, we can't do that because what will the Germans think about us?' Sorry, I don't care what they think," she said.

Karol Nawrocki, 42, is head of the Institute of National Remembrance, a state body that investigates crimes dating back to the communist era and World War Two. He was relatively unknown nationally before he was picked by PiS to run.

According to the CBOS polling company, voters view him as someone who supports traditional Catholic values and stands up for average Poles, including small farmers who consider themselves threatened by the EU's Green Deal limiting the use of chemicals and greenhouse gases.

His typical voter is seen as aged over 40, conservative and family-oriented and living in the countryside or small towns and cities.

Previously he was director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk where he changed the exhibition to emphasise Polish heroism and suffering during the conflict.

A keen amateur footballer and boxer, he likes to publish images of himself working out on social media.

His strongman image has been pushed by Polish and foreign politicians alike. Ex-PM Mateusz Morawiecki posting a mock-up of Nawrocki as a Polish Captain America on social media.

Supporter Magdalena said he wasn't particularly charismatic, but Poland needed "a strong man who will be stable when he's pushed by the world".

Earlier this week, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem flew to a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Poland to endorse him as a "strong leader" like President Donald Trump.

"I just had the opportunity to meet with Karol and listen, he needs to be the next president of Poland," she said five days ahead of the vote.

Noem said his rival Trzaskowski was "an absolute train wreck of a leader".

Nawrocki's campaign has been bedevilled by revelations from his relatively unknown past, although so far the allegations appear not to have damaged his support.

He does not deny taking part in football hooligan brawls, and has called them "noble fights". But in that he is not alone, as several years ago Donald Tusk spoke of taking part in similar fights as a young man.

However he has strongly denied a series of other allegations - that he had links with gangsters and neo-Nazis; that he took advantage of an ill senior citizen to acquire his council flat at a huge discount; and that he helped arrange prostitutes for guests at the luxury Grand Hotel in the seaside resort of Sopot when he worked there as a security guard.

Nawrocki has said he will donate the flat to charity and threatened to sue the news website that published the prostitute story because it was a "pack of lies".

Many of his supporters think the the stories were made up by the mainstream media, which they see as largely pro-Trzaskowski.

Shaking off the revelations, Nawrocki posted a video on social media set to an old Chumbawamba song, with the chorus, "I get knocked down, but I get up again".

Trzaskowski's supporters have been more inclined to believe the allegations, with one man in Warsaw holding a banner reading: "No to the gangster".

The son of a famous jazz pianist, the 53-year-old mayor of Warsaw is deputy leader of Donald Tusk's centrist Civic Platform party.

He is also speaks multiple languages who once served as Europe minister.

He was joined in last Sunday's march in Warsaw by another liberal mayor who won the Romanian presidency earlier this month. Nicusur Dan told supporters they shared the same values of a united and strong European Union.

According to CBOS, Trzaskowski's typical voter is in his 30s, fairly well-off and lives in a city. Voters see him as having left-liberal views supporting LGBT and migrants' rights.

While his opponents see Trzaskowski as part of Poland's privileged elite, supporter Malgorzata, a statistician, told me he was "an intelligent, professional European. That's enough to be a president of Poland".

Against a backdrop of war in neighbouring Ukraine and the Tusk government's tough stance against illegal migration, Trzaskowski has portrayed himself, artificially according to some voters, as a man who believes in a strong nation state and patriotism.

Another supporter, Bartosz, said he wanted Poland to remain safely anchored in Europe.

"We know history. In 1939, we counted on Britain and France, but nobody came. If we are partners with Europe politically and economically, then it's in their interests to support us," he said.

The trial of Diego Maradona's medical staff has collapsed in Argentina after it was found that a judge involved in the case had taken part in a documentary about it.

The judge in charge of the proceedings said the trial, which began on 11 March and was expected to last until July, would have to start again.

Seven members of Maradona's medical team were charged with negligent homicide relating to the former footballer's death in 2020. They deny the allegations.

One of the three presiding judges, Julieta Makintach, stepped down this week.

Maradona, a former Napoli and Argentina midfielder, had been recovering at his home in Buenos Aires from brain surgery for a blood clot in November 2020 when he died of a heart attack, aged 60.

Among the medical team on trial are a neurosurgeon, a doctor and a night nurse. They claim the retired footballer refused further treatment and should have stayed at home for longer after his operation.

If convicted, they face between eight and 25 years in prison.

Earlier this week, Prosecutor Patricio Ferrari accused Makintach of behaving "like an actress and not a judge" after she took part in a documentary about the case.

As a trailer for the documentary series, called Divine Justice, was played in court, defence lawyer Rodolfo Baque shouted "trash!" at Makintach.

Maradona's daughter Gianinna and his former partner Veronica Ojeda both cried after seeing the footage.

It is a violation of court rules for unauthorised filming to take place and the documentary was being filmed without the permission of the court.

Following criticism for taking part in the show, Makintach said she had "no choice" but to excuse herself from the case.

The trial was then adjourned pending the decision on Thursday, which ultimately was to declare a mistrial.

Since beginning, the trial had heard the testimony of almost 50 witnesses, including Maradona's daughters.

The date for the new trial was not initially set and new judges were not nominated.