Prosecutors' star witness, Sean "Diddy" Combs' ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, took the stand on Tuesday in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial, accusing the rapper of controlling her life and coercing her into "humiliating" sex acts.

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

Family and friends have come to court in large numbers to support Mr Combs, whose legal team has not yet questioned Ms Ventura.

Ms Ventura, who is pregnant, told prosecutors about the alleged physical and emotional abuse she endured at the hands of the rapper during so-called "freak-offs", or sexual encounters the couple had with male escorts.

Here are some of the most notable parts of her first five hours of testimony.

Warning: This story contains details that some readers may find distressing.

Ms Ventura fell 'in love' with Mr Combs

Prosecutors began by questioning Ms Ventura - one of their two central witnesses in the case - about her 11-year, on-and-off relationship with Mr Combs.

Now 38 and pregnant in her third trimester with her third child, Ms Ventura met Mr Combs when she was a 19-year-old aspiring singer and he was 37. Mr Combs' record label would later sign Ms Ventura as an artist, and shortly after, their romantic relationship began.

Their relationship progressed over a series of several trips. At the time, she testified, she felt like they were in a monogamous relationship, though she knows now that he had other girlfriends.

She said she "fell in love" with the "larger than life entrepreneur and musician". But it was not long before she noticed another side to him, she said.

Mr Combs wanted to 'control' every part of her life, Ms Ventura says

Mr Combs wanted to "control" her life, Ms Ventura said. She said he paid for her home, her cars, her phone and other technology that he would sometimes take away to "punish" her.

"Control was everything, from the way that I looked ... to what I was working on," Ms Ventura said.

Eventually, she claimed, the control turned violent. Mr Combs would "bash on my head, knock me over, drag me and kick me" frequently, Ms Ventura testified, sometimes through tears.

She alleged that she was left with swollen lips, black eyes and knots on her forehead.

Ms Ventura felt 'humiliated' by 'freak-offs'

Prosecutors spent hours on Tuesday asking Ms Ventura about so-called "freak-offs".

Ms Ventura told the court how Mr Combs introduced her to the sexual events during the first year of their relationship: They would hire a male escort or stripper to have sex with Ms Ventura while Mr Combs watched.

Ms Ventura told the court that she first tried the encounters to make Mr Combs "happy". But she said they humiliated her, and sometimes lasted three to four days.

"I felt pretty horrible about myself," she told the court, wiping away tears. "It made me feel worthless."

Ms Ventura told the court she never wanted to have sex with anyone but Mr Combs, and claimed she would take myriad drugs - marijuana, ecstasy and ketamine - to help her perform to Mr Combs' satisfaction, but also to "disassociate".

The drugs were "a way to not feel it for what it really was", she said, "having sex with a stranger I didn't really want to be having sex with".

Mr Combs flew male escorts in for freak-offs, court hears

As prosecutors pressed Ms Ventura about the "freak-offs", she told the court of how Mr Combs would direct her to find male escorts, strippers or dancers to have sex with while he watched.

She alleged that Mr Combs would pay the men anywhere from $1,500 to $6,000 in cash, depending on their performance.

They found the men through stripper companies and sites like Craigslist. Some of their photos were displayed to the jurors, including Daniel Phillip, who finished his testimony earlier on Tuesday.

Ms Ventura and Mr Combs had the enounters in cities around the world, including Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and Ibiza, Spain, Ms Ventura testified.

Sometimes, men would be flown in during vacations, she alleged, and Mr Combs would direct her to ask staff to pay for and arrange their travel, calling them new employees.

Among other charges, prosecutors are trying to prove that Mr Combs engaged in sex trafficking - human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation - and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Mr Combs 'directed', Ms Ventura says

As prosecutors pressed Ms Ventura for graphic details, one key element emerged: Ms Ventura claimed that Mr Combs controlled every part of the encounters.

He chose the outfits she wore - down to the extremely high heels she kept on for hours - as well as the sexual acts that transpired and the lighting, Ms Ventura told jurors.

"If Sean wanted something to happen, that was what was going to happen," she said. "I couldn't say no."

Sometimes, Ms Ventura said, she would take the lead on which male escorts to hire because Mr Combs was "very busy", but she only did so at his direction, she said.

She said freak-offs had a very specific "pattern" of sexual acts each time.

"He was controlling the whole situation," she alleged. "He was directing it."

At times, Ms Ventura said, she tried to tell Mr Combs that she felt "horrible". But when he dismissed her concerns, she said, she relented, worried he would get angry or question their relationship.

Ms Ventura is expected to continue her testimony on Wednesday, when she could also face cross-examination.

Former US President Joe Biden's aides have hit back at a new book that accuses his White House inner circle of covering up his "physical deterioration" during his ill-fated re-election campaign.

According to the book, Original Sin, Biden's condition during his 2024 presidential run was said to be so poor that aides discussed putting him in a wheelchair.

A spokesperson for Biden, 82, said "evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity" and maintained the Democrat had been "a very effective president".

The book, by CNN's Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson of Axios, is due to be released on 20 May.

Biden abruptly ended his re-election campaign last July shortly after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, a Republican.

Party insiders blamed him for exiting the race too late, leaving his replacement, Vice-President Kamala Harris, 107 days to challenge Trump, who swept to victory.

Ahead of the book's release, Biden last week gave his first interview since leaving the White House to the BBC, saying: "I don't think it would have mattered" if he had left the race sooner.

While the book largely cites anonymous sources in interviews with more than 200 people, one of the few to be quoted on the record is David Plouffe, who worked on Vice-President Harris's campaign.

"We got so screwed by Biden as a party," the book quotes Plouffe as saying.

The authors write: "Biden's physical deterioration - most apparent in his halting walk - had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election.

"Given Biden's age, [his physician Kevin O'Connor] also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery," the book adds.

Biden's physical condition had declined so much, the authors said, that aides had sought to ensure he walked shorter distances, used handrails when mounting stairs, and wore trainers more often.

At the time, Biden aides repeatedly told reporters his altered gait was due to a foot fracture in November 2020 and his subsequent refusal to consistently wear his prescribed surgical boot.

In a statement to Axios, an anonymous Biden aide said: "Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity."

The spokesperson added: "We are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline.

"In fact, the evidence points to the opposite - he was a very effective president."

Tapper and Thompson's book also says that Biden did not recognise George Clooney at a star-studded California campaign fundraiser last June hosted by the Hollywood star.

"Thank you for being here," Biden told Clooney at the event, apparently unaware he was speaking to the Academy Award winner.

"You know George," an aide reportedly told Biden, as he was struggled to work out Clooney's identity.

Not long after the incident, Clooney wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times calling on Biden to quit the race. The actor was one of the first major donors to publicly withdraw his support.

The book also alleges that Biden forgot the names of veteran aides, including trusted loyalist Mike Donilon, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House communications director Kate Bedingfield.

A duck has been caught speeding on traffic cameras in the town of Koeniz in central Switzerland.

Local police said the mallard - a wild duck - was snapped on radar images on 13 April clocking in at 52km (32 miles) in a 30km zone.

Adding to the mystery, authorities said the duck was likely a repeat offender and shared an image of a similar looking duck travelling in the same spot, at the same speed and on the same date in 2018.

There has been speculation about whether the "notorious racer" duck incident was a belated April Fool's joke, but the police inspectorate said it is impossible to manipulate images on the radar system.

Authorities said traffic cameras are tested each year by Switzerland's Federal Institute of Metrology and the photos taken are sealed.

In a Facebook post, Koeniz officials wished the public "a lot of fun" in making sense of the "curious coincidences" seven years in the making.

"We wish you a lot of fun sensing about curious coincidences, criminal machinations of animals and the maximum flight speed of ducks," the post read.

Some comments have asked what the penalty will be for the "racer duck's" transgressions.

US President Donald Trump has said the US has "no stronger partner" than Saudi Arabia during his first major foreign trip - a whirlwind visit of Gulf countries mainly focused on shoring up investment.

Day one of the trip saw the two sides announce a $142bn (£107bn) arms deal, as well as a raft of other investments that Saudi Arabia's crown prince said could eventually be worth $1tn.

Trump also made Saudi Arabia the first foreign stop during his first term, in 2017. The rest of his gulf tour will include stops in Qatar and the UAE.

Speaking for nearly an hour in Riyadh, Trump also announced that the US would be lifting sanctions on Syria in order to give the country "a chance at greatness".

In his remarks at a US-Saudi investment forum, Trump lauded the US-Saudi relationship as "more powerful than ever before" and praised his domestic agenda - particularly as it pertains to the economy and foreign investment.

"From the moment we started we've seen wealth that has poured - and is pouring - into America," he said.

The visit comes as Trump continues to try woo foreign investors to the US to boost the US economy, a key focus of his administration in the nearly four months of his second term.

"I like him too much," Trump said of Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. "That's why we give so much."

Underscoring his commitment to deal-making, Trump was joined by billionaire ally Elon Musk and other business leaders at a lavish lunch.

During his address, Trump announced he was lifting sanctions on Syria to "give them a chance at greatness" and said it was his "dream" to have Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered in his first administration that saw relations between Israel and some Gulf countries normalised for the first time.

As for other regional issues - Trump only briefly addressed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. He told those in attendance that people in Gaza deserved a "better future" which had been held back by Hamas choosing "to kidnap, torture and target" for "political ends" - a reference to the 7 October attack on Israel.

The friendly tone of the visit stands in stark contrast to the often-tense relationship between the Saudis and Biden, who in 2023 called on the US to "reassess" its relationship with the kingdom.

As a candidate successfully campaigning against Trump in 2020, Biden had also vowed to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah" in response to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based journalist killed in Istanbul in 2018.

In 2021, he also stopped sending US offensive weapons to the Saudis, although they resumed last year.

At the time, Biden also said that there was "very little redeeming value" in the Saudi government - although the following year he visited the kingdom on a state visit.

From Saudi Arabia, Trump will head to both Qatar and the UAE, which has already committed to investing $1.4tn in the US over the next decade.

A Los Angeles judge has resentenced two brothers who are serving life in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents in a Beverly Hills mansion, making them eligible for parole.

Judge Michael Jesic gave Erik and Lyle Menendez a new sentence of 50 years to life. A decision on their potential release will be made at a parole hearing in June.

The pair have acknowledged killing Kitty and Jose Menendez, but said they acted out of self-defence after years of abuse and have since been rehabilitated.

Prosecutors have argued the brothers meticulously planned the shotgun killings to access their parents' fortune, are yet to take responsibility and should not be released.

The notorious case, which has prompted books, documentaries and dramas, still divides America.

The brothers gave an emotional statement - via video - to the court at Tuesday's hearing.

The court heard relatives detail how the case affected their family, and pleading for the judge to allow the siblings' release from prison.

The brothers' cousin, Anamaria Baralt, who has been close with them since they were children, told the judge they deserved a "second chance at life".

"It's been a nightmare," she said. "I am desperate for this process to be over."

At times, both Erik and Lyle appeared emotional as family recounted how their crimes have impacted them. Both wiped their eyes at times, with Erik covering his mouth or putting his head in his hands at other moments.

Ms Baralt speaks with Erik and Lyle frequently, she told the court, and testified that they've taken "ownership of their actions".

She said they admitted they tried to steer their previous trial - with Lyle telling her he'd asked a witness to lie when testifying.

"They are very different men from the boys they were," she said.

Former Uruguayan President José Mujica, known as "Pepe", has died at the age of 89.

The ex-guerrilla who governed Uruguay from 2010 to 2015 was known as the world's "poorest president" because of his modest lifestyle.

Current President Yamandú Orsi announced his predecessor's death on X, writing: "thank you for everything you gave us and for your deep love for your people."

The politician's cause of death is not known but he had been suffering from oesophageal cancer.

Because of the simple way he lived as president, his criticism of consumerism and the social reforms he promoted - which, among other things, meant Uruguay became the first country to legalise the recreational use of marijuana - Mujica became a well-known political figure in Latin America and beyond.

His global popularity is unusual for a president of Uruguay, a country with just 3.4 million inhabitants where his legacy has also generated some controversy.

In fact, even though many tended to see Mujica as someone outside the political class, that was not the case.

He said his passion for politics, as well as for books and working the land, was passed on to him by his mother, who raised him in a middle-class home in Montevideo, the capital city.

As a young man, Mujica was a member of the National Party, one of Uruguay's traditional political forces, which later became the centre-right opposition to his government.

In the 1960s, he helped set up the Tupamaros National Liberation Movement (MLN-T), a leftist urban guerrilla group that carried out assaults, kidnappings and executions, although he always maintained that he did not commit any murder.

Influenced by the Cuban revolution and international socialism, the MLN-T launched a campaign of clandestine resistance against the Uruguayan government, which at the time was constitutional and democratic, although the left accused it of being increasingly authoritarian.

During this period, Mujica was captured four times. On one of those occasions, in 1970, he was shot six times and nearly died.

He escaped from prison twice, on one occasion through a tunnel with 105 other MLN-T prisoners, in one of the largest escapes in Uruguayan prison history.

When the Uruguayan military staged a coup in 1973, they included him in a group of "nine hostages" who they threatened to kill if the guerrillas continued their attacks.

During the more than 14 years he spent in prison during the 1970s and 1980s, he was tortured and spent most of that time in harsh conditions and isolation, until he was freed in 1985 when Uruguay returned to democracy.

He used to say that during his time in prison, he experienced madness first hand, suffering from delusions and even talking to ants.

The day he was freed was his happiest memory, he says: "Becoming president was insignificant compared to that."

From guerrilla to president

A few years after his release, he served as a lawmaker, both in the Chamber of Representatives and in the Senate, the country's lower and upper houses respectively.

In 2005, he became minister in the first government of the Frente Amplio, the Uruguayan leftist coalition, before becoming Uruguay's president in 2010.

He was 74 years old at the time, and, to the rest of the world, still unknown.

His election marked an important moment for the Latin American left, which was already strong on the continent at that time. Mujica became leader alongside other left-wing presidents such as Luis Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil and Hugo Chávez in Venezuela.

However, Mujica governed in his own way, demonstrating pragmatism and audacity on several occasions, political commentators say.

During his administration, amid a fairly favourable international context, the Uruguayan economy grew at an average annual rate of 5.4%, poverty was reduced, and unemployment remained low.

Uruguay also drew global attention for the social laws passed by parliament during those years, such as the legalisation of abortion, the recognition of same-sex marriage, and state regulation of the marijuana market.

While in office, Mujica rejected moving into the presidential residence (a mansion), as heads of state around the world usually do.

Instead, he remained with his wife - politician and former guerrilla Lucía Topolansky - in their modest home on the outskirts of Montevideo, with no domestic help and little security.

This combined with the fact that he always dressed casually, that he was often seen driving his light blue 1987 Volkswagen Beetle and gave away a large portion of his salary, led some media outlets to call him "the world's poorest president".

But Mujica always rejected that title: "They say I'm the poorest president. No, I'm not," he told me in a 2012 interview at his home. "Poor are those who want more [...] because they're in an endless race."

Despite Mujica preaching austerity, his government did significantly increase public spending, widening the fiscal deficit and leading his opponents to accuse him of waste.

Mujica was also criticised for failing to reverse the growing problems in Uruguayan education, despite having promised that education would be a top priority for his administration.

However, unlike other leaders in the region, he was never accused of corruption or of undermining his country's democracy.

By the end of his administration, Mujica had a high domestic popularity rating (close to 70%) and was elected senator, but also spent part of his time travelling the world after he stepped down as president.

"So what it is that catches the world's attention? That I live with very little, a simple house, that I drive around in an old car? Then this world is crazy because it's surprised by [what is] normal," he reflected before leaving office.

Mujica retired from politics in 2020 though he remained a central figure in Uruguay.

His political heir, Yamandú Orsi, was elected president of Uruguay in November 2024 and his group within the Frente Amplio obtained the largest number of parliamentary seats since the country's return to democracy.

Last year, Mujica announced he had cancer and references to his age and the inexorable proximity of death became more frequent - but he always accepted the final outcome as something natural, without drama.

In the last interview he gave the BBC in November last year, he said: "One knows that death is inevitable. And perhaps it's like the salt of life."

US President Donald Trump has said the US has "no stronger partner" than Saudi Arabia during his first major foreign trip - a whirlwind visit of Gulf countries mainly focused on shoring up investment.

Day one of the trip saw the two sides announce a $142bn (£107bn) arms deal, as well as a raft of other investments that Saudi Arabia's crown prince said could eventually be worth $1tn.

Trump also made Saudi Arabia the first foreign stop during his first term, in 2017. The rest of his gulf tour will include stops in Qatar and the UAE.

Speaking for nearly an hour in Riyadh, Trump also announced that the US would be lifting sanctions on Syria in order to give the country "a chance at greatness".

In his remarks at a US-Saudi investment forum, Trump lauded the US-Saudi relationship as "more powerful than ever before" and praised his domestic agenda - particularly as it pertains to the economy and foreign investment.

"From the moment we started we've seen wealth that has poured - and is pouring - into America," he said.

The visit comes as Trump continues to try woo foreign investors to the US to boost the US economy, a key focus of his administration in the nearly four months of his second term.

"I like him too much," Trump said of Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. "That's why we give so much."

Underscoring his commitment to deal-making, Trump was joined by billionaire ally Elon Musk and other business leaders at a lavish lunch.

During his address, Trump announced he was lifting sanctions on Syria to "give them a chance at greatness" and said it was his "dream" to have Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered in his first administration that saw relations between Israel and some Gulf countries normalised for the first time.

As for other regional issues - Trump only briefly addressed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. He told those in attendance that people in Gaza deserved a "better future" which had been held back by Hamas choosing "to kidnap, torture and target" for "political ends" - a reference to the 7 October attack on Israel.

The friendly tone of the visit stands in stark contrast to the often-tense relationship between the Saudis and Biden, who in 2023 called on the US to "reassess" its relationship with the kingdom.

As a candidate successfully campaigning against Trump in 2020, Biden had also vowed to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah" in response to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based journalist killed in Istanbul in 2018.

In 2021, he also stopped sending US offensive weapons to the Saudis, although they resumed last year.

At the time, Biden also said that there was "very little redeeming value" in the Saudi government - although the following year he visited the kingdom on a state visit.

From Saudi Arabia, Trump will head to both Qatar and the UAE, which has already committed to investing $1.4tn in the US over the next decade.

Prosecutors' star witness, Sean "Diddy" Combs' ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, took the stand on Tuesday in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial, accusing the rapper of controlling her life and coercing her into "humiliating" sex acts.

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

Family and friends have come to court in large numbers to support Mr Combs, whose legal team has not yet questioned Ms Ventura.

Ms Ventura, who is pregnant, told prosecutors about the alleged physical and emotional abuse she endured at the hands of the rapper during so-called "freak-offs", or sexual encounters the couple had with male escorts.

Here are some of the most notable parts of her first five hours of testimony.

Warning: This story contains details that some readers may find distressing.

Ms Ventura fell 'in love' with Mr Combs

Prosecutors began by questioning Ms Ventura - one of their two central witnesses in the case - about her 11-year, on-and-off relationship with Mr Combs.

Now 38 and pregnant in her third trimester with her third child, Ms Ventura met Mr Combs when she was a 19-year-old aspiring singer and he was 37. Mr Combs' record label would later sign Ms Ventura as an artist, and shortly after, their romantic relationship began.

Their relationship progressed over a series of several trips. At the time, she testified, she felt like they were in a monogamous relationship, though she knows now that he had other girlfriends.

She said she "fell in love" with the "larger than life entrepreneur and musician". But it was not long before she noticed another side to him, she said.

Mr Combs wanted to 'control' every part of her life, Ms Ventura says

Mr Combs wanted to "control" her life, Ms Ventura said. She said he paid for her home, her cars, her phone and other technology that he would sometimes take away to "punish" her.

"Control was everything, from the way that I looked ... to what I was working on," Ms Ventura said.

Eventually, she claimed, the control turned violent. Mr Combs would "bash on my head, knock me over, drag me and kick me" frequently, Ms Ventura testified, sometimes through tears.

She alleged that she was left with swollen lips, black eyes and knots on her forehead.

Ms Ventura felt 'humiliated' by 'freak-offs'

Prosecutors spent hours on Tuesday asking Ms Ventura about so-called "freak-offs".

Ms Ventura told the court how Mr Combs introduced her to the sexual events during the first year of their relationship: They would hire a male escort or stripper to have sex with Ms Ventura while Mr Combs watched.

Ms Ventura told the court that she first tried the encounters to make Mr Combs "happy". But she said they humiliated her, and sometimes lasted three to four days.

"I felt pretty horrible about myself," she told the court, wiping away tears. "It made me feel worthless."

Ms Ventura told the court she never wanted to have sex with anyone but Mr Combs, and claimed she would take myriad drugs - marijuana, ecstasy and ketamine - to help her perform to Mr Combs' satisfaction, but also to "disassociate".

The drugs were "a way to not feel it for what it really was", she said, "having sex with a stranger I didn't really want to be having sex with".

Mr Combs flew male escorts in for freak-offs, court hears

As prosecutors pressed Ms Ventura about the "freak-offs", she told the court of how Mr Combs would direct her to find male escorts, strippers or dancers to have sex with while he watched.

She alleged that Mr Combs would pay the men anywhere from $1,500 to $6,000 in cash, depending on their performance.

They found the men through stripper companies and sites like Craigslist. Some of their photos were displayed to the jurors, including Daniel Phillip, who finished his testimony earlier on Tuesday.

Ms Ventura and Mr Combs had the enounters in cities around the world, including Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and Ibiza, Spain, Ms Ventura testified.

Sometimes, men would be flown in during vacations, she alleged, and Mr Combs would direct her to ask staff to pay for and arrange their travel, calling them new employees.

Among other charges, prosecutors are trying to prove that Mr Combs engaged in sex trafficking - human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation - and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Mr Combs 'directed', Ms Ventura says

As prosecutors pressed Ms Ventura for graphic details, one key element emerged: Ms Ventura claimed that Mr Combs controlled every part of the encounters.

He chose the outfits she wore - down to the extremely high heels she kept on for hours - as well as the sexual acts that transpired and the lighting, Ms Ventura told jurors.

"If Sean wanted something to happen, that was what was going to happen," she said. "I couldn't say no."

Sometimes, Ms Ventura said, she would take the lead on which male escorts to hire because Mr Combs was "very busy", but she only did so at his direction, she said.

She said freak-offs had a very specific "pattern" of sexual acts each time.

"He was controlling the whole situation," she alleged. "He was directing it."

At times, Ms Ventura said, she tried to tell Mr Combs that she felt "horrible". But when he dismissed her concerns, she said, she relented, worried he would get angry or question their relationship.

Ms Ventura is expected to continue her testimony on Wednesday, when she could also face cross-examination.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled a new team, promising "decisive action" on his ambitious economic agenda - amid a trade war with the US and President Donald Trump's repeated remarks undermining Canada's sovereignty.

The new cabinet of 28 ministers and 10 secretaries of state marks some significant changes, including a new foreign minister to handle the currently fraught US-Canada relationship.

The reshuffle, two weeks after the election, brings some familiar names as well as political newcomers - a team "purpose-built for this hinge moment", Carney told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

"Canada's new ministry is built to deliver the change Canadians want and deserve," he said.

A new US-Canada team

Carney has made a number of changes to the core team of ministers handling the strained relationship with its southern neighbour.

It comes after Carney's recently meeting with Trump at the White House, after which he said Trump was willing to negotiate a new trade deal.

Veteran member of parliament (MP), Dominic LeBlanc, who has overseen a number of cabinet positions, most recently international trade, will now focus on Canada-US trade and breaking down internal trade barriers within the country - a key campaign pledge.

Toronto-area MP Maninder Sidhu, takes over as minister of international trade.

Carney has also named a new foreign minister, Anita Anand, who held a number of top roles in former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet, including defence.

Melanie Joly was shuffled out of foreign affairs and given the industry portfolio.

Former justice minister Gary Anandasangaree now takes on the role of public safety, a department that will oversee border security, which Trump has cited as a key reason for imposing tariffs on Canada as well as Mexico.

David McGuinty, who previously held that position, now oversees defence.

Two prominent names have been pushed out of the cabinet - Bill Blair, who oversaw defence, and Jonathan Wilkinson, natural resources minister.

Rookie MP Tim Hodgson, first elected in April, is taking over at natural resources. Carney worked with him at the Bank of Canada, where Hodgson served as a special adviser.

• Along the Canada border, small-town America feels sting of Trump's trade war
• How Canada voted - in charts
• Canada has been 'over reliant on the US for too long', says Joly

Fresh faces in key roles

The cabinet will include ten secretaries of state, who assist the senior ministers on key files.

Some notable names remaining in their roles include Francois-Philippe Champagne, who stays on as finance minister, a position he has held since March.

Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister under Trudeau and a former foreign affairs and finance minister in his government, stays in transport.

Steven Guilbeault will continue to oversee Canadian culture and official languages.

Federal cabinets in Canada by tradition balance representation of the country's regional, linguistic and ethnic diversity.

The new cabinet includes representation from Canada's prairie provinces - a minister and secretary of state - where there are growing musings about separation amid a broader sense of western alienation from the power centre in Ottawa.

Carney is also continuing Trudeau's policy of maintaining gender parity in his cabinet.

Some of the new faces include former broadcaster Evan Solomon, who will be minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation.

Toronto MP Julie Dabrusin joins cabinet for the first time as environment minister after having served as parliamentary secretary for the file since 2021.

Halifax MP Lena Metlege Diab is also new to cabinet in the role of minister for immigration.

Vancouver's former mayor, Gregor Robertson, takes on a significant role overseeing housing. Carney has pledged to significantly ramp up construction amid a housing affordability crisis in Canada.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre criticised Carney for keeping so many ministers who served in Trudeau's cabinet.

"That isn't the change that Mr Carney promised," he said.

Céline Dion made a rare appearance during the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest with a brief, pre-recorded message.

The star won the contest for Switzerland in 1988, and it had been rumoured she would take the stage as the ceremony returns to the country this year.

"I'd love nothing more than to be with you," she said in a video, apparently ruling out that possibility. "Switzerland will forever hold a special place in my heart. It's the country that believed in me and gave me the chance to be part of something so extraordinary."

The semi-final saw 10 acts qualify for Saturday's grand finale, including Swedish entrants KAJ, whose song Bara Bada Bastu is the runaway favourite.

Their song, an accordion-led comedy number whose title translates to "let's take a sauna", has a 40% chance of winning, according to bookmakers.

If the prediction comes true, it would be Sweden's eighth Eurovision title - making them the most victorious country in the contest's history (they are currently tied with Ireland, on seven wins each).

Fifteen acts performed at Tuesday's semi-final in Basel's St Jakobshalle. These are the ones who made the cut.

• Norway: Kyle Alessandro – Lighter
• Albania: Shkodra Elektronike – Zjerm
• Sweden: KAJ – Bara Bada Bastu
• Iceland: VÆB – RÓA
• Netherlands: Claude – C'est La Vie
• Poland: Justyna Steczkowska – GAJA
• San Marino: Gabry Ponte – Tutta L'Italia
• Estonia: Tommy Cash – Espresso Macchiato
• Portugal: NAPA – Deslocado
• Ukraine: Ziferblat – Bird of Pray

That means that the Eurovision dreams of Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia and Slovenia have all ended for 2025.

Of those, the biggest surprise was Belgium's Red Sebastian, whose rave anthem Strobe Lights had been predicted to finish among the top five.

His disqualification came on the day of his 26th birthday.

Ten more acts will progress to the main competition after Thursday's second semi-final.

The "Big Five" countries, who contribute the most financially to the competition (France, Germany, Spain, the UK and Italy) qualify automatically, as do last year's winners, Switzerland.

Dion's video message came during the ceremony's interval, as votes were being cast.

Although she was unable to be there in person, it was a coup for organisers. The singer has stepped away from the limelight in recent years due to health issues related to stiff-person syndrome (SPS), a neurological condition that causes muscle spasms and makes it difficult for her to walk.

After a four-year break, she made an emotional comeback at last summer's Paris Olympics, singing Edith Piaf's classic Hymne à l'Amour from the Eiffel Tower.

Speculation over a potential Eurovision appearance has been mounting since Swiss singer Nemo won the 2024 contest.

In her video, Dion said it was "beautiful and emotional" to see the young singer lift the trophy, and recalled that her victory in 1988 "was a life-changing moment for me".

"To the people of Switzerland, thank you for your love," she continued. "This night is yours and I hope you feel as proud as I do."

After repeating her message in French, several former Eurovision contestants appeared on stage to cover Dion's winning song from 1988, Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi (Don't Leave Without Me).

However, organisers said they had not given up hope of the star appearing at the final this weekend.

"We are still in close contact with her," they said in a statement.

Tuesday's semi-final opened with Icelandic group VÆB, two brothers with the unregulated energy of former Irish entrants Jedward.

They were followed by Polish star Justyna Steczkowska, who hung precariously above the stage on two ropes, as she sang her witchy hymn to mother earth, Gaja.

The acrobatics continued with Slovenian musician Klemen, who was suspended upside down during his ballad How Much Time Do We Have Left?

The song was a tribute to his wife, who has recently recovered from cancer, but the emotional performance wasn't enough to clinch him a position in the final.

Taking a lighter note was Estonia's Tommy Cash, whose quirky anthem Espresso Macchiato was interrupted by a "stage invader" - actually a dancer who replicated his noodle-limbed dance moves.

The arena was awash with Ukranian flags for Ziferblat, whose prog-pop anthem Bird Of Pray is a message of hope and resilience to families separated by the country's ongoing war with Russia.

Italy's Lucio Corsi brought 70s glam rock vibes with his track Volevo Esse Un Duro, which even featured a visual call-back to David Bowie and Mick Ronson's iconic 1972 performance of Starman on Top Of The Pops.

Bosnian singer Marko Bošnjak was all black eyeliner and sinister energy for his kill-your-enemies anthem Poison Cake, while Dutch singer Claude took the opposite approach, brimming with positivity throughout his upbeat performance of C'est La Vie.

And Swiss singer Zoë Më was bathed in a sea of mobile phone lights as she performed Voyage , an understated and rather beautiful plea for kindness and understanding.

However, KAJ were the artists to beat - with the entire audience stomping along to their goofy sauna anthem ("Damn it, turn up the heat!")

The song, performed in the Vörå dialect, is a radical departure from Sweden's tried and tested formula of slick pop anthems.

It was the surprise winner at the Melodifestivalen, the hotly-contested show that selects the country's Eurovision entry, and has gone on to top the Swedish pop charts for 11 weeks.

Speaking to the BBC, the band - who are actually from the Swedish-speaking part of Finland - said it was strange to enter the contest as the presumed favourite.

"We are feeling the pressure a bit," they admitted, "but we're gonna go out there, have fun, bring the steam, bring the sauna culture, and we'll see how far it goes."

US President Donald Trump has said the US has "no stronger partner" than Saudi Arabia during his first major foreign trip - a whirlwind visit of Gulf countries mainly focused on shoring up investment.

Day one of the trip saw the two sides announce a $142bn (£107bn) arms deal, as well as a raft of other investments that Saudi Arabia's crown prince said could eventually be worth $1tn.

Trump also made Saudi Arabia the first foreign stop during his first term, in 2017. The rest of his gulf tour will include stops in Qatar and the UAE.

Speaking for nearly an hour in Riyadh, Trump also announced that the US would be lifting sanctions on Syria in order to give the country "a chance at greatness".

In his remarks at a US-Saudi investment forum, Trump lauded the US-Saudi relationship as "more powerful than ever before" and praised his domestic agenda - particularly as it pertains to the economy and foreign investment.

"From the moment we started we've seen wealth that has poured - and is pouring - into America," he said.

The visit comes as Trump continues to try woo foreign investors to the US to boost the US economy, a key focus of his administration in the nearly four months of his second term.

"I like him too much," Trump said of Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. "That's why we give so much."

Underscoring his commitment to deal-making, Trump was joined by billionaire ally Elon Musk and other business leaders at a lavish lunch.

During his address, Trump announced he was lifting sanctions on Syria to "give them a chance at greatness" and said it was his "dream" to have Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered in his first administration that saw relations between Israel and some Gulf countries normalised for the first time.

As for other regional issues - Trump only briefly addressed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. He told those in attendance that people in Gaza deserved a "better future" which had been held back by Hamas choosing "to kidnap, torture and target" for "political ends" - a reference to the 7 October attack on Israel.

The friendly tone of the visit stands in stark contrast to the often-tense relationship between the Saudis and Biden, who in 2023 called on the US to "reassess" its relationship with the kingdom.

As a candidate successfully campaigning against Trump in 2020, Biden had also vowed to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah" in response to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based journalist killed in Istanbul in 2018.

In 2021, he also stopped sending US offensive weapons to the Saudis, although they resumed last year.

At the time, Biden also said that there was "very little redeeming value" in the Saudi government - although the following year he visited the kingdom on a state visit.

From Saudi Arabia, Trump will head to both Qatar and the UAE, which has already committed to investing $1.4tn in the US over the next decade.

An Israeli air strike has killed at least six people and injured dozens at the European Gaza hospital in Khan Younis, local officials have said.

Israeli warplanes dropped six bombs simultaneously on the hospital, hitting both its inner courtyard and surrounding area, according to local sources.

The Israeli military said it had conducted a "precise strike" on a Hamas base, which it claimed is beneath the hospital.

A freelance journalist working for the BBC in Gaza was also injured in the air strike and is now in a stable condition after receiving medical attention.

The dead and wounded have been transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. local sources have said.

The emergency department of this hospital was hit by another strike earlier on Tuesday, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses.

The strike resulted in several deep craters inside the hospital compound, which buried several vehicles including a large bus.

Israeli media is reporting the target of the strike was senior Hamas figure Mohammed Sinwar - the younger brother of the former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Kim Kardashian has given emotional testimony to a Paris court, telling judges she thought she was going to die at the hands of masked gunmen who stole millions of dollars of jewellery from her in a luxury hotel suite in 2016.

The reality TV star and businesswoman - who was bound and had a gun held to her head during the ordeal - faced her alleged attackers for the first time while giving evidence in the case.

Nine men and one woman are on trial for the armed burglary of £10m (£7.55m) worth of jewellery, including a diamond engagement ring from her ex-husband Kanye West.

Kardashian, who gave testimony in a seat in front of the BBC, spoke for more than three hours in court on Tuesday.

Her evidence was at times interrupted by apologies from two defendants.

After one of the defendants, Aomar Ait Khedache, 71, sitting metres from Kardashian in the courtroom expressed his regret, she turned to him and said she forgave him.

Referencing her activism in the US to improve the justice system and her dreams of becoming a lawyer, she thanked Khedache for his apology letter.

"I do appreciate it, I forgive you," she said to him in the stand, while crying.

"But it doesn't change the emotion, the feelings and the trauma and the way my life has changed."

"I just want to thank everyone, especially the French authorities, for allowing me to testify today and tell my truth," the TV star told the court on Tuesday which was packed with media.

The trial for the crime committed more than nine years ago has been long-anticipated and closely followed by press.

Wearing a tailored black suit and diamond jewellery, Kardashian was supported in the courtroom by her mother, Kris Jenner, several friends, and a bevy of bodyguards.

She faltered at times in her first hour of giving testimony, fidgeting with her long nails, and pausing when overwhelmed by emotion and fighting back tears. However she appeared to relax and gather strength the longer she went on, her voice becoming steadier.

She also expressed forgiveness for one of the defendants, who issued an apology to her during her testimony.

Tuesday's session in court was the first time Kardashian had relayed to a criminal court her account of the armed burglary, and the extent of her fears during and after the attack.

'I was sure they were going to shoot me'

She recounted how she had been in town for Paris Fashion Week on 2 October, and had retired for the night at around 03:00 when two masked gunmen wearing police uniforms burst into her room, dragging with them the hotel's receptionist who had been bound and gagged.

She managed to call her bodyguard before one of the men then took her phone off her. They snatched her engagement ring, which had been lying on the bedside table, and then "picked me up off the bed and grabbed me and took me down the hallway" to look for more jewellery," she said.

One of the men held a gun to her back at this point, and "that was the first moment I thought, should I run for it? But it wasn't an option so I just stayed," she said, adding that she realised she should just "do whatever they say" for her safety.

Kardashian said she was then thrown onto the bed and her hands bound with zip ties. At this point, she told the concierge: "Please translate to them that I have babies, I have to make it home."

One of the men then pulled her towards him, which opened her robe, under which she wasn't wearing anything.

She told the court she was afraid she was going to be raped, saying she said a prayer to mentally prepare herself.

But then her legs were tied together and a gun pointed at her. She said at that point, "I was sure that's when they were going to shoot me."

She thought of her family at that point, offering them a "prayer" that they would not have to experience her killing.

She expressed fear for her sister, Kourtney, having to walk into the hotel room to find that "I would be shot dead on the bed and she would see that and have that memory forever."

When asked by the judge David de Pas if she thought she was going to die she replied in a small voice: "I absolutely did think I was gonna die."

Kardashian said she looked in the eyes of the man who tied her up to try to remember details - and that he told her if she remained quiet, she would be ok.

After the robbers took the jewellery, they dashed out of the suite, leaving Kardashian in the bathroom. She said she then managed to free her hands from the cable ties and hopped down the staircase to the first floor of the suite, where her stylist and friend Simone Harouche helped release the other ties.

The two then ran out onto the balcony where they called for help while hiding in the bushes. Kardashian said she was worried the men would return, and that when Parisian police turned up, she couldn't trust them because the robbers had also been wearing police uniforms.

During the testimony in the packed courtroom, Kardashian also answered several questions from the judge about why her security were not present at the time.

Her usual team had been sent to accompany her sister Kourtney to the club, while Kim had stayed in.

She told the court she did not have a bodyguard with her because up until the robbery, she and her family had not believed they needed that level of security. She said she had previously always felt safe to go out on the streets of Paris on her own, and they had been comfortable with their security team staying at a different hotel.

"Everything changed" after Paris, she said, noting that she employs up to six people to guard her house at night now, and that she started to get a "phobia of going out" because she thought people would "see me out and know my home was empty".

"I can't even sleep at night if I know there's not multiple security" guards, she said, noting her concern about copycat attacks, and that her Los Angeles house was robbed even before the family returned from the Paris trip.

Seeking closure

Kardashian's testimony on Tuesday was interrupted at several points by offers of apology from two of the defendants in the court room, who have pleaded guilty to the charge. While she accepted Khedache's apology, she did not acknowledge the presence of the other defendants who are contesting the charges.

She ignored her former driver Gary Madar who is accused of having tipped off the burglary ring about her whereabouts. He has denied the charges.

She also expressed anger over one of the defendants who has pleaded guilty, Yunice Abbas, who published a memoir in 2021 prior to the trial titled '"I Held Up Kim Kardashian".

Kardashian told the court on Tuesday she was "really shocked when I saw there was a book".

"Not only did he do this, but now [he's] making money off that - my jewellery, my memories, the watch my dad who passed away gave me when I graduated high school. I can't get that back."

She also told the court she wanted closure from the trial's proceedings.

"I wanted to be a part of today because I am a victim in this case and it's the first time I'm able to really hear from everyone and follow along," she said.

"This is what I do. I want to become a lawyer and I do believe everyone has the opportunity to speak their truth, and this is my closure and my opportunity to put this to rest after everything I've been through."

Kardashian added that her job is "to tell my truth and hope this doesn't happen to anyone else".

"It was terrifying and life-changing and I don't wish that kind of terror on anyone - to think you could be killed or raped - I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled a new team, promising "decisive action" on his ambitious economic agenda - amid a trade war with the US and President Donald Trump's repeated remarks undermining Canada's sovereignty.

The new cabinet of 28 ministers and 10 secretaries of state marks some significant changes, including a new foreign minister to handle the currently fraught US-Canada relationship.

The reshuffle, two weeks after the election, brings some familiar names as well as political newcomers - a team "purpose-built for this hinge moment", Carney told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

"Canada's new ministry is built to deliver the change Canadians want and deserve," he said.

A new US-Canada team

Carney has made a number of changes to the core team of ministers handling the strained relationship with its southern neighbour.

It comes after Carney's recently meeting with Trump at the White House, after which he said Trump was willing to negotiate a new trade deal.

Veteran member of parliament (MP), Dominic LeBlanc, who has overseen a number of cabinet positions, most recently international trade, will now focus on Canada-US trade and breaking down internal trade barriers within the country - a key campaign pledge.

Toronto-area MP Maninder Sidhu, takes over as minister of international trade.

Carney has also named a new foreign minister, Anita Anand, who held a number of top roles in former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet, including defence.

Melanie Joly was shuffled out of foreign affairs and given the industry portfolio.

Former justice minister Gary Anandasangaree now takes on the role of public safety, a department that will oversee border security, which Trump has cited as a key reason for imposing tariffs on Canada as well as Mexico.

David McGuinty, who previously held that position, now oversees defence.

Two prominent names have been pushed out of the cabinet - Bill Blair, who oversaw defence, and Jonathan Wilkinson, natural resources minister.

Rookie MP Tim Hodgson, first elected in April, is taking over at natural resources. Carney worked with him at the Bank of Canada, where Hodgson served as a special adviser.

• Along the Canada border, small-town America feels sting of Trump's trade war
• How Canada voted - in charts
• Canada has been 'over reliant on the US for too long', says Joly

Fresh faces in key roles

The cabinet will include ten secretaries of state, who assist the senior ministers on key files.

Some notable names remaining in their roles include Francois-Philippe Champagne, who stays on as finance minister, a position he has held since March.

Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister under Trudeau and a former foreign affairs and finance minister in his government, stays in transport.

Steven Guilbeault will continue to oversee Canadian culture and official languages.

Federal cabinets in Canada by tradition balance representation of the country's regional, linguistic and ethnic diversity.

The new cabinet includes representation from Canada's prairie provinces - a minister and secretary of state - where there are growing musings about separation amid a broader sense of western alienation from the power centre in Ottawa.

Carney is also continuing Trudeau's policy of maintaining gender parity in his cabinet.

Some of the new faces include former broadcaster Evan Solomon, who will be minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation.

Toronto MP Julie Dabrusin joins cabinet for the first time as environment minister after having served as parliamentary secretary for the file since 2021.

Halifax MP Lena Metlege Diab is also new to cabinet in the role of minister for immigration.

Vancouver's former mayor, Gregor Robertson, takes on a significant role overseeing housing. Carney has pledged to significantly ramp up construction amid a housing affordability crisis in Canada.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre criticised Carney for keeping so many ministers who served in Trudeau's cabinet.

"That isn't the change that Mr Carney promised," he said.

A masked gang have tried to abduct the daughter and young grandson of a cryptocurrency chief in Paris, but after a violent struggle they drove off empty-handed.

The botched kidnap bid was captured on video by an onlooker in Paris's 11th district, in the east of the French capital.

Police sources said the woman was the daughter of a cryptocurrency company boss. She and her husband fought off three attackers until passers by rushed to their aid and the men fled in a van.

A Paris police brigade that tackles armed robbery is expected to investigate the attack, which is the latest in a series of abductions targeting French cryptocurrency figures or their relatives.

The attack unfolded at about 08:20 local time on Tuesday, according to local media, when three men leapt from a white van and tried to kidnap the mother and her child.

The pair are described as relatives of the co-founder of French Bitcoin exchange platform Paymium, the AFP news agency said.

The woman's husband who was with his family at the time tried to protect them and was beaten repeatedly over the head. The couple shouted for help as the masked men tried to pull them apart.

At one point she was seen to grab a firearm off the attacker and throw it into the street. The weapon was later described as a replica air gun.

The street was relatively busy at the time and a group of children were on their way to a local primary school.

Initially, passers by appeared too afraid to intervene, but as locals began to react the three attackers eventually gave up and jumped into the van as a fourth gang member drove them away. One man hurled a fire extinguisher at the van as it sped off.

The family was treated for minor injuries in hospital.

The botched kidnapping in the Rue Pache came little more than a week after French police rescued the father of a cryptocurrency millionaire who had been kidnapped in another area of the capital while walking his dog and held for ransom.

In an indication of the brutality of the gangs involved, the victim was freed three days later after his kidnappers had cut off one of his fingers.

Several people were arrested.

Last January, David Balland, co-founder of cryptocurrency wallet firm Ledger, was abducted with his wife at their home in central France.

French media say the victim had one finger missing when he was rescued from a house in Palaiseau, south of Paris.

An Israeli air strike has killed at least six people and injured dozens at the European Gaza hospital in Khan Younis, local officials have said.

Israeli warplanes dropped six bombs simultaneously on the hospital, hitting both its inner courtyard and surrounding area, according to local sources.

The Israeli military said it had conducted a "precise strike" on a Hamas base, which it claimed is beneath the hospital.

A freelance journalist working for the BBC in Gaza was also injured in the air strike and is now in a stable condition after receiving medical attention.

The dead and wounded have been transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. local sources have said.

The emergency department of this hospital was hit by another strike earlier on Tuesday, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses.

The strike resulted in several deep craters inside the hospital compound, which buried several vehicles including a large bus.

Israeli media is reporting the target of the strike was senior Hamas figure Mohammed Sinwar - the younger brother of the former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will travel to Turkey's capital Ankara to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will be available for direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Istanbul on Thursday.

"We will do everything to ensure that this meeting takes place," he told reporters in a hastily-arranged briefing.

Russia has not yet said who will fly to Istanbul, only that it would be announced "as soon as [President Putin] deems it necessary". Putin and Zelensky have not themselves met for five-and-a-half years.

Direct talks between the two countries last took place in Istanbul, in March 2022, in the early weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Putin had initially called for direct talks in Turkey's second city "without pre-conditions", before Zelensky announced that he would go in person and expected the Russian president to travel as well.

The US is also expected to send a high-level delegation.

By confirming his visit to Turkey at a hastily-convened news conference, Zelensky clearly sought to intensify pressure on Russia to respond. The Kremlin has already warned that exerting pressure on Moscow is "useless" and it does not respond to ultimatums.

Russia has instead sought to focus on a long-term settlement that tackles the "root causes" of the war and deals with "realities on the ground".

However, the Ukrainian leader said while he was prepared to meet Putin in Istanbul his priority was to secure a 30-day ceasefire, which he said all Ukraine's allies were agreed on.

Zelensky said he believed Putin's late night offer on Sunday for direct talks in Turkey was designed to catch Kyiv out, so that he would "not react" or "react in a negative way for Ukraine".

US President Donald Trump, who is on a visit to the Gulf, has hinted that he could fly to to Istanbul himself "if I think things can happen".

That seems unlikely for now, and unconfirmed reports suggest two senior US envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, are planning to be in Istanbul on the day.

The Kremlin has sought to dampen speculation that Putin might himself go.

"Russia continues preparations for the negotiations due on Thursday. That's all that can be said right now," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was prepared to hold talks "responsibly" but cast doubt on Ukraine's ability to stick to agreements.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it would be a good move for the two leaders to sit down and talk, but added: "I don't think he dares, Putin."

Zelensky also accused Putin of "being scared" to meet him. His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said if the Russian leader refused to go to Istanbul it would the "final signal" that he did not want to end the war.

The leaders of Ukraine's main allies - the UK, Germany, Poland and France - travelled to Kyiv at the weekend to warn of further sanctions if Russia did not accept a 30-day ceasefire.

The European Union is currently working on a 17th package of measures.

A self-declared "king" of Germany and three of his senior "subjects" have been arrested and their group banned for attempting to overthrow the state.

Peter Fitzek, 59, was among those arrested in morning raids across seven states on Tuesday, which involved about 800 security personnel.

The government banned their group, the Reichsbürger, or "citizens of the Reich", which seeks to establish the Königreich Deutschland, or "Kingdom of Germany".

Alexander Dobrindt, German's interior minister, accused the group of attempting to "undermine the rule of law" by creating an alternative state and spreading "antisemitic conspiracy narratives to back up their supposed claim to authority".

His ministry announced the dissolution of the group, and accused it financing itself through "economic criminal structures".

Fitzek, a former chef and karate instructor, calls himself "king" and identified himself to judges as "Peter the First" in a previous court case.

He had himself crowned in 2012 while dressed in ermine robes and brandishing a medieval sword. Since then he has been buying land and property across Germany.

Reichsbürgers have their own currency, flag and ID cards, and want to set up separate banking and health systems.

Fitzek claims to have thousands of followers - or "subjects".

In an interview with the BBC in 2022 he denied having any violent intentions, but also described the German state as "destructive and sick".

"I have no interest in being part of this fascist and satanic system," he told the BBC's Jenny Hill, when she visited his "kingdom" in eastern Germany.

Fitzek has repeatedly clashed with the authorities and refused to abide by German laws, often in what appears to be in a publicity-seeking manner.

He has previously been jailed for repeatedly driving without a licence, following a decision to hand his back in a symbolic rejection of the law. At the end of one trial session, Fitzek was seen getting into his car in front of the court and driving off.

Fitzek is one of around 25,000 Reichsbürger in Germany. Numbers have been growing over the last few years.

Many are right-wing extremists who peddle racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories. They refuse to recognise the authority of security forces and many possess illegal arms, which has led to shoot-outs with police. Officials say that around 2,500 are potentially violent and that 1,350 are classed as right-wing extremists.

In 2022 dozens of people were arrested, many of them Reichsbürger, for plotting to overthrow the German government in Berlin. They were accused of planning a violent coup, which included kidnapping the health minister, to create "civil war conditions" to bring down German democracy.

In the past, Reichsbürger were often dismissed as eccentric cranks because of their outlandish ideas.

But as the far right has grown in strength politically in Germany over the last decade, officials now see them as a serious threat.

The federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe said Fitzek was arrested along with three other suspected ringleaders of the group, which it classified as a criminal organisation.

As the "so-called supreme sovereign", Fitzek had "control and decision-making power in all key areas", the office said.

"The 'Kingdom of Germany' considers itself a sovereign state within the meaning of international law and strives to extend its claimed 'national territory' to the borders of the German Empire of 1871," it added in a statement.

Zambia's foreign minister has warned diplomats against interfering in the country's affairs, days after the US ambassador raised concerns about the "systematic theft" of drugs donated to the southern African state.

Mulambo Haimbe said there was an "increasing tendency" by envoys to ignore diplomatic channels, and this could undermine the "spirit of mutual respect".

He did not name anyone, but his comments were seen as being directed at the US ambassador to Lusaka, Michael Gonzales.

Last week, Gonzales called a press conference to announce that the US was cutting $50m (£37m) of health aid to Zambia because of the theft of life-saving medications that the US had provided for patients.

He added that he had decided to go public after holding more than 30 fruitless meetings with senior Zambian officials.

In his response, Haimbe said that addressing the government through the media amounted to interference and was in breach of diplomatic conventions.

"We remain open to addressing any matters of concern through appropriate diplomatic channels," the minister added.

Last week, the US embassy said it had presented its findings of the alleged corruption to Zambian officials in April last year, and had offered help to stop further theft and to bring the culprits to justice.

However, no action was taken by the Zambian authorities, it added.

On Monday, Zambia's Home Affairs Minister Jacob Mwiimbu said that a forensic audit on the alleged theft had been completed and handed over to security agencies for further action.

About 75 people have been arrested in a countrywide crackdown that saw more than 400 health facilities raided over the alleged scam, he said.

"There will be no sacred cows in this pursuit," Mwiimbu added.

Gonzales said that an inspection carried out by US officials at more than 2,000 pharmacies last year had found that most were selling drugs and medical supplies donated by the US.

Zambia's Health Minister Elijah Muchima earlier said the problem of theft predated the current government, which took office in 2021.

Muchima also said several Zambian officials had been sacked following the thefts identified by the US, and that "an advanced digital stock tracking system" had been set up to monitor the supply of medicines.

The cut in US assistance, expected to take effect next year, would affect drugs to treat malaria, HIV and TB.

But the health minister has reassured Zambians that there were sufficient stocks of all drugs so there was "no immediate risk of shortages".

Gonzales said the recent US measure was separate to the foreign aid freeze announced by President Donald Trump in January.

The freeze has affected health programmes across Africa, including shipments of critical medical supplies, among them HIV drugs.

In March, Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema said Trump had "slapped us on both cheeks", saying it was time for his country to strengthen its treasury to procure its own medicines.

The US accounts for about a third of public health spending in Zambia, according to the US embassy.

You may also be interested in:

• Bitcoin in the bush - the crypto mine in remote Zambia
• 'My son is a drug addict, please help' - the actor breaking a Zambian taboo
• 'My wife fears sex, I fear death' - impacts of the USAID freeze

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

How do you measure misery? For journalists the usual way is to see it, to feel it, to smell it.

Beleaguered Palestinian colleagues in Gaza are doing that, still doing invaluable reporting at great risk to themselves. More than 200 have been killed doing their jobs.

Israel does not allow international journalists into Gaza.

Denied the chance of eyewitness reporting – one of the best tools of the job – we can study, from a distance, the assessments of aid organisations operating in Gaza.

Pascal Hundt, deputy director of operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross said last week that civilians in Gaza faced "an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance."

He added: "This situation must not—and cannot—be allowed to escalate further."

But it might, if Israel continues the plunge deeper into war that resumed on 18 March when it broke a two-month ceasefire with a massive series of air strikes.

Israel had already sealed the gates of Gaza. Since the beginning of March, it has blocked all shipments of humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies.

The return to war ended any chance of moving on to the ceasefire's proposed second phase, which Israel and Hamas had agreed would end with the release of all the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

That was unacceptable to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the ultra-nationalist religious extremists who keep him in power.

They want Gaza's Palestinians to be replaced by Jewish settlers. They threatened to topple Netanyahu's government if he did not go back to war, and the end of Netanyahu's political career would bring the day of reckoning for his part in Israel's failure to prevent the deadly Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023. It might also force a conclusion in his long trial on corruption charges.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is now promising a new "intense" offensive into Gaza in the days after President Donald Trump finishes his swing through the wealthy Arab oil monarchies in the Gulf later this week.

The offensive includes a plan to displace massive numbers of Palestinian civilians on top of waves of artillery, air strikes and death. "To displace" is a cold verb. It means families having only handfuls of minutes to flee for their lives, from an area that might be hit immediately to one that might be hit later. Hundreds of thousands have done so repeatedly since the war began.

Gaza was one of the most overcrowded places on earth before the war. Israel's plan is to force as many Gazans as possible into a tiny area in the south, near the ruins of the town of Rafah, which has been almost entirely destroyed.

Before that happens, the UN humanitarian office estimates that 70% of Gaza is already effectively off limits to Palestinians. Israel's plan is to leave them in an even smaller area. The UN and leading aid groups reject Israeli claims that Hamas steals and controls food that comes into Gaza. They have refused to cooperate with a scheme dreamt up by Israel and the US that would use private security firms, protected by Israeli troops, to distribute basic rations.

Far from Gaza, in London, I talked to Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of Unrwa, the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees. He told me that he was running out of words "to describe the misery and the tragedy affecting the people in Gaza. They have been now more than two months without any aid".

"Starvation is spreading, people are exhausted, people are hungry... we can expect that in the coming weeks if no aid is coming in, that people will not die because of the bombardment, but they will die because of the lack of food. This is the weaponisation of humanitarian aid."

If words are not enough, look at the most authoritative data-driven assessment of famine and food emergencies in the regular reports issued by Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC. It is a joint venture by UN agencies, aid groups and governments that measures whether a famine is happening.

The latest IPC update says Gaza is close to famine. But it says that the entire population, more than two million people, almost half of whom are children, is experiencing acute food insecurity. In plain English, that means they are being starved by Israel's blockade.

The IPC says that 470,000 Gazans, 22% of the population, are in a classification it calls "Phase 5 – catastrophe." The IPC defines it as a condition in which "at least one in five households experience an extreme lack of food and face starvation resulting in destitution, extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition and death."

In practical terms, the phase five classification, the most acute used by the IPC, estimates that "71,000 children and more than 17,000 mothers will need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition."

Thousands of tons of the food, medical aid and humanitarian supplies that they need are sitting only a few miles away, on the other side of the border in Egypt.

In London I asked Mr Lazzarini whether he agreed with those who have accused Israel of denying food and humanitarian aid to civilians as a weapon of war.

"I have absolutely no doubt," he said, "that this is what we have witnessed during this last 19 months, especially during this last two months. That's a war crime. The quantification will come from the ICJ [International Court of Justice] not from me, but what I can say, what we see, what we observe, food and humanitarian assistance is indeed being used to meet the political or military objective in the context of Gaza."

I asked Mr Lazzarini whether the blockade, on top of a year and half of war and destruction, might amount to genocide. That is the accusation against Israel levelled by South Africa and other states at the ICJ in The Hague.

"Listen, by any account, the destruction is massive. The number of people who have been killed is huge and certainly underestimated. We have seen the systematic destruction also of a school, of a health centre. People have been constant pinballs within Gaza, moving all the time. So there is absolutely no doubt that we are talking about massive atrocities. Genocide? It could end up to genocide. There are many elements which could go in this direction."

Israel's defence minister Israel Katz has made no secret of Israel's tactics. Last month Katz said that the blockade was a "main pressure lever" to secure victory over Hamas and to get the all the hostages out. The National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir agreed. He wrote that: "The cessation of humanitarian aid is one of the main levers of pressure on Hamas. The return of aid to Gaza before Hamas gets on its knees and releases all of our hostages would be a historic mistake."

Netanyahu's plans for another offensive, and the remarks made by Katz, Ben-Gvir and others, horrified Israeli families with hostages still inside Gaza. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum which represents many of them, said minister Katz was pushing an "illusion... Israel is choosing to seize territory before the hostages."

Dissident Israeli military reservists also protested, saying that they were being forced to fight again not for Israeli security but for the political survival of the Israeli government. In the air force reserve, 1,200 pilots signed an open letter saying that prolonging the war served mainly "political and personal interests and not security ones". Netanyahu blamed a small group of "bad apples" for the open letter.

For many months Netanyahu and his government have also accused Mr Lazzarini of lying. One official report posted online in January of this year was headed "Dismantling Unrwa Chief Lazzarini's Falsehoods". It claimed that he had "consistently made false statements which have profoundly misinformed the public debate on this issue." Unrwa, Israel says, has been infiltrated and exploited by Hamas to an unprecedented degree. It says some Unrwa employees took part in the attacks of 7 October.

Mr Lazzarini denies the personal accusations directed at him by Israel and the broader ones aimed at Unrwa. He says Unrwa investigated 19 staff named by Israel and concluded nine of them may have a case to answer. All 19 were suspended. Mr Lazzarini said that since then Unrwa had received "hundreds of allegations from the State of Israel. Each time, as a rule-based organisation, we keep asking for substantiated information." He said they had never received it.

All wars are political, and none more than the ones between Israel and the Palestinians. The war engages and enrages the outside world as well the belligerents.

Israel argues that self-defence justifies its actions since 7 October 2023 when Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others attacked Israel, killed around 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, and took 251 others hostage. Any other government, it says, would have done the same.

Palestinians and an increasingly concerned and outraged chorus of states, including some of Israel's key European allies, say that does not justify the continuation of the most devastating assault on Palestinians since the war of 1948, when Israel gained its independence, which Palestinians call "the catastrophe".

Even President Trump shows signs of distancing himself from Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that the people of Gaza must be fed.

The allegation that the total denial of food to Gazan civilians is more evidence of an Israeli genocide against Palestinians has outraged Benjamin Netanyahu, his government and many Israeli citizens. It produced rare political unity in Israel. The leader of the opposition Yair Lapid, normally a stern critic of Netanyahu, condemned "a moral collapse and a moral disaster" at the ICJ.

Genocide is defined as the destruction, in whole or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The International Criminal Court, a separate body, has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister on war crimes charges, which they reject. The three Hamas leaders who were also the subject of ICC warrants have all been killed by Israel.

It is not too soon to think about the longer-term impact of this devastating war, even though its end is not in sight. Mr Lazzarini told me that "in the coming years we will realise how wrong we have been… on the wrong side of the history. We have under our watch let a massive atrocity unfold."

It started, he said, with the Hamas attacks on Israel on the 7 October: "The largest killing of Israeli and Jewish in the region since World War II" had been followed by a "massive" military response by Israel.

It was, he said, "disproportionate, basically almost leading to the annihilation of an entire population in their homeland... I think there is a collective responsibility from the international community, the level, the passivity, the indifference being shown until now, the lack of political, diplomatic, economic action. I mean, it's absolutely monstrous, especially in our countries where we have said 'never again'."

Ahead may be an attempt to realise Donald Trump's dangerous fantasy of Gaza as the Dubai of the Mediterranean, rebuilt and owned by America and without Palestinians. It has given shape to cherished dreams of Israeli extremists who threaten of the removal of Palestinians from the land between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean.

Whatever lies ahead, it will not be peace.

French cinema star Gérard Depardieu faces a suspended prison term and registration as a sex-offender if he is convicted today of assault.

At his trial six weeks ago, the court heard testimony from two women who said the 76-year-old actor groped them during work on a film set in Paris in 2021. Depardieu denies the allegations.

In his summing-up before the judge on 27 March, prosecutor Laurent Guy said: "It's perfectly possible to be an excellent actor and a great father - and still commit a crime.

"You are not here to pass judgment on French cinema. You are here to judge Gérard Depardieu, just as you would any other citizen."

The prosecutor asked for a suspended prison term of 18 months, as well as a €20,000 (£16,850) fine and registration on the sex-offenders' list.

Claude Vincent, representing one of the two women plaintiffs, described Depardieu as a "misogynist" and a "case-study in sexism".

But for the defence, Jérémie Assous demanded an acquittal and called the plaintiffs' team "more militants than lawyers".

"They cannot bear that there should even be a defence. They think any defence is a supplementary assault," he told the court.

The alleged assaults took place in September 2021 when Depardieu was making a film called Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) about an ageing actor coming to terms with his declining powers.

It was the first time the actor appeared in court on sexual assault charges. Several other women have made similar allegations in the media, and an alleged rape case could come to trial.

The first plaintiff - a set decorator - told the court that after a minor argument with Depardieu, he caught her between his legs and held her by the hips.

The second woman - an assistant director - said the actor touched her buttocks and breasts through her clothes on three separate occasions.

Depardieu denied the allegations, saying only that he might have touched the women accidentally or to keep his balance.

At the end of the hearings, Depardieu said: "My name has been dragged through the mud by lies and insults.

"A trial can be a very special experience for an actor. Seeing all this anger, the police, the press. It's like being in a science fiction film, except it's not science fiction. It's life."

He thanked the prosecution and defence teams for giving him insights into how courts operate. "These lessons may be an inspiration for me one day if I get to play a lawyer," he said.

Depardieu said he had not worked as an actor for three years since the sexual allegations against him began to circulate.

However earlier this month it was reported he had begun work in the Azores on a film directed by his friend, the actress Fanny Ardant. Depardieu is playing a magician on a mysterious island, according to media reports.

Ardant appeared with Depardieu in Les Volets Verts and spoke in his defence at the trial.

"Genius - in whatever form it takes - carries within it an element of the extravagant, the untamed, the dangerous. (Depardieu) is the monster and the saint," she said.

Another veteran French actress took Depardieu's side on Monday. In a rare interview with French television, Brigitte Bardot, 90, deplored how "talented people who touch the buttocks of a girl are consigned to the deepest dungeon."

"Feminism isn't my thing," Bardot said. "Personally, I like men."

As the noise and colour of a two-month election campaign subsides, a game of thrones between the two most powerful families in the Philippines resumes.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, and his Vice-President, Sara Duterte, are embroiled in a bitter feud, and a battle for power.

As allies they won a landslide victory in the last presidential election in 2022.

But as their relationship has fractured - he accusing her of threatening to assassinate him, she accusing him of incompetence and saying she dreamed of decapitating him - this mid-term election has become a critical barometer of the strength of these two political dynasties.

And the results were not great news for the Marcos camp. Typically incumbent presidents in the Philippines get most of their picks for the senate elected in the mid-term election. The power of presidential patronage is a significant advantage, at least it has been in the past.

But not this time.

Only six of the twelve winning senators are from the Marcos alliance, and of those one, Camille Villar, is only half in his camp, as she also accepted endorsement from Sara Duterte.

Four of the senators are in the Duterte camp, including the president's sister Imee Marcos. Two were in the top three vote-winners, ahead of any Marcos candidate.

For a sitting president, this is a poor result.

Senators are elected on a simple, nationwide vote, which is a good indication of national opinion. The result could weaken the authority of the Marcos administration in the last three years of his term, and it casts doubt on the plan to incapacitate Sara Duterte by impeaching her.

The Marcos-Duterte relationship has been deteriorating almost since the start of their administration three years ago. But it was only this year that it ruptured completely.

The decision by the president's allies in Congress to start impeaching the vice-president was the first irreparable breach.

Then in March President Marcos sent Sara's father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity over his brutal war on drugs. The police have also now filed criminal charges against her.

The gloves were off. Impeachment would result in Sara Duterte being barred from public office, ending her ambition to replace President Marcos at the next election.

Right now she is the frontrunner, and few doubt that, if successful, she would use the power of the presidency to seek vengeance against the Marcos's.

But impeachment requires two thirds of the 24-seat senate to vote for it, which is why this mid-term election mattered so much to both camps.

Politics in the Philippines is a family business. Once a family achieves political power, it holds onto it, and passes it around the various generations.

While there are around 200 influential families, the Dutertes and Marcoses sit at the top of the pyramid.

The Marcoses have been in politics for 80 years. The current president's father ruled from 1965 to 1986, imposing martial law, and plundering billions of dollars from the national purse.

Bongbong Marcos' mother, Imelda, who at the age of 95 cast her vote in this election from a wheelchair, is an even more notorious figure, and not just for her shoe collection.

His sister Imee has been re-elected to the senate, thanks to her decision to defect to the Duterte camp.

His eldest son Sandro is a congressman, and his cousin Martin Romualdez is speaker of the lower house and a likely presidential candidate in 2028 - probably the reason why Bongbong Marcos was so keen to drive through the impeachment of Sara Duterte.

In the president's home province of Ilocos Norte, his wife's cousin has been elected governor, his nephew elected vice-governor, and two other cousins elected as city councillors. Up there, Marcoses always win.

Much the same is true of the Dutertes in their stronghold in Davao at the other end of the country.

Even from his prison cell in The Hague, former President Duterte ran for mayor of Davao, and won easily, even though all voters got to see of him was a life-size cardboard cutout.

His absence will not matter though, because the previous mayor was his son Sebastian, who now takes over the vice-mayor's job. Dutertes have been mayors of Davao for 34 out of the last 37 years.

The problem confronting both camps is that the senators also typically come from big political families, or are celebrities in their own right – many candidates come from a media or showbiz background.

They have interests and ambitions of their own. Even if officially allied with one camp or the other, there is no guarantee they will stay loyal, especially on the issue of impeachment.

"Senators in the Philippines are very sensitive to national public opinion, because they imagine themselves as vice presidents or presidents in-waiting," says Cleve Arguelles, a political scientist who runs WR Numero Research, which monitors public opinion.

"So, they are always trying to read the public mind, and side with public opinion because of their future political ambitions."

In recent months public sentiment has not been on the president's side.

Bongbong Marcos has never been a good public speaker, and his stage appearances in the campaign did little to lift his flagging popularity.

His management of the economy, which is struggling, gets low marks in opinion polls, and his decision to detain former President Duterte and send him to the International Criminal Court is being portrayed by the Duterte family as a national betrayal.

At an impromptu rally in Tondo, a low-income neighbourhood in Manila's port area, Sara Duterte played an emotionally-charged video of the moment her father was taken into custody at Manila's international airport and put on a private jet to The Hague. She portrayed this as unforgivable treatment of a still popular former president.

"They didn't just kidnap my dad, they stole him from us," she told the cheering crowd.

Also on stage was President Marcos's elder sister Imee, who disagreed with the extradition and jumped ship to the Duterte camp – though most observers view this as a cynical move to capitalise on Duterte popular support, so she could lift her own flagging campaign to retain her senate seat.

It worked. From polling low through much of the campaign, Imee Marcos managed to scrape into the "magic twelve", as they call the winning senators.

What happens now is difficult to predict, but the Marcos camp certainly faces an uphill battle to get Sara Duterte impeached.

Of the 24 senators, only a handful are automatically loyal to the president. The rest will have to be persuaded to go along with it, , and that won't be easy.

This election has shown that the Dutertes still have very strong public support in some areas, and some in the Marcos election alliance are already on record as saying they oppose impeaching the vice-president. The same goes for the 12 senators who were not up for election this year.

One bright spot for the president could be the surprise election of senators Bam Aquino and Francis Pangilinan, both from the liberal wing of politics.

Few polls had predicted their wins, which suggest a public desire for politicians outside the Marcos-Duterte feud.

Neither is a friend of the Marcos clan – liberals were the main opposition to the Marcos-Duterte team in the 2022 election.

But they were strongly opposed to the strongman style of former President Duterte, and may fear his pugnacious daughter becoming president in 2028. That may be enough to get them to vote for impeachment.

The impeachment trial is expected to start in July. The Dutertes can be expected to continue chipping away at the president's battered authority in public, and both camps will be lobbying furiously behind the scenes to get senators onto their side.

No president or vice-president has ever been successfully impeached in the Philippines. Nor have any president and vice president ever fallen out so badly.

It is going to be a turbulent year.

A long-awaited resentencing hearing on Tuesday is set to determine whether two brothers who killed their wealthy parents in their Beverly Hills mansion could be freed from prison after three decades.

After months of delays, a judge will begin hearing two days of arguments both for and against Erik and Lyle Menendez's bid to receive a lesser sentence - which could ultimately lead to their paroled release.

Prosecutors have argued the brothers meticulously planned the 1989 killings to access their parents' fortune, still have not taken accountability and should not be released. The brothers have said they acted out of self-defence after years of abuse.

The notorious case, which has prompted books, documentaries and dramas, still divides America.

During the two-day hearing, will not be televised or streamed, the judge is expected to look at evidence, hear testimony from witnesses and ultimately determine whether the brothers, who were sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, should receive a lesser sentence.

It is expected to include testimony from a variety of people, including members of the Menendez family and potentially those involved with the original case.

Erik and Lyle could even take the stand, although such a move would open them up to questioning from prosecutors who oppose their release. The BBC has asked whether they will testify or who else might be called to testify.

On an episode of his podcast, their lawyer Mark Geragos said he had not decided whether to call them to the stand.

"I know right now that I'm going to put family members on the stand," Mr Geragos said. "I know right now, I'll put correctional officers on the stand. I know right now I may put behavioural scientists on the stand."

The district attorney's office has not said who it plans to call to testify.

• Three possible paths to freedom: What's next for the Menendez brothers?
• What to know about the Menendez brothers resentencing hearing

The hearing will not be a re-trial and the brothers' guilt will not be questioned.

Instead, much of the focus is likely to be on what they have done during their 30 years in prison and whether they have been rehabilitated.

During their trials, prosecutors painted them as entitled and eager to access their parents' $14m (£10.7m) fortune.

They argued that the duo methodically planned the killings, buying shotguns and opening fire on their parents 13 times as the couple watched TV - before going gambling, to parties and on shopping sprees.

The brothers ultimately admitted to the killings, but argued they acted out of self-defence after years of emotional, physical and sexual abuse by their father Jose, a high-powered film and record label executive.

The brothers' trial in 1993 was one of the first high-profile murder cases to be shown live on television, gripping audiences in the US and globally.

• Los Angeles DA opposes move to resentence Menendez brothers
• Family of Menendez brothers call for their release in killing of parents

Their first trial ended in a deadlock, but in 1996, the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder in a retrial. Many of their claims of sexual abuse were not allowed as part of the proceedings.

The hearing comes after a Netflix drama thrust the case back into the spotlight, and support for resentencing them has notably come from the previous Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón.

His replacement, Nathan Hochman, has vehemently opposed the brothers' efforts to be freed and argued they have not "demonstrated true accountability" and instead have clung to a litany of "lies" about the case.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will travel to Turkey's capital Ankara to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will be available for direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Istanbul on Thursday.

"We will do everything to ensure that this meeting takes place," he told reporters in a hastily-arranged briefing.

Russia has not yet said who will fly to Istanbul, only that it would be announced "as soon as [President Putin] deems it necessary". Putin and Zelensky have not themselves met for five-and-a-half years.

Direct talks between the two countries last took place in Istanbul, in March 2022, in the early weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Putin had initially called for direct talks in Turkey's second city "without pre-conditions", before Zelensky announced that he would go in person and expected the Russian president to travel as well.

The US is also expected to send a high-level delegation.

By confirming his visit to Turkey at a hastily-convened news conference, Zelensky clearly sought to intensify pressure on Russia to respond. The Kremlin has already warned that exerting pressure on Moscow is "useless" and it does not respond to ultimatums.

Russia has instead sought to focus on a long-term settlement that tackles the "root causes" of the war and deals with "realities on the ground".

However, the Ukrainian leader said while he was prepared to meet Putin in Istanbul his priority was to secure a 30-day ceasefire, which he said all Ukraine's allies were agreed on.

Zelensky said he believed Putin's late night offer on Sunday for direct talks in Turkey was designed to catch Kyiv out, so that he would "not react" or "react in a negative way for Ukraine".

US President Donald Trump, who is on a visit to the Gulf, has hinted that he could fly to to Istanbul himself "if I think things can happen".

That seems unlikely for now, and unconfirmed reports suggest two senior US envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, are planning to be in Istanbul on the day.

The Kremlin has sought to dampen speculation that Putin might himself go.

"Russia continues preparations for the negotiations due on Thursday. That's all that can be said right now," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was prepared to hold talks "responsibly" but cast doubt on Ukraine's ability to stick to agreements.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it would be a good move for the two leaders to sit down and talk, but added: "I don't think he dares, Putin."

Zelensky also accused Putin of "being scared" to meet him. His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said if the Russian leader refused to go to Istanbul it would the "final signal" that he did not want to end the war.

The leaders of Ukraine's main allies - the UK, Germany, Poland and France - travelled to Kyiv at the weekend to warn of further sanctions if Russia did not accept a 30-day ceasefire.

The European Union is currently working on a 17th package of measures.

A self-declared "king" of Germany and three of his senior "subjects" have been arrested and their group banned for attempting to overthrow the state.

Peter Fitzek, 59, was among those arrested in morning raids across seven states on Tuesday, which involved about 800 security personnel.

The government banned their group, the Reichsbürger, or "citizens of the Reich", which seeks to establish the Königreich Deutschland, or "Kingdom of Germany".

Alexander Dobrindt, German's interior minister, accused the group of attempting to "undermine the rule of law" by creating an alternative state and spreading "antisemitic conspiracy narratives to back up their supposed claim to authority".

His ministry announced the dissolution of the group, and accused it financing itself through "economic criminal structures".

Fitzek, a former chef and karate instructor, calls himself "king" and identified himself to judges as "Peter the First" in a previous court case.

He had himself crowned in 2012 while dressed in ermine robes and brandishing a medieval sword. Since then he has been buying land and property across Germany.

Reichsbürgers have their own currency, flag and ID cards, and want to set up separate banking and health systems.

Fitzek claims to have thousands of followers - or "subjects".

In an interview with the BBC in 2022 he denied having any violent intentions, but also described the German state as "destructive and sick".

"I have no interest in being part of this fascist and satanic system," he told the BBC's Jenny Hill, when she visited his "kingdom" in eastern Germany.

Fitzek has repeatedly clashed with the authorities and refused to abide by German laws, often in what appears to be in a publicity-seeking manner.

He has previously been jailed for repeatedly driving without a licence, following a decision to hand his back in a symbolic rejection of the law. At the end of one trial session, Fitzek was seen getting into his car in front of the court and driving off.

Fitzek is one of around 25,000 Reichsbürger in Germany. Numbers have been growing over the last few years.

Many are right-wing extremists who peddle racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories. They refuse to recognise the authority of security forces and many possess illegal arms, which has led to shoot-outs with police. Officials say that around 2,500 are potentially violent and that 1,350 are classed as right-wing extremists.

In 2022 dozens of people were arrested, many of them Reichsbürger, for plotting to overthrow the German government in Berlin. They were accused of planning a violent coup, which included kidnapping the health minister, to create "civil war conditions" to bring down German democracy.

In the past, Reichsbürger were often dismissed as eccentric cranks because of their outlandish ideas.

But as the far right has grown in strength politically in Germany over the last decade, officials now see them as a serious threat.

The federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe said Fitzek was arrested along with three other suspected ringleaders of the group, which it classified as a criminal organisation.

As the "so-called supreme sovereign", Fitzek had "control and decision-making power in all key areas", the office said.

"The 'Kingdom of Germany' considers itself a sovereign state within the meaning of international law and strives to extend its claimed 'national territory' to the borders of the German Empire of 1871," it added in a statement.

Zambia's foreign minister has warned diplomats against interfering in the country's affairs, days after the US ambassador raised concerns about the "systematic theft" of drugs donated to the southern African state.

Mulambo Haimbe said there was an "increasing tendency" by envoys to ignore diplomatic channels, and this could undermine the "spirit of mutual respect".

He did not name anyone, but his comments were seen as being directed at the US ambassador to Lusaka, Michael Gonzales.

Last week, Gonzales called a press conference to announce that the US was cutting $50m (£37m) of health aid to Zambia because of the theft of life-saving medications that the US had provided for patients.

He added that he had decided to go public after holding more than 30 fruitless meetings with senior Zambian officials.

In his response, Haimbe said that addressing the government through the media amounted to interference and was in breach of diplomatic conventions.

"We remain open to addressing any matters of concern through appropriate diplomatic channels," the minister added.

Last week, the US embassy said it had presented its findings of the alleged corruption to Zambian officials in April last year, and had offered help to stop further theft and to bring the culprits to justice.

However, no action was taken by the Zambian authorities, it added.

On Monday, Zambia's Home Affairs Minister Jacob Mwiimbu said that a forensic audit on the alleged theft had been completed and handed over to security agencies for further action.

About 75 people have been arrested in a countrywide crackdown that saw more than 400 health facilities raided over the alleged scam, he said.

"There will be no sacred cows in this pursuit," Mwiimbu added.

Gonzales said that an inspection carried out by US officials at more than 2,000 pharmacies last year had found that most were selling drugs and medical supplies donated by the US.

Zambia's Health Minister Elijah Muchima earlier said the problem of theft predated the current government, which took office in 2021.

Muchima also said several Zambian officials had been sacked following the thefts identified by the US, and that "an advanced digital stock tracking system" had been set up to monitor the supply of medicines.

The cut in US assistance, expected to take effect next year, would affect drugs to treat malaria, HIV and TB.

But the health minister has reassured Zambians that there were sufficient stocks of all drugs so there was "no immediate risk of shortages".

Gonzales said the recent US measure was separate to the foreign aid freeze announced by President Donald Trump in January.

The freeze has affected health programmes across Africa, including shipments of critical medical supplies, among them HIV drugs.

In March, Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema said Trump had "slapped us on both cheeks", saying it was time for his country to strengthen its treasury to procure its own medicines.

The US accounts for about a third of public health spending in Zambia, according to the US embassy.

You may also be interested in:

• Bitcoin in the bush - the crypto mine in remote Zambia
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• 'My wife fears sex, I fear death' - impacts of the USAID freeze

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

How do you measure misery? For journalists the usual way is to see it, to feel it, to smell it.

Beleaguered Palestinian colleagues in Gaza are doing that, still doing invaluable reporting at great risk to themselves. More than 200 have been killed doing their jobs.

Israel does not allow international journalists into Gaza.

Denied the chance of eyewitness reporting – one of the best tools of the job – we can study, from a distance, the assessments of aid organisations operating in Gaza.

Pascal Hundt, deputy director of operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross said last week that civilians in Gaza faced "an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance."

He added: "This situation must not—and cannot—be allowed to escalate further."

But it might, if Israel continues the plunge deeper into war that resumed on 18 March when it broke a two-month ceasefire with a massive series of air strikes.

Israel had already sealed the gates of Gaza. Since the beginning of March, it has blocked all shipments of humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies.

The return to war ended any chance of moving on to the ceasefire's proposed second phase, which Israel and Hamas had agreed would end with the release of all the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

That was unacceptable to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the ultra-nationalist religious extremists who keep him in power.

They want Gaza's Palestinians to be replaced by Jewish settlers. They threatened to topple Netanyahu's government if he did not go back to war, and the end of Netanyahu's political career would bring the day of reckoning for his part in Israel's failure to prevent the deadly Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023. It might also force a conclusion in his long trial on corruption charges.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is now promising a new "intense" offensive into Gaza in the days after President Donald Trump finishes his swing through the wealthy Arab oil monarchies in the Gulf later this week.

The offensive includes a plan to displace massive numbers of Palestinian civilians on top of waves of artillery, air strikes and death. "To displace" is a cold verb. It means families having only handfuls of minutes to flee for their lives, from an area that might be hit immediately to one that might be hit later. Hundreds of thousands have done so repeatedly since the war began.

Gaza was one of the most overcrowded places on earth before the war. Israel's plan is to force as many Gazans as possible into a tiny area in the south, near the ruins of the town of Rafah, which has been almost entirely destroyed.

Before that happens, the UN humanitarian office estimates that 70% of Gaza is already effectively off limits to Palestinians. Israel's plan is to leave them in an even smaller area. The UN and leading aid groups reject Israeli claims that Hamas steals and controls food that comes into Gaza. They have refused to cooperate with a scheme dreamt up by Israel and the US that would use private security firms, protected by Israeli troops, to distribute basic rations.

Far from Gaza, in London, I talked to Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of Unrwa, the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees. He told me that he was running out of words "to describe the misery and the tragedy affecting the people in Gaza. They have been now more than two months without any aid".

"Starvation is spreading, people are exhausted, people are hungry... we can expect that in the coming weeks if no aid is coming in, that people will not die because of the bombardment, but they will die because of the lack of food. This is the weaponisation of humanitarian aid."

If words are not enough, look at the most authoritative data-driven assessment of famine and food emergencies in the regular reports issued by Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC. It is a joint venture by UN agencies, aid groups and governments that measures whether a famine is happening.

The latest IPC update says Gaza is close to famine. But it says that the entire population, more than two million people, almost half of whom are children, is experiencing acute food insecurity. In plain English, that means they are being starved by Israel's blockade.

The IPC says that 470,000 Gazans, 22% of the population, are in a classification it calls "Phase 5 – catastrophe." The IPC defines it as a condition in which "at least one in five households experience an extreme lack of food and face starvation resulting in destitution, extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition and death."

In practical terms, the phase five classification, the most acute used by the IPC, estimates that "71,000 children and more than 17,000 mothers will need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition."

Thousands of tons of the food, medical aid and humanitarian supplies that they need are sitting only a few miles away, on the other side of the border in Egypt.

In London I asked Mr Lazzarini whether he agreed with those who have accused Israel of denying food and humanitarian aid to civilians as a weapon of war.

"I have absolutely no doubt," he said, "that this is what we have witnessed during this last 19 months, especially during this last two months. That's a war crime. The quantification will come from the ICJ [International Court of Justice] not from me, but what I can say, what we see, what we observe, food and humanitarian assistance is indeed being used to meet the political or military objective in the context of Gaza."

I asked Mr Lazzarini whether the blockade, on top of a year and half of war and destruction, might amount to genocide. That is the accusation against Israel levelled by South Africa and other states at the ICJ in The Hague.

"Listen, by any account, the destruction is massive. The number of people who have been killed is huge and certainly underestimated. We have seen the systematic destruction also of a school, of a health centre. People have been constant pinballs within Gaza, moving all the time. So there is absolutely no doubt that we are talking about massive atrocities. Genocide? It could end up to genocide. There are many elements which could go in this direction."

Israel's defence minister Israel Katz has made no secret of Israel's tactics. Last month Katz said that the blockade was a "main pressure lever" to secure victory over Hamas and to get the all the hostages out. The National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir agreed. He wrote that: "The cessation of humanitarian aid is one of the main levers of pressure on Hamas. The return of aid to Gaza before Hamas gets on its knees and releases all of our hostages would be a historic mistake."

Netanyahu's plans for another offensive, and the remarks made by Katz, Ben-Gvir and others, horrified Israeli families with hostages still inside Gaza. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum which represents many of them, said minister Katz was pushing an "illusion... Israel is choosing to seize territory before the hostages."

Dissident Israeli military reservists also protested, saying that they were being forced to fight again not for Israeli security but for the political survival of the Israeli government. In the air force reserve, 1,200 pilots signed an open letter saying that prolonging the war served mainly "political and personal interests and not security ones". Netanyahu blamed a small group of "bad apples" for the open letter.

For many months Netanyahu and his government have also accused Mr Lazzarini of lying. One official report posted online in January of this year was headed "Dismantling Unrwa Chief Lazzarini's Falsehoods". It claimed that he had "consistently made false statements which have profoundly misinformed the public debate on this issue." Unrwa, Israel says, has been infiltrated and exploited by Hamas to an unprecedented degree. It says some Unrwa employees took part in the attacks of 7 October.

Mr Lazzarini denies the personal accusations directed at him by Israel and the broader ones aimed at Unrwa. He says Unrwa investigated 19 staff named by Israel and concluded nine of them may have a case to answer. All 19 were suspended. Mr Lazzarini said that since then Unrwa had received "hundreds of allegations from the State of Israel. Each time, as a rule-based organisation, we keep asking for substantiated information." He said they had never received it.

All wars are political, and none more than the ones between Israel and the Palestinians. The war engages and enrages the outside world as well the belligerents.

Israel argues that self-defence justifies its actions since 7 October 2023 when Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others attacked Israel, killed around 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, and took 251 others hostage. Any other government, it says, would have done the same.

Palestinians and an increasingly concerned and outraged chorus of states, including some of Israel's key European allies, say that does not justify the continuation of the most devastating assault on Palestinians since the war of 1948, when Israel gained its independence, which Palestinians call "the catastrophe".

Even President Trump shows signs of distancing himself from Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that the people of Gaza must be fed.

The allegation that the total denial of food to Gazan civilians is more evidence of an Israeli genocide against Palestinians has outraged Benjamin Netanyahu, his government and many Israeli citizens. It produced rare political unity in Israel. The leader of the opposition Yair Lapid, normally a stern critic of Netanyahu, condemned "a moral collapse and a moral disaster" at the ICJ.

Genocide is defined as the destruction, in whole or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The International Criminal Court, a separate body, has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister on war crimes charges, which they reject. The three Hamas leaders who were also the subject of ICC warrants have all been killed by Israel.

It is not too soon to think about the longer-term impact of this devastating war, even though its end is not in sight. Mr Lazzarini told me that "in the coming years we will realise how wrong we have been… on the wrong side of the history. We have under our watch let a massive atrocity unfold."

It started, he said, with the Hamas attacks on Israel on the 7 October: "The largest killing of Israeli and Jewish in the region since World War II" had been followed by a "massive" military response by Israel.

It was, he said, "disproportionate, basically almost leading to the annihilation of an entire population in their homeland... I think there is a collective responsibility from the international community, the level, the passivity, the indifference being shown until now, the lack of political, diplomatic, economic action. I mean, it's absolutely monstrous, especially in our countries where we have said 'never again'."

Ahead may be an attempt to realise Donald Trump's dangerous fantasy of Gaza as the Dubai of the Mediterranean, rebuilt and owned by America and without Palestinians. It has given shape to cherished dreams of Israeli extremists who threaten of the removal of Palestinians from the land between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean.

Whatever lies ahead, it will not be peace.

Hamas has released an Israeli-American hostage held captive for 19 months to Israeli forces as part of efforts to reach a new ceasefire deal, the group said.

Edan Alexander, 21, had been serving in the Israeli army on the border of Gaza when he was captured by Hamas militants on 7 October 2023.

On Monday, Israel paused its military operations in Gaza for a few hours to facilitate the transfer. A senior Hamas official told the BBC the release was intended as a goodwill gesture ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East on Tuesday.

Mr Alexander is believed to have been the last US national alive held by Hamas. Trump offered "congratulations" to his family after his release.

In a statement, his family thanked the US president but also urged the Israeli government and negotiators to continue working to free the 58 remaining hostages.

Mr Alexander is the first to be freed by Hamas since Israel restarted its military offensive on 18 March, after a two-month ceasefire came to an end.

On Monday, he was seen with masked Hamas fighters as they handed him over to Red Cross workers in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

He was then transferred to Israeli authorities in Gaza before being reunited with his family in southern Israel. The Israeli military said it provided a "safe corridor" for Mr Alexander's release.

A video shared on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's X account showed Yael Alexander speaking to her son over the phone.

"You are strong. You are protected. You are home," she said in the video.

Netanyahu called Mr Alexander's return a "very moving moment" - and thanked President Trump for his support.

The release had been made possible because of military pressure on Hamas and "the political pressure exerted by President Trump", Netanyahu said.

He added that Israel intended to continue with plans to intensify its military actions in Gaza and that there would be no ceasefire.

Hamas had earlier said Mr Alexander's release was intended to facilitate a deal for the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Israel has blocked the entry of all food, medication and other humanitarian supplies into Gaza for 70 days, which aid agencies say amounts to a policy of starvation and could be a war crime, and renewed its aerial bombardment and other military operations there in mid-March.

Hamas has previously said it will only agree to a deal that includes the end of the war. This has been repeatedly rejected by Netanyahu.

Trump is due to arrive in the Middle East on Tuesday, and Israel has vowed to expand its military offensive against Hamas if no deal is reached by the end of his visit.

Israeli officials have said the plans for their expanded offensive include seizing all of the territory indefinitely, forcibly displacing Palestinians to the south, and taking over aid distribution with private companies despite opposition from the UN and its humanitarian partners, who say they will not co-operate because it appears to "weaponise" aid.

Israel is due to send representatives to Qatar on Thursday to discuss a proposal on further hostage releases.

Qatar and Egypt said that Mr Alexander's release was an encouraging sign of potential new truce talks.

Born in Tel Aviv but raised in New Jersey, Mr Alexander had been serving in an elite infantry unit on the Gaza border when he was captured by Hamas militants during the 7 October 2003 attack.

About 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages taken. Some 58 hostages remain, up to 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

Five of the captives held in Gaza are believed to have US citizenship. Mr Alexander is thought to be the last American still alive.

Israel's military campaign has killed 52,829 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, including 2,720 Palestinians killed since March.

As the noise and colour of a two-month election campaign subsides, a game of thrones between the two most powerful families in the Philippines resumes.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, and his Vice-President, Sara Duterte, are embroiled in a bitter feud, and a battle for power.

As allies they won a landslide victory in the last presidential election in 2022.

But as their relationship has fractured - he accusing her of threatening to assassinate him, she accusing him of incompetence and saying she dreamed of decapitating him - this mid-term election has become a critical barometer of the strength of these two political dynasties.

And the results were not great news for the Marcos camp. Typically incumbent presidents in the Philippines get most of their picks for the senate elected in the mid-term election. The power of presidential patronage is a significant advantage, at least it has been in the past.

But not this time.

Only six of the twelve winning senators are from the Marcos alliance, and of those one, Camille Villar, is only half in his camp, as she also accepted endorsement from Sara Duterte.

Four of the senators are in the Duterte camp, including the president's sister Imee Marcos. Two were in the top three vote-winners, ahead of any Marcos candidate.

For a sitting president, this is a poor result.

Senators are elected on a simple, nationwide vote, which is a good indication of national opinion. The result could weaken the authority of the Marcos administration in the last three years of his term, and it casts doubt on the plan to incapacitate Sara Duterte by impeaching her.

The Marcos-Duterte relationship has been deteriorating almost since the start of their administration three years ago. But it was only this year that it ruptured completely.

The decision by the president's allies in Congress to start impeaching the vice-president was the first irreparable breach.

Then in March President Marcos sent Sara's father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity over his brutal war on drugs. The police have also now filed criminal charges against her.

The gloves were off. Impeachment would result in Sara Duterte being barred from public office, ending her ambition to replace President Marcos at the next election.

Right now she is the frontrunner, and few doubt that, if successful, she would use the power of the presidency to seek vengeance against the Marcos's.

But impeachment requires two thirds of the 24-seat senate to vote for it, which is why this mid-term election mattered so much to both camps.

Politics in the Philippines is a family business. Once a family achieves political power, it holds onto it, and passes it around the various generations.

While there are around 200 influential families, the Dutertes and Marcoses sit at the top of the pyramid.

The Marcoses have been in politics for 80 years. The current president's father ruled from 1965 to 1986, imposing martial law, and plundering billions of dollars from the national purse.

Bongbong Marcos' mother, Imelda, who at the age of 95 cast her vote in this election from a wheelchair, is an even more notorious figure, and not just for her shoe collection.

His sister Imee has been re-elected to the senate, thanks to her decision to defect to the Duterte camp.

His eldest son Sandro is a congressman, and his cousin Martin Romualdez is speaker of the lower house and a likely presidential candidate in 2028 - probably the reason why Bongbong Marcos was so keen to drive through the impeachment of Sara Duterte.

In the president's home province of Ilocos Norte, his wife's cousin has been elected governor, his nephew elected vice-governor, and two other cousins elected as city councillors. Up there, Marcoses always win.

Much the same is true of the Dutertes in their stronghold in Davao at the other end of the country.

Even from his prison cell in The Hague, former President Duterte ran for mayor of Davao, and won easily, even though all voters got to see of him was a life-size cardboard cutout.

His absence will not matter though, because the previous mayor was his son Sebastian, who now takes over the vice-mayor's job. Dutertes have been mayors of Davao for 34 out of the last 37 years.

The problem confronting both camps is that the senators also typically come from big political families, or are celebrities in their own right – many candidates come from a media or showbiz background.

They have interests and ambitions of their own. Even if officially allied with one camp or the other, there is no guarantee they will stay loyal, especially on the issue of impeachment.

"Senators in the Philippines are very sensitive to national public opinion, because they imagine themselves as vice presidents or presidents in-waiting," says Cleve Arguelles, a political scientist who runs WR Numero Research, which monitors public opinion.

"So, they are always trying to read the public mind, and side with public opinion because of their future political ambitions."

In recent months public sentiment has not been on the president's side.

Bongbong Marcos has never been a good public speaker, and his stage appearances in the campaign did little to lift his flagging popularity.

His management of the economy, which is struggling, gets low marks in opinion polls, and his decision to detain former President Duterte and send him to the International Criminal Court is being portrayed by the Duterte family as a national betrayal.

At an impromptu rally in Tondo, a low-income neighbourhood in Manila's port area, Sara Duterte played an emotionally-charged video of the moment her father was taken into custody at Manila's international airport and put on a private jet to The Hague. She portrayed this as unforgivable treatment of a still popular former president.

"They didn't just kidnap my dad, they stole him from us," she told the cheering crowd.

Also on stage was President Marcos's elder sister Imee, who disagreed with the extradition and jumped ship to the Duterte camp – though most observers view this as a cynical move to capitalise on Duterte popular support, so she could lift her own flagging campaign to retain her senate seat.

It worked. From polling low through much of the campaign, Imee Marcos managed to scrape into the "magic twelve", as they call the winning senators.

What happens now is difficult to predict, but the Marcos camp certainly faces an uphill battle to get Sara Duterte impeached.

Of the 24 senators, only a handful are automatically loyal to the president. The rest will have to be persuaded to go along with it, , and that won't be easy.

This election has shown that the Dutertes still have very strong public support in some areas, and some in the Marcos election alliance are already on record as saying they oppose impeaching the vice-president. The same goes for the 12 senators who were not up for election this year.

One bright spot for the president could be the surprise election of senators Bam Aquino and Francis Pangilinan, both from the liberal wing of politics.

Few polls had predicted their wins, which suggest a public desire for politicians outside the Marcos-Duterte feud.

Neither is a friend of the Marcos clan – liberals were the main opposition to the Marcos-Duterte team in the 2022 election.

But they were strongly opposed to the strongman style of former President Duterte, and may fear his pugnacious daughter becoming president in 2028. That may be enough to get them to vote for impeachment.

The impeachment trial is expected to start in July. The Dutertes can be expected to continue chipping away at the president's battered authority in public, and both camps will be lobbying furiously behind the scenes to get senators onto their side.

No president or vice-president has ever been successfully impeached in the Philippines. Nor have any president and vice president ever fallen out so badly.

It is going to be a turbulent year.