Former US president Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, a statement from his office said on Sunday.

Biden, 82, was diagnosed on Friday after he saw a doctor last week for urinary symptoms.

The cancer is characterised by a Gleason score of 9 with metastasis to the bone, his office said, meaning it is a more aggressive form of the disease.

Biden and his family are said to be reviewing treatment options, the statement said. The former president's office added that the cancer is hormone-sensitive, meaning it can likely be managed.

The news comes nearly a year after the former president was forced to drop out of the 2024 US presidential election over concerns about his health and age. He is the oldest person to hold the office in US history.

Biden, then the Democratic nominee vying for re-election, faced mounting criticism of his poor performance in a June televised debate against Republican nominee and current president Donald Trump. He was replaced as the Democratic candidate by his vice president Kamala Harris.

According to Cancer Research UK, Biden's cancer diagnosis with a Gleason score of 9 means his illness is classified as "high-grade" and that the cancer cells could spread quickly.

This is a developing story.

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

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

All three public hospitals in north Gaza have been put "out of service", the Hamas-run health ministry has said, as Israel continues its offensive to seize areas of the territory.

The ministry said on Sunday Israeli forces had besieged the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, "with heavy fire... preventing the arrival of patients, medical staff, and supplies".

The hospital was the last in the north to be operating, it said.

Israel's military on Saturday announced the launch of "Operation Gideon's Chariot", amid the deadliest wave of strikes in Gaza in months.

Hamas offered to release nine hostages in exchange for a 60-day truce and the release of Palestinian prisoners, a Palestinian official told the BBC after new negotiations were held on Saturday.

The health ministry said on Sunday: "After the destruction of Beit Hanoun Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital, and the Indonesian Hospital being put out of service, all public hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip are now out of service."

Pope Leo XIV is to meet the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Vatican has said after his inauguration Mass.

The new Catholic leader highlighted his concerns about the war in Ukraine in his prayer at the end of the service, saying "the martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen".

The Pope spoke to a crowd of thousands in St Peter's Square to warn against marginalisation of the poor and autocracy.

Zelensky, US Vice President JD Vance and the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio were among dignitaries in attendance.

The pontiff was seen shaking hands with Zelensky, as well as other dignitaries.

He used his Mass to criticise "hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth's resources and marginalises the poorest".

He also said he would seek to govern "without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat".

Thousands of pilgrims stood in reverence as the pope received the symbols of office, blessed the people and issued a strong call for unity.

Before the Mass, there were cheers from the crowd when the pontiff appeared in his popemobile as it drove around St Peter's Square and down Via della Conciliazione to the river Tiber and back.

There was a strong sense of excitement in the square. Michelle, from Germany, told the BBC she "came on purpose to see the Pope".

"I arrived yesterday in the morning and I'm leaving in a few hours, so I don't have much time. It's very crazy because there's so many people. I wanted to see the Pope."

Many of the tens of thousands attending were Catholics, but tourists also came to be part of the historic occasion.

Joe from Missouri in the United States said: "We're on vacation, but it's great timing. We're here to see the Pope's inaugural mass. It's very special. I'm glad we came early."

He said he was "extra proud" to see the first Pope from the United States. "That was a surprise. He's gonna be a wonderful Pope. I am not Catholic, but I grew up Catholic, but this is just inspiring no matter what denomination of Christian you are."

Also in the crowds was Pia, from Chile, a professor of philosophy at a the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. She told the BBC she felt there was "a new hope in the church".

Pia said that among the Pope's first words when he was elected was "Let the peace be with you", the words of Jesus. And then he said "don't be afraid".

"He knows what the world and the church needs. A church that is preaching hope, preaching peace. I think many people are waiting for that," she said.

The Pope's official inauguration followed the Mass, with a pallium garment - a white woolen band - placed on the pope's shoulders, and fixed in place with three pins to represent the nails on the cross.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines then placed on the pope's finger the Ring of the Fisherman, a symbol of the papacy which bears an image of St Peter.

Pope Leo then took the book of the gospels to bless the people.

Authorities in New York are investigating the site where a Mexican sailing ship struck the Brooklyn Bridge for clues about how the fatal collision occurred.

Two people on board were killed and at least 19 others were injured when the Mexican Navy training ship crashed into the bridge on Saturday night.

Police said early investigations showed the ship had lost power before the collision. Video showed the ship's three tall masts crumbling as horrified onlookers watched from the shore.

It's not clear how the vessel came to approach the bridge, which authorities confirmed was not damaged by the strike. It had reopened to traffic late on Saturday.

Police said the Cuauhtémoc ship had a 48.2m (158ft) mast height while the bridge had a 41.1m (135ft) clearance at its centre, according to the New York transport department's website.

Responders were able to remove at least 27 people from the ship for treatment, while all 277 personnel on the ship were accounted for, said New York fire authorities.

The ship lost all three masts and has been moved to a nearby pier for investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to to assist the US Coast Guard in the investigation, which is being coordinated between the US and Mexico governments.

Mexico's Navy Secretary Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles said in a statement the results of any investigation would be followed with "total transparency and responsibility".

The Cuauhtémoc left Acapulco, Mexico, on 6 April on a tour that included stops in New York and Aberdeen, Scotland, for the city's Tall Ships race in July.

Ukraine says Russia has launched its biggest drone attack since the full-scale invasion began, targeting several regions including Kyiv, where one woman died.

Russia had launched 273 drones by 08:00 Sunday (05:00 GMT) targeting the central Kyiv region and Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the east, Ukraine's air force said.

The barrage has come just a day before a scheduled call between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US President has been urging a ceasefire.

Russian and Ukraine had their first face-to-face talks in more than three years on Friday in Turkey, but it yielded little besides a new prisoner swap deal.

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday that he and leaders of Britain, France, and Poland would have a virtual meeting with Trump before his conversation with Putin on Monday morning.

On Sunday, Ukraine's air force reported that Russia had launched a record number of drones, including Shahed attack drones, of which 88 were intercepted and another 128 went astray "without negative consequences".

The strikes killed one person on the outskirts of Kyiv, and injured at least three others, officials reported.

The previous largest drone attack from Russia had taken place on the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion on 23 February, when Moscow launched 267 drones.

Ukraine officials said Saturday night's strikes showed Russia had no intention of stopping the war, despite international pressure for a ceasefire.

"For Russia, the negotiations [on Friday] in Istanbul are just a pretence. Putin wants war," said Andriy Yermak, a top aide to the Ukrainian president.

Volodymyr Zelensky was at the Vatican on Sunday where he had a private meeting with Pope Leo following the new pontiff's inauguration mass. He also briefly met US Vice President JD Vance in Rome.

Leading Kenyan lawyer and the country's former Justice Minister Martha Karua says she has been detained in Tanzania after flying in for the court appearance of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

Karua said in a social media post that she had been detained at the main international airport and was awaiting deportation, along with two colleagues who had flown in with her. Tanzanian authorities have not yet commented.

Tanzanian politician Lissu is due to appear in court on Monday after being charged with treason last month.

Karua is a respected human rights advocate, and a vocal critic of what she calls "democratic backsliding" in East Africa.

She has also been representing Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye, who was kidnapped in Kenya last year and taken back to his home country to face treason charges.

Like Lissu, he denies the charges, arguing that they are politically motivated.

• Could this be the end of the road for Lissu, Tanzania's great survivor?

Karua served as Kenya's justice minister from 2005 to 2009, and was the running-mate of former Prime Minister Raila Odigna in his failed presidential bid in elections in 2022.

She launched her own opposition party, the People's Liberation Party, earlier this year.

Karua's spokesperson told AFP news agency that she was questioned for three hours at the airport in Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam, and her passport was confiscated.

Karua said she was now awaiting deportation along with fellow Kenyan lawyer Gloria Kimani, and human rights campaigner Lynn Ngugi.

The Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition condemned what it called the "arbitrary arrest" of the three, and said it had instructed its lawyers to try and secure their release.

It added that it was shocked by the detentions, as Karua had been allowed into Tanzania to observe proceedings when Lissu appeared in court on 15 April.

Human rights groups have been increasingly concerned about a crackdown on the opposition in Tanzania ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections due in October.

Lissu, the leader of the main opposition Chadema party, cannot seek bail because he has been charged with treason, a crime for which the maximum sentence is death.

He survived an assassination attempt in 2017 after being shot 16 times.

The opposition leader was arrested in April after he held a rally under under the slogan "No Reforms, No Election".

He is demanding sweeping changes, saying Tanzania's current laws do not allow for free and fair elections. The government denies the allegation.

Since his arrest, his Chadema party has been barred from contesting the October poll after it refused to to comply with the electoral commission's requirement to sign a code of conduct.

The document requires parties and their supporters to "behave well", and to "maintain peace and harmony" during the elections.

Chadema sees the code of conduct as a ploy to contain the opposition, and for state repression will continue.

The CCM party, which has governed Tanzania since 1977, is expected to retain power following the latest developments.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to be its presidential candidate.

She was widely praised for giving Tanzanians greater political freedom when she took office in 2021 following the death of the incumbent, John Magufuli.

Her critics say Tanzania is once again seeing the repression that characterised Magufuli's rule. The government denies the allegation.

More BBC stories on Tanzania:

• Why Samia's hesitant reforms are fuelling Tanzanian political anger

• 'Manhandled and choked' - Tanzanian activist recounts abduction

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

Ukraine says Russia has launched its biggest drone attack since the full-scale invasion began, targeting several regions including Kyiv, where one woman died.

Russia had launched 273 drones by 08:00 Sunday (05:00 GMT) targeting the central Kyiv region and Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the east, Ukraine's air force said.

The barrage has come just a day before a scheduled call between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US President has been urging a ceasefire.

Russian and Ukraine had their first face-to-face talks in more than three years on Friday in Turkey, but it yielded little besides a new prisoner swap deal.

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday that he and leaders of Britain, France, and Poland would have a virtual meeting with Trump before his conversation with Putin on Monday morning.

On Sunday, Ukraine's air force reported that Russia had launched a record number of drones, including Shahed attack drones, of which 88 were intercepted and another 128 went astray "without negative consequences".

The strikes killed one person on the outskirts of Kyiv, and injured at least three others, officials reported.

The previous largest drone attack from Russia had taken place on the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion on 23 February, when Moscow launched 267 drones.

Ukraine officials said Saturday night's strikes showed Russia had no intention of stopping the war, despite international pressure for a ceasefire.

"For Russia, the negotiations [on Friday] in Istanbul are just a pretence. Putin wants war," said Andriy Yermak, a top aide to the Ukrainian president.

Volodymyr Zelensky was at the Vatican on Sunday where he had a private meeting with Pope Leo following the new pontiff's inauguration mass. He also briefly met US Vice President JD Vance in Rome.

Pope Leo XIV is to meet the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Vatican has said after his inauguration Mass.

The new Catholic leader highlighted his concerns about the war in Ukraine in his prayer at the end of the service, saying "the martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen".

The Pope spoke to a crowd of thousands in St Peter's Square to warn against marginalisation of the poor and autocracy.

Zelensky, US Vice President JD Vance and the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio were among dignitaries in attendance.

The pontiff was seen shaking hands with Zelensky, as well as other dignitaries.

He used his Mass to criticise "hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth's resources and marginalises the poorest".

He also said he would seek to govern "without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat".

Thousands of pilgrims stood in reverence as the pope received the symbols of office, blessed the people and issued a strong call for unity.

Before the Mass, there were cheers from the crowd when the pontiff appeared in his popemobile as it drove around St Peter's Square and down Via della Conciliazione to the river Tiber and back.

There was a strong sense of excitement in the square. Michelle, from Germany, told the BBC she "came on purpose to see the Pope".

"I arrived yesterday in the morning and I'm leaving in a few hours, so I don't have much time. It's very crazy because there's so many people. I wanted to see the Pope."

Many of the tens of thousands attending were Catholics, but tourists also came to be part of the historic occasion.

Joe from Missouri in the United States said: "We're on vacation, but it's great timing. We're here to see the Pope's inaugural mass. It's very special. I'm glad we came early."

He said he was "extra proud" to see the first Pope from the United States. "That was a surprise. He's gonna be a wonderful Pope. I am not Catholic, but I grew up Catholic, but this is just inspiring no matter what denomination of Christian you are."

Also in the crowds was Pia, from Chile, a professor of philosophy at a the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. She told the BBC she felt there was "a new hope in the church".

Pia said that among the Pope's first words when he was elected was "Let the peace be with you", the words of Jesus. And then he said "don't be afraid".

"He knows what the world and the church needs. A church that is preaching hope, preaching peace. I think many people are waiting for that," she said.

The Pope's official inauguration followed the Mass, with a pallium garment - a white woolen band - placed on the pope's shoulders, and fixed in place with three pins to represent the nails on the cross.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines then placed on the pope's finger the Ring of the Fisherman, a symbol of the papacy which bears an image of St Peter.

Pope Leo then took the book of the gospels to bless the people.

All three public hospitals in north Gaza have been put "out of service", the Hamas-run health ministry has said, as Israel continues its offensive to seize areas of the territory.

The ministry said on Sunday Israeli forces had besieged the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, "with heavy fire... preventing the arrival of patients, medical staff, and supplies".

The hospital was the last in the north to be operating, it said.

Israel's military on Saturday announced the launch of "Operation Gideon's Chariot", amid the deadliest wave of strikes in Gaza in months.

Hamas offered to release nine hostages in exchange for a 60-day truce and the release of Palestinian prisoners, a Palestinian official told the BBC after new negotiations were held on Saturday.

The health ministry said on Sunday: "After the destruction of Beit Hanoun Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital, and the Indonesian Hospital being put out of service, all public hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip are now out of service."

Pope Leo XIV is to meet the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Vatican has said after his inauguration Mass.

The new Catholic leader highlighted his concerns about the war in Ukraine in his prayer at the end of the service, saying "the martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen".

The Pope spoke to a crowd of thousands in St Peter's Square to warn against marginalisation of the poor and autocracy.

Zelensky, US Vice President JD Vance and the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio were among dignitaries in attendance.

The pontiff was seen shaking hands with Zelensky, as well as other dignitaries.

He used his Mass to criticise "hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth's resources and marginalises the poorest".

He also said he would seek to govern "without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat".

Thousands of pilgrims stood in reverence as the pope received the symbols of office, blessed the people and issued a strong call for unity.

Before the Mass, there were cheers from the crowd when the pontiff appeared in his popemobile as it drove around St Peter's Square and down Via della Conciliazione to the river Tiber and back.

There was a strong sense of excitement in the square. Michelle, from Germany, told the BBC she "came on purpose to see the Pope".

"I arrived yesterday in the morning and I'm leaving in a few hours, so I don't have much time. It's very crazy because there's so many people. I wanted to see the Pope."

Many of the tens of thousands attending were Catholics, but tourists also came to be part of the historic occasion.

Joe from Missouri in the United States said: "We're on vacation, but it's great timing. We're here to see the Pope's inaugural mass. It's very special. I'm glad we came early."

He said he was "extra proud" to see the first Pope from the United States. "That was a surprise. He's gonna be a wonderful Pope. I am not Catholic, but I grew up Catholic, but this is just inspiring no matter what denomination of Christian you are."

Also in the crowds was Pia, from Chile, a professor of philosophy at a the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. She told the BBC she felt there was "a new hope in the church".

Pia said that among the Pope's first words when he was elected was "Let the peace be with you", the words of Jesus. And then he said "don't be afraid".

"He knows what the world and the church needs. A church that is preaching hope, preaching peace. I think many people are waiting for that," she said.

The Pope's official inauguration followed the Mass, with a pallium garment - a white woolen band - placed on the pope's shoulders, and fixed in place with three pins to represent the nails on the cross.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines then placed on the pope's finger the Ring of the Fisherman, a symbol of the papacy which bears an image of St Peter.

Pope Leo then took the book of the gospels to bless the people.

Leading Kenyan lawyer and the country's former Justice Minister Martha Karua says she has been detained in Tanzania after flying in for the court appearance of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

Karua said in a social media post that she had been detained at the main international airport and was awaiting deportation, along with two colleagues who had flown in with her. Tanzanian authorities have not yet commented.

Tanzanian politician Lissu is due to appear in court on Monday after being charged with treason last month.

Karua is a respected human rights advocate, and a vocal critic of what she calls "democratic backsliding" in East Africa.

She has also been representing Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye, who was kidnapped in Kenya last year and taken back to his home country to face treason charges.

Like Lissu, he denies the charges, arguing that they are politically motivated.

• Could this be the end of the road for Lissu, Tanzania's great survivor?

Karua served as Kenya's justice minister from 2005 to 2009, and was the running-mate of former Prime Minister Raila Odigna in his failed presidential bid in elections in 2022.

She launched her own opposition party, the People's Liberation Party, earlier this year.

Karua's spokesperson told AFP news agency that she was questioned for three hours at the airport in Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam, and her passport was confiscated.

Karua said she was now awaiting deportation along with fellow Kenyan lawyer Gloria Kimani, and human rights campaigner Lynn Ngugi.

The Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition condemned what it called the "arbitrary arrest" of the three, and said it had instructed its lawyers to try and secure their release.

It added that it was shocked by the detentions, as Karua had been allowed into Tanzania to observe proceedings when Lissu appeared in court on 15 April.

Human rights groups have been increasingly concerned about a crackdown on the opposition in Tanzania ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections due in October.

Lissu, the leader of the main opposition Chadema party, cannot seek bail because he has been charged with treason, a crime for which the maximum sentence is death.

He survived an assassination attempt in 2017 after being shot 16 times.

The opposition leader was arrested in April after he held a rally under under the slogan "No Reforms, No Election".

He is demanding sweeping changes, saying Tanzania's current laws do not allow for free and fair elections. The government denies the allegation.

Since his arrest, his Chadema party has been barred from contesting the October poll after it refused to to comply with the electoral commission's requirement to sign a code of conduct.

The document requires parties and their supporters to "behave well", and to "maintain peace and harmony" during the elections.

Chadema sees the code of conduct as a ploy to contain the opposition, and for state repression will continue.

The CCM party, which has governed Tanzania since 1977, is expected to retain power following the latest developments.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to be its presidential candidate.

She was widely praised for giving Tanzanians greater political freedom when she took office in 2021 following the death of the incumbent, John Magufuli.

Her critics say Tanzania is once again seeing the repression that characterised Magufuli's rule. The government denies the allegation.

More BBC stories on Tanzania:

• Why Samia's hesitant reforms are fuelling Tanzanian political anger

• 'Manhandled and choked' - Tanzanian activist recounts abduction

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

All three public hospitals in north Gaza have been put "out of service", the Hamas-run health ministry has said, as Israel continues its offensive to seize areas of the territory.

The ministry said on Sunday Israeli forces had besieged the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, "with heavy fire... preventing the arrival of patients, medical staff, and supplies".

The hospital was the last in the north to be operating, it said.

Israel's military on Saturday announced the launch of "Operation Gideon's Chariot", amid the deadliest wave of strikes in Gaza in months.

Hamas offered to release nine hostages in exchange for a 60-day truce and the release of Palestinian prisoners, a Palestinian official told the BBC after new negotiations were held on Saturday.

The health ministry said on Sunday: "After the destruction of Beit Hanoun Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital, and the Indonesian Hospital being put out of service, all public hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip are now out of service."

When Romania's presidential election was annulled late last year after claims of Russian interference, a far-right conspiracy theorist was blocked from the top job.

Many Romanians were deeply relieved; many others were angry their votes had been stolen.

But six months later, with the country back at the ballot box, another hard-right Euro-sceptic is in the running for president.

George Simion won the first round of the new elections on 4 May by a large margin. Now the former football casual turned nationalist politician is facing off against Nicusor Dan, the liberal mayor of Bucharest.

It's a vote that could see Romania, a member of both Nato and the European Union (EU), take a sharp turn away from the European mainstream.

Both candidates cast their votes on Sunday morning, with Simion saying he had voted for the future "that should be decided only by Romanians, for Romanians and for Romania".

While Dan told reporters he was voting for "collaboration with our European partners and not for an isolation of Romania".

The polls have been too close to call.

Teleorman county is one of Romania's poorest areas and has been solidly social-democrat territory for many years. But earlier this month, 57% of voters here chose Simion for president in the first round of voting.

A couple of hours' drive south-west from Bucharest, entry to the region is announced in blue letters on a rusty metal arch over the main road.

The streets are lined with wild poppies, not campaign posters for the candidates. There's no obvious sign of the elections.

But social media feeds on people's phones are full of political content.

The latest clip to go viral features a folk fantasy world of embroidered tops, prayers and bears and has the slogan "I choose Romania".

"It was an anti-system, anti-mainstream vote," is how Felicia Alexandru of Aperio Intelligence explains the nationwide surge of support for the far-right candidate in the first round.

After more than three decades of the same parties dominating politics, frustration with corruption and poor performance has been building.

"People are so unhappy with what happened in high level politics, this is a vote against that," Felicia says.

The protest vote is not confined to the poorest or most disaffected.

The Comalat dairy firm is unrecognisable from the business Petre Filip launched 25 years ago.

Back then, he would set out at 05:00 every day in his Dacia to drive round farms buying up milk. Then, each evening, he hand-delivered the cheese and yoghurt produced by his three workers to clients.

His old packaging machine now stands in the lobby as a reminder of the early days. But Petre has since been granted €1.5m (£1.3m; $1.7m) in EU funding to modernise and expand his business. It's money he never has to pay back.

"That was a really, really good thing for us," the businessman enthuses, showing off a production line of glistening metal machines in several rooms.

He employs more than 50 staff.

"I like George Simion," staff member Mihaela announces with a smile, while squeezing liquid from big clumps of curd cheese.

She shrugs when I mention the fear in Brussels that he would make EU-Romania relations very turbulent.

"He's on the side of Romanians. He's for the people. To create jobs and better lives," Mihaela replies.

Simion talks a lot about "making Romania great again", echoing the MAGA politicians in the US he so admires. He has the same isolationist approach, too: Romania first, in everything.

When pushed, he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal for his invasion of Ukraine.

But like Donald Trump, he has also pledged to end military aid to Kyiv and he's left the future of Ukraine's vital grain exports via Romania unclear.

Simion has been banned from Ukraine and Moldova for calling for territory there to be part of Romania.

In his latest outbursts this week, he called his election opponent an "autistic, poor guy".

He also accused French President Emmanuel Macron of having "dictatorial tendencies".

Mr Filip says Simion is "far too impulsive" to be president, driven "by hormones not his brain".

But he is so disillusioned by the whole scene he's inclined not to vote at all.

Just up the road in Roșiori de Vede, they are discussing the elections too - and fretting.

Roxana runs a factory making work uniforms, including for the military in another EU country.

Her clients have been calling wondering whether Romania is about to vote for a "pro-Russian" president.

"They want to know whether their orders are safe!" she laughs.

Roxana herself plans to vote for the man people here refer to by his first name, Nicusor, because she likes how he's managed Bucharest as mayor.

She's also deeply disturbed by what she calls Simion's "hooligan" behaviour.

"It's such a bad image for Romania in Europe. I am ashamed," Roxana says, recalling the candidate's insults about Macron this week.

In another recent incident, Simion threatened to sexually assault a female MP, calling her a pig.

"Compare that with a person who won the International Mathematics Olympiad," Roxana says, referring to a competition Dan won in the 1980s. He went on to get a doctorate from the Sorbonne.

Ahead of the second-round vote, Roxana and her friend Andrea have been involved in a grassroots initiative to persuade voters to back Dan.

"I've tried to say why Simion's plan is unfeasible but I don't think I've been super successful," Andrea admits, and says she's "very worried".

"I see what people are saying online and they really believe in Simion and think he's going to shake everything up and take down the system.

"They think it's all bad, but it's not."

Her own candidate, Dan, is emphatically pro-EU and pro-Nato, and his campaign slogan is "honesty".

"I don't promise miracles," is his modest election pledge. "But I promise I will fight."

If that fight fails, and Simion wins, he won't be the only hard-right candidate at the forefront of Romanian politics.

Much of his support comes from those who originally voted for Calin Georgescu, the fringe figure who won the first election in November before it was cancelled on national security grounds.

The two men have often appeared side-by-side since then, and Simion has pledged to make Georgescu prime minister if he's elected.

It's unclear how that could work, given that he was accused of benefiting from "massive" and "aggressive" meddling by Moscow.

"If Simion wins then there will be chaos in politics from Monday," Roxana predicts, including for the economy.

"The question is whether he stays in the shadow of Georgescu, or completely changes perspective," Felicia agrees.

"Is this a campaign strategy, or what he believes in?"

Sharing a dirty cell with a dozen others, constant sleep deprivation, cells with lights on 24-hours a day; poor hygiene and forced labour. These are some of what prisoners in Chinese jails are subjected to, according to Australian citizen Matthew Radalj, who spent five years at the Beijing No 2 prison – a facility used for international inmates.

Radalj, who is now living outside China, has decided to go public about his experience, and described undergoing and witnessing severe physical punishment, forced labour, food deprivation and psychological torture.

The BBC has been able to corroborate Radalj's testimony with several former prisoners who were behind bars at the same time he was.

Many requested anonymity, because they feared retribution on loved ones still living inside the country. Others said they just wanted to try to forget the experience and move on.

The Chinese government has not responded to the BBC's request for comment.

A harsh introduction

"I was in really bad shape when I arrived. They beat me for two days straight in the first police station that I was in. I hadn't slept or eaten or had water for 48 hours and then I was forced to sign a big stack of documents," said Radalj of his introduction to imprisonment in China, which began with his arrest on 2 January, 2020.

The former Beijing resident claims he was wrongfully convicted after a fight with shopkeepers at an electronics market, following a dispute over the agreed price to fix a mobile phone screen.

He claims he ended up signing a false confession to robbery, after being told it would be pointless to try to defend his innocence in a system with an almost 100% criminal conviction rate and in the hope that this would reduce the time of his incarceration.

Court documents indicate that this worked at least to some extent, earning him a four-year sentence.

Once in prison, he said he first had to spend many months in a separate detention centre where he was subjected to a more brutal "transition phase".

During this time prisoners must follow extremely harsh rules in what he described as horrific conditions.

"We were banned from showering or cleaning ourselves, sometimes for months at a time. Even the toilet could be used only at specific allotted times, and they were filthy - waste from the toilets above would constantly drip down on to us."

Eventually he was admitted to the "normal" prison where inmates had to bunk together in crowded cells and where the lights were never turned off.

You also ate in the same room, he said.

According to Radalj, African and Pakistani prisoners made up the largest groups in the facility, but there were also men being held from Afghanistan, Britain, the US, Latin America, North Korea and Taiwan. Most of them had been convicted for acting as drug mules.

The 'good behaviour' points system

Radalj said that prisoners were regularly subjected to forms of what he described as psychological torture.

One of these was the "good behaviour points system" which was a way – at least in theory – to reduce your sentence.

Prisoners could obtain a maximum of 100 good behaviour points per month for doing things like studying Communist Party literature, working in the prison factory or snitching on other prisoners. Once 4,200 points were accumulated, they could in theory be used to reduce prison time.

If you do the maths, that would mean a prisoner would have to get maximum points every single month for three-and-half years before this could start to work.

Radalj said that in reality it was used as a means of psychological torture and manipulation.

He claims the guards would deliberately wait till an inmate had almost reached this goal and then penalise them on any one of a huge list of possible infractions which would cancel out points at the crucial time.

These infractions included - but were not limited to - hoarding or sharing food with other prisoners, walking "incorrectly" in the hallway by straying from a line painted on the ground, hanging socks on a bed incorrectly, or even standing too close to the window.

Other prisoners who spoke about the points system to the BBC described it as a mind game designed to crush spirits.

Former British prisoner Peter Humphrey, who spent two years in detention in Shanghai, said his facility had a similar points calculation and reduction system which was manipulated to control prisoners and block sentence reductions.

"There were cameras everywhere, even three to a cell," he said. "If you crossed a line marked on the ground and were caught by a guard or on camera, you would be punished. The same if you didn't make your bed properly to military standard or didn't place your toothbrush in the right place in the cell.

"There was also group pressure on prisoners with entire cell groups punished if one prisoner did any of these things."

One ex-inmate told the BBC that in his five years in prison, he never once saw the points actually used to mitigate a sentence.

Radalj said that there were a number of prisoners - including himself - who didn't bother with the points system.

So authorities resorted to other means of applying psychological pressure.

These included cutting time off monthly family phone calls or the reduction of other perceived benefits.

Food As Control

But the most common daily punishment involved the reduction of food.

The BBC has been told by numerous former inmates that the meals at Beijing's No 2 prison were mostly made up of cabbage in dirty water which sometimes also had bits of carrot and, if they were lucky, small slivers of meat.

They were also given mantou - a plain northern Chinese bread. Most of the prisoners were malnourished, Radalj added.

Another prisoner described how inmates ate a lot of mantou, as they were always hungry. He said that their diets were so low in nutrition – and they could only exercise outside for half an hour each week – that they developed flimsy upper bodies but retained bloated looking stomachs from consuming so much of the mantou.

Prisoners were given the opportunity to supplement their diet by buying meagre extra rations, if money from relatives had been put into what were called their "accounts": essentially a prison record of funds delivered to purchase provisions like soap or toothpaste.

They could also use this to purchase items like instant noodles or soy milk powder. But even this "privilege" could be taken away.

Radalj said he was blocked from making any extra purchases for 14 months because he refused to work in the prison factory, where inmates were expected to assemble basic goods for companies or compile propaganda leaflets for the ruling Communist Party.

To make things worse, they were made to work on a "farm", where they did manage to grow a lot of vegetables, but were never allowed to eat them.

Radalj said the farm was displayed to a visiting justice minister as an example of how impressive prison life was.

But, he said, it was all for show.

"We would be growing tomatoes, potatoes, cabbages and okra and then – at the end of the season – they would push it all into a big hole and bury it," he added.

"And if you were caught with a chilli or a cucumber in general population you would go straight to solitary confinement for eight months."

Another prisoner said they would occasionally suddenly receive protein, like a chicken leg, to make their diet look better when officials visited the prison.

Humphrey said there were similar food restrictions in his Shanghai prison, adding that this led to power struggles among the inmates: "The kitchen was run by prison labour. Those who worked there stole the best stuff and it could then be distributed."

Radalj described a battle between African and Taiwanese groups in Beijing's Prison No 2 over this issue.

The Nigerian inmates were working in the kitchen and "were getting small benefits, like a bag of apples once a month or some yogurt or a couple of bananas", he said.

Then the Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese inmates were able to convince the guards to let them take over, giving them control of precious extra food items.

This led to a large brawl, and Radalj said he was caught in the middle of it. He was sent to solitary confinement for 194 day after hitting another prisoner.

Inside solitary, he finally had the lights turned off only to realise he'd be with very little light nearly all of the time, giving him the opposite sensory problem.

His small food ration was also cut in half. There were no reading materials and there was nobody to talk to while he was held in a bare room of 1.2 by 1.8 metres (4ft by 6ft) for half a year.

"You start to go crazy, whether you like it or not, and that's what solitary is designed to do… So you've got to decide very quickly whether your room is really, really small, or really, really big.

"After four months, you just start talking to yourself all the time. The guards would come by and ask 'Hey, are you okay?'. And you're like, 'why?'. They replied, 'because you're laughing'."

Then, Radalj said, he would respond, in his own mind: "It's none of your business."

Another feature of Chinese prison life, according to Radalji, was the fake "propaganda" moments officials would stage for Chinese media or visiting officials to paint a rosy picture of conditions there.

He said, at one point, a "computer suite" was set up. "They got everyone together and told us that we'd get our own email address and that we would be able to send emails. They then filmed three Nigerian guys using these computers."

The three prisoners apparently looked confused because the computers were not actually connected to the internet - but the guards had told them to just "pretend".

"Everything was filmed to present a fake image of prisoners with access to computers," Radalj said.

But, he claims, soon after the photo opportunity, the computers were wrapped up in plastic and never touched again.

The memoirs

Throughout much of the ordeal, Radalj had been secretly keeping a journal by peeling open Covid masks and writing tiny sentences inside, with the help of some North Korean prisoners, who have also since been released.

"I would be writing, and the Koreans would say: 'No smaller… smaller!'."

Radalj said many of the prisoners had no way of letting their families know they were in jail.

Some had not made phone calls to their relatives because no money had been placed in their accounts for phone calls. For others, their embassies had not registered family telephone numbers for the prison phone system. Only calls to officially approved numbers worked.

So, after word got round that the Australian was planning to try to smuggle his notes out, they passed on details to connect with their families.

"I had 60 or 70 people hoping I could contact their loved ones after I got out to tell them what was happening."

He wrapped the pieces of Covid mask as tight as he could with sticky tape hoarded from the factory and tried to swallow the egg-sized bundle without the guards seeing.

But he couldn't keep it down.

The guards saw what was happening on camera and started asking, "Why are you vomiting? Why do you keep gagging? What's wrong?"

So, he gave up and hid the bundle instead.

When he was about to leave on 5 October 2024, he was given his old clothes which had been ripped five years earlier in the struggle over his initial arrest.

There was a tear in the lining of his jacked and he quickly dropped the notes inside before a guard could see him.

Radalj said he thinks someone told the prison officers of his plan because they searched his room and questioned him before he left.

"Did you forget something?" the guards asked.

"They trashed all my belongings. I was thinking they're gonna take me back to solitary confinement. There will be new charges."

But the guard holding his clothes never knew the secret journal had been slipped inside.

"They were like, 'Get out of here!'. And it wasn't until I was on the plane, and we had already left, and the seat belt sign was switched off, that I reached into my jacket to check."

The notes were still there.

Life After Prison

Just before he had boarded the plane in Beijing a policeman who had escorted him to the gate had used Radalj's boarding pass to buy duty free cigarettes for his mates.

"He said don't come back to China. You're banned for 10 years. And I said 'yeah cool. Don't smoke. It's bad for your health'".

The officer laughed.

He arrived back in Australia and hugged his father at Perth airport. The tears were flowing.

Then he got married to his long-time girlfriend and now they spend their days making candles and other products.

Radalj says he is still angry about his experience and has a long way to go to recover properly.

But he is making his way through the contact list of his former inmate friends – "I have spent the best part of six months contacting their families, lobbying their embassies so they might try to do a better job of helping them during their incarceration."

Some of them, he said, haven't spoken to people back home for nearly a decade. And helping them has also helped with the transition back to his old life.

"With freedom comes a great sense of gratitude," Radalj says. "You have a deeper appreciation for the very simplest things in life. But I also have a great sense of responsibility to the people I left behind in prison."

Sixteen-year-old Nimra stood outside, rooted to the spot, as the Indian missiles that had woken her a moment ago rained down on the mosque a few metres from her house in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. She watched one tear the minaret off the top of the building. But she failed to realise she, too, had been struck - in the chest.

When the family reached the relative safety of her aunt's house nearby, someone turned on a phone torch. "My aunt gasped. There was blood on my frock. It was pink and white but now soaked in red. I hadn't seen it before." Again they ran. "I was running but my hand was pressed on my chest the whole time. I didn't want to take it off. I thought if I let go, everything inside me would come out." A piece of shrapnel was lodged near her heart, she later discovered.

A few hours later, in Poonch, Indian-administered Kashmir, a different family was dodging shelling which Pakistan had launched in response to India's missile strikes.

"When the firing began, everyone ran for their lives - children clinging to their parents in fear," said MN Sudhan, 72. "Some families managed to leave for Jammu in their vehicles. We also decided to escape. But barely 10 minutes into our journey, a shell landed near our vehicle. The shrapnel tore through the car. My grandson died on the spot."

"Our future was shattered at that [very] moment," Mr Sudhan said of 13-year-old Vihaan's death. "Now we're left with nothing but grief. I have witnessed two wars between India and Pakistan, but never in my life have I seen shelling as intense as this."

Nimra and Vihaan were among many of the villagers caught up in the deadliest attacks for several years in a decades-long conflict between two of the world's nuclear powers - India and Pakistan. Both sides administer the Himalayan region in part but claim it in full. Both governments deny targeting civilians, but BBC journalists in the region have spoken to families caught up in the violence.

The strike that injured Nimra was part of India's armed response after a militant attack killed 26 people - mostly Indian tourists - last month at a beauty spot in India-administered Kashmir. Police there claimed militants included at least two Pakistan nationals. Pakistan has asked India for evidence of this, and has called for an independent inquiry into who was behind the attack.

What followed was four days of tit-for-tat shelling and drone attacks, intensifying each day and culminating in missile strikes on military bases, which threatened to tip over into full-blown conflict. Then, suddenly, a ceasefire brokered by the US and other international players on 10 May brought the two nuclear powers back from the brink.

Families on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) - the de facto border in Kashmir - told us they had had loved ones killed and property destroyed. At least 16 people are reported to have been killed on the Indian side, while Pakistan claims 40 civilian deaths, though it remains unclear how many were directly caused by the shelling. We also heard from Indian and Pakistani government insiders about the mood in their respective administrations as the conflict escalated.

In Delhi's corridors of power, the atmosphere was initially jubilant, an Indian government source told the BBC. Its missile attacks on targets in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in Pakistan itself - including the Bilal Mosque in Muzaff arabad, which India claims is a militant camp, though Pakistan denies this - were deemed a success.

"The strikes… were not limited to Pakistani-administered Kashmir or along the Line of Control," an Indian government source told the BBC. "We went deep - even into the Pakistani side of Punjab, which has always been Pakistan's red line."

But the Pakistani military had been prepared, a source from the Pakistan Air Force told the BBC. Days earlier, the Pakistani government said it was expecting an attack.

"We knew something was coming, and we were absolutely ready," one officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said Indian fighter jets approached Pakistani territory and the air force was under instructions to shoot down any that crossed into its airspace or dropped a payload.

Pakistan claims to have shot down five Indian jets that night, something India has remained silent on.

"We were well prepared, and honestly, we were also lucky," the source said - his account repeated by two other sources.

But Mr Sudhan, Vihaan's grandfather, said there had been no warning to stay indoors or evacuate. "Why didn't they inform us? We, the people, are caught in the middle."

It is likely that no evacuation orders had been issued because the Indian government needed to keep the military strikes confidential, though the local administration had, following the April militant attack, directed locals to clean out community bunkers as a precautionary measure.

A day after the initial missile strikes, Thursday, both sides launched drone attacks, though they each accused the other of making the first move.

India began to evacuate thousands of villagers along the Indian side of the LoC. Just after 21:00 that evening, the Khan family in India-administered Kashmir decided they must flee their home in Uri, 270km (168 miles) to the north of Poonch. Most of their neighbours had already left.

But after travelling for just 10 minutes, their vehicle was struck by shrapnel from a shell, fatally injuring 47-year-old Nargis. Her sister-in-law Hafeeza was seriously injured. They headed to the nearest hospital, only to find the gates locked.

"I somehow climbed the hospital wall and called out for help, telling them we had injured people with us. Only then did the staff come out and open the gate. As soon as they did, I collapsed. The doctors were terrified by the ongoing shelling and had closed everything out of fear," Hafeeza said.

Hafeeza's sister-in-law Nargis is survived by six children. The youngest daughter Sanam, 20, said the first hospital they went to was not equipped to help, and as they headed to another, her mother died of her injuries.

"A piece of shrapnel had torn through her face. My clothes were soaked in her blood… We kept talking to her, urging her to stay with us. But she passed away on the way."

Since a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in 2021 there had been relative peace in the region, locals told the BBC. For the first time in years, they had been able to live normal lives, they said, and now this sense of security was destroyed.

Sanam, who lost her mother, said: "I appeal to both governments - if you're heading into war, at least secure your civilians. Prepare... Those who sit in comfort and demand war - they should be sent to the borders. Let them witness what it really means. Let them lose someone before their eyes."

Sajjad Shafi, the representative for Uri in the regional government, said he had acted as promptly as possible.

"The moment I got the news that India has attacked, I got in touch with people and started moving them out."

After two days of attacks and counter attacks, the Indian government source said there was now a "clear sense in… power corridors that things were escalating but we were ready.

"We were ready because India had spent the last 10 years acquiring and building strategic military assets - missiles, warheads and defence systems."

On the international stage, there had been consternation that the tensions would not be de-escalated by the US, despite its diplomatic overtures during India and Pakistan's previous Kashmir clashes.

US Vice President JD Vance said a potential war would be "none of our business".

This statement came as no surprise, the Indian government source told the BBC. At that stage, "it was clear the US didn't want to get involved".

By the following day, Friday, shelling had become more intense.

Muhammed Shafi was at home with his wife in Shahkot village in the Neelum Valley, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on the LoC.

The 30-year-old was standing in the doorway, just a few steps away from where his son was playing; his wife standing in their courtyard.

"I remember looking up and seeing a mortar shell coming from a distance. In the blink of an eye, it struck her. She didn't even have time to scream. One second she was there, and the next, she was gone. Her face... her head... there was nothing left. Just a cloud of smoke and dust. My ears went numb. Everything went silent. I didn't even realise I was screaming.

"That night, her body lay there, right in our home. The entire village was hiding in bunkers. The shelling continued all night, and I stayed beside her, weeping. I held her hand for as long as I could."

One of those in a bunker was his niece, 18-year-old Umaima. She and her family were holed up in the shelter for four days, on and off, in brutal conditions.

"There were six or seven of us packed into it," she said. "The other bunker was already full. There's no place to lie down in there - some people stood, others sat. There was no drinking water, no food," with people shouting, crying and reciting prayers in the pitch black.

Also in a bunker, in the Leepa Valley, Pakistan-Administered Kashmir - one of the most militarised and vulnerable valleys in the region - was Shams Ur Rehman and family. It is Shams's own bunker, but that night he shared it with 36 other people, he said.

Leepa is surrounded on three sides by the LoC and Indian-administered territory, so Shams was used to living with cross-border tensions. But he was not prepared for the complete destruction of his house.

He left the bunker at three in the morning to survey the scene.

"Everything was gone. Wooden beams and debris from the house were scattered everywhere. The blast was so powerful, the shockwave pushed in the main wall. The metal sheets on the roof were shredded. The entire structure shifted - by at least two inches.

"A house is a person's life's work. You're always trying to improve it - but in the end, it's all gone in seconds."

Four hours later, back in the Neelum Valley, Umaima and her family also emerged on Saturday 10 May to a transformed landscape.

"We came out of the bunker at seven in the morning. That's when we saw - nothing was left."

As Umaima surveyed the ruins of her village, India and Pakistan's forces that day were trading ever more destructive blows - firing missiles at each other's military installations, which both sides accused the other of instigating.

India had targeted three Pakistani air bases, including one in Rawalpindi - the garrison city that houses the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters.

"This was a red line crossed," said one Pakistani officer. "The prime minister gave the go-ahead to the army chief. We already had a plan, and our forces were desperately ready to execute it… For anyone in uniform, it was one of those unforgettable days."

Pakistan hit back at Indian military installations. On the diplomatic front, this was seen as a moment to highlight the issue of Kashmir on the international stage, an official in the Pakistan foreign office told the BBC.

"It was non-stop. Endless meetings, coordination, and back-to-back calls to and from other countries for both foreign minister and then the prime minister. We welcomed mediation offers from the US, the Saudis, the Iranians, or anyone who could help de-escalate."

On the Indian side, the Pahalgam attack on 22 April had already prompted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to speak to at least 17 world leaders or diplomats, including UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In most of these conversations, he has tweeted, the emphasis had been on the "cross-border terrorist attack" and focused on building a case to hold the perpetrators accountable for the attack.

Then, on Saturday afternoon local time, in the aftermath of the latest missile exchanges, came a diplomatic breakthrough out of nowhere. US President Donald Trump took to social media to reveal that a ceasefire had been agreed.

"After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE.

"Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence," he wrote on social media platform Truth Social.

India has since downplayed Washington's role in the ceasefire and it has rejected that trade was used as a lever to achieve this.

Behind the scenes, US mediators, diplomatic backchannels and regional players, including the US, the UK and Saudi Arabia, had proved critical in negotiating the climbdown, experts say.

"We hit Pakistani strategic bases deep inside their territory and that must have worried the US," the Indian government source believes.

In Pahalgam, the site of the militant gun attack that sparked the crisis, the search is still on for the perpetrators.

Vinay Narwal, a 26-year-old Indian Navy officer, was on his honeymoon in Pahalgam when he was killed. He had got married just a week before the attack.

A photo of Vinay's wife Himanshi, sitting near her husband's body following the attack, has been widely shared on social media.

His grandfather Hawa Singh Narwal wants "exemplary punishment" for the killers.

"This terrorism should end. Today, I lost my grandson. Tomorrow, someone else will lose their loved one," he said.

A witness to the attack's aftermath, Rayees Ahmad Bhat, who used to lead pony treks to the beauty spot where the shootings took place, said his industry was now in ruins.

"The attackers may have killed tourists that day, but we - the people of Pahalgam - are dying every day since. They've stained the name of this peaceful town… Pahalgam is terrorised, and its people broken."

The attack was a huge shock for a government which had begun to actively promote tourism in stunningly picturesque Kashmir, famed for its lush valleys, lakes and snow-capped mountains.

The source in the Indian administration said this might have lulled Delhi into a false sense of security.

"Perhaps we got carried away by the response to tourism in Kashmir. We thought we were over a hump but we were not."

The four-day conflict has once again shown how fragile peace can be between the two nations.

Additional reporting by Vikas Pandey in Delhi

It was once unthinkable that Lyle and Erik Menendez, the men who murdered their wealthy parents by shooting them 16 times, would get the sympathy and forgiveness of the masses.

Their claims of sexual abuse at the hands of their father were mocked by prosecutors and comedians alike, from late-night TV to jokes at the Academy Awards.

But 35 years later - thanks in part to TikTok, Netflix and stars like Kim Kardashian - the Menendez brothers have a new generation of supporters - many who were not even born in 1989, the year the brothers ambushed their parents with shotguns in their Beverly Hills mansion.

At the time of their trials, the brothers were portrayed as greedy, entitled monsters who went on a $700,000 (£526,0000) spending spree in the weeks after the murders. Now, with a growing understanding of trauma and sexual abuse, many are more sympathetic - and that might just give the brothers a chance at freedom.

This week, a Los Angeles judge reduced the brothers' sentence to include the possibility of parole, which could be granted at a hearing next month.

Their fate will then be in the hands of California's Parole Board and, ultimately, Governor Gavin Newsom, who will be weighing the shifting public opinion about the divisive case with his own political ambitions.

How did we get here?

In 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez burst into their Beverly Hills living room, both toting loaded shotguns, and opened fire on their parents, who were watching television. The crime would go unsolved for months.

They got tickets for the James Bond film License to Kill as an alibi and told law enforcement and members of the news media, who were covering the execution of the wealthy, high-powered couple in their mansion, that perhaps the mafia was to blame.

Meanwhile, they bought a new Porsche, Jeep, Rolex watches and other luxury items with cash from their parents' estate.

They weren't caught until police got word of their admissions to a psychologist.

Even at the time, their crime was divisive - the first trial ended un a mistrial after the jury couldn't reach a verdict. After the second, they were sentenced to life without parole.

During both trials, the brothers were characterised as bad boys and spoiled children who were motivated to kill their parents out of hatred and hopes to acquire their $14 million estate.

Saturday Night Live and other late-night shows mocked the pair's defence in court – including tearful testimony about their alleged sexual abuse, which prosecutors dubbed the "abuse excuse" - and documentary titles from that decade included phrases like "the bad sons" and "American sons, American murderers".

Appeal after appeal was denied but last year, everything seemed to change. New evidence about the alleged sexual abuse had surfaced and Netflix released a drama that captured the attention of a whole new generation. Soon, documentaries about the case included titles with words like "misjudged" and "boys betrayed".

TikTokers discussed the case with their followers. Reality star Kim Kardashian, a criminal justice advocate who has helped free imprisoned people, penned an opinion piece publicly backing their bid for freedom.

"Back then, there were limited resources for victims of sexual abuse, particularly for boys," Kardashian wrote in the NBC piece.

In the 1990s, society did not have the same understanding we do today of trauma, sexual abuse and harassment, Whitney Phillips, a University of Oregon professor who studies true crime, told the BBC. That gap in understanding was especially pronounced for boys who were abused, she added.

But after the MeToo movement, there was more cultural space created for people to speak about these experiences, she said.

"Not only does it create a permission structure," Prof Phillips said of people feeling encouraged to speak out about harassment and abuse, "in some ways it creates an incentive structure to feature stories about trauma".

Adding to that is the change in how the public views criminal justice, with more emphasis on rehabilitation and reducing prison populations instead of the tough-on-crime mentality that dominated Los Angeles at the end of the 20th Century.

"The lock people up forever attitude of the 1990s is fortunately long gone," said Robert Rand, a journalist who met and interviewed the brothers before they were arrested and uncovered new evidence in 2018 - a letter Erik had written as a teenager to a cousin about his father's sexual abuse.

In a documentary Mr Rand produced about the killings, released in 2023, a former member of the boy band called Menudo, alleged the Menfather - who was an executive at RCA Records - had raped him when he was 14 years old, which further bolstered their claims.

The new testimonies helped give new life to the brothers' claims, and provided a catalyst for what Prof Phillips called a "hurricane" of interest and support, from the Netflix drama to Kardashian's op-ed.

"The things that get really big online are things that have lots of sources of energy," she said.

Even Lyle Menendez noted the sea change.

"The followers who are younger that are on that sort of TikTok social media generation, they really have tremendous hope," Lyle Menendez said at a court hearing.

"I'm not as hopeless as I was as a 21-year-old, that's for sure. Obviously, I feel more hope when society seems to be understanding these experiences and sex abuse better."

Where do the Menendez brothers go from here?

The fate of the brothers – regardless of what social media, the courts or California's parole board recommends – ultimately rests with one man: Governor Newsom, who has the power to accept or reject any parole recommendation.

And many believe that man is considering a run for president in 2028.

Since the last election, Newsom has been undergoing a political transformation, shifting from crusading liberal pushing universal healthcare to a more moderate, pragmatic approach, most recently proposing freezing healthcare for undocumented immigrants.

Weighing in on such a divisive case could be "risky", said Pennsylvania-based Republican political strategist Sam Chen.

"Can you imagine a reality TV show of the Menendez brothers while Newsom is trying to run for president? Talk about free campaign airtime," he said. "That would be the worst thing for him."

Although no one knows which way he is leaning, Newsom has mentioned the case several times on social media and on his podcast.

"The question for the board is a rather simple one," Newsom said in February on TikTok. "Do they pose a current, what we call 'unreasonable' risk to public safety."

Mr Rand acknowledged the case is "risky" politically for Newsom.

"You can't get around the elephant in the room: They brutally murdered their parents," Rand told the BBC. "But if you do believe that they were abused and that they suffered from a lifetime of abuse - and there actually is evidence that supports their story - it's a very different situation."

The brothers have not committed violent crimes while in prison, a fact the judge in their resentencing hearing considered, although they did have infractions for using cell phones smuggled into prison.

They've also led productive lives while incarcerated, with Erik founding a hospice programme to help elderly and disabled inmates while Lyle has been working on prison beautification.

Remarkably, every single surviving member of their family – from cousins to aunts and uncles - want the Menendez brothers released, including the surviving siblings of Jose and Kitty Menendez.

"They chose to live their lives with clarity and a purpose of service," their cousin Anamaria Baralt said outside the court after they were resentenced.

If the board recommends parole in June, the governor has 30 days to accept or reject the recommendation. If they are paroled, the brothers will be released likely within five months, according to the California Department of Corrections.

The fact that Gov Newsom ordered the state parole board to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment before the brothers were even deemed eligible for parole has many thinking he's open to releasing them.

"He wants the political cover" of the parole board and court recommendations, said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who has been following the brothers' legal saga but is not representing any of the participants.

A year ago, Mr Rahmani never would have predicted the Menendez brothers could be released. Now he thinks they will be free within the next few months.

But it wouldn't be unprecedented for Gov Newsom to reject a high-profile parole recommendation.

Several times he blocked the release of a Manson Family member. And in 2022, Newsom blocked the release of Sirhan Sirhan, the man who assassinated Sen Robert F Kennedy.

As far as the Menendez brothers go, Gov Newsom said on his podcast that he's mulling over the case and he's not planning to watch any of the documentaries or true crime dramas about the case.

"I'm obviously familiar with the Menendez brothers just through the news over the course of many decades, but not to the degree that many others are because of all of these documentaries and all of the attention they've received," he said. "So that won't bias my independent and objective review of the facts."

At least 22 people have been injured and three remain in a serious condition after a tall Mexican Navy training ship crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, the Mexican Navy says.

Footage has emerged showing towering masts of the Cuauhtémoc clipping the bridge as the sailing vessel was passing under the famous structure on Saturday evening.

Parts of the masts reportedly fell on the deck, with US media reporting multiple injuries as members of the crew were standing on the masts at the time of collision.

New York City's Emergency Management (NYCEM) said it was "responding to an incident", without giving any further details. Brooklyn Bridge has not sustained any damage, the mayor of New York said,

The Mexican Navy confirmed that the ship was damaged, saying the incident was being investigated.

Crowds who were watching the ship's trajectory fled from the water's edge as the masts collided with the bridge.

New York City's Fire Department confirmed that authorities were responding to injuries, reports CBS, BBC's US partner.

The department said it had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.

In a statement on X, NYCEM said "the situation is developing and details are not confirmed at this time".

The mayor of New York Eric Adams is at the scene and has been briefed on the situation, CBS reported.

NYPD told residents to avoid the area of Brooklyn Bridge, South Street Seaport in Manhattan, and Dumbo in Brooklyn.

"Expect heavy traffic and a large presence of emergency vehicles in the surrounding area," police said on X.

Media reports say the Cuauhtémoc had more than 200 crew on board.

It was in New York City on a goodwill visit.

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

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

Officials in Palm Springs, California are investigating an explosion on Saturday morning that killed one person and damaged a fertility clinic.

The explosion happened just before 11:00 local time (19:00 BST) less than a mile from downtown Palm Springs, near several businesses including the American Reproductive Centres.

In a statement, the fertility clinic said no one from their facility was harmed but that one person was killed and several were injured.

California governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the state is coordinating with local and federal authorities to respond to the incident.

The American Reproductive Centres in Palm Springs said that a vehicle had exploded in the parking lot near its building.

It is unclear what the cause of the explosion was.

US attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a post on X that the Justice Department was "aware of the explosion that occurred this morning in Palm Springs".

He said the FBI are on the scene and are investigating if "this was an intentional act."

The fertility clinic said their lab, including all eggs and embryos, remain "fully secure and undamaged".

"We are heavily conducting a complete safety inspection and have confirmed that our operations and sensitive medical areas were not impacted by the blast," the fertility clinic said in its statement.

The BBC has reached out to the Palm Springs Police Department for comment.

This is a developing story.

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

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

At least 22 people have been injured and three remain in a serious condition after a tall Mexican Navy training ship crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, the Mexican Navy says.

Footage has emerged showing towering masts of the Cuauhtémoc clipping the bridge as the sailing vessel was passing under the famous structure on Saturday evening.

Parts of the masts reportedly fell on the deck, with US media reporting multiple injuries as members of the crew were standing on the masts at the time of collision.

New York City's Emergency Management (NYCEM) said it was "responding to an incident", without giving any further details. Brooklyn Bridge has not sustained any damage, the mayor of New York said,

The Mexican Navy confirmed that the ship was damaged, saying the incident was being investigated.

Crowds who were watching the ship's trajectory fled from the water's edge as the masts collided with the bridge.

New York City's Fire Department confirmed that authorities were responding to injuries, reports CBS, BBC's US partner.

The department said it had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.

In a statement on X, NYCEM said "the situation is developing and details are not confirmed at this time".

The mayor of New York Eric Adams is at the scene and has been briefed on the situation, CBS reported.

NYPD told residents to avoid the area of Brooklyn Bridge, South Street Seaport in Manhattan, and Dumbo in Brooklyn.

"Expect heavy traffic and a large presence of emergency vehicles in the surrounding area," police said on X.

Media reports say the Cuauhtémoc had more than 200 crew on board.

It was in New York City on a goodwill visit.

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

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

Officials in Palm Springs, California are investigating an explosion on Saturday morning that killed one person and damaged a fertility clinic.

The explosion happened just before 11:00 local time (19:00 BST) less than a mile from downtown Palm Springs, near several businesses including the American Reproductive Centres.

In a statement, the fertility clinic said no one from their facility was harmed but that one person was killed and several were injured.

California governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the state is coordinating with local and federal authorities to respond to the incident.

The American Reproductive Centres in Palm Springs said that a vehicle had exploded in the parking lot near its building.

It is unclear what the cause of the explosion was.

US attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a post on X that the Justice Department was "aware of the explosion that occurred this morning in Palm Springs".

He said the FBI are on the scene and are investigating if "this was an intentional act."

The fertility clinic said their lab, including all eggs and embryos, remain "fully secure and undamaged".

"We are heavily conducting a complete safety inspection and have confirmed that our operations and sensitive medical areas were not impacted by the blast," the fertility clinic said in its statement.

The BBC has reached out to the Palm Springs Police Department for comment.

This is a developing story.

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

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

Austrian singer JJ has won the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, after a nail-biting finish that saw him topple Israel from pole position at the very last minute.

The 24-year-old, who is a counter-tenor at the Vienna State Opera, took the title with the song Wasted Love, an tempestuous electro-ballad about unrequited love.

"Thank you so much for making my dreams come true," he said as he accepted the coveted glass microphone trophy. "Love is the strongest force in the world, let's spread more love."

The singer scored 436 points, with Israel in second place on 357 and Estonia third on 356. The UK's act, Remember Monday, placed 19th with 88 points.

For the second year in a row, the UK received zero from the public.

Eurovision 2025: The top five contestants

1. Austria: JJ - Wasted Love
2. Israel: Yuval Raphael: New Day Will Rise
3. Estonia: Tommy Cash - Espresso Macchiato
4. Sweden: KAJ - Bara Bada Bastu
5. Italy: Lucio Corsi - Volevo Essere Un Duro

It is the third time Austria has won the contest, with previous victories going to Udo Jürgens' Merci, Cherie in 1966; and Conchita Wurst with Rise Like a Phoenix in 2014. JJ was inspired to take part in Eurovision by Conchita.

JJ had been one of the favourites to win the contest, but the most hotly-tipped contestants were Sweden's KAJ - whose tongue-in-cheek ode to sauna culture, Bara Bada Bastu, ultimately took fourth place.

Speaking after the show, JJ said he was "so pleased" that viewers had connected with his story of heartache.

"I wanted to let them have an insight on my deepest soul [and] how I felt when we wrote the song."

"What I'm trying to commit [to] is that there's no wasted love. There's so much love that we can spread around. It's the strongest force on planet earth."

Asked how he would celebrate, he replied: "Honestly, I need to sleep now. I'm tired."

For the second year in a row, there was controversy over Israel's participation, with protestors arguing for the country's dismissal over its military action in Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian protests took place on the streets of Basel in the hours before the contest.

Later, a man and a woman people were prevented from invading the stage during Israel's performance.

"One of the two agitators threw paint and a crew member was hit," said Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR in a statement to the BBC.

"The crew member is fine and nobody was injured.

"The man and the woman were taken out of the venue and handed over to the police."

The performance, by young singer Yuval Raphael, was unaffected.

The 25-year-old is a survivor of the Hamas attacks of 7 October, 2023, an experience which coloured her delicate ballad, New Day Will Rise.

The Israeli delegation said Raphael was left "shaken and upset" by the incident, but that it was "extremely proud" of her performance "which represented Israel in a respectful manner".

Elsewhere, Eurovision was its usual explosion of high camp, sexual innuendo and dresses being removed to reveal smaller, tighter dresses.

Malta's Mariana Conte was forced to rewrite her disco anthem Serving Kant to remove what sounded like a swear word - but performed the censored version with a knowing wink, safe in the knowledge the audience would fill in the blanks.

Although it was a fan favourite, Conte could only manage 17th.

Estonia's Tommy Cash, who came third, also kept the innuendo train running, with Espresso Macchiato, a caffeinated disco anthem featuring the unforgettable phrase: "Life is like spaghetti, it's hard until you make it."

Another highlight was Finland's Erika Vikman, who dispensed with double entendres entirely on Ich Komme, a vibrant hymn to sexual pleasure.

The singer ended her performance by taking flight on a giant phallic microphone that shot sparks into the air.

It thrust her into 11th position, and a permanent place in the Eurovision pantheon.

The contest also dealt with more weighty subjects like economic migration (Portuguese rock band Napa) and environmental catastrophe (Latvia's Tautumeitas, who scored 12 points from the UK jury).

Dutch singer Claude delivered a heartfelt tribute to his mother in C'est La Vie - an upbeat anthem that reflected on her positivity as she uprooted the family from their home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo as a child.

In a touching climax, the 21-year-old danced with an image of his childhood self in a mirror on the stage.

Also reflecting on their childhood was French singer Louane, whose tearjerking ballad was dedicated to her mother, who died of cancer when she was 17.

In one of the night's most striking performances, she was surrounded by a whirlwind of sand as she hollered the word "mother" over and over again.

One of the favourites to win, it ended the night in seventh place, after receiving a disappointing 50 points from the public.

JJ's performance was similarly dramatic. Shot entirely in black and white, it saw him being tossed around on a rickety boat, as waves (of emotion) threatened to consume him.

An honourable mention also goes to Italy's Lucio Corsi, whose harmonica solo in Volevo Essere Un Duro marked the first time a live instrument has been played at Eurovision since 1998.

The UK spent a third year in the bottom half of the leaderboard, despite a spirited performance from girl group Remember Monday.

A group of friends who met at high school, their inventive pop song What The Hell Just Happened? drew on their many years of experience in West End theatre.

The girls pulled off their tricky three-part harmonies while dancing around a fallen chandelier, but the performance didn't connect with voters.

Despite earning a healthy 88 points from juries - including 12 from Italy - it bombed with viewers.

They ended in 19th place, one below last year's entrant Olly Alexander.

The group laughed off their "nul points" score from the public, holding up peace signs and hugging each other as the score was announced.

The voting was chaotic overall.

Thirteen of the 26 finalists received the maximum of 12 points from at least one jury, leaving the competition completely open before the public vote was counted.

Israel, who had been languishing in the bottom half of the table, then received 297 points from the public (out of a possible maximum of 444). Twelve of those points came from the UK.

For a while, it looked like Yuval Raphael's lead might be unassailable - but Austria's tally of 178 was the last to be announced, leaving the singer empty-handed.

There was disappointment, too, for fans of Canadian singer Céline Dion, who had been rumoured to appear at the contest.

The singer won Eurovision for Switzerland in 1988, and had appeared in a video wishing the contestants good luck at Tuesday's semi-final.

Despite hopes from Eurovision organisers that she might turn up, the moment never came to pass.

"Don't expect miracles. But do know - everyone wants this to work."

On Monday in London the EU and UK hold their first bilateral summit since Brexit. Symbolically, this is a big moment.

Officials and analysts I speak to, on and off the record, like the individual I just quoted, are quick to point out difficulties that exist between the two sides.

But all acknowledge the bilateral bitterness provoked by Brexit is no more. It's been eviscerated by the gravity of global events.

Concerns about Russia and China, the war in Ukraine, the shock of the US under Donald Trump no longer prioritising European defence, plus a growing sense of voter insecurity is propelling the two powers to work closer together.

"Failure to do so, in the current international context, would not be a good look," says Anand Menon, director of the think tank UK in a Changing Europe.

Most European countries realise that, he adds: "Even the French."

More than most EU countries, France has been playing hardball in pre-summit negotiations.

Is it a coincidence that as talks went to the wire before Monday's summit, the UK announced that France's president has been invited for his first state visit?

King Charles and Queen Camilla will host Emmanuel Macron and his wife at Windsor Palace in July. A UK attempt to butter up the French leader, perhaps?

"It'll be interesting to see if they can agree common language [for a summit agreement]," says Georgina Wright, European policy expert at the Institut Montaigne.

"Everyone in the EU wants closer relations with the UK right now and France doesn't want to be seen as the one country blocking closer UK-EU cooperation. But that does not mean that Paris is willing to give up on core interests."

Interests like fishing rights in UK waters and bidding for EU defence contracts.

Negotiating - or to be more accurate - haggling over the "meat" of the summit will, I'm told, continue till the last moment.

On the day itself, we can expect three separate announcements:

• A joint declaration that addresses the worrying geopolitical situation and emphasises UK-EU shared foreign policy priorities - such as supporting Ukraine, keeping up pressure on Russia, and ending civilian suffering in Gaza
• An EU-UK security and defence pact
• A package of measures targeted at removing some trade barriers between the EU and UK that have come about because of Brexit

Closer economic ties to Europe

These trade measures are the "reset" of relations with the EU that UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised since his party won a general election last summer.

They are far from an economic gamechanger for the UK, though. Hardly what you'd call ambitious.

Destroying all trade barriers with the EU is impossible if the Labour government keeps to its own "red lines" of not rejoining the bloc's customs union or single market.

Despite promising to prioritise UK economic growth, and polls suggesting the majority of Britons want to do more trade with the EU, Labour will feel hemmed in by the increasingly popular, Eurosceptic Reform Party.

It performed well in recent local elections in the UK.

While some in Labour (quietly) admit they are tempted by a customs union with the EU to boost growth, any economic benefits would likely not be apparent to voters before the next UK election.

Party members fear they would risk being punished at the polls, amidst accusations by the opposition Conservatives and Reform that the government would have betrayed Brexit.

These concerns make the Starmer government "more cautious, less bold", says Mr Menon.

So what will be agreed at the summit?

The UK is taking a sector-by-sector approach to try reduce costly trade barriers with the EU.

Many EU-UK negotiating hours have gone into agreeing a plant and animal health deal, known as an SPS agreement.

This will facilitate the export and import of meat and plant products between the EU and UK and help reduce post-Brexit trade complications between Northern Ireland and Britain.

In exchange, the EU insists the UK must agree to following any new SPS rules introduced in the future and accept a role for the European Court of Justice in policing the agreement.

Those conditions will likely be unpopular with ardent Brexit supporters.

They might also put backs up in Washington and complicate the UK doing a wider future deal on agriculture with the US, as the UK would be tied to stringent EU standards.

But the Labour government knows public opinion polls suggest most people in the UK prioritise trade with the EU over the US.

Currently the EU counts for 41% of UK exports; the US for 21%.

The UK government will probably insist the SPS agreement is good for the British economy. Though animal and plant exports and imports are, in fact, a small part of overall GDP.

In reality "growth is a bit of a red herring here", says Mr Menon.

On the EU side, the French, backed by other fishing nations like the Netherlands and Denmark, have taken a tough stance in these talks - refusing to sign up unless the UK agrees to long-term EU fishing rights in UK waters.

The current post-Brexit fishing agreement expires next year.

Free-er movement for some

The reset we'll hear about at Monday's summit will also include a "mobility" section.

Starmer will get his ask, for the EU to recognise UK professional qualifications, to encourage cross-border business.

There will also be a reduction in visa restrictions for UK musicians travelling and performing in the EU.

In exchange, the EU - and Germany, most passionately - wants a youth mobility scheme, allowing young EU citizens to travel, study, and even work in the UK.

The UK has similar schemes with Canada, Australia, South Korea and Japan, amongst others. But this has been tricky to agree.

Reducing migration figures is a number one priority for the Labour government.

It's a hot-button issue and the UK Home Office will seek to toughen conditions and limit EU numbers.

Negotiations are ongoing but, according to EU sources, the scheme already has a name: YES, or Youth Experience Scheme.

Some areas of negotiation are more advanced than others. This will be reflected in Monday's announcement.

There will also be talk at the summit of plans to tackle illegal migration, cooperate on carbon border taxes, and simplify energy trading between the EU and UK.

Reducing EU-UK trade barriers on chemicals and pharmaceutical goods is also a UK ambition, as is getting access to EU databases, like the Schengen Information System, to better track down criminals.

But for now, at least, the EU is saying no to that. If it makes an exception for the UK, other non-EU countries will demand the same, it insists.

Of course, it's in the interest of both sides to fight cross-border crime. The UK argues the current state of the world calls for more flexible thinking from Brussels.

Defence and security complications

The case for more flexible thinking is also something the UK is calling for when it comes to Monday's defence and security pact with the EU.

The EU and UK already work closely together on Russian sanctions and defending Ukraine. And the pact isn't a legally binding document, so how complicated can these talks be, you may ask?

The answer is pretty complicated.

The UK wants its defence companies to be allowed to bid for contracts under the EU's new re-armament scheme, SAFE (Security Action for Europe).

"The UK has earned the right to access such a deal because of the leadership it's shown over Ukraine," says international defence expert Sophia Gaston, a visiting fellow at King's College London.

"Britain is a serious player both in traditional defence capabilities, like producing munitions, and in cutting edge defence innovation, where new growth and energy is.

"If the UK has access to the emerging EU defence programmes, it can contribute to mass and pace. [The war in Ukraine] has shown that both are needed."

But Ms Gaston admits, UK companies getting the go-ahead from Brussels is a "messy" process.

"Re-Arm EU", as Brussels dubs its new drive, is still a work in progress, spurred by rapidly changing geopolitics, including fears the US will withdraw at least some of the crucial security support Europe has relied on since World War Two.

This is not yet a fully formed EU strategy that the UK can "pay to play" a part in, as it has done post-Brexit with the EU's research and innovation scheme Horizon, for example.

An agreement with the UK in this defence industrial context will be brand new and bespoke. And it's getting political.

Signing the security pact on Monday is just a step in the process.

France wants to severely restrict non-EU companies bidding for the bloc's defence contracts, including the UK but Canadian and American firms too.

If the EU is spending its taxpayers' money on defence, it argues it should be spent with EU companies to help boost EU economies.

Paris also says, in this rapidly changing world of shifting alliances and allegiances, the EU should be self-reliant, not dependent on suppliers outside the bloc.

Sceptics suspect France, which has a sophisticated defence industry, of wanting to hoover up lucrative EU contracts for itself.

But it looks like it is losing the internal EU argument, with the Nordics, the Baltics, Poland, Italy and the Netherlands favouring more openness on defence contracts, and particularly with the EU's biggest economic power, Germany, championing the UK.

"Germany and France have very different attitudes towards the UK," says German economist Armin Steinbach from think tank Bruegel.

Germany will always put relations with EU heavyweights France and Poland first, says Mr Steinbach.

But he believes the UK will be helped in defence and economic negotiations with the EU by new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who argues "a unified Europe is the absolute priority in the current geopolitical setting".

Huge challenge of defence cooperation

A priority maybe, but it's still a hugely tall order because it's all about compromise.

Political leaders will seek to justify increases in defence spending by insisting to voters that it's for their personal security and in the interest of their national economy, with boosts in revenue for domestic defence industries.

But achieving a pan-European industrial base - built to be efficient, avoid duplication, and to replace much of the US capacity relied on by the continent today - would mean some European countries winning more defence contracts than others.

It would also mean some national businesses shutting down, in favour of better-suited ones elsewhere on the continent.

That's a hard sell for political leaders facing their voters.

As is another big trade-off: Big increases in defence spending will mean governments have less money to spend on public services.

The challenge for Europe is breathtaking. By comparison, Monday's symbolic EU-UK summit, may seem like a walk in the park.

Most journalists travelling with the US president don't see much of the interior of Air Force One, the presidential jet.

The press cabin is in the back of the plane, accessible by a rear set of steps and a quick turn of a corner.

To reach the presidential suite at the front of the plane would require negotiating with the armed Secret Service agents in the next-door cabin.

On Donald Trump's trip to the Middle East this week, when the future of the famous plane was a huge talking point, Fox News host Sean Hannity had priority seating and access to the president to conduct an in-flight interview.

But the rest of us in the travelling press pool were consigned to our small section of the plane.

It was a whirlwind trip, hitting three nations in three nights, half a world away. The president described it as an "endurance test" - one that his staff and those of us in the press pool had to manage, as well.

The presidential jet is not a bad way to fly, however. The 14 seats are comfortable, roughly on par with a first-class domestic flight.

There's a bathroom and a table with snacks (including the coveted Air Force One-branded M&Ms bearing the president's signature, which aren't available anywhere else).

• Qatar's Air Force One offer angers Trump supporters
• Is Trump allowed to accept 747 gift?

The cabin has a pair of television monitors - usually tuned to the president's preferred cable news channel (CNN during Joe Biden's term; Fox News for Trump). On occasion, they've been set to a football game or other sporting events.

For longer flights, the on-board kitchen serves plated meals (the president eats from a different, fancier menu). On short hops, there's usually food in a takeaway bag.

But the interior of this famous aircraft could soon undergo a radical refit if, as looks likely, Trump accepts the Qatari offer to supply a new "palace in the sky" - the biggest foreign gift ever received by a US president.

Technically, "Air Force One" is a radio call sign, the designation for any Air Force aircraft with the US president aboard. The small prop plane Lyndon Baines Johnson took from Austin to his Texas ranch in the 1960s was Air Force One, too.

But the Air Force One most people picture, the one featured in the Harrison Ford action film, is the 747-200b with water blue, steel blue and white paint set against a chrome underbody - a colour scheme picked out by First Lady Jackie Kennedy in 1962.

Currently there are two of these 747s in the Air Force passenger fleet, in use since 1990. Needless to say, technology – both in aircraft design and everything else – has come a long way in the ensuing years. The planes have been upgraded, but the costs of maintaining the airframe and engines are growing. The aircrafts are showing their age.

This has clearly irked the current White House occupant – the only president to own his own jet, or for that matter, his own airline, prior to taking office.

"I leave now and get onto a 42-year-old Boeing," he said, exaggerating the plane's age during an industry briefing on Thursday in Abu Dhabi. "But new ones are coming."

Coming, but not soon enough for Trump. During his first term, he touted an updated presidential aircraft, made by Boeing, that was in the works. He even picked out his own colour palette, scrapping Kennedy's design for a red-white-and-blue livery. He proudly displays a model of that jet in the Oval Office.

Originally planned to be delivered by 2021, delays and cost overruns for the estimated $4bn construction programme have made it less likely that the two new planes on order will be available for much, if any, of Trump's second term in office, which expires in January 2029.

He has tasked tech multi-billionaire Elon Musk with speeding up the process and reportedly groused in private that he is embarrassed to travel in such an outdated plane.

That explains why the president has become enamoured with the prospect of a seemingly more immediate solution to his air transport woes – courtesy of the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.

News of Qatar's offer of a lavish $400m 747-8 made headlines last week, but the gift apparently has been in the works for months.

Trump surreptitiously visited the aircraft in question in mid-February, just a few weeks after the start of his second term in office.

Aside from the legal and ethical concerns of such a substantial gift – raised by critics and some allies of the president - converting a foreign 747 for use by an American president creates a number of technical challenges.

The aircraft would have to be made capable of in-flight refuelling and retrofitted with a sophisticated package of communications and security equipment. The current models have systems built to withstand the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion.

Such a refitting process, says aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, would take years, until 2030 at least.

"They have to assume the jet has been left unattended in a dangerous place for 13 years," he says. "Which means it's not enough to take the plane apart. You also have to take every single component apart."

The plane would need additional power to run its new systems, and its interior might have to be rearranged. Chances are there's no press cabin in the flying palace as originally designed.

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Defense and Security Department, says the costs of such retrofitting could easily run to $1bn.

He adds, however, that Trump could waive some, or all, of the security modifications if he so chooses.

"He's the president," he said.

When the Air Force ultimately does retire its current crop of 747s, it will put to pasture an aircraft that have been part of fabric of American history for decades. One that transported President Bill Clinton, along with former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W Bush, to Israel for Yitzhak Rabin's funeral in 1995.

After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, George W Bush took to the skies in Air Force One and stayed aloft for hours, refuelling mid-air, until his security team determined it was safe for him to land and address the nation, before ultimately returning to Washington.

Six US presidents have travelled on these jets, criss-crossing the US and visiting all corners of the globe. One took Biden to Israel just days after the 7 October attack by Hamas.

Trump has effectively employed the aircraft as a campaign device, holding political rallies at airfields and making low-speed passes over the crowds before landing and using Air Force One as a dramatic backdrop for his speeches.

On Trump's recent Mid East trip, military fighters from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE accompanied Air Force One as it flew through their national airspace.

Aging though it may be, Air Force One is still one of the most recognisable signs of American presidential authority and power in the world - a military aircraft that serves a higher purpose.

"It's not made for luxury," says Aboulafia. "It's a flying command post. You're not there to throw parties."

Additional reporting by Max Matza

Israel's military has announced the launch of a major offensive aimed at defeating Hamas and securing the freedom of remaining hostages in Gaza.

The Israeli Defense Forces said on its Hebrew X account that it had mobilised troops for "Operation Gideon's Chariots" to seize "strategic areas" of the strip.

The Hamas-run health ministry said that Israeli attacks had killed around 50 people on Saturday, adding to the reported toll of around 300 since Thursday.

Israel imposed an aid blockade on the strip in March after the breakdown of a two-month ceasefire. Donald Trump, the US president, said on Friday that "a lot of people were starving" in Gaza.

The Israeli military did not use the operational name in similar posts on its English-language X account.

It said it would not stop operating "until Hamas is no longer a threat and all our hostages are home", and had "struck over 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip" in 24 hours.

Israel has intensified its bombardment and built up armoured forces along the border despite growing international pressure to resume ceasefire talks and end its blockade. The launch of the operation appears to suggest all efforts have failed.

The Times of Israel said that "Gideon's Chariots" - a reference to a biblical warrior - would see the IDF take and control territory, move civilians to the south of the strip, attack Hamas and prevent it from taking control of aid supplies.

• Jeremy Bowen: Netanyahu's plan risks dividing Israel, killing Palestinians and horrifying world

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, earlier this month said that Israel was preparing an "intense entry into Gaza" to capture and hold territory.

His government said that it would not commence until Trump had completed a tour of the Middle East. The US president left the region on Friday.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has warned that Israel's recent escalation could be considered a breach of international law.

"This latest barrage of bombs, forcing people to move amid the threat of intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighbourhoods, and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing," he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was "troubled" by the situation.

A UN-backed assessment published on Monday found Gaza's population to be at "critical risk" of famine.

The Israeli government has repeatedly rejected claims there is a food shortage in Gaza.

Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Hamas still holds 57.

At least five people have died and more than 5,000 buildings were damaged after a tornado tore through St Louis in Missouri.

The tornado swept along a major road, tearing roofs off houses, uprooting trees and knocking down power lines on Friday evening.

About 100,000 properties were left without power and the fire department said house-by-house searches were conducted in the worst-affected areas.

The US National Weather Service reported at least six other tornadoes in Missouri and neighbouring Illinois, with more severe weather conditions stretching eastwards to the Atlantic coast.

National Weather Service radar suggested the tornado touched down shortly after 14:30 local time in the west of the city close to Forest Park - home to St Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 Olympic Games.

St Louis Fire Department said three people had to be rescued after part of the nearby Centennial Christian Church collapsed. One of those people died.

A curfew was imposed from 21:00 to 06:00 local time in the two areas where most of the damage took place, to prevent injuries from debris and reduce the potential for looting.

St Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said: "Our city is grieving tonight. The loss of life and the destruction is truly, truly horrendous.

"We're going to have a lot of work to do in the coming days. There is no doubt there, but tonight we are focused on saving lives and keeping people safe and allowing our community to grieve."

Officials in Palm Springs, California are investigating an explosion on Saturday morning that killed one person and damaged a fertility clinic.

The explosion happened just before 11:00 local time (19:00 BST) less than a mile from downtown Palm Springs, near several businesses including the American Reproductive Centres.

In a statement, the fertility clinic said no one from their facility was harmed but that one person was killed and several were injured.

California governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the state is coordinating with local and federal authorities to respond to the incident.

The American Reproductive Centres in Palm Springs said that a vehicle had exploded in the parking lot near its building.

It is unclear what the cause of the explosion was.

US attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a post on X that the Justice Department was "aware of the explosion that occurred this morning in Palm Springs".

He said the FBI are on the scene and are investigating if "this was an intentional act."

The fertility clinic said their lab, including all eggs and embryos, remain "fully secure and undamaged".

"We are heavily conducting a complete safety inspection and have confirmed that our operations and sensitive medical areas were not impacted by the blast," the fertility clinic said in its statement.

The BBC has reached out to the Palm Springs Police Department for comment.

This is a developing story.

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

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

A rescue mission is under way to reach several people buried in an avalanche on the Eiger mountain in the Swiss Alps, local police say.

The "ice avalanche" took place shortly after midday on Saturday, Bern police said in a statement on social media.

They said they had launched a large-scale operation involving several rescue teams who were looking for people.

The Eiger is a 3,967m (13,000 ft) peak near the tourist resorts of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, and Wengen.

Donald Trump says he will be speaking to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Monday about ending the war in Ukraine, saying the call at 10:00 EDT (14:00 GMT) would be about "stopping the 'bloodbath'".

In a post on Truth Social, the US president said he would then speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and leaders of some Nato countries.

Russia and Ukraine were unable to reach any breakthrough when they held their first face-to-face talks in three years in Istanbul on Friday, although a prisoner swap was agreed.

The US president had offered to attend the talks in Turkey if Putin would also go, but his Russian counterpart did not take up the offer.

Trump's comments come after he suggested on Thursday that progress on ending the war would only happen if he and Putin held face-to-face talks.

"Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end," Trump wrote on Saturday.

Nato leaders have been calling for Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire in the conflict.

Following the talks in Istanbul, Ukraine reiterated its call for a full and unconditional ceasefire.

The head of the Russian delegation, Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky, said the Russian delegation was satisfied with the talks and ready to continue contact.

Hours later, a Russian drone hit a passenger bus in the Sumy region, killing nine people - prompting Zelensky to demand stiffer sanctions on Moscow.

He said the attack on the bus was "a deliberate killing of civilians". Russia has not commented, but state media reported that forces had hit a "military staging area" in Sumy province.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Five people have died after two civilian helicopters collided mid-air in Finland, local police said.

The helicopters crashed near Eura Airport at around 12:00 local time (10:00 GMT), after having taken off together from the Estonian capital of Tallinn.

Authorities found the wreckage of the helicopters in a wooded area. Police say there were two people in one helicopter and three in the other.

They were on their way to an aviation event at the Piikajärvi Flight Center in Kokemäki, local media reported.

The aircraft were foreign-registered civilian helicopters. The crash is being investigated by police.

Finnish and Estonian officials said they were working with each other into the probe.