Israeli forces have stepped up their assault on Gaza City with a wave of heavy air strikes, marking a sharp escalation from previous military operations.

Unlike earlier phases of the war, the current offensive has relied heavily on aerial bombardments, with entire apartment blocks and large concrete structures reduced to rubble.

The intensification of strikes in recent days has triggered a surge in civilian displacement.

Israel has warned all residents of Gaza City to leave immediately in anticipation of a huge ground offensive.

On Sunday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said about 250,000 people had left the city and moved south. It also said it had destroyed a high-rise building that it said had been used "to advance and execute terrorist attacks" against its troops.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the city is Hamas's last major stronghold. But the plan to occupy Gaza City has brought international criticism.

The UN has warned an intensification of the offensive on an area where a famine has already been declared will push civilians into an "even deeper catastrophe". Gaza City is the largest urban centre in the territory and a historic heart of Palestinian political and social life.

Residents say the Israeli military has been targeting schools and makeshift shelters, often issuing warnings only moments before bombardments.

Many families have been forced to flee in darkness toward western Gaza.

"We escaped certain death, my husband, our three children and I," said Saly Tafeesh, a mother sheltering in the city. "My brother died in my arms after being shot by a quadcopter drone. We ran in the dark to the west of Gaza."

The Israeli military has told residents to evacuate to the south of the territory - but many families say they cannot afford the journey, which costs up to $1,100 (£800). Hamas, meanwhile, has intensified its calls for residents to stay put and resist leaving the city.

Rubein Khaled, a father-of-nine preparing to move south, expressed frustration.

"The Hamas preacher at Friday prayers accused anyone leaving Gaza City of being a coward running from the battlefield," he said.

"But why doesn't he tell Hamas leaders to surrender and release the Israeli hostages so this war can stop? We don't want to leave either, but we have no choice."

Israeli forces have not yet reached some eastern neighbourhoods that have remained largely intact since earlier raids in January, but the current campaign suggests they may now be seeking to dismantle entire districts.

Meanwhile, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman strongly criticised Israel's prime minister in an interview with the BBC following this week's Israeli strike on Hamas officials in the Qatari capital Doha.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told the BBC that the international community had "to deal with a Netanyahu problem".

"He is not somebody who is listening to anybody right now, who is listening to any reason, and we have to collectively stop him in his tracks," the official said.

He argued the strike in Doha showed the Israeli leader "never intended to sign any peace deal" to end the war in Gaza and instead "believes he can re-shape the Middle East in his own image".

Five of the group's members and a Qatari security officer were killed in Tuesday's strike - though the Palestinian armed group claimed no senior leaders had been killed. Hamas members had been in Doha to discuss the latest US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel has faced widespread condemnation, including at the UN Security Council. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel targeted the "terrorist masterminds" behind the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani earlier said that Qatar did not get advance warning of the strike, only receiving a call from a US official 10 minutes after the attack had started.

On Friday, al-Thani had dinner with US President Donald Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff in New York, having earlier met Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House.

Rubio is travelling to Israel this weekend in a show of solidarity with Israel ahead of a UN meeting later this month at which France and the UK are expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

On Sunday, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 47 people killed by the Israeli military had arrived at its hospitals over the previous day.

Since UN-backed global food security experts confirmed a famine in Gaza City on 22 August, the ministry has reported that at least 142 people have died from starvation and malnutrition across the territory. Israel has said it is expanding its efforts to facilitate aid deliveries and has disputed the health ministry's figures on malnutrition-related deaths.

The Israeli military launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 64,803 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

Nepal's major political parties have demanded the country's President Ram Chandra Poudel reinstates the parliament he dissolved following deadly anti-corruption protests.

In a statement, eight parties - including the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Maoist Centre - said the president acted unconstitutionally.

Poudel dissolved the House of Representatives on Friday upon the recommendation of newly-appointed interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki - it was also a key demand from the protest movement.

More than 50 people were killed in clashes with riot police during this week's mass protests sparked by a ban on social media platforms. Karki was appointed after a deal was reached with protest leaders.

The ban was lifted on Monday - but by then the protests had swelled into a mass movement. Angry crowds set fire to parliament and government buildings in the capital Kathmandu on Tuesday, forcing then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign.

Saturday's statement demanding the reinstatement of the parliament was signed by the chief whips of the eight political parties.

They argued the step taken by the president was unconstitutional and against the precedents set by Nepal's judiciary.

The dissolution of the parliament was a major demand by student leaders from the so-called "Gen Z" protest movement.

But the eight parties say the protesters' demands - including new elections announced for 5 March next year - should be addressed through an institution voted by the people.

President Poudel is yet to publicly respond to the political parties' statement.

Karki, a 73-year-old former Supreme Court chief justice and the first woman to lead the impoverished Himalayan nation, was sworn in during a brief ceremony in the capital Kathmandu.

She is expected to appoint ministers to her cabinet within a few days.

She is widely regarded as having a clean image, and her leadership of the interim government is being supported by student leaders from the "Gen Z" movement.

But her cabinet will face multiple challenges, including restoring law and order, reconstructing parliament and the other key buildings that were attacked, reassuring the Gen Z protesters who want change - and others in Nepal who are fearful its young democracy and constitutional order could be derailed.

Another key task will be to bring those responsible for violence to justice.

Nepal is gradually returning back to normalcy after the worst unrest in decades.

Nepal's soldiers - who had been deployed to patrol the streets of Kathmandu - returned to their bases after Karki took the oath of office.

The protests were triggered by the government's decision last week to ban 26 social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook - but they soon widened to embody much deeper discontent with Nepal's political elite.

In the weeks before the ban, a "nepo kid" campaign - spotlighting the lavish lifestyles of politicians' children and allegations of corruption - had taken off on social media.

And while the social media ban was hastily lifted on Monday night, the protests had by that stage gained unstoppable momentum.

An American woman detained by the Taliban alongside a British couple has told the BBC they are "literally dying" in prison and that "time is running out".

Faye Hall was arrested with Peter, 80, and Barbie Reynolds, 76 on 1 February when returning to Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan, where the couple lived.

While Ms Hall was released after two months, Peter and Barbie remain in prison and still do not know why they are being held.

The Foreign Office (FCDO) said it was supporting the family of a couple being held in Afghanistan.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast in her first interview since being released, Ms Hall broke down in tears when asked what she would like to tell the couple.

"I love them, I know they will be out very soon, don't ever give up."

Mr and Mrs Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 and had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years prior to their arrest - the reason for which has not been confirmed despite four court appearances.

The pair had Afghan citizenship and ran a charity programme in the country, approved by the Taliban when they took power in 2021.

Ms Hall said the group, which also included an interpreter, had flown from Kabul to Bamiyan Province in a privately chartered plane when they were stopped at a check point.

They then spent days on the road being driven between police stations and prisons.

She described the conditions in which they had been held, including cramped cells and a maximum security prison holding "murderers", fenced with barbered wire and where guards carried machine guns.

She warned that their health had rapidly deteriorated in prison, with Barbie losing significant weight and unable to stand or walk on one occasion.

She also cautioned that Peter had been getting sicker despite receiving medication from the Qatari government, which he required daily after undergoing heart surgery and cancer treatment.

"We just have these elderly people, they're literally dying, and time is running out."

She stressed that the conditions were taking a mental toll as well as physical, because "every day you do not know where you'll be tomorrow".

"It's not a healthy environment and we were the only foreigners there," she added.

The pair's son previously told the BBC he feared they would die in prison, cautioning that Peter had suffered serious convulsions and Barbie was "numb" from anaemia and malnutrition.

The UN warned in July that the couple could perish "in such degrading conditions" if they did not receive medical care at once, calling their detention "inhumane".

Ms Hall called on the US and UK governments to "work together" and do more to secure the pair's release.

The FCDO said: "We are supporting the family of two British Nationals who are detained in Afghanistan. The Minister has met the family to discuss the case.

The UK shut its embassy in Kabul and withdrew its diplomats from the country after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

The FCDO says support for British nationals in Afghanistan is therefore "severely limited" and advises against all travel to the country.

A spokesperson for the US State Department said the Taliban had a "history of unjustly detaining foreign nationals".

"They should permanently end their practice of hostage diplomacy and release all those unjustly detained immediately."

The Taliban's foreign minister said in July that Barbie and Peter were "in constant contact with their families" and that efforts were under way to secure their release but that "these steps have not yet been completed".

"Their human rights are being respected. They are being given full access to treatment, contact and accommodation."

Nikos Michaloliakos, the leader of the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, has been released from prison less than halfway into his sentence.

The far-right politician and Holocaust denier was allowed by a judicial council to serve the remainder of his 13-year sentence in the confines of his home on health grounds on Friday, state media reports.

The 67-year-old's conditional release after five years in prison has angered left-wing parties, arguing the judiciary should not have shown clemency.

It is the second time Michaloliakos has been allowed out following his 2020 conviction over a litany of violent attacks on immigrants and political opponents perpetrated by Golden Dawn supporters.

He was briefly released in May 2024, news agency AFP reports, before judicial officials found he had not shown adequately good behaviour and forced him to return to prison.

Michaloliakos founded and presided over a party which was found to be a criminal organisation tied to the murder of an anti-fascist musician, as well as the attempted murder of Egyptian fishermen and communist activists.

It came third in Greece's 2012 elections on an anti-immigrant, nationalist vote fuelled by economic hardship due to the country's financial crisis.

Michaloliakos himself has been an admirer of Nazism and gave the Hitler salute at party rallies. While Golden Dawn officially denied being a neo-Nazi movement, it adopted Nazi-influenced iconography.

He and its former MPs were found guilty of running or belonging to the criminal group.

Greece's New Left party said in a statement to state media that Michaloliakos's release was "a serious blow to the collective memory and the struggle for democracy and justice", adding that the justice system "cannot send a message of impunity to those who embodied hatred and fascism".

The nation's communist party KKE said the decision should be overturned, adding Golden Dawn's "crimes are not time-limited in the consciousness of the people and the youth".

Colombia's highest court has ruled that Meta violated a porn star's right to freedom of expression when it deleted her Instagram account.

The South American nation's Constitutional Court said on Friday that the tech firm had removed Esperanza Gómez's account "without a clear and transparent justification" and without offering similar treatment to other, similar accounts.

The 45-year-old, whose account had more than five million followers, is one of Colombia's best known adult content actresses.

Meta argued in the case that she had violated its rules on nudity. The company, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, did not immediately react to the ruling.

Ms Gómez had alleged that the closure of her account had affected her ability to work and had been influenced by her pornographic work beyond the platform. She also claimed Meta had not followed due process.

In its ruling, the court said that, while it recognised the social media platform's need to moderate content, this did not justify closing a porn star's account "without a clear and transparent justification".

It also found Meta "applied its policies on nudity and sexual services inconsistently", with other accounts with similar content remaining active.

The court said social media posts were protected under Colombia's constitution and should only be limited in a proportionate way where necessary.

It ordered Meta to "review and adjust Instagram's terms of use and privacy policy so that users are clearly aware of the mechanisms for challenging moderation decisions" and "more precisely define" its rules on implicit sexual content.

If social media platforms use offline activities as a criterion for content moderation, they must clearly state these, the court said.

The court did not specify sanctions for non-compliance, nor whether Ms Gómez would receive any redress.

The BBC has contacted Meta for comment.

It is not the first time that a South American court has required a social network to change its policies.

Brazil's Supreme Court recent ruled that social media were directly liable for illegal content, including hate speech, and must immediately act to remove it and accounts proliferating it.

That ruling followed a judge ordering the suspension of dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation.

It led to the social media platform briefly being banned in Brazil, before it began complying with the ruling and paid a $5.1 (£3.8m) fine.

Memphis, Tennessee, is the next US city where President Donald Trump is sending National Guard troops as part his ongoing crackdown on crime in Democrat-led cities.

Trump made the announcement during a wide-ranging interview on Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends on Friday, and said the city's mayor, a Democrat, is "happy" about the decision, as is the state's governor, a Republican.

The deployment to Memphis would mark an escalation in the president's use of troops and comes roughly a month after he sent the National Guard to the streets of Washington DC.

Memphis has one of the highest rates of crime in the US, with 2,501 violent crimes per 100,000 people, data from the FBI shows.

"We're going to Memphis," Trump said, without giving details of when troops would arrive. "Memphis is deeply troubled."

He said he also wanted to lower crime in New Orleans and Chicago.

The country has been wondering for weeks if he would deploy troops to Chicago, as his "Operation Midway Blitz" for immigration enforcement ramps up. On Friday Trump appeared to indicate he had chosen to send the National Guard to Memphis instead of the midwestern city, saying "I would have preferred going to Chicago."

The Memphis mayor did not respond to a BBC request for comment confirming Trump's announcement.

Earlier in the week, the mayor, Paul Young, released a statement saying he had been in talks with the Trump administration about bringing in federal support for the city's police department.

"What we need most are financial resources for intervention and prevention, additional patrol officers, and case support to strengthen investigations," Young said.

"Memphis is already making measurable progress in bringing down crime, and we support initiatives that help accelerate the pace of the work our officers, community partners, and residents are doing every day."

Trump took charge of the Washington DC's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) on 11 August and activated the National Guard.

The takeover of the local police department was valid for 30 days which expired earlier this week.

Hundreds of arrests were made during those 30 days, the White House said, and Trump has said DC is now "virtually crime free".

Despite that, troops are expected to remain in the nation's capital for the foreseeable future, and many of them can be seen around the city helping with trash collection and mulching.

Since the DC deployment, Trump has threatened to send the National Guard to Baltimore, Chicago and New Orleans.

The use of National Guard to support law enforcement has come under scrutiny by legal experts, with some concerned about using the military against civilians.

A court recently said Trump's previous deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles earlier this year was unlawful, but said the ruling does not apply to the deployment of troops elsewhere.

More Nato countries will move their troops and fighter jets eastwards in response to Wednesday's unprecedented Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace.

Denmark, France and Germany have joined a new mission to bolster the military alliance's eastern flank. Other Nato allies are expected to take part later.

It came as the Kremlin said on Friday that peace talks with Kyiv were on "pause", with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying: "You can't wear rose-tinted glasses and expect that the negotiation process will yield immediate results."

Political tensions have been high across Europe after Poland said 19 Russian drones had flown through its airspace on Wednesday. Some were shot down, while others crashed into fields and even a house in eastern Poland.

Russia's military said it had "no plans to target facilities" in Poland - but Polish and European leaders believe the incursion was deliberate.

According to the Danish defence ministry, Denmark will contribute two F-16 fighter jets to support Poland's air defence, and a warship.

"Denmark fully supports Poland in this situation," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. "We must not be naive. Putin will stop at nothing, and he is testing us. Therefore, it is crucial... Denmark is contributing to this."

France will contribute three Rafale fighter jets, and Germany will give four Eurofighters.

The UK is "fully committed" to help strengthen the Eastern Sentry, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement, adding that it will provide more details soon.

On Friday, European countries - and the US - stood by Poland during an urgent UN Security Council session in New York discussing Russia's drone incursion.

"The United States stands by our Nato allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations," acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea said. "And rest assured, we will defend every inch of Nato territory.

She added that since Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a summit in Alaska nearly a month ago to discuss peace, "Russia has intensified its bombing campaign against Ukraine".

While addressing the UN on Friday, Poland's Secretary of State Marcin Bosacki held up photos of one of the downed drones, and a damaged house.

"We know - and I repeat - we know that it was not a mistake," he said.

The Netherlands and Czech Republic have already said they would send defences to Poland, while Lithuania will receive a German brigade and greater warning of Russian attacks on Ukraine that could cross over.

Germany also said it would "intensify its engagement along Nato's eastern border" and extend and expand air policing over Poland.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed a man near Chicago on Friday after he allegedly drove his car at a group of agents.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE had been trying to arrest the man, but he resisted and drove towards the group. An agent was then dragged along by his vehicle.

The agent, who the department said feared for his life, drew his gun and opened fire.

The driver, Silverio Villegas-Gonzales, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after, officials said.

"During a vehicle stop, the suspect resisted and attempted to drive his vehicle into the arrest team, striking an officer and subsequently dragging him as he fled the scene," a statement said.

The ICE agent suffered "severe injuries" in the incident, officials said, but was in a stable condition in hospital.

The Department of Homeland Security said Mr Villegas-Gonzales had a history of reckless driving and was an undocumented migrant. He entered the country "at an unknown date and time", they said.

A spokesperson for the local police department in Franklin Park said they had not been involved in the incident.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wrote in an online post: "This is a developing situation and the people of Illinois deserve a full, factual accounting of what's happened today to ensure transparency and accountability."

Franklin Park is a suburb of around 18,000 people near O'Hare Airport, north-west of Chicago. Around half of its population is Hispanic.

Immigration officials have been ramping up enforcement activities in the Chicago area this week on the orders of the Trump administration.

Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, has given a tearful address in which she thanked first responders for trying to save her husband's life after he was fatally shot on a Utah university campus.

In a livestream, standing beside her husband's empty chair that he used during podcast tapings, she quoted the Bible and spoke about his love for President Donald Trump, Vice-President JD Vance, the United States, and the couple's two children.

Kirk, a right-wing activist, was shot dead on Wednesday during an open-air speaking event in Orem, Utah. His suspected killer, Tyler Robinson, was arrested on Thursday night after surrendering to police.

In her remarks, Mrs Kirk pledged: "My husband's voice will remain".

The broadcast from Turning Point USA's headquarters in Arizona began with several minutes of silence, as the camera framed Charlie Kirk's empty chair.

As his widow started speaking, she looked upwards and whispered a silent prayer.

She then thanked first responders who tried to save him, her husband's staff, and the White House.

"Mr President, my husband loved you. And he knew that you loved him too," she said tearfully, also thanking Vance and his wife Usha for accompanying the casket back to Arizona.

"But most of all, Charlie loved his children. And he loved me. With all his heart. And he made sure I knew that everyday."

Addressing "evil-doers," Mrs Kirk said: "You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.

"They should all know this: If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world."

Her husband's tour of US university campuses will continue throughout the fall, and in the years ahead, she said, without offering further details. His podcast will also continue.

Erika Kirk also spoke of their one-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, saying that she was at a loss for how to explain their father's sudden death.

"Baby, daddy loves you so much. Don't you worry. He's on a work trip with Jesus," she told their daughter.

Mrs Kirk, 36, and their children were reportedly in the audience when her husband was shot.

• PROFILE: The conservative influencer who rallied a youth movement
• Who is Tyler Robinson, the shooting suspect?

Erika Kirk is a businesswoman and former Miss Arizona USA winner who met her husband in 2018. The couple were engaged by 2020 and wed less than a year later.

She is currently studying for a doctorate in Bible Studies, has launched a ministry programme and hosts the Midweek Rise Up podcast focused on Biblical leadership. Mrs Kirk also acts and models, and has a faith-based clothing line.

Although the children and the couple's home life are regular fixtures on her social media pages, they never publish images showing their children's faces.

Charlie Kirk, 31, a controversial figure in American political discourse, has been hailed by many as the future of American conservatism with a knack for energising young conservatives.

By mobilising the youth vote, he was an instrumental organiser in Donald Trump's Maga coalition and helped return Trump to the White House for a second term.

Kirk was a strong supporter of gun rights, vehemently opposed abortion, was critical of transgender rights and promoted false claims about Covid-19.

His views were polarising on the college campuses where he held large events, and his provocative speeches would draw crowds of vocal opponents as well as fans.

His supporters said he was relatable and understood their concerns. But his views drew fierce liberal criticism, and his critics said Kirk's rhetoric hurt people - especially those in the LGBTQ+ community.

• Young fans and critics debate Charlie Kirk's political legacy

Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University during Turning Point USA's The American Comeback Tour, a speaking engagement that took him to several college campuses throughout the states.

He was shot during his viral Prove Me Wrong debate while taking a question about gun violence and transgender people in the US.

Trump has announced that he will award Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom - the highest civilian honour a president can bestow - describing his friend and ally as a "giant of his generation and a champion of liberty".

The president said that Mrs Kirk "is absolutely devastated."

Turning Point USA, the organization Charlie Kirk founded when he was 18 years old, also referred to its co-founder as a "martyr" and "pioneer".

"Charlie was the ideal husband and the perfect father. Above all else, we ask you to pray for the Kirks after the incomprehensible loss they have suffered," the organization said in a statement to the BBC on Thursday.

Vice-President JD Vance flew to Salt Lake City, Utah, on Thursday to retrieve Kirk's casket and transport it to Phoenix, Arizona - where Kirk's family lives - on the vice-presidential aircraft, Air Force Two.

Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance travelled with Kirk's family and some of his friends to Arizona.

More Nato countries will move their troops and fighter jets eastwards in response to Wednesday's unprecedented Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace.

Denmark, France and Germany have joined a new mission to bolster the military alliance's eastern flank. Other Nato allies are expected to take part later.

It came as the Kremlin said on Friday that peace talks with Kyiv were on "pause", with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying: "You can't wear rose-tinted glasses and expect that the negotiation process will yield immediate results."

Political tensions have been high across Europe after Poland said 19 Russian drones had flown through its airspace on Wednesday. Some were shot down, while others crashed into fields and even a house in eastern Poland.

Russia's military said it had "no plans to target facilities" in Poland - but Polish and European leaders believe the incursion was deliberate.

According to the Danish defence ministry, Denmark will contribute two F-16 fighter jets to support Poland's air defence, and a warship.

"Denmark fully supports Poland in this situation," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. "We must not be naive. Putin will stop at nothing, and he is testing us. Therefore, it is crucial... Denmark is contributing to this."

France will contribute three Rafale fighter jets, and Germany will give four Eurofighters.

The UK is "fully committed" to help strengthen the Eastern Sentry, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement, adding that it will provide more details soon.

On Friday, European countries - and the US - stood by Poland during an urgent UN Security Council session in New York discussing Russia's drone incursion.

"The United States stands by our Nato allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations," acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea said. "And rest assured, we will defend every inch of Nato territory.

She added that since Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a summit in Alaska nearly a month ago to discuss peace, "Russia has intensified its bombing campaign against Ukraine".

While addressing the UN on Friday, Poland's Secretary of State Marcin Bosacki held up photos of one of the downed drones, and a damaged house.

"We know - and I repeat - we know that it was not a mistake," he said.

The Netherlands and Czech Republic have already said they would send defences to Poland, while Lithuania will receive a German brigade and greater warning of Russian attacks on Ukraine that could cross over.

Germany also said it would "intensify its engagement along Nato's eastern border" and extend and expand air policing over Poland.

Nigerian chef and former Guinness World Record holder, Hilda Baci, has attempted to make the world's largest pot of jollof rice, a popular West African dish.

Thousands of people gathered in Lagos to watch the food influencer's latest world record bid, after once holding the 2023 title for the longest cooking marathon - an exhausting 93 hours and 11 minutes - nearly four days.

Her gigantic jollof rice recipe included 4,000kg (8,800 lb) of rice, 500 cartons of tomato paste and 600kg of onions - all poured into a custom-made pot of almost 23,000 litres.

The dish took several hours to cook and now must be validated by the Guinness World Record with photo and video evidence of the achievement.

Baci, 28, told BBC Pidgin that it took her one year to plan how she would tackle the mammoth challenge.

"We are the giant of Africa, and jollof is a food that everybody knows Africans for," she said.

"It would make sense if we had the biggest pot of jollof rice, it would be nice for the country."

Manufacturing the giant steel vessel to hold her dish took a culinary team of 300 people two months to make.

Working with a group of assistants wielding massive wooden spatulas, Baci's crowning dish was later distributed for everyone to enjoy.

Jollof rice is a staple of Nigerian cuisine, featuring rice simmered in a tomato based sauce, often paired with meat or seafood.

Hilda Baci won a competition for her version of jollof rice in 2021, and then became a national sensation in 2023 when she claimed the cooking marathon record.

Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, has given a tearful address in which she thanked first responders for trying to save her husband's life after he was fatally shot on a Utah university campus.

In a livestream, standing beside her husband's empty chair that he used during podcast tapings, she quoted the Bible and spoke about his love for President Donald Trump, Vice-President JD Vance, the United States, and the couple's two children.

Kirk, a right-wing activist, was shot dead on Wednesday during an open-air speaking event in Orem, Utah. His suspected killer, Tyler Robinson, was arrested on Thursday night after surrendering to police.

In her remarks, Mrs Kirk pledged: "My husband's voice will remain".

The broadcast from Turning Point USA's headquarters in Arizona began with several minutes of silence, as the camera framed Charlie Kirk's empty chair.

As his widow started speaking, she looked upwards and whispered a silent prayer.

She then thanked first responders who tried to save him, her husband's staff, and the White House.

"Mr President, my husband loved you. And he knew that you loved him too," she said tearfully, also thanking Vance and his wife Usha for accompanying the casket back to Arizona.

"But most of all, Charlie loved his children. And he loved me. With all his heart. And he made sure I knew that everyday."

Addressing "evil-doers," Mrs Kirk said: "You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.

"They should all know this: If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world."

Her husband's tour of US university campuses will continue throughout the fall, and in the years ahead, she said, without offering further details. His podcast will also continue.

Erika Kirk also spoke of their one-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, saying that she was at a loss for how to explain their father's sudden death.

"Baby, daddy loves you so much. Don't you worry. He's on a work trip with Jesus," she told their daughter.

Mrs Kirk, 36, and their children were reportedly in the audience when her husband was shot.

• PROFILE: The conservative influencer who rallied a youth movement
• Who is Tyler Robinson, the shooting suspect?

Erika Kirk is a businesswoman and former Miss Arizona USA winner who met her husband in 2018. The couple were engaged by 2020 and wed less than a year later.

She is currently studying for a doctorate in Bible Studies, has launched a ministry programme and hosts the Midweek Rise Up podcast focused on Biblical leadership. Mrs Kirk also acts and models, and has a faith-based clothing line.

Although the children and the couple's home life are regular fixtures on her social media pages, they never publish images showing their children's faces.

Charlie Kirk, 31, a controversial figure in American political discourse, has been hailed by many as the future of American conservatism with a knack for energising young conservatives.

By mobilising the youth vote, he was an instrumental organiser in Donald Trump's Maga coalition and helped return Trump to the White House for a second term.

Kirk was a strong supporter of gun rights, vehemently opposed abortion, was critical of transgender rights and promoted false claims about Covid-19.

His views were polarising on the college campuses where he held large events, and his provocative speeches would draw crowds of vocal opponents as well as fans.

His supporters said he was relatable and understood their concerns. But his views drew fierce liberal criticism, and his critics said Kirk's rhetoric hurt people - especially those in the LGBTQ+ community.

• Young fans and critics debate Charlie Kirk's political legacy

Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University during Turning Point USA's The American Comeback Tour, a speaking engagement that took him to several college campuses throughout the states.

He was shot during his viral Prove Me Wrong debate while taking a question about gun violence and transgender people in the US.

Trump has announced that he will award Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom - the highest civilian honour a president can bestow - describing his friend and ally as a "giant of his generation and a champion of liberty".

The president said that Mrs Kirk "is absolutely devastated."

Turning Point USA, the organization Charlie Kirk founded when he was 18 years old, also referred to its co-founder as a "martyr" and "pioneer".

"Charlie was the ideal husband and the perfect father. Above all else, we ask you to pray for the Kirks after the incomprehensible loss they have suffered," the organization said in a statement to the BBC on Thursday.

Vice-President JD Vance flew to Salt Lake City, Utah, on Thursday to retrieve Kirk's casket and transport it to Phoenix, Arizona - where Kirk's family lives - on the vice-presidential aircraft, Air Force Two.

Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance travelled with Kirk's family and some of his friends to Arizona.

Three Austrian nuns in their 80s have run away from the old people's home where they were placed and gone back to their former convent.

Sister Bernadette, 88, Sister Regina, 86, and Sister Rita, 82, are the last three nuns at the Kloster Goldenstein convent in Elsbethen, just outside Salzburg.

They regained access with the help of former students and a locksmith.

Church authorities are not happy - but the nuns are.

"I am so pleased to be home," Sister Rita said. "I was always homesick at the care home. I am so happy and thankful to be back."

The trio say they were taken out of the convent against their will in December 2023.

"We weren't asked," Sister Bernadette said. "We had the right to stay here until the end of our lives and that was broken."

The three nuns have spent much of their lives at Schloss Goldenstein, a castle which has been a convent and a private girls' school since 1877. The school, which started accepting boys in 2017, is still functioning.

Sister Bernadette attended the school herself, arriving as a teenager in 1948. One of her fellow students was the Austrian film actress Romy Schneider.

Sister Regina arrived at the convent in 1958, and Sister Rita four years later.

All three went on to work at the school as teachers for many years. Sister Regina was headmistress.

But the numbers of nuns dwindled.

In 2022, the building was taken over by the the Archdiocese of Salzburg and the Reichersberg Abbey, an Augustinian monastery. Provost Markus Grasl from the abbey became the nuns' superior.

The community was officially dissolved at the beginning of 2024, and the remaining nuns were granted lifelong right of residence, as long as their health and mental capacity allowed.

In December 2023, the decision was made to transfer them to a Catholic care home, where they were unhappy.

At the beginning of September, Sister Bernadette, Sister Rita and Sister Regina moved back, helped by a group of former students.

"I have been obedient all my life, but it was too much," Sister Bernadette said.

They packed up a few belongings and came back to the convent. The locks to their former apartments had been changed so a locksmith was called.

When they first arrived, there was no electricity or water.

In a statement, Provost Grasl said the nuns' decision to return to the convent was "completely incomprehensible" and "an escalation".

"The rooms in the convent are no longer usable and in no way meet the requirements for proper care," he said.

He said the nuns' "precarious health conditions" meant "that independent living at Goldenstein Convent was no longer possible".

Grasl said the old people's home had provided them with "absolutely essential, professional, and good medical care".

Many of the nuns' wishes about the future of the convent had been taken into account, he added, including the continuation of the school.

The three nuns are settling back in to their former home.

Electricity and water connections have now been partially restored, supporters are bringing food and groceries, and they have been seen by doctors.

There is a steady stream of visitors, many of whom are their former students.

One of them, Sophie Tauscher, said the nuns belong at the convent. "Goldenstein without the nuns is just not possible."

"When they need us, they just have to call us and we will be there, for sure. The nuns here changed so many lives in such a good way."

Alisha, another student said the nuns always recognised old pupils.

Videos of the nuns have been posted on Instagram, at prayer, at Mass, at lunch and climbing down the steep staircase.

They say their old stairlift was ripped out after they were taken away.

The nuns say they are determined to stay.

"Before I die in that old people's home, I would rather go to a meadow and enter eternity that way," said Sister Bernadette.

US President Donald Trump will soon make an unprecedented second state visit to the UK.

Trump, who will be accompanied by his wife Melania, was hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II in June 2019.

What is a state visit?

A state visit is a formal trip to the UK by the head of a country. They are usually arranged at the invitation of the monarch, acting on government advice.

As well as being grand occasions with lots of pageantry, governments use the visits to further Britain's interests.

Traditionally, US presidents serving a second term - such as Trump - are not offered a state visit. Instead, they are invited for tea or lunch with the monarch, as happened with former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush.

However, in February Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump an invitation from King Charles III during a White House meeting to discuss a UK-US trade deal. Sir Keir said the invite was "truly historic" and "unprecedented".

Trump said it was a "great, great honour".

When is Donald Trump's state visit to the UK?

Donald and Melania Trump will arrive in the UK on Tuesday 16 September and leave on Thursday 18 September.

King Charles will host the president and first lady at Windsor Castle on the Wednesday and Thursday.

The trip comes two months after the president spent four days in Scotland, where he met politicians and visited his golf courses.

• Donald Trump and the Scots: A not-so special relationship
• Police plan airspace restrictions for Trump visit
• How is Windsor preparing for Trump's visit?

What will Trump do during the state visit?

On arrival to the UK, the Trumps will be met by the US Ambassador Warren Stephens. The Viscount Hood, Lord-in-Waiting, will welcome them on behalf of The King.

On Wednesday, they will travel to Windsor Castle where they will be greeted by the Prince and Princess of Wales, before being formally welcomed by the King and Queen. A royal salute will be fired in Windsor and at the Tower of London.

Following lunch, the president will visit St George's Chapel in Windsor to lay a wreath on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II.

Later, there will be a flypast by UK and US F-35 military jets and the Red Arrows.

On Wednesday evening, a traditional state banquet will be held at the castle, during which both the King and president will deliver speeches.

On Thursday, the president will travel to Chequers to meet the prime minister.

They will view the Sir Winston Churchill archives before holding a meeting and a news conference.

Melania Trump will remain at Windsor Castle where she will tour the Royal Library and see Queen Mary's Dolls' House, a famous miniature palace built in the 1920s.

Mrs Trump will then meet Chief Scout Dwayne Fields with Catherine, who is joint president of the Scout Association.

She will then join her husband at Chequers before they return to the US.

• Police plan airspace restrictions for Trump visit
• How is Windsor preparing for Trump's visit?
• Trump shrugs off giving Parliament speech when he visits UK

What vehicles and personnel will President Trump bring to the UK?

Final details about the equipment and personnel accompanying President Trump's second state visit have yet to be confirmed.

Trump arrived in the UK for his 2019 state visit on the customised Boeing 747-200B aeroplane known as Air Force One.

The presidential motorcade - including two identical limousines nicknamed The Beast and other security and communications vehicles - was flown in on US Air Force transport aircraft.

During the 2019 visit more than 6,300 police officers were deployed at a cost to London's Metropolitan Police of £3.4m.

• 2019 state visit: What did Trump bring with him?

Are protests expected during Trump's state visit?

The Stop Trump coalition is planning a "Trump Not Welcome" demonstration in London on Wednesday 17 September.

It has called on the government to cancel the visit, accusing the US President of "denying climate science" and "siding with war criminals - in Israel, Russia and beyond".

The group organised protests in Aberdeen and Edinburgh during Trump's recent visit. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the two cities.

Trump was also booed by protesters who gathered along the perimeter of his Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire, and a paraglider flew over the resort hotel with a banner criticising his presidency.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he would boycott the ceremonial banquet for Trump to "send a message" over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Which other state visits has King Charles hosted?

Since King Charles succeeded Queen Elizabeth in September 2022, he has hosted state visits from a number of international leaders and royals:

• July 2025: French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte
• December 2024: Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his wife Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani
• June 2024: Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan
• November 2023: Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee

He and Queen Camilla have carried out state visits to France, Italy, Germany, Kenya and Australia.

A 22-year-old from Utah has been arrested over the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead while on stage at a university event earlier this week.

Tyler Robinson was taken into custody late on Thursday after a 33-hour manhunt that ended after his father helped persuade him to surrender to police.

His arrest was first announced by President Donald Trump, who called for the suspect to face the death penalty.

The killing of Kirk, who was shot while debating students on Wednesday, has shocked Americans and laid bare the country's sharp partisan political divisions.

At a news conference on Friday, investigators said the suspect confessed to his father and said he would rather take his own life than surrender. The father then called a youth pastor who is a family friend.

Both men tried to calm the suspect down, police said. The pastor, who also serves as a court security officer, later called the US Marshals who detained the suspect at around 22:00 local time on Thursday.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox said surveillance images showed Robinson arriving on the campus of Utah Valley University around four hours before a shot rang out, killing Kirk and sending students running for cover.

The governor told journalists that when he was taken into custody, he was wearing clothing similar to what was seen on CCTV cameras at the scene of the shooting.

He added that investigators had interviewed a family member who said the suspect had become more political in recent years.

Cox said the family member had spoken of a recent incident when Robinson had mentioned that Kirk was coming to Utah and that he "was full of hate and spreading hate".

Cox said investigators had also spoken to a roommate of the suspect who had shown them messages with an account named "Tyler" on the messaging app Discord.

The messages referred to a need to retrieve a rifle from "a drop point" and the rifle being left in a bush, wrapped in a towel.

The FBI said on Thursday they had found the suspected weapon - an imported Mauser .30-06 bolt action rifle - wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near campus.

Cox told reporters that inscriptions had been found engraved on casings recovered with the rifle, which had a scope mounted on top of it.

The inscriptions included "hey fascist! CATCH!" and "O Bella ciao, Bella ciao"

Bella ciao means "goodbye beautiful" in Italian. It is also the title of a song dedicated to the Italian resistance who fought against the occupying troops of Nazi Germany.

The Utah governor said he was not aware of any potential further arrests in the investigation.

State prosecutors said they planned to file formal charges against Robinson on Tuesday.

He is accused of aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, and felony discharge of a firearm, according to a Utah County Sheriff inmate booking sheet, obtained by the BBC.

Students at Utah Valley University told the BBC they were relieved by the arrest.

The campus has been closed since the shooting on Wednesday afternoon - with yellow police tape and police vehicles blocking much of the school.

"He was apprehended in Washington County, which is where I'm from," said first-year student McKinley Shinkle. "I just feel deeply ashamed."

"I'm definitely relieved," added McKinley's cousin Anthony. "I'm just anxious now to hear his motives and why this happened."

Public records reviewed by the BBC suggest Robinson had in the past registered as an unaffiliated, or nonpartisan, voter in Utah. Matthew Carl Robinson, the suspect's father, and Amber Denise Robinson, the suspect's mother, are registered Republicans, according to state records.

Voting records indicate that he did not vote in the last two presidential elections, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner. He was not old enough to vote in 2020.

The suspect lives in St George, Utah, near Zion National Park, about 250 miles (400km) south-west of the campus where Kirk was shot.

He is a third-year student in an electrical apprenticeship programme at Dixie Technical College in south-west Utah, where he lived, a spokesperson for Utah Valley University (UVU) tells the BBC.

Social media accounts indicate Robinson's father runs a kitchen countertop and cabinet installation business, while his mother is a social worker. The family is Mormon and active in the local church.

For government officials, being called "heartless" is an occupational hazard. But Albania has chosen to turn that insult into a positive quality, by appointing an AI minister.

Not a minister for artificial intelligence. Rather, a cabinet member who is, literally, the work of AI.

The new addition is, like a pop star, known simply by the single name: Diella.

Prime Minister Edi Rama introduced her as a member of his new cabinet on Thursday, four months after securing his fourth term in office in May elections.

However, the move was symbolic rather than official, as Albania's constitution insists that government ministers must be mentally competent citizens aged at least 18.

Still, the advantages of appointing a bot over a human are obvious.

Diella, whose name means sun in Albanian, is unlikely to be the source of any unflattering leaks about the government. She will only be power-hungry in the sense of the electricity she consumes. And a damaging expenses scandal would appear to be out of the question.

In fact, corruption was uppermost in Rama's mind when he made Diella part of his team as minister for public procurement.

Her role will be to ensure that Albania will become "a country where public tenders are 100% free of corruption".

"We're working with a brilliant team, which is not only Albanian but also international, to come out with the first full AI model in public procurement," the prime minister told the BBC.

"Not only will we wipe out every potential influence on public biddings – we will also make the process much faster, much more efficient and totally accountable."

Diella had already been working in Albania even before the government "appointment". Her first incarnation was as an AI-powered virtual assistant, guiding applicants through the process to obtain official documents.

Rama boasts that Diella has "helped more than a million applications" on the e-Albania platform. But his vision for AI's government role is a lot grander than a mere chatbot.

He talks of "leapfrogging" bigger, more advanced countries, which are still locked into "traditional ways of working".

Reactions to Diella's new role are, understandably, mixed. The opposition Democratic Party has labelled the initiative "ridiculous" and "unconstitutional".

But others are cautiously optimistic.

The founder of financial services company Balkans Capital, Aneida Bajraktari Bicja, notes that Edi Rama "often mixes reform with theatrics, so it's natural people wonder if this is symbolism". But she says the "'AI minister' could be constructive if it develops into real systems that improve transparency and trust in public procurement".

Anti-corruption experts have also noted the potential for AI to be deployed to minimise graft.

"AI is still a new tool – but if it is programmed correctly, when you put a bid in online, you can see clearly and more closely if a company meets the conditions and the criteria," says Dr Andi Hoxhaj of King's College London, a specialist in the Western Balkans, corruption and the rule of law.

He believes Albania's rapid progress in EU accession talks and encouragement from Brussels to complete the negotiations by 2027 mean that the country has a powerful incentive to tackle graft.

"There's a lot at stake," he says. "The main precondition from the EU has been to address corruption. If [Diella] is a vehicle or mechanism that could be used towards that goal, it's worth exploring."

Edi Rama does not deny that there is an element of a publicity stunt to his latest wheeze. But he insists that there is serious intent behind the playful presentation.

"It puts pressure on other members of the cabinet and national agencies to run and think differently. This is the biggest advantage I'm expecting from this minister," he says.

In other words, ministers beware: AI could be coming for their jobs as well.

The man accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been identified as Tyler Robinson, 22, a Utah native who had been living with his parents "for a long time", authorities said.

Mr Robinson was taken into custody on 12 September after a family member recognised him in surveillance images, a development investigators described as pivotal in ending a nationwide manhunt.

That family member was apparently Mr Robinson's father, who encouraged him to turn himself in, the BBC's US partner CBS News has reported, citing two law enforcement sources. The father then reportedly reached out to a family friend who contacted the sheriff's office.

At a press briefing on Friday announcing the arrest, FBI officials declined to discuss Mr Robinson's background, political leanings, or possible motive, saying the investigation was ongoing.

"We are confident we have the right individual in custody," an FBI spokesperson said, "but we are still working to establish the full picture of who he is and why he acted."

Utah Governor Spencer Cox said a family member interviewed by investigators stated that Mr Robinson had become "more political" in recent years.

The relative also said that during a dinner conversation before the attack, Mr Robinson had stated Kirk "was full of hate and spreading hate" and mentioned Kirk's upcoming event at Utah Valley University, according to Cox.

"They talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had," Cox said referring to the conversation.

Public records reviewed by the BBC suggest Mr Robinson had in the past registered as an unaffiliated, or nonpartisan, voter in Utah. Matthew Carl Robinson, the suspect's father, and Amber Denise Robinson, the suspect's mother, are registered Republicans, according to state records.

Mr Robinson was not enrolled at UVU, the site of the shooting.

Records reviewed by BBC Verify suggest he attended Utah State University in Logan for a single semester in 2021, possibly studying engineering. A photograph from that year shows him standing in front of the university's sign holding an acceptance letter.

Investigators say Mr Robinson was steeped in online culture, pointing to inscriptions on shell casings linked to the case.

Two casings displayed apparent references to online trolling humour. The inscription "notices bulges OwO what's this?" on a fired shell casing may refer to a "copypasta" - a piece of text that is repeated over and over again, often to troll people online. Another casing, that was unfired, was inscribed with the words "If you read this, you are gay lmao" - again an apparent reference to a trolling joke.

Meanwhile, other casings could be interpreted as sympathetic to Antifa, or the anti-fascist movement, a loose collection of far-left activists who have been active in the US over the last decade and often demonstrate against Trump policies and far-right groups.

One unfired casing had the words "Hey fascist! Catch!" and an up, right and three down arrows.

The three down arrows alone could be a common symbol used for anti-fascism. As a whole, the sequence of arrows could reference a cheat code in a video game - although this remains unclear, and authorities have not yet released images of the casings.

A second casing was inscribed with lyrics to the song "Bella Ciao" that honours World War Two-era partisans of the Italian resistance who fought Nazi Germany.

Authorities said Mr Robinson also appeared to have been active on Discord, the social media platform primarily used by gamers, but now also popular with other communities.

His roommate reportedly showed investigators a series of messages on Discord from a contact named "Tyler" referencing a rifle "drop point" and instructions about retrieving and hiding the weapon.

For now, Mr Robinson remains in custody as prosecutors prepare formal charges.

The investigation into his background, motives, and potential affiliations continues in what officials are calling one of the most significant political killings in recent US history.

A son of prominent South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko has told the BBC the family is confident a new inquest into his death 48 years ago will lead to the prosecution of those responsible.

Seen as a martyr in the struggle against white-minority rule, the Black Consciousness Movement founder died from a brain injury aged 30 almost a month after being arrested at a roadblock.

Police at the time said he had banged his head against a wall, but after apartheid ended in 1994, former officers admitted to assaulting him - although no-one has been prosecuted.

Nkosinathi Biko, who was six when his father died, said the country could not move forward without addressing its violent past.

"It's very clear in our minds as to what happened and how they killed Steve Biko," he told the BBC after the first hearing was held at the High Court in the southern city of Gqeberha - on the 48th anniversary of his father's death.

It is alleged that Biko, who had been subject to a "banning order" that restricted his movements and other activities at the time of his arrest in 1977, was tortured by five policemen while in detention.

"What is required from this process is simply to follow the facts, and we have no doubt that a democratic court, in a democratic state, will find that Steve Biko's murder was an act, orchestrated and executed by those who were with him - the five policemen who are implicated in this case," his son said.

• Ghosts of apartheid haunt South Africa as compensation anger brews
• South Africa's long wait for justice over apartheid crimes

On Friday, the judge heard that two people linked to the case remain alive, both now in their 80s.

Biko's death caused outrage in South Africa and was the subject of the 1987 Hollywood film Cry Freedom, starring Denzel Washington.

He had been a medical student at the University of Natal when he founded the Black Consciousness Movement, aimed at empowering and mobilising the urban black population.

He was determined to combat the psychological inferiority that many black South Africans felt after years of white-minority rule and at a time when anti-apartheid activists like Nelson Mandela had been silenced and incarcerated by the regime.

The new inquest comes five months after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a judicial inquiry into allegations of political interference in the prosecution of apartheid-era crimes.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), set up in 1996, uncovered apartheid-era atrocities like murder and torture, but few of these cases progressed to trial.

Biko's case was heard at the TRC, which is where the policemen involved admitted to having made false statements 20 years earlier, but they were not prosecuted.

"Accountability for our violent, brutal past is something that has evaded South African society," said Nkosinathi Biko.

"You cannot have the trauma that we had, the flow of blood in the streets orchestrated by a state against a people, and then you emerge with less than a handful of prosecutions ever being successfully made."

He said families who felt let down by the lack of prosecutions that had been recommended by the TRC had continued to pressure the government for justice.

"You can't give root to a democracy without dealing with some of the historical issues decisively," he said.

The case was adjourned until 12 November.

You may also be interested in:

• Remembering anti-apartheid legend Steve Biko
• LISTEN: Witness History on Steve Biko
• Timol inquest: Verdict gives hope to apartheid victims

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

Nepal's former Supreme Court chief justice Sushila Karki is set to become the country's interim prime minister after deadly anti-corruption protests ousted the government.

Karki, 73, will be the first woman to lead the impoverished Himalayan nation after a deal was reached with the protest leaders for her to be sworn in.

More than 50 people were killed in clashes with riot police during this week's mass protests sparked by a ban on social media platforms.

The ban was lifted on Monday - but by then protests had swelled into a mass movement. Angry crowds set fire to parliament and government buildings in the capital Kathmandu on Tuesday, forcing Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign.

Karki would take the oath of office on Friday evening, President Ram Chandra Poudel's press adviser confirmed to the BBC.

The agreement between the president and the protest leaders was reached after days of consultations. Legal experts were also involved.

Parliament is expected to be dissolved shortly.

Karki is widely regarded as a person of clean image, and is being supported by student leaders from the so-called "Gen Z" to lead the interim government.

Nepal's army has deployed patrols on the streets of Kathmandu, as the country reels from its worst unrest in decades.

The protests were triggered by the government's decision last week to ban 26 social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook - but they soon widened to embody much deeper discontent with Nepal's political elite.

In the weeks before the ban, a "nepo kid" campaign, spotlighting the lavish lifestyles of politicians' children and allegations of corruption, had taken off on social media.

And while the social media ban was hastily lifted on Monday night, the protests had by that stage gained unstoppable momentum.

The white armoured police van speeds into the eastern Ukrainian town of Bilozerske, a steel cage mounted across its body to protect it from Russian drones.

They'd already lost one van, a direct hit from a drone to the front of the vehicle; the cage, and powerful rooftop drone jamming equipment, offer extra protection. But still, it's dangerous being here: the police, known as the White Angels, want to spend as little time in Bilozerske as possible.

The small, pretty mining town, just nine miles (14km) from the front line, is slowly being destroyed by Russia's summer offensive. The local hospital and banks have long since closed. The stucco buildings in the town square are shattered from drone attacks, the trees along its avenues are broken and splintered. Neat rows of cottages with corrugated roofs and well-tended gardens stream past the car windows. Some are untouched, others burned-out shells.

A rough estimate is that 700 inhabitants remain in Bilozerske from a pre-war population of 16,000. But there is little evidence of them - the town already looks abandoned.

An estimated 218,000 people need evacuation from the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, including 16,500 children. The area, which is crucial to the country's defence, is bearing the brunt of Russia's invasion, including daily attacks from drones and missiles. Some are unable to leave, others unwilling. Authorities will help evacuate those in front-line areas, but they can't rehouse them once they're out of danger. And despite the growing threat from Russian drones there are those who would rather take their chances than leave their homes.

The police are looking for the house of one woman who does want to leave. Their van can't make it down one of the roads. So, on foot, a policeman goes searching, the hum of the drone jammer and its invisible protection receding as he heads down a lane.

Eventually he finds the woman under the eaves of her cottage, a sign on her door reading "People Live Here". She has dozens of bags and two dogs. It's too much for the police to carry: they already have evacuees and their belongings crammed inside the white van.

The woman faces a choice - leave behind her belongings, or stay. She decides to wait. There will be another evacuation team here soon and they will take her belongings too.

To stay or go is a life-or-death calculation. Civilian casualties in Ukraine reached a three-year high in July of this year, according to the latest available figures from the United Nations, with 1,674 people killed or injured. Most occur in front-line towns. The same month saw the highest number killed and injured by short-range drones since the start of the full-scale invasion, the UN said.

The nature of the threat to civilians in war has changed. Where once artillery and rocket strikes were the main threat, now they face being chased down by Russian first person view (FPV) drones, that follow and then strike.

As the police leave town, an old man pushing a bicycle appears. He's the only soul I see on the streets that day.

Most of those remaining in front-line towns are older people, who make up a disproportionate number of civilian casualties, according to the UN.

He tells me to move to the side of the road, out of the way of non-existent traffic. Volodymyr Romaniuk is 73 years old and is risking his life for the two cooking pots he's collected on the back of his bike. His sister-in-law's house was destroyed in a Russian attack, so he came today to salvage the pots.

Isn't he afraid of the drones, I ask. "What will be, will be. You know, at 73 years old, I'm not afraid anymore. I've already lived my life," he says.

He's in no rush to get off the streets. A former football referee, he slowly removes a folded card from his jacket pocket and shows me his official Collegium of Football Referees card. It's dated April 1986 – the month of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

He's from the west of Ukraine and could return there out of harm's way. "I stayed here for my wife," he tells me. She's had multiple surgeries and wouldn't be able to make the journey. And with that, he leaves, and heads home to care for his wife, the two metal pots on the back of his bike rattling as he moves along the empty street.

Slovyansk is further back from the front, 25km away, and faces a different drone threat. Shahed drones have been dubbed "flying mopeds" by Ukrainians because of their puttering engines. Swarms of them attack Slovyansk often. There is a change in the drone's hum before it dives and then explodes.

At night, Nadiia and Oleh Moroz hear them but still they won't leave Slovyansk. They have poured blood and sweat into this land - and at their son's graveside, tears too.

Serhii was 29, a lieutenant in the army killed by a cluster bomb near Svatove in November 2022. He and his father, Oleh, first fought together in 2015 against the Russians in Donbas. They worked side by side, as sappers.

Serhii's trident-shaped grave sits on a hillside overlooking Slovyansk, his portrait and a map of Ukraine on the polished black stone.

Nadiia, 53, visits often. On the afternoon I meet her, Russian artillery is landing on a nearby hillside. But she pays little attention as she fusses around the grave and whispers sweet nothings to her dead son.

"How can you lose the place where you were born, where you grew up, where your child grew up, where he found his final rest?" she tells me through tears. "And then to live your whole life with the feeling that you will never again visit this place - I cannot even imagine that right now."

But her husband Oleh, 55, admits they will have to leave when the fighting comes closer. "I won't stay here, the Russians would put a target on me straight away," he says. Until then they will stay under the nightly terror of drones so that they can remain close to their son's final resting place.

Life's challenges don't stop when war arrives. All Olha Zaiets wants is time to recover from her cancer surgery. Instead, the 53-year-old and her husband Oleksander Ponomarenko, 59, had to flee their home in Oleksandrivka. The Russians were only 7.5km away and the shelling became intense. Their postwoman was killed in a Russian bombardment, and the school principal too.

"There was a strike - a missile hit the neighbouring house. And the blast wave smashed our roof tiles, blew out the doors, the windows, the gates, the fence. We had just left, and two days later it hit. If we had been there, we would have died," she explains.

Now they are living, temporarily, in a borrowed house in Sviatohirsk. It isn't much better. We can hear shelling outside, the front line edges closer every day. But it will have to do. They have nowhere else to go.

"Yes, we will have to move farther away somewhere, but we don't know how or where," she says in a room crowded with their belongings, still waiting to be unpacked. Their life savings have gone on her hospital bills and now they are out of options.

On Tuesday they left the town to collect Olha's test results. The news was good and she won't have to undergo chemotherapy. "We were happy, we felt like we were flying on wings," she said.

But while they were gone, Russia bombed the nearby town of Yarova, 4km away. It was just before 11am and older people had left their homes and gathered to collect their pensions. Some 24 were killed and 19 wounded in one of the deadliest strikes on civilians in the war so far.

On Telegram, the head of the Donetsk administration, Vadym Filashkin, decried the attack. "This is not warfare – this is pure terrorism."

"I urge everyone," he said, "take care of yourselves. Evacuate to safer regions of Ukraine!"

Additional reporting by Liubov Sholudko

UK-Belarus dual citizen Julia Fenner, who is the wife of a British diplomat, has been freed from prison by Belarus as part of a broader release agreed with the US.

She had been given a long jail term last month after being detained on the border as she entered Belarus in March 2024.

UK Europe Minister Stephen Doughty said "it is great news that a British national has been brought home".

Fifty-two prisoners were freed from Belarus on Thursday as part of an agreement between US President Donald Trump and authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who is a close ally of Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

In exchange for the release of political prisoners, the US said it would relieve some sanctions on Belarusian airline Belavia, allowing the carrier to buy parts for its planes.

Stephen Doughty called the release "a significant breakthrough" and thanked the US for "substantial diplomatic efforts to secure this outcome".

The prisoners released included trade union leaders, journalists and activists, but more than 1,000 political prisoners remain in jail in Belarus.

Julia Fenner had previously worked at the British embassy in Minsk before marrying British diplomat Martin Fenner, according to human rights group Charter 97. Martin Fenner was deputy head of mission in Minsk for four years in the early 2000s.

Another rights group, Spring 96, recognised Mrs Fenner as a political prisoner who had been imprisoned in a penal colony.

Although the reason for Belarus charging her was never explained, she was accused under two articles of the criminal code, for active participation in actions that grossly violate public order and assistance to extremist activity.

All opposition has been quashed by Belarusian authoritarian leader Lukashenko, 71, who has been in power since 1994.

He described the release of the 52 prisoners as a humanitarian gesture, after meeting Donald Trump's special envoy John Coale in the capital Minsk on Thursday.

In a news conference on Friday, Belarus's exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya thanked the US president for securing the prisoners' release.

An estimated 1,300 political prisoners remain in jail in Belarus, but Tikhanovskaya said the release of the 52 prisoners on Thursday was a step in the right direction.

"What happened yesterday wasn't a real freedom," she warned. "It was forced deportation".

The opposition leader added that she is "very worried about the fate of Mikola Statkevich" - a veteran dissident who refused to leave Belarus yesterday and cross into Lithuania.

Tikhanovskaya yesterday posted pictures online appearing to show 69-year-old Mr Statkevich sitting in no man's land at the border.

Statkevich had stood against Lukashenko in 2010 presidential elections and had been in jail for five years when he was released.

Tikhanovskaya said his whereabouts is now unknown but added "everyone who is released has the right to choose either to stay or to leave".

Spring 96 said Mr Statkevich "wants to be with his people under any conditions" and adds "he is going to leave only when Belarus is free from Lukashenko".

Lukashenko praised the US for taking "a very constructive stance on the so-called political prisoners", according to Belarusian state-owned news agency Belta.

"We do not need political prisoners or any other prisoners," he was quoted as saying.

Many of those still in detention were arrested during a brutal crackdown in 2020, when protests broke out against a presidential election widely condemned as rigged.

Lukashenko has long referred to Vladimir Putin as his "elder brother" and the Russian leader helped him during the 2020 protests.

In February 2022, Putin used Belarusian territory to launch his full-scale invasion of Ukraine and on Friday the two countries began five days of joint major military exercises.

Nato members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, which all share a border with Belarus, are on high alert because of the "Zapad-2025" drills. Poland has closed its borders with Belarus and Latvia has shut part of its airspace.

A pilot and co-pilot have tested positive for alcohol after the plane they were operating veered off the runway when landing in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) screened the pair after the accident in July, at the Port Harcourt International Airport. In addition, a crew member tested positive for cannabis.

All 103 people on board the Boeing 737 at the time of the incident were unharmed.

Air Peace, the company that operated the flight, said the 64-year-old pilot has been sacked for failing to adhere to safety regulations, while the co-pilot has since returned to his role.

In a statement, Air Peace said the co-pilot was acquitted by the national regulator, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), following preliminary investigations and a clean bill of health.

Tests carried out by the NSIB found the pilot and co-pilot had tested positive for Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG), which indicates recent alcohol consumption.

A cabin crew member also tested positive for (THC), the psychoactive component in cannabis.

In a statement, Air Peace said it had not received any toxicology test results from the NSIB.

"We are yet to receive any official communication from the NSIB on such findings over a month after the incident and after the testing of the crew for alcohol which took place in less than an hour of the incident," Air Peace said.

The pilot had a total flying time of over 18,000 hours, while the co-pilot, aged 28, had almost 1,200 hours.

The NSIB says its investigations are still in progress. For now, it has recommended improved training and the reinforcement of internal procedures.

Although there have been no plane crashes in Nigeria for several years, there have been cases of aircraft overshooting the runway and tyres bursting during landing.

Earlier this month, aviation authorities launched a new flight data centre aimed at improving aircraft safety but stakeholders say further protective measures and improved technology need to be deployed in the sector.

You may also be interested in:

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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

The United Nations Security Council has condemned Israel's strikes on a residential compound in the Qatari capital Doha, which targeted senior members of Hamas.

The statement - which did not directly name Israel - was backed by all 15 Security Council members, including the US, which traditionally blocks actions against its close ally.

"Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar," read the statement, drafted by the UK and France. Israel defended its decision to mount the attack.

Qatar has played a key role in brokering diplomatic efforts to end the Israel-Gaza war, serving as a mediator of indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.

It has hosted the Hamas political bureau since 2012 and is a close US ally, hosting a large American airbase in the desert south-west of Doha.

The emergency meeting was requested by Qatar, Algeria, Pakistan and Somalia. Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani travelled to New York to attend.

"This attack puts the international community before a test," al-Thani told the council.

"Israel, led by blusterous extremists, has gone beyond any borders, any limitations when it comes to behaviour. We are unable to predict what Israel will do. How can we host Israeli representatives when they have committed this attack?"

Pakistan's ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said: "It is evident that Israel, the occupying power, is bent on doing everything to undermine and blow up every possibility of peace".

Meanwhile, Algeria's ambassador Amar Bendjama said the Security Council remained "constrained" as it was "unable even to name the aggressor, to qualify aggression as a violation of international law".

Israel's representative, Danny Danon, defended the attack, telling the meeting: "This strike sends a message that should echo across this chamber. There is no sanctuary for terrorists, not in Gaza, not in Tehran, not in Doha."

For a Security Council statement to be issued, all 15 members must sign off on the text. The US has long-blocked statements critical of Israel - making its backing of this one, though Israel is not named, notable.

US President Donald Trump earlier criticised Israel's strikes, writing that unilaterally striking inside Qatar "does not advance Israel or America's goals".

However, he added that "this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for PEACE", and that the elimination of Hamas was a "worthy goal".

The strikes on Doha shocked many in the region, who had long assumed that close relations with the US would offer security.

In May, Trump announced a "historic" economic agreement signed between Qatar and the US that he said was valued at least $1.2 trillion (£890bn).

Qatar also recently gifted Trump a plane - valued at $400m - as an "unconditional gift" to be used as the new Air Force One, the official aircraft of the US president.

On Friday, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) summoned the deputy Israeli ambassador over the Israeli strike on Doha as well as what it described as "hostile and unacceptable" remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The UAE normalised diplomatic ties with Israel under the 2020 Abraham Accords, a US-brokered agreement which led to co-operation across a range of issues, from security to the economy.

The accords, which were also signed by Morocco, Bahrain and Sudan, are widely seen as one of Donald Trump's major foreign policy achievements from his first term in office.

Hamas said that its negotiating team survived Israel's strikes on Doha on Tuesday, but that five of its members were killed, including the son of the group's chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya. A Qatari security officer was also killed.

Secondary schools in two neighbouring towns in the Netherlands were told to shut on Friday because of a spate of violence involving two groups of young people.

All five schools in Beverwijk and Heemskerk have been closed in a bid to restore calm after images circulated of teenagers being attacked, along with AI-generated videos showing fake explosions at two schools.

Beverwijk Mayor Martijn Smit has issued a three-day emergency order, banning all gatherings of three or more people and designating areas as "high-risk" to prevent potential gun use.

"Parents were worried about their children going into school," Smit told NOS Radio, "so it was wisest to have a day of calm and then go back on Monday."

Two rival groups of youths have been blamed for the escalating violence, which apparently began with serious damage caused to a school in Beverwijk last week. Police said a 22-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of vandalism.

Fighting then broke out and a boy was seriously hurt. One unverified TikTok video has emerged showing the boy being kicked in the head with his mouth covered in tape.

The mayor said people were scared and that "very nasty videos" were being shared involving abuse of young people, adding: "People's pants are being ripped off, their genitals are being filmed and posted online - and really I think that's enough."

Dutch Justice Minister Foort van Oosten said it was "incredibly sad that the schools have had to decide to do this" as it was children's right to go to school.

Police said in a statement that they were working to "restore calm and ensure safety in the area", and had the authority under the emergency orders from the mayors of Beverwijk and Heemskerk to conduct preventative searches and order groups to disperse.

Sports clubs have cancelled evening training sessions, with the local DEM club saying that was when disturbances were taking place.

"It's difficult to imagine this going on in normal life," said the leader of the BBB farmer-citizen movement Caroline de Plas. "We're going completely crazy."

The number of people in Japan aged 100 or older has risen to a record high of nearly 100,000, its government has announced.

Setting a new record for the 55th year in a row, the number of centenarians in Japan was 99,763 as of September, the health ministry said on Friday. Of that total, women accounted for an overwhelming 88%.

Japan has the world's longest life expectancy, and is known for often being home to the world's oldest living person - though some studies contest the actual number of centenarians worldwide.

It is also one of the fastest ageing societies, with residents often having a healthier diet but a low birth rate.

The oldest person in Japan is 114-year-old Shigeko Kagawa, a woman from Yamatokoriyama, a suburb of the city Nara. Meanwhile, the oldest man is Kiyotaka Mizuno, 111, from the coastal city of Iwata.

Health minister Takamaro Fukoka congratulated the 87,784 female and 11,979 male centenarians on their longevity and expressed his "gratitude for their many years of contributions to the development of society".

The figures were released ahead of Japan's Elderly Day on 15 September, a national holiday where new centenarians receive a congratulatory letter and silver cup from the prime minister. This year, 52,310 individuals were eligible, the health ministry said.

In the 1960s, Japan's population had the lowest proportion of people aged over 100 of any G7 country - but that has changed remarkably in the decades since.

When its government began the centenarian survey in 1963, there were 153 people aged 100 or over.

That figure rose to 1,000 in 1981 and stood at 10,000 by 1998.

The higher life expectancy is mainly attributed to fewer deaths from heart disease and common forms of cancer, in particular breast and prostate cancer.

Japan has low rates of obesity, a major contributing factor to both diseases, thanks to diets low in red meat and high in fish and vegetables.

The obesity rate is particularly low for women, which could go some way to explaining why Japanese women have a much higher life expectancy than their male counterparts.

As increased quantities of sugar and salt crept into diets in the rest of the world, Japan went in the other direction - with public health messaging successfully convincing people to reduce their salt consumption.

But it's not just diet. Japanese people tend to stay active into later life, walking and using public transport more than elderly people in the US and Europe.

Radio Taiso, a daily group exercise, has been a part of Japanese culture since 1928, established to encourage a sense of community as well as public health. The three-minute routine is broadcast on television and practised in small community groups across the country.

However, several studies have cast doubt on the validity of global centenarian numbers, suggesting data errors, unreliable public records and missing birth certificates may account for elevated figures.

A government audit of family registries in Japan in 2010 uncovered more than 230,000 people listed as being aged 100 or older who were unaccounted for, some having in fact died decades previously.

The miscounting was attributed to patchy record-keeping and suspicions that some families may have tried to hide the deaths of elderly relatives in order to claim their pensions.

The national inquiry was launched after the remains of Sogen Koto, believed to be the oldest man in Tokyo at 111, were found in his family home 32 years after his death.

Russia says it downed 221 Ukrainian drones launched on its territory overnight, in one of the largest aerial assaults since May.

More than half of the drones were intercepted over the Bryansk and Smolensk regions, south-west of Moscow, where Lukoil facilities were reportedly targeted, the defence ministry said.

Authorities in the Leningrad region said 28 drones were brought down and that a fire had broken out on a vessel in the Baltic port of Primorsk, Russia's largest oil terminal. They added that the blaze was extinguished without casualties or leaks.

Meanwhile, officials said two civilians were killed in Ukraine's Sumy region when a Russian glide bomb struck a village near the border.

Interceptions were reported across at least nine other regions of Russia, including Kaluga, Novgorod and the Moscow area, where nine drones were said to have been destroyed. Debris was recorded across several areas, though Russian officials insisted there had been no casualties.

Seven people, including five civilians and two military personnel, were injured when a drone struck a bus in Bryansk, the region's Governor Alexander Bogomaz said.

Moscow's figures, which the BBC has been unable to independently verify, suggest Thursday night's attack constituted one of the largest Ukrainian aerial bombardments in over four months.

Russia said it destroyed a record 524 drones on 7 May. By comparison, Ukrainian officials said Russia had deployed 818 drones against their territory in recent weeks.

The aerial assault is being described as one of the most significant for the Leningrad region since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine three-and-a-half years ago. The attack saw operations at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport temporarily suspended.

Cross-border drone raids have become an increasingly prominent feature of the war. In July, a sustained Ukrainian drone attack forced the temporary closure of all of Moscow's airports.

In recent months Ukrainian strikes have reached deeper into Russian territory, hitting refineries, fuel depots and logistics hubs hundreds of miles from the frontlines.

Moscow has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy facilities over the summer as US-led efforts to reach a peace agreement stalled.

The attacks came ahead of the start of a major joint military exercise between Russia and ally Belarus on Friday, which is staged every four years.

But this time it is taking place just days after a number of Russian drones were shot down or fell on Poland, in what Warsaw called an unprecedented incursion into its airspace.

The Dutch public broadcaster, Avrotros, has confirmed the Netherlands will also boycott next year's Eurovision song contest if Israel is involved.

It follows Irish broadcaster RTÉ, which has said it will not take part if Israel does "given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza".

Eurovision will take place next in May 2026 in Vienna after Austrian singer JJ won this year following a nail-biting finish that saw him topple Israel from pole position at the very last minute.

In a statement which echoed RTÉ's, Avrotros said it too could no longer justify Israel's inclusion "given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza" and the "serious erosion of press freedom".

It continued: "Human suffering, the suppression of press freedom and political interference are at odds with the values of public broadcasting."

The Dutch broadcaster went on to cite the Israeli ban on international media from entering war-torn Gaza, as well as the "many casualties among journalists".

On Friday, Irish musician and songwriter Phil Coulter called on the UK to withdraw from Eurovision 2026 if Israel participates.

The BBC - the UK's Eurovision broadcaster - has so far declined to comment.

Mr Coulter said he was "100% behind RTÉ" in their decision to withdraw from the contest, and that people in the UK and Ireland are both "disgusted by what's going on in Gaza".

Coulter has written or co-written several songs for Eurovision, including the UK's 1967 winning song, Puppet on a String, which singer Jade Thirlwall sampled last year.

RTÉ said it will make a final decision once the Eurovision organiser, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has done so.

Earlier this year, more than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling on the organisers to ban Israel from the 2025 competition.

Russia says it downed 221 Ukrainian drones launched on its territory overnight, in one of the largest aerial assaults since May.

More than half of the drones were intercepted over the Bryansk and Smolensk regions, south-west of Moscow, where Lukoil facilities were reportedly targeted, the defence ministry said.

Authorities in the Leningrad region said 28 drones were brought down and that a fire had broken out on a vessel in the Baltic port of Primorsk, Russia's largest oil terminal. They added that the blaze was extinguished without casualties or leaks.

Meanwhile, officials said two civilians were killed in Ukraine's Sumy region when a Russian glide bomb struck a village near the border.

Interceptions were reported across at least nine other regions of Russia, including Kaluga, Novgorod and the Moscow area, where nine drones were said to have been destroyed. Debris was recorded across several areas, though Russian officials insisted there had been no casualties.

Seven people, including five civilians and two military personnel, were injured when a drone struck a bus in Bryansk, the region's Governor Alexander Bogomaz said.

Moscow's figures, which the BBC has been unable to independently verify, suggest Thursday night's attack constituted one of the largest Ukrainian aerial bombardments in over four months.

Russia said it destroyed a record 524 drones on 7 May. By comparison, Ukrainian officials said Russia had deployed 818 drones against their territory in recent weeks.

The aerial assault is being described as one of the most significant for the Leningrad region since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine three-and-a-half years ago. The attack saw operations at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport temporarily suspended.

Cross-border drone raids have become an increasingly prominent feature of the war. In July, a sustained Ukrainian drone attack forced the temporary closure of all of Moscow's airports.

In recent months Ukrainian strikes have reached deeper into Russian territory, hitting refineries, fuel depots and logistics hubs hundreds of miles from the frontlines.

Moscow has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy facilities over the summer as US-led efforts to reach a peace agreement stalled.

The attacks came ahead of the start of a major joint military exercise between Russia and ally Belarus on Friday, which is staged every four years.

But this time it is taking place just days after a number of Russian drones were shot down or fell on Poland, in what Warsaw called an unprecedented incursion into its airspace.

The North Korean government is increasingly implementing the death penalty, including for people caught watching and sharing foreign films and TV dramas, a major UN report has found.

The dictatorship, which remains largely cut off from the world, is also subjecting its people to more forced labour while further restricting their freedoms, the report added.

The UN Human Rights Office found that over the past decade the North Korean state had tightened control over "all aspects of citizens' lives".

"No other population is under such restrictions in today's world," it concluded, adding that surveillance had become "more pervasive", helped in part by advances in technology.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said that if this situation continued, North Koreans "will be subjected to more of the suffering, brutal repression and fear that they have endured for so long".

The report, which is based on more than 300 interviews with people who escaped from North Korea in the past 10 years, found that the death penalty is being used more often.

At least six new laws have been introduced since 2015 that allow for the penalty to be handed out. One crime which can now be punished by death is the watching and sharing of foreign media content such as films and TV dramas, as Kim Jong Un works to successfully limit people's access to information.

Escapees told UN researchers that from 2020 onwards there had been more executions for distributing foreign content. They described how these executions are carried out by firing squads in public to instil fear in people and discourage them from breaking the law.

Kang Gyuri, who escaped in 2023, told the BBC that three of her friends were executed after being caught with South Korean content. She was at the trial of one 23-year-old friend who was sentenced to death.

"He was tried along with drug criminals. These crimes are treated the same now," she said, adding that since 2020 people had become more afraid.

Such experiences run counter to what North Korean people had expected from the past decade.

When the current leader Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011, the escapees who were interviewed said they had hoped their lives would improve, as Kim had promised they would no longer need to "tighten their belts" – meaning they would have enough to eat. He promised to grow the economy, while also protecting the country by further developing its nuclear weapons.

But the report found that since Kim shunned diplomacy with the West and the US in 2019, instead focusing on his weapons programme, people's living situations and human rights had "degraded".

Almost everyone interviewed said they did not have enough to eat, and having three meals a day was a "luxury". During the Covid pandemic, many escapees said there had been a severe lack of food, and people across the country died of hunger.

At the same time, the government cracked down on the informal marketplaces where families would trade, making it harder for them to make a living. It also made it nearly impossible to escape from the country, by tightening controls along the border with China and ordering troops to shoot those trying to cross.

"In the early days of Kim Jong Un, we had some hope, but that hope did not last long," said one young woman who escaped in 2018 at the age of 17.

"The government gradually blocked people from making a living independently, and the very act of living became a daily torment," she testified to researchers.

The UN report said that "Over the past 10 years the government has exercised near total control over people, leaving them unable to make their own decisions" - be they economic, social or political. The report added that improvements in surveillance technology had helped make this possible.

One escapee told researchers these government crackdowns were intended "to block people's eyes and ears".

"It is a form of control aimed at eliminating even the smallest signs of dissatisfaction or complaint," they said, speaking anonymously.

The report also found the government is using more forced labour than it was a decade ago. People from poor families are recruited into "shock brigades" to complete physically demanding tasks, such as construction or mining projects.

The workers hope this will improve their social status, but the work is hazardous, and deaths are common. Rather than improve workers' safety, however, the government glorifies deaths, labelling them as a sacrifice to Kim Jong Un. In recent years it has even recruited thousands of orphans and street children, the report claims.

This latest research follows a groundbreaking UN commission of inquiry report in 2014, which found, for the first time, that the North Korean government was committing crimes against humanity. Some of the most severe human rights violations were discovered to be taking place at the country's notorious political prison camps, where people can be locked up for life and "disappeared".

This 2025 report finds that at least four of these camps are still operating, while detainees in regular prisons are still being tortured and abused.

Many escapees said they had witnessed prisoners die from ill treatment, overwork and malnutrition, though the UN did hear of "some limited improvements" at the facilities, including "a slight decrease in violence by guards".

The UN is calling for the situation to be passed to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

However, for this to happen, it would need to be referred by the UN Security Council. Since 2019, two of its permanent members, China and Russia, have repeatedly blocked attempts to impose new sanctions on North Korea.

Last week, Kim Jong Un joined the Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade in Beijing, signalling these countries' tacit acceptance of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and treatment of its citizens.

As well as urging the international community to act, the UN is asking the North Korean government to abolish its political prison camps, end the use of the death penalty and teach its citizens about human rights.

"Our reporting shows a clear and strong desire for change, particularly among (North Korea's) young people," said the UN human rights chief, Mr Türk.