A federal judge in New York has ruled the US Department of Justice can publicly release grand jury materials from Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking investigation.

US District Judge Paul Engelmayer said he was ordering the release of material because of a recent law passed by Congress, which requires the justice department to publish files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein by the end of next week.

In his ruling, he said the court would put in place mechanisms to protect victims from the release of materials that would "identify them or otherwise invade their privacy".

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in luring underage girls for Epstein, her former boyfriend, to exploit. Epstein died in prison in 2019.

Prosecutors argued Maxwell recruited and groomed girls, some as young as 14, between 1994 and 2004, before they were abused by Epstein.

Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, was moved from a Florida prison to a new minimum-security facility in Texas in August, after she was interviewed by Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche about Epstein.

In a letter to Judge Engelmayer, Maxwell's legal team said she did not take a position on the justice department's motion to release the grand jury material.

Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, which has released thousands of files and messages it subpoenaed from Epstein's estate, said the unsealing was a "victory for transparency".

"These files are now part of the Epstein files held by the Department of Justice, and must be turned over to the Oversight Committee in response to our subpoena," he said.

The order to publish the records followed a similar ruling from a judge in Florida on Friday, which allowed for the unsealing of documents related to the state's investigation against Epstein that began in 2005.

Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in November after previously rejecting calls to release the files.

The law "applies to unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" that relate to Epstein and Maxwell, a court order said.

The justice department has until 19 December to publicly release all the information from federal investigations into Epstein, though the law also allows the department to withhold files that involve active criminal investigations or raise privacy concerns.

Florida and New York judges had previously refused to unseal grand jury materials related to Epstein, citing federal rules that require grand jury processes to be kept secret.

But after Congress passed the bill to release the Epstein material, the justice department made the same request, arguing the legislation's "clear mandate" should "override" those secrecy rules.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu faces a crucial test on Tuesday as the country's divided parliament prepares to vote on a 2026 budget bill.

If Lecornu fails to win a majority in the National Assembly for his social security budget, it bodes ill for the main budget bill which follows and which needs to be voted through by the end of the year.

It could also pose awkward questions over his authority to lead the government, though for the moment there is little expectation he will resign.

Appointed in September by President Emmanuel Macron, Lecornu has devoted himself exclusively to the uphill task of guiding 2026 budget legislation through the two chambers of parliament.

Since snap elections called by Macron in June 2024, the more powerful chamber, the National Assembly, has been split into three roughly equal blocs – centre, left, and far-right -- none of which is capable of commanding a majority.

Lecornu is Macron's fourth prime minister since then – the two previous incumbents Michel Barnier and François Bayrou having both been forced to resign after trying to rein in France's burgeoning debt. Barnier stepped down exactly a year ago after failing to push through the 2025 social security budget.

In the French system, there are two budgetary laws – one that raises and allocates money in the social security system, including hospitals and pensions; and the principal one that covers everything else, from defence to education. For years both have run on massive deficits.

Widely acknowledged for his discretion and diligence, Lecornu needs to convince enough deputies from the 11 different parliamentary groups that failure to vote the budgets through will plunge the country into even deeper financial gloom.

His main target has been the Socialist Party (PS) with around 70 MPs, many of whom are uncomfortable in their erstwhile electoral alliance with the far-left France Unbowed party.

In major concessions to the PS, Lecornu promised to suspend Macron's key second-term reform increasing to 64 the statutory age of retirement, and also to refrain from using a government power (known as 49-3) to force through the budget laws without a vote.

Socialist leaders Olivier Faure and Boris Vallaud have praised Lecornu's sense of compromise and are urging their deputies to support the social security budget.

But by giving ground to the centre-left, Lecornu has potentially lost support in his own camp on the centre-right, where important figures such as former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe say the bill will do little to redress the country's fast deteriorating public accounts.

Tuesday's vote was set to be very close, with the far-right National Rally and its allies (140 or so deputies) and the far-left France Unbowed (71) both set to vote no, along with the Ecologists and Communists (55 altogether). A majority in a full chamber is 288 MPs.

Lecornu is hoping to win over some individuals on the left with promises of more spending on hospitals. And he hopes opposition from within his own camp will be limited to abstentions rather than votes against.

If the social security budget fails to pass, it would almost certainly mean that the main budget for 2026 would also fail. As a result the government would probably introduce a special law to allow the state administration to continue functioning from 1 January using 2025 allocations.

Though a personal blow to Lecornu and his low-key political methods, few expect that he would immediately step down in such a scenario.

By voluntarily abandoning the use of the 49-3, the prime minister in effect gave MPs the chance to amend the government's budget text to their hearts' content. If the text then fails, he calculates, the blame will fall primarily on heads in parliament.

Billionaire Andrej Babis has been appointed as the Czech Republic's new prime minister, with his full cabinet expected to take office within days.

His appointment followed a key demand from President Petr Pavel - a public pledge by Babis to relinquish control over his vast food-processing, agriculture and chemicals conglomerate Agrofert.

"I promise to be a prime minister who defends the interests of all our citizens, at home and abroad," Babis said after the ceremony at Prague Castle.

"A prime minister who will work to make the Czech Republic the best place to live on the entire planet."

These are lofty ambitions, but Babis, 71, is used to thinking big.

Agrofert is so deeply embedded in the Czech commercial ecosystem that there is even an app to help shoppers avoid buying products made by the group's more than than 200 subsidiaries.

If a product - say Viennese-style sausages from Kostelecké uzeniny or sliced bread from Penam - belongs to an Agrofert company, a thumbs-down symbol appears.

Babis, who was prime minister for four years until 2021, has shifted to the right in recent years and his cabinet will include members of the far-right SPD and the Eurosceptic "Motorists for Themselves" party.

If he honours his pledge to divest from the company he built from scratch, he will no longer benefit from the sale of any Agrofert product – from frankfurters to fertiliser.

As prime minister he will have no knowledge of the conglomerate's financial health, nor any ability to influence its fortunes, he says.

Government decisions on public tenders or subsidies - Czech or European - will be taken without regard to a company he will no longer own or profit from, he adds.

Instead, he says that Agrofert, worth an estimated $4.3bn (£3.3bn), will be placed in a trust managed by an independent administrator, where it will remain until his death. At that point it will pass to his children.

This, he said in a Facebook video, went "far beyond" the demands of Czech law.

What kind of trust remains unclear - a Czech trust, or one based abroad? The concept of a "blind trust" does not exist in Czech legislation, and an army of lawyers will be required to design an arrangement that works.

Critics, including Transparency International, remain unconvinced.

"A blind trust is not a solution," the head of Transparency International's Czech branch, David Kotora, told news site Seznam Zpravy.

"There's no separation. [Babis] obviously knows the managers. He knows Agrofert's portfolio. From an executive position, even at a European level, he could theoretically intervene in matters that would affect the sector in which Agrofert operates," Kotora warned.

But it's not just food - and it's not just Agrofert.

In the eastern suburbs of Prague, a private health clinic towers over the O2 arena. While it is owned by a company called FutureLife a.s, that company is majority-owned by Hartenberg Holding, and Hartenberg Holding is majority-owned by Babis.

Hartenberg also runs a network of reproductive clinics, as well as a florist chain, Flamengo, and an underwear retailer, Astratex.

The reach of Babis into all corners of Czech life is broad. And as prime minister, for the second time, it is about to get broader.

A press conference by María Corina Machado - the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who is currently in-hiding - was cancelled on Tuesday, with the Nobel Institute saying they are "in the dark" about her whereabouts.

Machado is Venezuela's opposition leader and has been in hiding since the country's disputed 2024 election, which she and her supporters say was stolen.

She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to bring democracy to Venezuela, and was expected to formally collect it in a ceremony on Wednesday.

Although Machado regularly gives social media video updates, usually against a neutral white wall, her current whereabouts are unknown.

The Nobel Institute said in a statement: "María Corina Machado has herself stated in interviews how challenging the journey to Oslo, Norway will be. We therefore cannot at this point provide any further information about when and how she will arrive for the Nobel peace prize ceremony."

The institute had previously said she would attend the ceremony in person. Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesman said "everything suggests" the press conference would be able to take place on Tuesday despite the delay.

Venezuela's government has said that if Machado left Venezuela she would be considered a "fugitive" by the authorities. Her family are already in Oslo.

Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told AFP last month: "By being outside Venezuela and having numerous criminal investigations, she is considered a fugitive". He said she is accused of "acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, terrorism".

Machado had earlier told her followers that she would return to Venezuela after collecting the prize.

If she attends, it would be her first public appearance since January 2025. She last appeared in public at a protest in Caracas on 9 January against the inauguration of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

After Venezuela's 2024 election, the opposition published tallies after the election suggesting it won, despite Maduro claiming victory, and some nations including the US have recognised its candidate - Edmundo Gonzalez - as the president-elect. Ms Machado was banned from running in the election.

The Lithuanian government has declared a "nationwide emergency situation" in response to a series of incursions from neighbouring Belarus by weather balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes.

Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene condemned the balloon incursions as a "hybrid attack" by Belarus that posed a real risk to national security and civil aviation.

This year alone, officials say about 600 balloons linked to smuggling and almost 200 drones have entered Lithuanian airspace, leading to the repeated closure of Vilnius airport.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko denies being behind the incursions, alleging the issue has been "politicised" by Lithuania, which is a member of both the EU and Nato.

Lithuania's decision to impose an "emergency situation" is a step below a state of emergency, which was last imposed in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It grants the armed forces additional powers to respond faster and more effectively.

Belarus's long-time leader is a close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin and Lithuania's President, Gitanas Nauseda, has said there is a lot of evidence that the balloon threat is a "deliberate action aimed at destabilising the situation in Lithuania".

A number of European countries have faced a range of threats from Russia, which the EU has condemned as a "hybrid campaign" that includes sabotage, disruption to critical infrastructure and most recently drone flights near sensitive sites.

Last month, the head of Nato's military committee, Adml Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, said the Western military alliance was considering a more "aggressive" or "pro-active" stance to Russia's hybrid warfare.

Lithuania has accused Belarus of this kind of provocation before. Four years ago, thousands of irregular migrants mostly from the Middle East crossed the Belarusian border.

Responding to the latest threat, Lithuania closed two border checkpoints with Belarus for three weeks from the end of October. Belarus then barred Lithuanian trucks from driving on its roads and hundreds of Lithuanian vehicles are still understood to be stranded there.

"We are talking about aviation security and international law, and about the fact that such actions could be recognised as terrorism," Ruginiene said last week, in reference to both the balloons and the blocked trucks.

The weather balloons can fly to a height of 10km (6 miles) and Lithuania's interior ministry says they have led to Vilnius airport being closed for more than 60 hours since October.

Lukashenko told Belarusian TV on Tuesday that what the Lithuanians were accusing Belarus of was impossible: "It is unrealistic. Even if balloons flew into there, even if they did, I have spoken to pilots and they say that they pose no problem."

"The question arises why," he added. "Do they want to fight us? We do not need war. I am convinced that the Lithuanian people do not need war either. Neither do Poles, Latvians and Estonians."

Although flights into and out of Vilnius airport were disrupted for only a short period, it meant that 1,000 passengers were affected. Authorities said they had intercepted 11 smuggling balloons and seized almost 40,000 packets of cigarettes.

On one night last week, the airport had to suspend operations three times and Finnish airline Finnair has cancelled all evening flights to Vilnius until the end of February because of the balloons.

US President Donald Trump has criticised European leaders as "weak" and suggested the US could scale back support for Ukraine.

In a wide-ranging interview with Politico, he said "decaying" European countries had failed to control migration or take decisive action to end Ukraine's war with Russia, accusing them of letting Kyiv fight "until they drop".

He argued that Russia held the "upper hand" and urged Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky to "play ball" by ceding territory to Moscow.

In the UK, Downing Street rejected Trump's claim that Europe had failed to act, citing the UK's leadership on sanctions and reiterating support for the US-led peace process.

The president's remarks came shortly after his administration released a 33-page National Security Strategy warning of Europe's potential "civilisational erasure" and questioning whether some nations could remain reliable allies.

French celebrities and feminists have voiced their outrage at first lady Brigitte Macron's language about activists who had protested at a comedian's show.

Activists wearing masks of Ary Abittan interrupted his stand-up show on Saturday shouting "Abittan rapist". Abittan was accused of rape in 2021, but investigators later dropped the case, citing lack of evidence.

Mrs Macron met Abittan before his performance on Sunday. In a video, he says he feels "scared", to which Mrs Macron responds "if there are any stupid bitches we'll kick them out", before smiling and laughing.

Mrs Macron's team told AFP news agency her words intended to "critique the radical method" of the protest.

"Brigitte Macron does not approve of this radical method," a member of her team added.

The words used by Macron, "sales connes" (which translates to "stupid bitches"), have since been adopted by celebrities and feminists online who denounced the first lady's actions and violence towards women.

The demonstration was organised by Nous Toutes, a French organisation that fights against violence towards women.

The majority of those using "#salesconnes" on social media are doing so to voice their support for the feminist group.

Actor Judith Godrèche - who herself has accused a film director of historical rape, which he denies - added her support.

"I too am a stupid bitch," she wrote on social media, with Belgian comedian Florence Mendez also saying she was "proud" to be one.

Actor and singer Nadège Beausson-Diagne also adopted the term, writing on Instagram: "I too am a stupid bitch in summer, winter, spring and autumn."

She went on to voice her support for the "courageous" woman who had accused Abittan of rape and for Nous Toutes, adding that the group will "come back stronger to fight together against sexual violence".

Actor Rachida Brakni also thanked the "bitches" and tagged Nous Toutes in her post.

Stand-up comedian Marine Leonardi, meanwhile, wrote on Instagram: "Feminists are never stupid bitches".

Mrs Macron had attended Abittan's show with her daughter.

US lawmakers are trying to pressure the Trump administration to release video of a controversial "double-tap" military strike by limiting Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel budget.

The incident on 2 September, in which the US carried out a second deadly strike on a boat in the Caribbean, has raised fresh questions about the legality of Trump's campaign targeting alleged drug-carrying vessels.

A provision buried in a lengthy defence spending policy would restrict travel funds for Hegseth's office until the Pentagon hands over unedited footage. The bill is expected to pass with support from both parties.

US President Donald Trump says release of the video is something for Hegseth to decide.

Trump denied that he had previously said he would have "no problem" with the footage being made public - despite that comment being made on camera as recently as Wednesday.

The threat from Congress to withhold money from Hegseth's travel budget has emerged amid a clamour for information from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.

It is buried within a 3,000-page draft bill that is focused on approving next year's defence spending. The annual bill authorises nearly $901bn in funding (£687m).

The bill's final wording, which was first reported by Politico, states that Hegseth's office may spend no more than three-quarters of the funds made available for travel for the year 2026 until it meets certain requirements.

These include an obligation to give the House and Senate armed service committees all "unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command".

The wording nods to the way Trump has characterised his strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. He says they are a matter of targeting designated terrorist organisations.

In his comments to reporters on Monday, Trump said each of the alleged drugs boats that had been sunk had saved 25,000 American lives, and claimed that drugs trafficking to the US by sea had all but stopped.

His administration has sought to justify its actions by saying it is in a non-international armed conflict with the alleged traffickers. Dozens of people have been killed in the months-long campaign, but the administration has not publicly provided evidence for its assertions of criminality in each case.

Experts have raised questions about the legality of the strikes, prompting concern from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Regarding the "double-tap" attack on 2 September specifically, the experts point out that the so-called laws of war decree that the parties in an armed conflict are obliged to pick up wounded survivors of a strike rather than attack them again.

Nine people died in the first strike on the vessel and two survivors were left clinging to the burning wreckage when it was struck again, killing them, according to the Washington Post.

The White House has repeatedly said it is working within the laws of armed conflict.

It says the second strike was ordered by a navy admiral, and not by Hegseth, who has become a focal point for scrutiny of both the strike and the White House narrative surrounding it.

Senior members of Congress who were shown the video in a briefing last week by that admiral, Frank Bradley, emerged with differing views.

Jim Himes of Connecticut, the senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said he found the video of the second attack "deeply, deeply troubling".

But Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas disagreed, calling the strikes "entirely lawful and needful".

Trump has previously posted video of the first strike from 2 September, and continues to be asked whether he will release video of the second.

Last Wednesday, the president responded to an on-camera question about the video from an ABC News reporter by saying: "I don't know what they have, but whatever they have, we'd certainly release, no problem."

Five days later, he responded to a question from the same network by saying: "I didn't say that. That's - you said that, I didn't say that."

He went on to clarify: "Whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me."

In his most recent remarks on the subject, Hegseth was noncommittal on the subject, saying: "We're reviewing the process, and we'll see."

Hegseth, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Dan Caine, the chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff, is due to brief top congressional lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon, two sources told CBS.

Twelve fired FBI agents are alleging that they were unlawfully sacked because they knelt during a racial justice protest in Washington DC five years ago.

In a recently filed lawsuit, the former agents argue that their decision to kneel - adopting a gesture used by demonstrators - helped to deescalate a tense protest situation in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

The agents believe they were fired on the orders of FBI boss Kash Patel, who is named as a defendant.

Their termination letters accused them of "a lack of impartiality" in their duties, they say. The FBI has declined to comment on the case.

The dozen sacked agents - nine women and three men - say they had been "confronted by a mob" when deployed in the US capital city on 4 June 2020, and were responding to a "dangerous situation" for which they were ill-prepared.

The killing of Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis had sparked protests across the US and in cities around the world just days earlier.

Amid a febrile atmosphere during the protest in the US capital city, the plaintiffs made what was a "considered tactical decision" to take a knee, the group said in their legal filing, which gave their account of events.

They said they "avoided triggering violence by assuming a kneeling posture" which had been used to lessen tensions "between law enforcement officers and their communities during this period of national unrest".

They say their actions were reviewed at the time by both the FBI and the Department of Justice, of which the FBI is a part. They highlighted that their dismissal letters came more than five years after the incident.

The agents are seeking reinstatement in their positions and back pay.

In their complaint, the ex-agents said they had been "targeted" because their choice of tactics on that day had led to a "perceived lack of affiliation" with President Donald Trump, who was in office during the protests.

During his tenure leading the FBI, Patel has been accused of a wider crackdown on personnel perceived to be disloyal to his ally Trump. He has previously denied accusations that his sackings at the agency have been politically motivated.

Amid recent speculation regarding his future at the top of the agency, the White House said Patel was "a critical member of the president's team and he is working tirelessly to restore integrity to the FBI."

The civil case from the 12 former agents, which was filed in the District of Columbia, comes after former FBI acting director Brian Driscoll and others filed a lawsuit of their own, alleging that they too had been terminated in an act of political retribution.

The EU has opened an investigation into Google over its artificial intelligence (AI) summaries which appear above search results.

The European Commission said it would examine whether the firm used data from websites to provide this service - and if it failed to offer "appropriate compensation" to publishers.

It is also investigating how YouTube videos may have been used to improve its broader AI systems, and whether content creators were able to opt-out.

A Google spokesperson said the probe "risks stifling innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever".

"Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technologies and we will continue to work closely with the news and creative industries as they transition to the AI era," they said.

The EU's investigation will also cover Google's AI Mode, which gives people an answer in a conversational style with some links to other pages.

It is in addition to the tech giant's existing search platform - providing an experience similar to its rivals such as ChatGPT.

• What is AI and how does it work?

Google's introduction of its AI Overview summaries was met with concerns it could result in fewer visitors to websites.

Without people clicking on web pages, sites generate less money from advertising.

The Daily Mail previously claimed the number of people who clicked its links from Google search results fell by around 50% since Google introduced its AI Overview feature.

The Commission said it was concerned both web publishers and YouTube video creators were not being compensated or given the opportunity to opt-out of their content being used to train the company's AI models.

Ed Newton-Rex from AI fairness campaigners Fairly Trained said it was "career suicide" for people to not publish their work on YouTube or online.

He told the BBC Google "essentially makes it a condition" of online publishing that the firm can "use your work to build AI that competes with you".

"This investigation could not come at a more critical time for creators around the world," he said.

AI training

The Commission's investigation comes down to whether Google has used the work of other people published online to build its own AI tools which it can profit from.

Its generative AI systems are capable of producing text, images and video in seconds, in response to simple text prompts.

Many firms can now do this - and they have used huge volumes of online web content to train their underlying systems.

But creatives have voiced concern their work may have formed the basis for big tech's AI products and outputs, at the expense of their own rights or livelihoods.

"A free and democratic society depends on diverse media, open access to information, and a vibrant creative landscape," said Commission executive vice-president Teresa Ribera.

She said AI was ushering in "remarkable innovation" and "many benefits for people and businesses" - but its growth should not come at the cost of the EU's values.

But the Commission's recent enforcement of its tough digital rules - which can see tech companies face huge fines if they found to be breaching them - has been met with outrage from US lawmakers.

Elon Musk's platform X axed the Commission's account for placing adverts on the site, after the EU brandished a €120m (£105m) fine over its blue verification badges.

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A fire at an office building in Jakarta has killed at least 22 people as authorities continue to search for casualties.

The blaze at the seven-storey site in the Indonesian capital started on Tuesday afternoon, according to city police chief Susatyo Purnomo Condro, who said some workers were having lunch at the time.

Police believe the fire began after a battery exploded on the first floor before the flames spread upwards. A company which makes drones is based in the building.

Susatyo said most of the victims who perished were women, one of whom was pregnant, and it was likely that they had died of asphyxiation from smoke rather than burns.

Thick smoke poured from the upper floors as firefighters deployed 28 engines and about 100 personnel, with dramatic footage showing trapped employees being rescued by aerial ladders.

The fire has been extinguished and rescue teams are focusing on the upper levels of the building after conducting a sweep of the lower floors.

Susatyo said that access to the sixth floor was "particularly challenging, according to the firefighters on site", the Jakarta Globe newspaper reports.

"We are still collecting data," he told the Associated Press news agency. "But for now, we are focusing on identifying the victims who have been found."

The company provides drone services for industrial clients, from aerial surveying and mapping to inspection and agriculture.

Security has been tightened across Tanzania with police and military seen patrolling major cities ahead of anticipated anti-government protests called to coincide with independence day.

By midday local time (09:00 GMT), however, no demonstrations had begun.

Residents in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mbeya, Mwanza and several other urban centres reported an unusually slow start to the day, with many people choosing to remain indoors amid uncertainty over whether protests would happen.

The demonstrations were called to demand political reforms in the wake of October's post-election unrest which left an unknown number of people dead.

The authorities have admitted using force against protesters, claiming that some groups were attempting to overthrow the regime.

On Tuesday, BBC reporters observed nearly empty streets in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. This was a stark contrast to the city's usual weekday bustle.

Although quiet, the atmosphere remained tense.

In a statement, police spokesperson David Misime assured the public of their safety and the protection of their property, saying the situation remained calm nationwide.

He also urged citizens to dismiss old photos and video clips circulating on social media that falsely suggest protests are taking place.

Security vehicles were seen driving along major roads and intersections, while officers took up positions at strategic locations, including around key public infrastructure.

On social media, activists and campaigners urged supporters to stay alert, suggesting any demonstrations were unlikely to begin until the afternoon. The messaging echoed previous protest calls in Tanzania, when turnout increased later in the day.

"We will move out, it is our right to protest... I know police are everywhere in the town and even in the street where I live... we have plans so wait, you will see what will happen," a resident of Arusha told the BBC.

"I am scared for my children, if these protests happen, it will create a bad atmosphere. Like now my husband is hospitalised, how am I going to attend to him? I feel protesters should call off plans to move to the streets, we need to live in peace," said a resident of Mwanza in northern Tanzania.

Motorists who ventured out reported frequent checks at roadblocks, where officers questioned drivers about their destinations.

The government has not issued detailed comments on the heightened security measures or on the planned protests.

Tanzanian authorities have banned the planned protests and cancelled independence day celebrations, urging citizens to stay indoors.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Kenya several activists were arrested on Tuesday as they were holding a solidarity protest outside the Tanzanian high commission in the capital, Nairobi.

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

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Eleven Nigerian military officers were detained in Burkina Faso after their aircraft made an emergency landing in the country, Burkinabè security sources told the BBC.

The Air Force C-130 aircraft entered Burkina Faso's airspace on Monday without authorisation, according to the country's Territorial Administration Minister Emile Zerbo.

In a joint statement, the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger said their prompt investigation confirmed the "violation of its airspace and the sovereignty of its member states".

But the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said a technical problem meant the plane, which was en route to Portugal, had to land in accordance with safety procedures.

The statement added that the crew was "safe and have received cordial treatment from the host authorities". It did not mention whether they had been detained.

The aircraft landed in Bobo-Dioulasso, in the west of Burkina Faso and its second-largest city. The NAF said it was the site of the nearest airfield when the plane had to make an emergency stop.

But the Nigerian account of the incident contradicts the position of the trio of Sahel countries, formally known as Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which said that the aircraft entered Burkinabè airspace without prior authorisation and was forced to land.

"An investigation was immediately opened by the competent Burkinabè services and highlighted the lack of authorisation to fly over Burkinabè territory for this military apparatus," the AES said in a joint statement.

It called the landing an "unfriendly act" and said the countries' respective air forces had been put on maximum alert and authorised to "neutralise any aircraft" found to violate the confederation's airspace.

On board were two crew members and nine passengers, all military officers, according to the AES.

The NAF did not clarify whether the soldiers had been detained.

It added that plans were under way to resume the mission to Portugal as scheduled, assuring the public that the NAF remained committed to operational aviation procedures and safety standards.

Political analysts have linked the incident to the deployment of troops from West Africa's regional bloc, Ecowas, to Benin following an attempted coup on Sunday.

Nigeria led the regional mission with the deployment of jets and troops to suppress the mutiny in Benin.

Earlier this year, all the three military-led countries - Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - withdrew from Ecowas, citing a mix of political and security grievances.

They had rejected Ecowas' demands for them to restore democratic rule.

The three Sahel countries have also distanced themselves from Western countries, notably from former colonial ruler France, while drawing closer to Russia.

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 International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced a Sudanese militia leader to 20 years in prison for atrocities committed during a civil war more than two decades ago.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman had been convicted in October on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region.

Known as Ali Kushayb, he was one of the leaders of the Janjaweed, a government-backed group that terrorised Darfur, killing hundreds of thousands of people.

Kushayb, aged 76, is the first person to be tried by the ICC for atrocities committed during the civil war. He had argued the charges were a case of mistaken identity.

Dressed in a light blue suit and tie, Kushayb stood quietly as presiding judge Joanna Korner delivered his sentence on Tuesday.

"Abdal Raman not only gave the orders which led directly to the crimes but... also personally perpetrated some of them," Judge Korner told the court.

The conflict in question lasted from 2003 to 2020 and was one of the world's gravest humanitarian disasters, with allegations of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the region's non-Arabic population.

Five years after the end of that crisis, Darfur is a key battleground in another civil war, this time between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose origins lie in the Janjaweed.

• BBC hears of horror and hunger in rare visit to Darfur massacre town
• Return of the feared Janjaweed
• Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening

During Kushayb's trial, survivors described how their villages were burned down, men and boys slaughtered and women forced into sex slavery.

Judge Korner said Kushayb had given orders to "wipe out and sweep away" non-Arab tribes and told soldiers "don't leave anyone behind. Bring no one alive."

The charges against Kushayb centred on attacks committed between 2003 and 2004.

The Darfur war began after the Arab-dominated government at the time armed the Janjaweed, in an attempt to suppress an uprising by rebels from black African ethnic groups.

The Janjaweed systematically attacked non-Arab villagers accused of supporting the rebels, leading to accusations of genocide.

That same systematic violence is still happening in Darfur as part of Sudan's current civil war.

Many of the Janjaweed fighters went on to join the RSF.

The UK, US and rights groups have accused the RSF of carrying out ethnic cleansing against non-Arab communities in Darfur since the conflict began in 2023. The RSF has denied the accusations.

When passing Kushayb's sentence, Judge Korner said the ICC wanted to ensure both "retribution and deterrence".

"Deterrence is particularly apposite in this case given the current state of affairs in Sudan," she said.

Throughout the two conflicts, there has been a "long hiring out of militias, suppressing of rebellion, and sexual violence used as a tool of war", Dr Matthew Benson-Strohmayer, Sudan Research Director at the London School of Economics, told the BBC.

"I think the way that the war is being fought in Darfur in particular is really a war of terror," he told the BBC.

At the time of the verdict, Dr Benson-Strohmayer said he hoped the conviction would impact the current conflict, but "sincerely" doubted it will.

Most victims of the first Darfur crisis remain displaced, and although the ICC has managed to prosecute Kushayb, there are still outstanding arrest warrants against Sudanese officials, including one accusing former President Omar al-Bashir of genocide, which he denies.

Bashir is reportedly in military custody in north Sudan after he was ousted in a coup in 2019.

More BBC stories about Sudan:

• Darfur city under siege: 'My son's whole body is full of shrapnel'
• The mother and children trapped between two conflicts
• Barrier being built around besieged Sudan city, satellite images show
• 'Our children are dying': Rare footage shows plight of civilians in besieged Sudan city

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

Pokrovsk has not fallen yet. That is despite President Vladimir Putin's recent claim that Russian forces have taken the city.

There is no doubt Ukraine has been losing ground in this key city in the east. For Russia, Pokrovsk is another stepping stone towards its goal of taking control of all of the Donbas. But Ukraine needs to prove it is still capable of resisting.

At a Ukrainian command post, well behind the front line, orders are relayed by radio in rapid and quick succession. Soldiers watch dozens of live drone feeds. They are coordinating strikes on Russian positions inside the city.

The commander of the Skala Assault Regiment, Yuri, is keen to prove to us that Ukraine still controls the north of the city - to show that the Kremlin's claim that it has taken Pokrovsk is a lie.

Over the radio, they ask two of their soldiers to break cover from a building to display a Ukrainian flag. They move quickly to avoid being spotted. The drone feed shows the moment they briefly wave their yellow and blue flag, before quickly returning to cover.

Yuri tells me: "You've now seen it with your own eyes."

"I think the whole world should know we will not just give up our territory," he says. "If we do not show this, everyone will lose faith and stop helping Ukraine."

The battle for Pokrovsk, once a key logistics hub for Ukraine's military, has been grinding on for nearly 18 months. The city is already in ruins.

The question now is how much longer can Ukraine hold on.

Those tracking the Russian advances suggest Ukrainian forces barely have a hold on the city.

Russian forces have slowly been advancing from the south. Ukraine is losing ground, but says it still holds the north, up to the railway line that bisects the city.

Sasha, a 25-year-old battalion commander, shows me a map. On top he has placed green plastic soldiers to represent where Ukrainian troops are still defending. Brown plastic soldiers show where their enemy has advanced.

The Russians have been using small teams of two to four soldiers to sneak past Ukrainian positions, sometimes dressed as civilians.

"It's a good tactic to get behind enemy lines, to gain a foothold," Sasha says. But he adds: "The enemy who gets into our rear is quickly identified – it takes 15 to 20 minutes between detection and destruction."

Russia has suffered heavy casualties, but still has more troops. A Ukrainian soldier with the call sign Rabbit shows me passports and documents retrieved from their dead. I asked him if he thinks they have killed a lot of Russians.

"Not enough," he replies.

Rabbit described the situation as "hard, but under control". He shows me a Russian machine gun captured by one of his comrades who spent 70 straight days fighting in Pokrovsk. "All he wanted was cigarettes and ammunition," says Rabbit.

The fighting is clearly taking its toll on Ukrainian forces, but there is no sign of them giving up. Nor does Rabbit agree with any suggestion that Ukraine should give up more land for peace.

He says too much blood has already been spilt: "We are part of this land. If we give it up Russia will want more."

Another soldier - call sign "Ghost" - fighting in another unit in Pokrovsk describes the situation as "tense, but not critical". He dismisses reports of its capture as "Russian propaganda", saying reports that "Pokrovsk is surrounded is fake information", but adds that "everyone is exhausted – both Russia and Ukraine".

For Ukraine, holding ground is also proving costly. The Skala Regiment shares recent videos taken by their troops on the front line - often having to take cover in buildings from Russian drones. The buzz of an approaching drone is often accompanied by heavy automatic fire as they try to bring it down.

"Khotabych", who recently spent a month fighting in the city, says it is scary when the drones spot you: "There are lots and they fly round the clock."

The Russians have more drones with thermal imaging cameras, which can see at night. Khotabych said he and his men always hope for "good weather" – by which he means fog, rain and grey sky. In other words, anything that makes it more difficult to fly.

In Pokrovsk, Ukrainian soldiers are focused on the fighting, not peace talks. Most say they want to avoid "political questions".

But a volunteer from Latvia – the Skala Regiment's deputy commander – is more willing to give an opinion. He says Latvians "understand that if Ukraine loses the war, it's going to be our country next".

His call sign is "Godfather" and he has a tough message for Europe and the US. He describes President Donald Trump as a "charismatic and strong leader", but he says if Trump's peace envoy Steve Witkoff "stands with Putin, then it makes America and Trump look weak".

As for Europe, he says "there's a lot of talking, a lot of bureaucracy and not enough doing".

The message from the troops we talked to is that the situation in Pokrovsk is not so bleak. But Ukraine needs proof of its resolve at this critical time.

Additional reporting by Mariana Matveichuk and Kyla Herrmannsen.

Simmering tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have once again exploded along the border - derailing a fragile ceasefire backed by US President Donald Trump.

At least three Thai soldiers and seven Cambodian civilians have been killed since Monday, with both sides accusing each other of starting the violence.

The clashes - which have seen Thailand launch airstrikes along the border - are the most serious since a ceasefire was first agreed in July.

On that occasion, at least 48 people were killed, and thousands were displaced following five days of fighting.

Trump then intervened and, with the help of Malaysia, negotiated a ceasefire.

The US president later oversaw the signing of what he dubbed "the Kuala Lumpar peace accord" in October. Thailand refused to call it that - instead referring to it as "Joint Declaration by the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia on the outcomes of their meeting in Kuala Lumpur".

Just two weeks later, Thailand suspended the deal. Then, in December, fighting broke out once again.

So, how did we get here - and where is it going?

What's behind the tensions?

This is not a recent dispute. In fact, the argument between Thailand and Cambodia dates back more than a century, when the borders of the two nations were drawn after the French occupation of Cambodia.

Things officially became hostile in 2008, when Cambodia tried to register an 11th Century temple located in the disputed area as a Unesco World Heritage Site - a move that was met with heated protest from Thailand.

Over the years there have been sporadic clashes that have seen soldiers and civilians killed on both sides.

The latest tensions ramped up in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash. This plunged bilateral ties to their lowest point in more than a decade.

In the run up to the first bout of fighting in July, both countries had imposed border restrictions on one another. Cambodia banned imports such as fruits and vegetables from Thailand, and also stopped importing power and internet services.

Both countries had also strengthened troop presence along the border in recent weeks.

• Read the full news story here

Why have they flared up again?

The two sides have given differing versions of what happened.

On Monday, 8 December, the Thai army said its troops had responded to Cambodian fire in Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani Province, that it said had killed a hai soldier.

It added that it had launched air strikes on military targets along the disputed border.

Phnom Penh's defence ministry said it was the Thai forces that attacked first, in Cambodia's Preah Vihear province. Cambodia also insisted that it did not retaliate.

The next day, Thailand's military accused Cambodia of using multiple-launch rocket systems, bomb-dropping drones and kamikaze drones against Thai soldiers, with some rockets reportedly hitting civilian areas.

It later confirmed it had carried out more airstrikes.

Cambodia has also accused Thailand of firing indiscriminately into civilian areas in its border Pursat Province.

What exactly happened in July?

Again, both sides gave different versions of what happened.

Thailand's National Security Council (NSC) claimed that just after 07:30 local time (00:30GMT) on 24 July, Cambodia's military deployed drones to conduct surveillance of Thai troops near the border.

Shortly afterwards, it said, Cambodian military personnel carrying rocket-propelled grenades gathered near the border. Soldiers on the Thai side attempted negotiations by shouting, but were unsuccessful, the NSC spokesman claimed, adding that Cambodian soldiers opened fire at around 08:20, forcing the Thai side to retaliate.

Thailand also accused Cambodia of deploying heavy weapons, including BM-21 rocket launchers and artillery, causing damage to homes and public facilities including a hospital and a petrol station along the Thai side of the border.

Meanwhile, Cambodia alleged that Thai soldiers initiated the conflict at around 06:30, when they violated a prior agreement by advancing on a Khmer-Hindu temple near the border and placing barbed wire around its base.

Thai soldiers then deployed a drone just after 07:00, and fired shots "into the air" at around 08:30, according to Maly Socheata, a spokesperson from Cambodia's Ministry of National Defence.

At 08:46, Thai soldiers "pre-emptively" opened fire on Cambodian troops, leaving them no choice but to exercise their right to self-defence, according to the Phnom Penh Post newspaper quoting Socheata.

Socheata further accused Thailand of deploying excessive troops, using heavy weapons and carrying out air strikes on Cambodian territory.

Read the full story here

But what about Trump's 'peace deal'?

Thailand had already paused the agreement back in November, with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul saying the "security threat.... has not actually decreased".

At the time, Cambodia said it remained committed to the terms of the deal.

After fighting broke out again in December, Bangkok's foreign minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told the BBC the ceasefire was "not working" - adding "the ball is in Cambodia's court".

However, Cambodia's former prime minister Hun Sen said they had only returned fire late on Monday, in order to "respect the ceasefire".

Trump, meanwhile, is reported to have called on both sides to respect the agreement, news agency Reuters said.

Under the terms of the agreement signed in October, the two countries agreed to withdraw their heavy weapons from the disputed region, and to establish an interim observer team to monitor it.

The next step was supposed to include the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers held in Thailand.

Where this leads next is unclear.

While there have been serious exchanges of fire in the past, they de-escalated relatively quickly.

Back in July, that was the path our correspondent Jonathan Head thought would be followed again.

However, he warned, there's a lack of leadership with the strength and confidence to pull back from this confrontation in both countries at the moment.

You can read more of his analysis from earlier in the year here.

Is it safe to travel to Thailand and Cambodia?

For those travelling to Thailand, the British Foreign Office currently advises against all but essential travel to border areas within 50km of the whole border with Cambodia.

While for those in Cambodia, it advises against all but essential travel to border areas within 50km of the whole border with Thailand.

You can check the latest travel advice on the FCDO site.

Ukraine is preparing to present a revised peace plan to the White House, as it seeks to avoid making territorial concessions to Russia.

Kyiv is set propose alternatives to the US after President Volodymyr Zelensky again ruled out surrendering land, saying he had "no right" to do so under Ukrainian or international law.

He made the comments as he met European and Nato leaders on Monday, part of a collective push to deter the US from backing a peace deal which includes major concessions for Ukraine, and which allies fear would leave it vulnerable to a future invasion.

Meanwhile, the city of Sumy in north-western Ukraine was left without power overnight after a Russian drone attack.

The region's governor said more than a dozen drones had hit power infrastructure, the latest in Russia's nightly attacks. No deaths were reported.

Zelensky's ongoing diplomatic tour of Europe comes after days of intensive talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators over the weekend, that failed to produce a deal Kyiv could agree to.

Zelensky was due to be briefed on that private summit on Monday by his chief aide Rustem Umerov, who wrote on Telegram that he would feed back details of direct talks between the US and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian president told a news conference that his team could send a new proposal to the Americans as soon as Tuesday, AFP news agency reported.

On the subject of surrendering land, Zelensky said: "Russia is insisting that we give up territories, but we don't want to cede anything."

He continued: "We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we don't have any moral right either."

Zelensky has long maintained that any changes to Ukraine's borders would need to be authorised by a public referendum.

Elsewhere, he told reporters that the initial 28-point plan proposed by the US - and rejected by Kyiv and European leaders as being too favourable to Russia - had been cut down to 20 points, according to Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

He said no "pro-Ukrainian" points had been removed from the draft, though there had also been no "compromise" on the subject of territory.

Zelensky singled out control of the eastern Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as being among the "most sensitive" issues.

The original leaked version of the US-backed plan proposed that Ukraine hand over total control of the Donbas to Russia, despite the fact that Kremlin forces have been unable to capture it in full after almost four years of war.

Energy produced at Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, would be split between Russia and Ukraine, the draft plan said.

Leaders in Kyiv and across Europe have indicated there has been progress in refining that draft in recent weeks, and have praised the Trump administration for seeking to mediate an end to the fighting.

But Monday's hastily arranged Downing Street summit - attended by Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz - was widely viewed as a show of support for Ukraine as it seeks to resist White House pressure.

No 10 said there had been an agreement that the US-led talks represented a "critical moment" to ramp up support for Ukraine, and repeated calls for a "just and lasting peace... which includes robust security guarantees".

The nature of those future security guarantees are another open question in the negotiations.

Efforts continue to assemble an international coalition prepared to offer ongoing military support to Kyiv in the event of a peace deal, though it is not yet clear what form that would take.

While the UK and France have proposed deploying international troops in Ukraine, several key defence players in Europe, including Germany and Italy, have expressed scepticism about that idea.

It is also not clear to what extent the US would be willing to underpin any future defence arrangements for Ukraine.

Following talks in London, Zelensky flew to Brussels to meet Nato chief Mark Rutte and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, and will meet Prime Minister Georgia Meloni in Italy on Tuesday.

Moscow has also claimed talks with the White House have been constructive, despite little public indication it has moved on any of the goals set out by the Kremlin when it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

On Sunday, Trump indicated that he viewed Zelensky as the main obstacle to securing a peace deal, something he has made a key foreign policy goal and which the president claimed he would be able to achieve rapidly during the 2024 presidential election campaign.

He told reporters that Russia was "fine" with the peace plan outlined to both sides by the US, but that he was a "little disappointed that President Zelensky hasn't read it". It was unclear whether that was the case.

A key UN report on the state of the global environment has been "hijacked" by the United States and other countries who were unwilling to go along with the scientific findings, the co-chair has told the BBC.

The Global Environment Outlook, the result of six years' work, connects climate change, nature loss and pollution to unsustainable consumption by people living in wealthy and emerging economies.

It warns of a "dire future" for millions unless there's a rapid move away from coal, oil and gas and fossil fuel subsidies.

But at a meeting with government representatives to agree the findings, the US and allies said they could not go along with a summary of the report's conclusions.

As the scientists were unwilling to water down or change their findings, the report has now been published without the summary and without the support of governments, weakening its impact.

Researchers say the objections to this new report reflect similar concerns expressed by countries at the recent COP30 talks.

The BBC has approached the relevant US government departments for comment.

Issued every six or seven years, the Global Environment Outlook is a significant scientific analysis of the major threats to the planet.

Developed under the auspices of the UN, the normal practice for studies like this is to have the key conclusions and recommendations agreed word by word with governments and published as a "summary for policymakers".

These summaries are seen as critical because they show that governments agree with the science and are prepared to put the findings into action.

But this new version of the Global Environment Outlook does not have this type of summary, as the authors and the political representatives of around 70 countries could not agree one at a "stormy" meeting in Nairobi in October.

Compiled by nearly 300 scientists worldwide, the report argues that the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the energy we consume all involve the extraction of resources in a highly unsustainable manner.

To solve the connected issues of climate change, pollution, nature and biodiversity loss, the report has many recommendations including a rapid move away from coal, oil and gas and a massive reduction in subsidies for farming and fossil fuels.

The authors acknowledge this type of action will drive-up prices for consumers.

But that short term pain will bring long term economic benefits for the whole world, the report says.

These strong measures, especially on fossil fuels and plastics, were too much for the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia among others at the approval meeting, which usually work by consensus.

"A small number of countries basically just hijacked the process, to be quite honest," Prof Sir Robert Watson told BBC News.

"The US decided not to attend the meeting at all. At the very end they joined by teleconference and basically made a statement that they could not agree with most of the report, which means they didn't agree with anything we said on climate change, biodiversity, fossil fuels, plastics and subsidies."

Sir Robert is one of the world's most respected scientific voices. He's a former chief scientist for the UK's department of the environment and has also been chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as well as working for the World Bank and Nasa.

However he has had rows with the US in the past, criticising their decision to leave an earlier climate treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, when he was head of the IPCC.

He was ousted from that role in 2002 after lobbying by the administration of President George W. Bush.

Others present at the meeting agreed that the actions of the US and other countries "derailed" the process.

"I thought we had gone beyond the point of recognizing that when you burn oil, this big, thick black stuff comes up, and it probably isn't good, especially when you try and breathe it in," said Dr David Broadstock, with the Lantau Group, and one of the report's lead authors.

"It's kind of pretty obvious, and yet we're still seeing parties wanting to pursue the increasing scale of production of such things," he told BBC News.

Since taking office President Trump has sought to boost fossil fuel production and roll back US commitments to fight climate change, calling for the country to be a global energy superpower with cheap and reliable resources.

He has also sought to get the US courts to overturn the idea that carbon dioxide is a danger to public health. His government has also followed up with efforts to restrict or limit the efforts of international bodies that set out to tackle warming.

This year has seen efforts at international plastics negotiations, at the international maritime organisation and during COP30 to strike out language that states that climate change is a major issue requiring the world to move away rapidly from fossil fuels.

The disagreement over the Global Environment Outlook report will raise concerns about future negotiations for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports as these studies are seen as the bedrock of global efforts to limit global warming.

The owners of a nightclub in Goa, India, where a devastating fire killed 25 people on Sunday, fled the country hours after the tragedy, police have said.

Indian authorities confirmed the two brothers, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, boarded a flight to Phuket in Thailand shortly after the incident.

Investigators believe the fierce blaze was triggered by fireworks being set off inside the venue, Birch By Romeo Lane, which is located in a busy nightlife area of Goa, a coastal state popular with domestic and international tourists.

The majority of the victims were staff members, while four were holidaymakers visiting from Delhi. Five people are still being treated in hospital.

Police have appealed to Interpol for help to find and arrest the Luthra brothers.

Police said they travelled to Delhi to carry out a raid on the mens' home, but discovered they had left the country.

"It shows their intent to avoid police investigation," Goa police said in a statement.

Saurabh Luthra, whose social media identifies him as the chairman of the company which operates the club, posted a statement on social media expressing "profound grief", but did not reference his whereabouts.

"In this hour the irreparable sorrow and overwhelming distress, the management stands in unwavering solidarity with the families of the deceased as well as those injured, and conveys its heartfelt condolences with utmost sincerity," Monday's post said.

It added that "management" would provide "assistance, support and cooperation to the bereaved".

His brother Gaurav Luthra has not commented publicly.

At least four people were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the fire, including the venue's manager.

The Birch nightclub in Arpora, an area with several high-end nightlife businesses, was packed with customers who had come to hear a Bollywood DJ when the fire broke out in the early hours of the morning.

Eye witnesses have described scenes of total panic to the BBC, as people tried to flee.

The main section of the venue is built on an island in the middle of a lake, which visitors accessed via narrow walkways - a layout which made it difficult for firefighters to tackle the blaze.

Part of the venue was entirely destroyed. Police initially said an exploding gas canister was the cause, but now believe it was due to pyrotechnics igniting wooden ceiling beams.

Several of the victims were migrant workers who had travelled to Goa to find employment, including four Nepalese nationals.

Among those who died were two brothers who were both engaged to be married next year, and four members of the same Delhi family.

The police said the bodies of all the victims had been returned to their families.

Ukraine is preparing to present a revised peace plan to the White House, as it seeks to avoid making territorial concessions to Russia.

Kyiv is set propose alternatives to the US after President Volodymyr Zelensky again ruled out surrendering land, saying he had "no right" to do so under Ukrainian or international law.

He made the comments as he met European and Nato leaders on Monday, part of a collective push to deter the US from backing a peace deal which includes major concessions for Ukraine, and which allies fear would leave it vulnerable to a future invasion.

Meanwhile, the city of Sumy in north-western Ukraine was left without power overnight after a Russian drone attack.

The region's governor said more than a dozen drones had hit power infrastructure, the latest in Russia's nightly attacks. No deaths were reported.

Zelensky's ongoing diplomatic tour of Europe comes after days of intensive talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators over the weekend, that failed to produce a deal Kyiv could agree to.

Zelensky was due to be briefed on that private summit on Monday by his chief aide Rustem Umerov, who wrote on Telegram that he would feed back details of direct talks between the US and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian president told a news conference that his team could send a new proposal to the Americans as soon as Tuesday, AFP news agency reported.

On the subject of surrendering land, Zelensky said: "Russia is insisting that we give up territories, but we don't want to cede anything."

He continued: "We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we don't have any moral right either."

Zelensky has long maintained that any changes to Ukraine's borders would need to be authorised by a public referendum.

Elsewhere, he told reporters that the initial 28-point plan proposed by the US - and rejected by Kyiv and European leaders as being too favourable to Russia - had been cut down to 20 points, according to Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

He said no "pro-Ukrainian" points had been removed from the draft, though there had also been no "compromise" on the subject of territory.

Zelensky singled out control of the eastern Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as being among the "most sensitive" issues.

The original leaked version of the US-backed plan proposed that Ukraine hand over total control of the Donbas to Russia, despite the fact that Kremlin forces have been unable to capture it in full after almost four years of war.

Energy produced at Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, would be split between Russia and Ukraine, the draft plan said.

Leaders in Kyiv and across Europe have indicated there has been progress in refining that draft in recent weeks, and have praised the Trump administration for seeking to mediate an end to the fighting.

But Monday's hastily arranged Downing Street summit - attended by Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz - was widely viewed as a show of support for Ukraine as it seeks to resist White House pressure.

No 10 said there had been an agreement that the US-led talks represented a "critical moment" to ramp up support for Ukraine, and repeated calls for a "just and lasting peace... which includes robust security guarantees".

The nature of those future security guarantees are another open question in the negotiations.

Efforts continue to assemble an international coalition prepared to offer ongoing military support to Kyiv in the event of a peace deal, though it is not yet clear what form that would take.

While the UK and France have proposed deploying international troops in Ukraine, several key defence players in Europe, including Germany and Italy, have expressed scepticism about that idea.

It is also not clear to what extent the US would be willing to underpin any future defence arrangements for Ukraine.

Following talks in London, Zelensky flew to Brussels to meet Nato chief Mark Rutte and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, and will meet Prime Minister Georgia Meloni in Italy on Tuesday.

Moscow has also claimed talks with the White House have been constructive, despite little public indication it has moved on any of the goals set out by the Kremlin when it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

On Sunday, Trump indicated that he viewed Zelensky as the main obstacle to securing a peace deal, something he has made a key foreign policy goal and which the president claimed he would be able to achieve rapidly during the 2024 presidential election campaign.

He told reporters that Russia was "fine" with the peace plan outlined to both sides by the US, but that he was a "little disappointed that President Zelensky hasn't read it". It was unclear whether that was the case.

A major earthquake of 7.6 magnitude has hit Japan's north-eastern region, prompting tsunami warnings and orders to evacuate residents.

The quake occurred at 23:15 (14:15 GMT) at a depth of 50km (31 miles), about 80km off the coast of the Aomori region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, while waves of 40cm (16in) were seen in some places.

Local media reports that some people in the region have been injured, while trains have been suspended as a precaution.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes.

Orders were issued for about 90,000 residents to evacuate, according to Reuters news agency.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK quoted a hotel employee in Hachinohe as saying a number of people had been injured.

No irregularities were reported at the Higashidori and Onagawa nuclear power plants as a result of the quake, Tohoku Electric Power said.

Sudan's air force has carried out bombings in which at least 1,700 civilians have died in attacks on residential neighbourhoods, markets, schools and camps for displaced people, according to an investigation into air raids in the country's civil war.

The Sudan Witness Project says it has compiled the largest known dataset of military airstrikes in the conflict, which began in April 2023.

Its analysis indicates that the air force has used unguided bombs in populated areas.

The data focuses on attacks by warplanes, which only the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is capable of operating. Its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) does not have aircraft. It launches drone strikes, but drones were excluded from the research.

The RSF has been internationally condemned for allegedly carrying out ethnic massacres in Sudan's western Darfur region, triggering charges of genocide by the United States.

"The RSF are being held responsible for a lot of damage and violations, and I think rightly so," says Mark Snoeck, who ran the project. "But I think the SAF should also be held accountable for their actions."

The military has also faced international criticism, accused of indiscriminate bombings.

The SAF did not respond to a BBC request for comment. But it has previously denied allegations of targeting civilians, saying its airstrikes are "directed solely at RSF gatherings, locations and bases recognized as legitimate military targets".

Sudan Witness is an initiative by the Center for Information Resilience (CIR), a non-profit group which works to expose human rights violations. It received funding from the British foreign ministry for this project.

According to an advance copy of the report obtained by the BBC, Sudan Witness analysed 384 airstrikes conducted between April 2023 and July 2025.

More than 1,700 civilians were reported killed and 1,120 injured in the incidents it documented. The group says these are conservative figures as it takes the lowest reported number.

There were 135 cases involving residential areas, with verified destruction to homes and civilian infrastructure.

In 35 instances the bombs struck markets and commercial facilities, often when they were crowded with people. And 19 strikes affected vulnerable groups in places like health facilities, sites housing displaced people and educational institutions.

Sudan Witness acknowledges that its research is incomplete because the results reflect access to data rather than the total number of strikes. It's hard to get information from conflict zones due to poor telecommunications and the difficulty of identifying credible sources, it says, and strikes on military targets are likely to be underreported.

But it says through a rigorous methodology, it has been able to build a wider picture of the military's air campaigns, visualising the information in an interactive map that shows the scale and impact on civilian populations.

"For us to say that the Sudanese Armed Forces conducted an airstrike on a certain location at a certain time would more or less require that the SAF be caught in the act in footage that can be verified," says Mr Snoeck. "And this would be a very high threshold, because footage like that is very exceptional in Sudan. So what we therefore have done is analysed hundreds of airstrikes claims to paint the bigger picture."

The main patterns that emerge are repeated hits on residential neighbourhoods and markets, says Mr Snoeck, as well as a large number of alleged strikes on essential humanitarian and medical facilities.

"I think these patterns strongly suggest that the SAF isn't doing enough to avoid civilian casualties," he said.

Justin Lynch, managing director at Conflict Insights Group which tracks foreign weapons supplies to Sudan, told the BBC that Sudanese civilians were bearing the brunt of the battles between the army and the RSF.

"Sudan's conflict is really a war against civilians," he told the BBC. "Air power and other heavy weapons disproportionately target civilian, more than military, sites."

Sudan Witness calculates the credibility level of a reported airstrike based on publicly available digital information known as open source.

It assesses the reliability of the source, ability to analyse the location through videos posted to social media, and available satellite imagery.

Some of the incidents examined by Sudan Witness could be based only on reports. Where it was able to find corroborating evidence, it confirmed the attacks with a low-to-medium degree of certainty.

But the group highlights cases where munitions, impact craters or shrapnel damage are identified.

In one such instance Sudan Witness confirmed multiple videos and images showing a crater with an undetonated air-dropped bomb in the Zamzam camp for displaced people in North Darfur.

It appeared to match the SH-250 unguided munition produced by Military Industry Corporation, a Sudanese arms manufacturer.

"This is still one of the most troubling findings I've worked on," says Mr Snoeck. "Why drop an unguided bomb on a camp for internally displaced people? This area wasn't even under RSF control at the time, and the logic behind that strike still puzzles me."

In another strike, Sudan Witness verified a rare video that captured the moment of impact, with the roar of an aircraft followed by multiple explosions as civilians took cover.

At least 30 people were killed and 100 injured in the bombing of the Hamrat al-Sheikh Market in North Kordofan state, according to reports.

Many of the air attacks attributed to the SAF have taken place in Darfur, which is controlled by the RSF.

They include an August 2024 strike on a hospital in el-Daein, the historic capital of the Rizeigat people to which the majority of RSF forces belong.

Sudan Witness verified footage that showed shrapnel damage to the building. The World Health Organisation and UN children's charity Unicef reported 16 civilians were killed, including three children and one healthcare worker.

Even a rebel group allied to the army criticised this strike. The Sudan Tribune, an independent online news portal, quoted a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement, who said citizens were surprised by the indiscriminate airstrikes targeting hospitals and homes.

The city of Nyala in South Darfur state is a frequent target. Its airport is alleged to be the main entry point for RSF weapons, including sophisticated drones, delivered by the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi denies evidence that it is supporting the RSF.

The SAF says it is targeting military supplies in the city.

But, according to the Sudan War Monitor, a group of researchers who track the conflict, it lacks precision weapons to accurately hit them in such a crowded setting.

Sudan Witness analysed a series of air strikes in the city centre carried out in February this year, also documented by Human Rights Watch. They hit residential neighbourhoods and a grocery store near an eye hospital, killing at least 63 people.

The group says the strikes on busy marketplaces and commercial hubs not only kill civilians but also disrupt economic stability and aggravate the humanitarian crisis.

In October last year at least 65 people were reported killed and 200 injured in a bombing that destroyed the al-Kuma market in North Darfur.

Sudan Witness verified the location of footage of the destroyed market and corroborated it with satellite imagery showing new burn scars over the area.

Al-Kuma is located some 80km (50 miles) north-east of el-Fasher, until recently the focus of a fierce battle, and has been caught in the crossfire of SAF air assaults on the RSF.

"It is impossible for a country's army to bomb people with its air force and claim that it is doing so to protect the country," a local official told Dabanga, an independent Sudanese broadcaster.

Another local source said the town had suffered more than 30 air raids since the beginning of the war.

"This evidence of military airstrikes hitting marketplaces and other civilian areas, shows a clear and unacceptable disregard for the safety of innocent Sudanese civilians," said a British foreign office official. "Whatever side of the conflict they are on, the perpetrators of these heinous crimes must be held accountable."

The Sudan Witness Project has continued monitoring air raids beyond July 2025 but says there has been a shift towards drone strikes by both parties in recent months.

The devastating cycle of aerial warfare sometimes targets groups seen as supporting the other side, says the Sudan War Monitor, highlighting an alleged SAF drone attack on al-Kuma in October, this time hitting a social gathering at the home of a local religious leader.

Al-Kuma is predominantly inhabited by the Ziyadiya, one of the Arab nomadic groups that form the social and ethnic backbone of the RSF.

That same weekend the RSF launched drone and artillery attacks on el-Fasher, striking a religious displacement centre and reportedly killing at least 60 civilians.

El-Fasher is dominated by non-Arab groups such as the Zaghawa, which RSF fighters associated with Zaghawa armed groups defending the city.

"Neither side utilises drones and their airpower to primarily target military locations — they are either indiscriminate or designed to terrorise civilian populations under each other's control, which are war crimes," says Mr Lynch from Conflict Insights Group.

The SAF says the RSF seeks refuge within residential neighbourhoods and insists it is strictly observing international humanitarian laws and rules of engagement, including protection of civilians and their properties.

Both sides in Sudan's war have been accused of war crimes.

This week the RSF and its ally the Sudan Liberation Movement-North was accused of drone strikes that hit a kindergarten and a hospital in the South Kordofan town of Kalogi.

The WHO said 114 people were killed, including 63 children.

Mr Lynch says not only are civilians suffering, neither side is achieving military success in the air war.

"SAF have used aerial operations to support the takeover of Khartoum, but with that exception their use of airstrikes has resulted in a lot of civilian death and not a lot of military success," he said.

"Similarly, the RSF use foreign mercenaries backed by the UAE to fly drones, but with a few exceptions it hasn't actually achieved results."

You can access the Sudan Witness report here when it is published on 10 December.

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

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New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani will live in the Manhattan mansion that his predecessors have called home, leaving behind a rent-stabilised apartment that became the subject of heated debate during his campaign.

Gracie Mansion, which dates to 1799, has served at the residence for most New York City mayors since the World War II era.

But Mamdani, for whom affordable housing is a central issue, did not confirm he would live there immediately following his victory in November.

"This decision came down to our family's safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for," Mamdani said in a statement on Monday.

Mamdani lived in the Astoria neighbourhood in the borough of Queens. The area, home to many middle-class families, is famous for its abundance of immigrant communities and global cuisine.

"To Astoria: thank you for showing us the best of New York City," Mamdani's statement said.

"While I may no longer live in Astoria, Astoria will always live inside me and the work I do," he said.

During his campaign, Mamdani tied his core platform - freeze the rent – to his own housing situation. But his rivals, mainly former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, criticised Mamdani for occupying the apartment even though he came from a famous family. His mother is the filmmaker Mira Nair, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor at Columbia University.

Not every mayor has chosen to live at Gracie Mansion.

Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire entrepreneur and founder of the eponymous financial terminals, chose to live in his own townhouse on the Upper East Side neighbourhood of Manhattan during his three terms, which ended in 2012.

Instead, Bloomberg said he believed it should be a space for public city functions, and pushed for an extensive renovation of the aging mansion.

When Mamdani moves into Gracie Mansion sometime around his inauguration on 1 January, he will find himself in surroundings very different than his modest Astoria digs.

With its butter yellow paint, green shutters, and white railings, Gracie Mansion is a wedding cake of a house overlooking the East River. Inside, the lower floor of the Federal-style mansion is decorated in the spirit of the home's original era.

The compound, which reportedly has five bedrooms, also has enhanced security to protect the mayor and his family.

Some residents have alleged that Gracie Mansion also has supernatural lodgers. Chirlane McCray, the wife of former mayor Bill De Blasio, told reporters that doors occasionally opened and closed by themselves, and the floorboards creaked eerily.

Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams was more certain. "I don't care what anyone says," he declared in 2022. "There are ghosts in there, man."

Mamdani's current apartment is rent stabilised, meaning the city sets limits on how much landlords can raise the rent each year. New Yorkers consider these apartments valuable lifelines as the cost of housing outpaces what many can afford.

Records showed Mamdani paid about $2,300 (£1,725) each month for his apartment. According to the real estate platform Zillow, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in New York City is $3,500 (£2,625) a month.

The owners of a nightclub in Goa, India, where a devastating fire killed 25 people on Sunday, fled the country hours after the tragedy, police have said.

Indian authorities confirmed the two brothers, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, boarded a flight to Phuket in Thailand shortly after the incident.

Investigators believe the fierce blaze was triggered by fireworks being set off inside the venue, Birch By Romeo Lane, which is located in a busy nightlife area of Goa, a coastal state popular with domestic and international tourists.

The majority of the victims were staff members, while four were holidaymakers visiting from Delhi. Five people are still being treated in hospital.

Police have appealed to Interpol for help to find and arrest the Luthra brothers.

Police said they travelled to Delhi to carry out a raid on the mens' home, but discovered they had left the country.

"It shows their intent to avoid police investigation," Goa police said in a statement.

Saurabh Luthra, whose social media identifies him as the chairman of the company which operates the club, posted a statement on social media expressing "profound grief", but did not reference his whereabouts.

"In this hour the irreparable sorrow and overwhelming distress, the management stands in unwavering solidarity with the families of the deceased as well as those injured, and conveys its heartfelt condolences with utmost sincerity," Monday's post said.

It added that "management" would provide "assistance, support and cooperation to the bereaved".

His brother Gaurav Luthra has not commented publicly.

At least four people were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the fire, including the venue's manager.

The Birch nightclub in Arpora, an area with several high-end nightlife businesses, was packed with customers who had come to hear a Bollywood DJ when the fire broke out in the early hours of the morning.

Eye witnesses have described scenes of total panic to the BBC, as people tried to flee.

The main section of the venue is built on an island in the middle of a lake, which visitors accessed via narrow walkways - a layout which made it difficult for firefighters to tackle the blaze.

Part of the venue was entirely destroyed. Police initially said an exploding gas canister was the cause, but now believe it was due to pyrotechnics igniting wooden ceiling beams.

Several of the victims were migrant workers who had travelled to Goa to find employment, including four Nepalese nationals.

Among those who died were two brothers who were both engaged to be married next year, and four members of the same Delhi family.

The police said the bodies of all the victims had been returned to their families.

US President Donald Trump has unveiled a $12bn (£9bn) farm aid package aimed at helping farmers impacted by low crop prices and the administration's ongoing trade wars.

Most of the money – $11bn – is earmarked for one-time payments to farmers for row crops as part of the agriculture department's Farmer Bridge Assistance programme, with another billion reserved for crops not covered by the programme.

While farmers have broadly supported Trump, the agriculture sector has been disrupted by trade disputes during his second term, particularly with China.

Also on Monday, Trump threatened to hit Mexico with an additional 5% tariff in a row over water supplies to US farmers.

The White House says the aid package will help farmers suffering from "years of unjustified trade actions" and accumulated inflation.

Trump made the announcement during an event at the White House, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Members of Congress and corn, cotton, sorghum, soybean, rice, cattle, wheat and potato farmers were also in attendance.

"Maximising domestic farm production is a big part of how we will make America affordable again and bring down grocery prices," Trump said.

Sorghum and soybean farmers have been hit hard by the Trump administration's trade dispute with China, the greatest importer of their crops.

• Trump's farmer bailout raises fears about trade war winners and losers

According to a White House official, the payments are intended to help farmers market this year's harvest and plan for next year's crops, as well as act as a bridge until the administration's policies "deliver a better market environment".

Rollins said the last $1bn would be held back to help officials understand the state of "specialty crops" and ensure that the government is "making every forward moving position that we need to".

When asked if further farm aid packages were planned, Trump said "it depends" on how the market develops.

"The farmers don't want aid," he said. "They want to have a level playing field."

The announcement comes as polls suggest Americans are increasingly concerned about rising costs - an issue which Trump has at times characterised as a "hoax" and a "con job" perpetrated by Democrats.

It also followed complaints from US farmers after they lost access to customers in China as a result of Trump's trade policies.

For example, China is the world's biggest market for soybeans and has in recent decades been a major buyer from the US.

But Beijing effectively shut the door on American soybean imports for months after Trump hit Chinese goods with new levies earlier this year.

Later on Monday, Trump threatened to impose a new 5% tariff on Mexico, accusing it of violating an agreement that gives American farmers access to water.

"It is very unfair to our US Farmers who deserve this much needed water," he posted on social media.

Trump was referring to a more than 80-year-old treaty that grants the US water from Rio Grande tributaries.

For decades the US has accused Mexico of not meeting the terms of the agreement.

Mark Legan, a livestock, corn and soybean farmer in Putnam County, Indiana, told the BBC that the government aid would "help our bottom line"

As crop prices have fallen and profitability has plummeted, he could use the funds to help replace tractors and other machinery - investments he has put on hold.

During his first administration, Trump also provided aid packages to farmers, including $22bn in 2019 and another $46bn in a 2020 package that also included relief from the Covid pandemic.

Mr Legan said he believed the new package would be similar to what he received during the first Trump term, in that it would not resolve persistent cost pressures and shrinking export markets, he said.

"The problem is still that we have high costs of production," Mr Legan said, pointing to record high prices for crop protection chemicals and seeds.

"While some markets have opened up, we're still not back to exporting as much ag products as we have in the past," he added.

Another Illinois farmer, Brad Smith, heard news of the $12bn package while at the Illinois Farm Bureau State Convention in Chicago.

"None of us really love it, but we're not in a position where we can be turning it down," he said. "We hope we can reduce the need for anything like this going forward."

If he does receive funds from the government, the money will likely be in his hands for three days, he said, before spending it to clear outstanding bills and hopefully buy seeds, chemicals and fertilisers for next year's crop.

Mr Smith said that distributing government aid to farmers who need it the most, rather than to larger farms, has been a challenge in the past.

Following an October meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, the White House said China had committed to buying at least 12 million metric tonnes of US soybeans by the end of 2025, followed by 25 million metric tonnes annually for the next three years.

So far, China has only purchased approximately one-quarter of that amount.

Those purchases, however, have accelerated, and Bessent told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that China is likely to meet the goal by the end of February.

Asked why a farm aid package was necessary, Bessent said "the Chinese actually used our soybean farmers as pawns in the trade negotiations".

"We are going to create this bridge because... agriculture is all about the future," he said. "You've got to start financing for planning next year when things will be very good."

On Saturday, he signed an executive order creating food supply chain security "task forces" and assessing "anti-competitive behaviour" in the agricultural sector.

Additional reporting by Peter Hoskins

Paramount Skydance has made another offer to buy Warner Brothers Discovery as it seeks to trump a rival offer from Netflix to buy the company's studio and streaming networks.

Paramount, which is backed by the billionaire Ellison family, said it was making a direct offer to shareholders of $30 per share to scoop up the entire company, including its traditional television networks.

It said its proposal was a "superior alternative" to the one from Netflix, delivering more cash upfront to shareholders and greater prospect of approval by regulators.

President Donald Trump has said "there could be a problem" with Netflix's purchase, pointing to competition concerns given the size of the companies.

Speaking on CNBC, Paramount chief executive David Ellison said Netflix's takeover of Warner Brothers Discovery would be "anti-competitive", arguing it would give the company too much power over actors and other players in the industry.

"It's a horrible deal for Hollywood," he said. He also said he had had "great conversations" with Trump about the deal and believed the president cared about competition.

Netflix's proposal values Warner Brothers' studio and streaming networks, including HBO, at about $83bn, including its debt, compared with Paramount's offer, which values the entire company at $108.4bn.

Boards of both Netflix and Warner Brothers said on Friday that they supported the Netflix purchase, which they said would proceed after a planned spin-off of other partners of Warner Brothers' business into an independent company.

But Mr Ellison, who had hoped to bolster Paramount's own traditional television networks with those owned by Warner Brothers, said he thought an independent spin-off of those networks would set them up to fail and ultimately prove a mistake for shareholders.

"I think [its shares are] going to be worth a lot less than people are claiming," he said.

The US has deported a second group of Iranian nationals, officials in Tehran said, as the Trump administration continues its immigration enforcement efforts.

A chartered plane carrying more than 50 Iranians flew out of Mesa, Arizona, on Sunday, travelling through Cairo and Kuwait before arriving in Iran, according to reports.

Tehran's foreign ministry confirmed the Iranian nationals' return to Iran. US immigration officials could not "confirm or deny a flight" for security reasons.

The first deportation flight took off from the US in late September, in a rare instance of cooperation between Iran and the US. Many Iranian nationals say they come to the US because they fear persecution at home.

Father Joseph Bach, a member of Borderland Companions of Hope, a Franciscan organisation that provides support to migrants, said he has been informed through his contacts inside an Arizona detention facility that Christian converts were among those removed. He also said some detainees had identified as LGBT.

Christian converts and members of the LGBT community are groups that face severe legal and social repercussions in Iran.

Father Joseph called the deportations "the most unchristian thing to do", adding, "It's scary, it concerns me, it is not OK. I call this a death flight."

Iranian authorities have facilitated the repatriation efforts. An Iranian consular official said the deported nationals had "announced their willingness for return following continuation of anti-immigration and discriminative policy against foreign nationals, particularly Iranians, by the United States", the Iran's judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency reports.

However, one detainee who spoke with the BBC said not all those who were deported were willing to return.

One person who was on a list for potential deportation told the BBC he and his partner crossed into the US on foot from Mexico earlier this year. Speaking from an immigration detention centre in Arizona, he said he feared for his life if he returned to Iran.

The latest deportations come as already severely strained relations between the two countries further deteriorated in June, after the US bombed Iran's nuclear facilities.

The removals highlight the US government's hardline immigration posture under President Donald Trump, who made border security and reducing unauthorised migration central to his political agenda.

X has blocked the European Commission from making adverts on its platform - a move which comes a few days after it fined Elon Musk's site €120m (£105m) over its blue tick badges.

Nikita Bier, who has a senior role at the social media site, accused the European Union (EU) regulator of trying to "take advantage" of "an exploit" in its advertising system to promote its post about the fine on Friday.

"It seems you believe that the rules should not apply to your account," he said. "Your ad account has been terminated."

A European Commission spokesperson told BBC News the Commission "always uses all social media platforms in good faith".

X's fine, issued on Friday, was the first under the EU's Digital Services Act.

The EU regulator said the platform's blue tick system was "deceptive" because the firm was not "meaningfully verifying users".

"This deception exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors," it said.

It claimed X was also failing to provide transparency around its adverts, and was not giving researchers access to public data.

The social media platform has been given 60 days to respond to the Commission about concerns surrounding its blue checkmarks, or face extra penalties.

Following the fine, Elon Musk posted on his platform to say the EU "should be abolished", and retweeted a response from another X user comparing it to fascism.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accused the EU regulator of attacking and censoring US firms, adding, "the days of censoring Americans online are over".

'Never been abused like this'

The dispute originated with Mr Bier, who accused the Commission of activating a rarely-used account "to take advantage of an exploit".

He claimed it had posted a link which itself deceived users - tricking them into thinking it was a video "to artificially increase its reach".

He said the "exploit", which had "never been abused like this", had now been removed.

Ad accounts on X are used by businesses to create and analyse paid advertising campaigns and run "promoted" posts on the site, separate from the users' X profile.

In response, a European Commission spokesperson told BBC News that it was "simply using the tools that platforms themselves are making available to our corporate accounts".

"⁠We expect these tools to be fully in line with the platforms' own terms and conditions, as well as with our legislative framework," it said.

And it is not the first time there has been disagreement between X and global regulators.

In 2024, Brazil's Supreme Court lifted a ban on X after it agreed to pay 28 million reais ($5.1m; £3.8m), and blocked accounts accused of spreading misinformation.

The previous year, Australia's internet safety watchdog fined it A$610,000 ($386,000; £317,360) for failing to cooperate with a probe into anti-child abuse practices.

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A three-year-old girl was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza on Sunday, according to local sources inside the Palestinian territory.

Ahed Tareq Al-Bayouk was reportedly playing near her family's tent in Mawasi, Rafah, southern Gaza, when she was shot.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it was "not aware of a strike" but would "conduct an additional review" as more information was provided.

At least 136 children have been killed in Gaza since a ceasefire came into effect on 10 October, according to Amnesty International. The BBC is prevented by Israel from reporting independently from inside Gaza.

Ahed Al-Bayouk's death appears to have taken place on the Palestinian side of the so-called Yellow Line, behind which Israeli troops agreed to withdraw as part of the first phase of a US plan to end fighting in the region.

Phase one also required the return of all 20 living and 28 dead hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

All have been returned except for the remains of an Israeli police officer, Ran Gvili, 24, who is believed to have been shot and killed while trying to repel the attack in which about 1200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Since then, more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

The World Health Organization says at least 16,500 wounded or seriously ill Palestinians are in urgent need of evacuation for lifesaving medical treatment outside Gaza.

On Saturday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, said the current situation was more of a "pause" than a ceasefire and his country was working with the US, Turkey and Egypt to push the plan towards phase two.

This would involve the establishment of an interim governing authority in Gaza, the deployment of an international security force, the disarmament of Hamas, and Israel's eventual withdrawal from the territory.

The plan is to be overseen by a Board of Peace chaired by US President Donald Trump.

It also sets out how redevelopment and reform might create "a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood".

On Sunday, after talks in Jerusalem with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the eventual creation of a Palestinian state could be the best route to "a new Middle East".

But standing alongside him, Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to the two-state solution.

The "purpose of a Palestinian state," he argued, "is to destroy the one and only Jewish state".

"We believe there is a path to advance a broader peace with the Arab states, and a path also to establish a workable peace with our Palestinian neighbours, but we're not going to create a state that will be committed to our destruction," he added.

The Israeli and German leaders did agree that the second phase of the American plan should be advanced as soon as Mr Gvili's remains were returned.

Netanyahu is expected to discuss the next phase of the plan when he meets Trump in the US on 29 December.