Tourists in Italy's capital Rome will soon have to pay a €2 (£1.75; $2.34) entrance fee if they want to see its famed Trevi Fountain up close.

The new barrier for visitors to view the Baroque monument will come into force from 1 February 2026.

While the coins tossed into the fountain are donated to charity, the fees collected will go to the city authority to pay for upkeep and managing visitors. The city expects to raise €6.5m a year from the fountain alone.

Announcing the move on Friday, Rome's Mayor Roberto ‌Gualtieri was quote by news agency Reuters as saying that "two euros isn't very much ... and it will lead to less chaotic tourist flows".

The Trevi levy is part of a new tariff system for certain museums and monuments in the Italian capital.

Access to a number of sites that currently charge for entry will become free for Rome's residents, such as the Sacred Area of Largo Argentina.

At the same time, tourists and non-residents will have to pay to see the Trevi fountain and five other attractions including the Napoleonic Museum.

Children under the age of five, and those with disabilities and an accompanying person, will be exempt from the fees.

Tourists will still be able to view the Trevi Fountain - built by Italian architect Nicola Salvi in the 18th Century - for free from a distance.

The site currently sees an average of 30,000 visitors per day, according to the City of Rome.

Following restoration work which took place last year, Gualtieri introduced a queuing system to prevent large crowds massing around the landmark.

Access is capped at 400 people at the same time.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said there will be no more wars after Ukraine if Russia is treated with respect - and claims that Moscow is planning to attack European countries are "nonsense".

In a marathon televised event lasting almost four and a half hours, he was asked by the BBC's Steve Rosenberg whether there would be new "special military operations" - Putin's term for the full-scale war.

"There won't be any operations if you treat us with respect, if you respect our interests just as we've always tried to respect yours," he asserted.

His remarks were in line with a recent comment in which he said Russia was not planning to go to war, but was ready "right now" if Europe wanted to.

He also added the condition,"if you don't cheat us like you cheated us with Nato's eastward expansion".

He has long accused Nato of going back on an alleged 1990 Western promise before the fall of the Soviet Union. It was denied years afterwards by late Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

The "Direct Line" marathon combined questions from the public at large and journalists from across Russia in a Moscow hall, with Putin sitting beneath an enormous map of Russia that encompassed occupied areas of Ukraine, including Crimea.

Russian state TV claimed more than three million questions had been submitted.

Although it was largely choreographed, some critical comments from the public appeared on a big screen, including one that referred to the event as a "circus", another bemoaning internet outages and one that highlighted poor-quality tap water. Mobile internet outages have been blamed by authorities on Ukrainian drone attacks.

Putin also addressed Russia's faltering economy, with prices rising, growth on the slide and VAT going up from 20 to 22% on 1 January. One message to the president read: "Stop the crazy rise in prices on everything!"

The Kremlin regularly uses the end-of-year event to highlight the resilience of the economy and, as Putin spoke, Russia's central bank announced it was lowering interest rates to 16%.

Foreign policy issues were mixed with musings about the motherland, praise for local businesses, fish prices and the importance of looking after veterans.

But the issue of almost four years of full-scale war in Ukraine was never far away and it was often in the background of many of the questions.

Putin again claimed to be "ready and willing" to end the war in Ukraine "peacefully" but offered little sign of compromise.

He repeated his insistence on principles he had outlined in a June 2024 speech, when he demanded that Ukrainian forces leave four regions Russia partially occupies and that Kyiv gives up its efforts to join Nato.

Chief among Russia's demands is full control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas, including about 23% of Donetsk region which Russia has not been able to occupy.

Putin argued Russian forces were making advances across the front line in Ukraine and he ridiculed Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the front line at Kupiansk last week, when the Ukrainian leader was able to refute Russia claims that it had captured the town.

Putin has also demanded new elections in Ukraine to be included in the peace proposals that US President Donald Trump has submitted as part of his efforts to bring the conflict to an end. At his news conference, Putin offered to stop bombing Ukraine when voting took place.

Ukraine's SBU security service said on Friday it had for the first time hit an oil tanker operating as part of Russia's "shadow fleet" in the Mediterranean. Putin said it would not lead to the result that Kyiv wanted and would not disrupt Russian exports.

Most of the questions from Russian media or from the public made little attempt to challenge Putin, but two were allowed from Western correspondents, Keir Simmons of US network NBC and the BBC's Steve Rosenberg.

When Simmons asked if Putin would feel responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians and Russians if he rejected the Trump peace plan, Putin praised the US president's "sincere" efforts to end the war, but said it was the West not Russia that was blocking a deal.

"The ball is in the hands of our Western opponents," he said, "primarily the leaders of the Kyiv regime, and in this case, first and foremost, their European sponsors."

Trump has said a peace deal is closer than ever and, despite Putin's apparent refusal to compromise, the US president has said he hopes "Ukraine moves quickly because Russia is there".

A Ukrainian delegation is holding talks in Miami on Friday with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. German, French and British officials are also there, days after they met the US officials in Berlin.

Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev is also expected in Miami over the weekend, according to reports.

Putin told the BBC's Russia Editor: "We are ready to work with you - with the UK and with Europe in general and with the United States, but as equals, with mutual respect to each other.

"We are ready to cease these hostilities immediately, provided that Russia's medium- and long-term security is ensured, and we are ready to cooperate with you."

He accused the West of creating an enemy out of Russia. Skating over his decision to mount a full-scale invasion in February 2022, he said: "You are waging a war against us with the hands of Ukrainian neo-Nazis," he added, repeating his regular diatribe against Ukraine's democratically elected leaders.

European intelligence agencies have warned that Russia is only a few years away from attacking Nato. The Western defensive alliance's chief Mark Rutte said this month that Russia was already escalating a covert campaign and the West had to be prepared for war.

While many of the questions were benign, including several from children, from a one reporter from Yakutia in north-eastern Siberia highlighted a tenfold increase in energy prices in the past four years. Putin told her that his team would look into alternative sources of energy and "keep Yakutia in mind".

Towards the end of the TV marathon, Putin was asked a series of quickfire questions, touching on his views on friendship, religion, the motherland and love at first sight. He said he believed in love at first sight - then added that he himself was in love, without divulging any more details.

At least three people have been killed and five others injured as a knife-wielding attacker ‍went ‍on a ​rampage in the Taiwanese capital Taipei.

The 27-year-old suspect set off smoke bombs at Taipei's main metro station on Friday, before running to another station in a busy shopping district, stabbing people along the way, Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai said.

The suspect later died after falling from a building, Cho added. His motive remains unclear.

Attacks of this kind are rare in Taiwan, which has low rates of violent crime. The last time a similar incident struck Taipei was more than a decade ago in 2014.

Friday's attack took place during the city's evening rush hour. Videos shared on social media show people fleeing the scene in panic.

Cho said the suspect had detonated smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails at Taipei's Main Station, which is connected to a busy underground shopping street.

A man reportedly tried to stop the attacker but was struck with a blunt object and later died in hospital.

The suspect then went to another subway station about 800m away, where he set off more smoke bombs and stabbed more people.

Cho said he had ordered increased security at metro and railway stations, as well as airports, in response to the attack.

"We will ‌investigate [the suspect's] background and associated relationships to understand his motives and ‍determine ‌if there are other connected factors," Cho was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying.

Taiwan's President William Lai also promised a swift investigation.

The last major incident of this kind, in 2014, saw a man kill four people on an underground train in Taipei, shocking people in Taiwan. The perpetrator of that attack was executed two years later.

The widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has said the Turning Point USA organisation he founded will help elect JD Vance as president in 2028, despite the current US vice-president having yet to announce he is running.

Erika Kirk's endorsement on Thursday came on the opening day of Turning Point's annual America Fest conference, the organisation's largest gathering since her husband was shot dead in September.

"We are going to get my husband's friend, JD Vance, elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible," Kirk said, referring to the 48th president. Trump is the 47th.

Vance, meanwhile, is scheduled to speak at the event on Sunday.

Turning Point has been credited with helping Republican President Donald Trump expand his coalition of support, leading to his 2024 presidential election victory.

Her announcement ahead of Trump's one-year mark in office signals early jockeying to be his successor ahead of the 2028 election.

After Kirk gave her opening remarks, the stage at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona turned into a political mudslinging contest as tensions within the conservative movement were laid bare.

Podcaster Ben Shapiro lobbed attacks at media rivals Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Steve Bannon, calling them "fraudsters and grifters".

"The people who refused to condemn Candace's truly vicious attacks - and some of them are speaking here tonight - are guilty of cowardice," Shapiro said.

Owens, a former Turning Point employee who hosts a popular podcast, has been a thorn in Republicans' side and pushed various conspiracy theories, including baseless suggestions about Charlie Kirk's murder.

It comes at a time when there has been growing speculation about Trump's hold on the Republican party and infighting among factions of the president's supporters about the future of the Maga movement.

Shapiro also criticised former Fox News host Carlson for interviewing Nick Fuentes, a far-right political commentator and Holocaust denier, on his podcast in late October, drawing widespread condemnation.

After Shapiro, Carlson took the stage and shot back at Shapiro.

"That guy is pompous," Carlson said. "Calls to deplatform at a Charlie Kirk event? That's hilarious."

Charlie Kirk's Turning Point events were known for addressing controversial and divisive topics. Supporters saw it as necessary for free speech. Critics saw it as hate-mongering.

Authorities said Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin - Tyler Robinson - told his romantic partner that he killed Kirk because he "had enough of his hatred".

Erika Kirk told the Turning Point conference: "You won't agree with everyone on this stage this weekend. And that's okay. Welcome to America."

Since the assassination, she said, "we've seen fractures, we've seen bridges being burned that shouldn't be burnt".

Trump has recently encountered a series of setbacks within his Republican party, including a public falling out with his former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene and the impending release of the Epstein files, which a majority of Republicans voted for despite Trump's initial discouragement.

The four-day America Fest conference was scheduled to continue through the weekend, with Vance and Donald Trump Jr scheduled as guest speakers on Sunday.

A Paris court has rejected an effort by the French government to suspend the website of fast-fashion giant Shein in response to it selling childlike sex dolls on its platform.

The court said the request for a three-month suspension was "disproportionate" - but did order age verification for the sale of adult products.

The action against Shein was taken after France's consumer watchdog last month reported it to authorities for selling "sex dolls with a childlike appearance" and weapons.

Shein said its priority remained protecting French consumers and ensuring compliance.

In its judgement, the court acknowledged the seriousness of selling the childlike sex dolls and weapons, but said these had been isolated incidents.

It noted that the Chinese company had taken action to remove the offending items once they were made aware of them, and that the issues related to a small number of the hundreds of thousands of products on sale on its site.

In response to the initial controversy, Shein announced it would be banning the sale of all sex dolls on its site internationally.

A request by the French government for Shein to be forced to suspend the sale of third-party items on its website - the source of the initial offending items - was also rejected.

In ordering age verification measures to be put in place for the sale of adult items, the court said the fine for each breach would be €10,000 (£8,700; $11,700).

The decision to suspend Shein's website in early November coincided with the company opening its first physical store in the French capital.

Its launch drew both shoppers and protesters, with opposition related to the sale of childlike sex dolls, and also its profile as a fast fashion retailer.

In a statement, Shein said: "We remain committed to continuously improving our control processes, in close collaboration with the French authorities, with the aim of establishing some of the most stringent standards in the industry.

"Our priority remains protecting French consumers and ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations."

A court in the German city of Aachen has sentenced a man to eight-and-a-half years in prison for repeatedly drugging and raping his wife, filming the acts and then posting them online.

The man, named only as Fernando P in line with German privacy laws, was found guilty of aggravated rape, grievous bodily harm and violation of personal privacy.

The court found the 61-year-old, who is originally from Spain, guilty of sedating and raping his wife at their home for a period of several years from 2018 to 2024.

A spokesperson for the court, Katharina Effert, said the man also filmed the abuse and shared it online.

"He uploaded videos of these acts to chat groups and internet platforms, making them available to other users," she said.

Much of the trial was held behind closed doors to protect the identity of his wife.

Her lawyer, Nicole Servaty, told journalists that she "really had a voice in this proceeding", adding: "She was able to testify, to express her feelings and everything that has burdened her."

She said the ruling could not make up for what happened. "But it might help a bit to cope with things and process them."

The verdict is still subject to appeal.

German media say the case bears similarities to the high-profile case in France last year concerning Dominique Pelicot.

He was found guilty of secretly drugging his wife, Gisèle, and inviting scores of men to rape her while she was unconscious for years.

Gisèle's decision to waive her anonymity and hold a public trial turned her into a feminist icon, celebrated for her powerful testimony and courage.

Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office, the BKA, says that the victims of sedation and subsequent sexual abuse are "almost exclusively women".

It says such crimes "usually take place by exploiting a relationship of trust" in marriage, partnerships, families or among close acquaintances.

Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit will likely need a lung transplant as her health has worsened in recent months, the country's royal household has said.

The princess, 52, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018. The degenerative disease creates scar tissue that stiffens the lungs making it difficult to breathe and for oxygen to enter the bloodstream.

Tests in autumn showed "a clear worsening" of her health, the palace said on Friday. "We are reaching the point where a lung transplant will be necessary," Are Martin Holm, head of respiratory medicine at Oslo University Hospital, said.

Princess Mette-Marit told public broadcaster NRK that her illness had developed "faster than I'd hoped".

No decision has been taken yet on whether she will be placed on the transplant waiting list, Dr Holm said. The palace said her doctors had started the process towards an evaluation for lung transplant surgery.

In Norway, there are usually between 20 and 40 patients on the waiting list for a lung transplant and Princess Mette-Marit will not be given preferential treatment if she is placed on the list, local media reports.

Although she is not yet on a donor list, Dr Holm said her heathcare team was "undertaking the necessary preparations to ensure that [a transplant] will be possible when the time comes".

The palace said Princess Mette-Marit had "an increasing need" for rest and a targeted exercise regimen.

However, she had "expressed a strong interest in continuing to carry out her duties", it added in a statement on Friday. Her royal duties and engagements will adapted to her ongoing health issues.

Holm described pulmonary fibrosis to reporters as a "dangerous disease" that often could not be seen because it depended on how sick an individual was.

At rest, they might be able to breathe normally, Holm explained, but when they exert themselves - through exercise, for example - their lungs "can no longer keep up".

Princess Mette-Marit's husband, Prince Haakon, Norway's future king, sat beside her for an interview with NRK, in which he explained that she may appear "perfectly fine" when sitting still, but said he had noticed her struggling more with breathing.

He also said she had less energy and was getting ill more often.

Hiking or skiing together - activities the pair enjoy - were no longer possible, the crown prince added.

The thought of the transplant alone had been demanding, Mette-Marit said, as she knew it will involve risks.

A successful transplant hinges on several factors, including finding the right match and ensuring the body does not reject the new organ.

Transplant is seen as a last resort, Dr Holm explained, telling reporters that individuals must be significantly ill and have a limited life expectancy before a lung transplant can be deemed appropriate.

News of the princess' deteriorating health comes months after her eldest son was charged with 32 offences, including four counts of rape.

Marius Borg Høiby, 28, denies the most serious accusations against him, but plans to plead guilty to some lesser charges when the trial begins, his lawyer Petar Sekulic told news agency Reuters in August.

Mr Høiby is the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, but does not have any royal title or official duties.

A Uganda prison officer has been sacked for criticising the government on TikTok, in a rare move authorities said amounted to "gross indiscipline".

Lawrence Ampe had been under investigation over social media posts accusing senior government officials of corruption, human rights abuses and mistreatment of lower-ranking prison officers.

"The standing orders don't allow a public officer to participate in politics, which he is doing even now," prisons spokesman Frank Baine told the BBC, saying Ampe was sacked for "politicking in the wrong forum".

The opposition has condemned the move, describing it as evidence of "systemic oppression" and double standards within the security sector.

The officer shared the dismissal letter on his TikTok account with the caption: "I'm finally out free to support truth."

In another video, Ampe urged Ugandans not to worry about how he would survive without a job, saying: "What we are doing is not all about money but about liberating our nation."

He said he was using his TikTok account, which has more than 100,000 followers, to expose senior government officials who are involved in corruption and misusing their power, and to tell Ugandans how to love their country.

The officer has also used his social media accounts to promote election campaign videos for opposition leader Bobi Wine, a pop star-turned-politician, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.

Bobi Wine is seeking to unseat President Yoweri Museveni in the 15 January elections, as the long-serving leader aims to extend his nearly 40-year rule.

In a statement, the Prisons Council said it had "resolved to dismiss" Ampe last Tuesday and ordered him to hand over all state property in his possession.

Mr Baine said Uganda's laws did not allow public servants to participate in politics.

"We have put him in the right forum to do his politicking," the prisons spokesman told the BBC, adding that Ampe did not show remorse when he appeared before the Prisons Council.

The BBC has reached out to Ampe for comment.

Last month, the Uganda Prisons Service said it was investigating Ampe for his self-made TikTok videos on various subjects, cautioning officers against using social media to express political opinions.

It cited laws that prohibited public officers from communicating with the media on "issues related to work or official policy" without permission from authorising seniors.

‎Despite the warning, Ampe reportedly continued uploading political videos, leading to further disciplinary proceedings.

Bobi Wine defended Ampe, saying he was using social media to "expose corruption, abuse of power, oppression of lower ranking officers and other evils within the Uganda Prisons Service".

He said the officer's dismissal reflected double standards, noting that other security officials, particularly in the military, routinely appear in the media expressing partisan support for President Museveni's leadership without facing disciplinary action.

The government has previously been accused of restricting people's ability to criticise the actions of the state or its officials.

The US government in a 2023 report said Uganda had restricted internet freedom through the use of criminal punishments.

Rights groups also regularly denounce the Ugandan authorities over violations of human rights and the freedom of expression.

Last July, a 24-year-old man was sentenced to six years in prison for insulting the president and the first family on a TikTok video. He had pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness.

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UN-backed food security experts have found improvements in nutrition and food supplies in Gaza since the ceasefire but say 100,000 people were still experiencing "catastrophic conditions" last month.

In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found that half a million people – about a quarter of Gaza's population – were living in areas suffering from famine.

Since a fragile ceasefire came into force in October, the UN and other humanitarian agencies have been able to increase food getting into Gaza.

Israel's foreign ministry said the report was "deliberately distorted" and "doesn't reflect the reality in the Gaza Strip".

The latest IPC analysis suggests that a month ago, half a million Gazans were still facing emergency conditions and more than 100,000 were still under the highest level of food insecurity - IPC Phase 5 - experiencing "catastrophic conditions".

It projects that number will continue to decrease but stressed the situation remains "highly fragile".

IPC Phase 5 signifies the most extreme level of food insecurity , labelled "Famine" for an area or "Catastrophe" when referring to households. The report said no areas in Gaza were now classified as "in Famine".

Israel rejected the original findings of famine by the IPC - which monitors and classifies global hunger crises - and has continued to criticise its methodology.

Cogat, the Israeli military body which controls Gaza's crossings, said the number of trucks with food aid entering each week went beyond what the UN had determined it needed.

"The report relies on severe gaps in data collection and on sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance," the body said in a statement.

The IPC said acute malnutrition was at critical levels in Gaza City and serious in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

In the coming months the situation is expected to remain severe but the number of people facing the most severe conditions is predicted to fall to 1,900 by April, according to the report.

But it added that if there were renewed hostilities the entire Strip would be at risk of famine.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month that the second phase of the US-brokered peace plan - which would see Israel withdraw troops further from Gaza and Hamas disarm - was close but key issues still needed to be resolved.

The IPC said key drivers of food insecurity included restricted humanitarian access, displacement of more than 730,000 people and the destruction of livelihoods - including more than 96% of crop land in Gaza being destroyed or inaccessible.

Israel imposed a total blockade on aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March this year, which was eased in May, saying it wanted to put pressure on the armed group Hamas to release hostages remaining in Gaza at the time.

Ahead of this IPC report Cogat said the body had not engaged with the US or Israel and its methodology, "reinforcing a false narrative, driven in part by Hamas-sourced claims, while ignoring the actual humanitarian conditions on the ground".

It also denied Israel was preventing winter and medical supplies from entering the territory and that there was a shortage of drinking water.

Unwra, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said while the report stated Gaza was no longer in famine, the situation remained "critical".

"Overall living conditions in the Gaza Strip are still catastrophic, made worse by the winter weather," it said in a statement, adding there must be "sustained, expanded, and consistent humanitarian and commercial access".

Staff at two leading Bangladeshi newspapers say they were "gasping for air" as protesters, roused by the death of a prominent activist, set their offices alight on Thursday.

Sharif Osman Hadi, who had emerged as a key figure after last year's anti-government protests that ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was shot in Dhaka last week and died of his injuries on Thursday.

Hundreds of protesters stormed the offices of English newspaper The Daily Star and Bengali daily Prothom Alo on Thursday night and the demonstrations extended into the next day.

"It is one of the darkest days for independent journalism in Bangladesh," the English language Daily Star said in a statement.

For the first time in 35 years, The Daily Star could not publish its print edition on Friday and will be "inoperable for a while", consulting editor Kamal Ahmed told the BBC.

"Twenty-eight of our colleagues were trapped in the rooftop of the building for hours... They were gasping for fresh air," Ahmed said. "They were rescued only after additional military reinforcement came."

No one has been seriously injured, but large parts of the buildings were completely charred when BBC Bangla visited on Friday. Smoke was still seen coming out of Prothom Alo's building.

The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus condemned the violence, vowing to hand perpetrators "full justice".

"Attacks on journalists are attacks on truth itself," it said in a statement on Friday.

The country is making a "historic democratic transition", it said, which must not be derailed by "those few who thrive on chaos and reject peace."

Bangladesh is scheduled to hold elections next February, the first since Hasina's ousting.

It is unclear why the hundreds of protesters targeted The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, which have long been regarded as secular and progressive. Because of that, they often came under fire during Hasina's administration.

However, since the July 2024 uprising, the two newspapers have maintained their critical stance on some of the interim government's policies, which may have angered supporters of Yunus' administration.

Other prominent buildings, including the home of the country's first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was Hasina's father, were also vandalised and set on fire on Thursday.

Hadi, 32, was a senior leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha, and part of the youth movement that topped Hasina.

He was also a vocal critic of neighbouring India, where Hasina remains in self-imposed exile.

Hadi made regular appearances on various media programmes after last year's protest and quickly attracted a wide following - as well as a steady pool of opponents.

Hadi had planned to contest in next February's election as an independent candidate, but was shot one day after authorities announced the date for the poll.

He was gunned down by masked attackers while leaving a mosque in Dhaka on 12 December. He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Singapore.

Yunus called Hadi's death "an irreparable loss for the nation" and called it a premeditated attack by those conspiring to "derail" the election.

"The country's march toward democracy cannot be halted through fear, terror, or bloodshed," he said in a televised speech on Thursday.

The interim government has declared a day of national mourning on Saturday.

Investigations are ongoing and several people have been detained over the shooting.

Hasina fled to India in August 2004, following weeks of student-led protests, bringing an end to 15 years of increasingly authoritarian rule.

In November, she was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity after being found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the unrest.

The South African government has dismissed accusations by the US that it harassed and intimidated American officials during a raid on a centre processing applications by white South Africans for refugee status in the US.

Tuesday's raid saw seven Kenyans expelled from South Africa for working in the country illegally.

The US accused South Africa of publishing the passport details of its officials, saying this was "unacceptable" and warning of "severe consequences".

But South Africa has denied this, saying it treats "matters of data security with the utmost seriousness".

The US is offering asylum status to members of South Africa's Afrikaner community as it says the community is facing persecution. South Africa's government has rejected the claims.

President Donald Trump's administration has reduced its yearly intake of refugees from around the world from 125,000 to 7,500, but says it will prioritise Afrikaners, who are mostly descendants of Dutch and French settlers.

Tensions between the two countries has risen since Trump took office.

After the raid on the processing centre, South Africa expressed concern that foreign officials appeared to have coordinated with undocumented workers and said it had reached out to the US and Kenya to resolve the matter.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the US State Department said it condemned "in the strongest terms the South African government's recent detention of US officials performing their duties to provide humanitarian support to Afrikaners".

It did not providence any evidence to back up its accusation that South Africa had released the passport information of its officials.

South Africa's home affairs department described these accusations as "unsubstantiated".

"South Africa treats all matters of data security with the utmost seriousness and operates under stringent legal and diplomatic protocols," it said in a statement.

It had previously said that no US officials were arrested and the operation was not at a diplomatic site.

It said the Kenyans had applied for work permits, which had been denied.

The US has not addressed this directly but said it had "worked to operate the refugee program within the confines of the law".

Trump has claimed that Afrikaners are being subjected to a "genocide" in South Africa, even though there is no evidence that white farmers are more likely to be killed than their black counterparts.

He offered Afrikaners refugee status earlier this year after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law allowing the government to seize land without compensation in rare instances.

A first group of about 50 people flew to the US on a chartered plane - it is not clear how many others have moved, or are in the process of applying.

Because of the legacy of the racist apartheid system, the majority of privately owned farmland in South Africa is owned by the white community and South Africa's government is under pressure to provide more land to black farmers. However, it stresses that no land has yet been seized under the new law.

South Africa has repeatedly tried to mend fences with the Trump administration, most famously when Ramaphosa led a high-level delegation to the White House earlier this year.

However, this backfired when Trump ambushed him with images, videos and news reports allegedly showing that the government was persecuting white people.

Last month, the US boycotted the G20 summit in South Africa and has said it would not invite South African officials to its meetings since it took over the leadership of the grouping of the world's biggest economies.

Additional reporting by Khanyisile Ngcobo in Johannesburg

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President Donald Trump has suspended the US green card lottery scheme in the wake of a mass shooting at Brown University last week in which two people were killed.

The suspect, a Portuguese man who was found dead on Thursday, entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she has paused the visa scheme under Trump's direction to "ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme".

US officials said they believe the suspect, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, also killed Portuguese Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro earlier this week.

The programme makes up to 50,000 visas available each year through a random selection process among entries from countries with low rates of immigration to the US.

Writing on social media, Noem said Trump had previously "fought to end" the scheme in 2017 after eight people were killed in a truck-ramming attack in New York City.

Uzbekistan national Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic State supporter who is serving multiple life sentences for the attack, entered the US through the DV1 scheme, according to Noem.

Her comments come just hours after Neves Valente was found dead in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, from what police believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police said video evidence and tips from the public led investigators to a car rental location where they found the suspect's name and matched him to their person of interest, following a six-day multi-state manhunt.

He was found dead with a satchel and two firearms. Evidence in a car nearby matched to the scene of the shooting at Brown University in Providence, according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said Neves Valente was enrolled at the Ivy League school from the autumn of 2000 to the following spring, and was studying for a PhD in physics.

He had "no current active affiliation" to Brown, she said.

Officials said they believe Neves Valente shot and killed MIT professor Nuno F Gomes Loureiro, 47, on Monday at his home in Brookline, which is about 50 miles (80km) from Providence.

Both men had studied at the same university in Portugal in the late 1990s, police said.

Officials said the cases were linked when the suspect's vehicle was identified via CCTV footage and a witness at Brown University.

The same car was spotted near the scene of the professor's shooting, which happened just two days later.

Authorities have not provided any suspected motive for either of the attacks.

Two students were killed and nine others were injured as a gunman burst into Brown University's engineering building on 13 December and opened fire during final exams.

They have been identified as Ella Cook, 19, a second-year student from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, an Uzbek-American who had just started at the university.

Parents of children with thalassemia in India say they are devastated after life-saving blood transfusions left their children HIV-positive, confronting them with illness, social stigma, and uncertainty.

Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder that requires regular transfusions to manage severe anaemia and sustain life.

On Wednesday, authorities in central state of Madhya Pradesh said five children with thalassemia, aged three to 15, have tested positive for HIV, prompting concerns over blood transfusion practices. A committee has been set up to investigate the cases.

The families are from Satna district. Although the infections were detected during routine screening between January and May 2025, they drew wider attention after local media reports earlier this week.

The cases follow a similar incident in the eastern state of Jharkhand weeks earlier, where five children with thalassemia, all under eight, were found to have contracted HIV after blood transfusions at a state-run hospital.

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, spreads through unprotected sex, unsafe medical practices, infected blood transfusions, or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

While no longer a death sentence, it requires lifelong management. In India, more than 2.5 million people live with HIV, with about 66,400 new infections each year. Over 1.6 million are on lifelong treatment at antiretroviral therapy (ART) centres, government data shows.

Satna district collector Satish Kumar S said the five children had received blood transfusions at different locations, involving multiple donors.

Health officials said these included government hospitals and private clinics, and that all the children are now receiving treatment.

In one case, officials said both parents of a three-year-old were HIV positive. In the other cases, the parents tested negative, ruling out mother-to-child transmission.

Satna's chief medical and health officer Manoj Shukla said children with multiple transfusions are considered high-risk and are routinely screened for HIV.

"Once detected, treatment was started immediately and is continuing. At present, the children are stable," he said.

Every unit of blood issued by the district hospital's blood bank is tested according to government protocol and released only after a negative report, Dr Shukla says.

However, in rare cases, blood donors who are in the early stages of HIV infection may go undetected during initial screenings but test positive later, he adds.

Cases of thalassemia patients contracting HIV during treatment are not new in India.

In October, after similar incidents in Jharkhand, authorities suspended a lab assistant, the doctor in charge of the HIV unit and the chief surgeon of the state-run hospital involved.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren also announced an assistance of 200,000 rupees ($2,212; £1,655) for each affected family.

In 2011, authorities in Gujarat launched an investigation after 23 children with thalassemia tested positive for HIV following regular blood transfusions at a public hospital.

Last week, thalassemia patients urged India's parliament to pass the National Blood Transfusion Bill 2025, saying it would strengthen regulation of blood collection, testing and transfusion.

Campaigners, including patients who contracted HIV through unsafe transfusions, called the bill a long-awaited step towards safer, quality-assured blood for those reliant on frequent transfusions.

In India, where healthcare access can be limited, especially in rural areas and small towns, families of the HIV-infected children in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand are deeply concerned.

"My daughter was already suffering from thalassemia. Now she has got HIV, all thanks to the pathetic medical facilities of Madhya Pradesh," said one father, whose child is among those affected.

Another parent said their child was struggling with side-effects of HIV medication, including vomiting and constant fatigue.

In India, HIV still carries strong social stigma, often leading to discrimination. In Jharkhand, the family of a seven-year-old boy was forced to leave their rented home after the landlord learned of the child's HIV status, the father told the BBC.

"I tried to convince them a lot, but they remained adamant on getting the house vacated. So, I had to return to my village, about 27km [17 miles] away," said the father, who is a farmer.

"In the village, it is not only a challenge for my son to get better health facilities, but he is also deprived of a good education."

Additional reporting by Mohammad Sartaj Alam in Jharkhand

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TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with US and global investors to sell the majority of its business in America, TikTok's boss told employees on Thursday.

Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive Shou Zi Chew.

The deal, which is set to close on 22 January, would end years of efforts by Washington to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.

The deal is ​line with one unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.

In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable "over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community".

The White House referred the BBC to TikTok when contacted for comment.

European Union leaders have struck a deal to give Ukraine a €90bn (£79bn; $105bn) loan after failing to agree on using frozen Russian assets.

The agreement, which leaders said would meet Ukraine's military and economic needs for the next two years, came after more than a day of talks at a summit in Brussels.

"We committed, we delivered," EU chief Antonio Costa wrote on X as he announced the deal to provide a loan backed by the bloc's common budget.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had urged leaders to use €200 billion of frozen Russian assets but Belgium, where the vast bulk of the cash is held, demanded guarantees on sharing liability that proved too much for other countries.

In another development, French President Emmanuel Macron said he believed it would be "useful" for Europe to re-engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I believe that it's in our interest as Europeans and Ukrainians to find the right framework to re-engage this discussion," he said, adding that Europeans should find the means to do so "in coming weeks".

EU ⁠leaders avoided "chaos ‍and ‍division" ​with ‌their decision to provide Ukraine with a loan through borrowing cash rather than ​use frozen Russian assets, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De ​Wever said early on Friday.

"We remained united," De ‌Wever added.

Ukraine is months from running out of cash and Zelensky said without an injection by spring Ukraine would "have to reduce production of drones".

The EU estimates Ukraine needs an extra €135 billion to stay afloat over the next two years, with the cash crunch set to start in April.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had pushed for the asset plan, said the final decision on the loan "sends a clear signal" to Putin.

Russia had warned EU leaders not to use its money, but Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said they had to "rise to this occasion".

The agreement offers Kyiv a desperately needed lifeline amid a flurry of diplomacy as US President Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia's war.

US and Russian officials are due to meet in Miami this weekend for further talks on a peace plan, a White House official has told AFP news agency. It is thought Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev will talk to Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami.

Meanwhile, Zelensky announced Ukrainian and US delegations would hold new talks on Friday and Saturday in the United States.

He said he wanted Washington to give more details on the guarantees it could offer to protect Ukraine from another invasion.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for the suspect in a mass shooting at Brown University that killed two people and injured nine others, sources close to the investigation told the BBC's US partner, CBS News.

Authorities are now searching for the person and a car the suspect is believed to have rented, according to CBS. They have not publicly identified the suspect.

They also are looking into a possible link between the shooting at Brown and the killing of a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology two days later.

The search is now in its sixth day, with investigators knocking on doors, asking for home-security videos, and appealing to the public for tips to find the gunman.

A news conference that police in Providence, Rhode Island, had planned for Thursday afternoon was abruptly cancelled, but they said they expected to give an update later in the day.

On Thursday, authorities told CBS sources that they are investigating possible connections between the shooting and the killing of an Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) nuclear science and engineering professor two days later.

Nuno F Gomes Loureiro, 47, from Portugal, was shot "multiple times" on Monday at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, which is about 50 miles (80km) from Providence.

Police have obtained an arrest warrant for a suspect, sources told CBS. The sources said a rental car matching the same description was seen at both crime scenes.

Federal authorities had previously said there was no link between the two murders.

On Wednesday, authorities released a photo of an individual they believe was in close proximity to their primary person of interest.

Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said they wanted to speak with the person, "who may have information relevant to the investigation".

The chief also said the killer "could be anywhere", adding that "we don't know where the person is or who he is".

A day earlier, police had shown footage of a person of interest where a man was seen walking around the university campus with a black mask over his mouth, possibly "casing" the area before the crime, Perez said.

Members of the public have expressed frustration that the mass shooting investigation has appeared to yield little progress so far.

In response, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said he believed the killer would be caught "and it is just a matter of time before we catch him".

The FBI has offered a $50,000 (£37,350) reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the attack.

The shooting occurred at Brown University's Barus & Holley engineering building during final exams.

Authorities identified the two students killed as Ella Cook, a sophomore from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an Uzbek-American freshman student.

TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with US and global investors to sell the majority of its business in America, TikTok's boss told employees on Thursday.

Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive Shou Zi Chew.

The deal, which is set to close on 22 January, would end years of efforts by Washington to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.

The deal is ​line with one unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.

In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable "over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community".

The White House referred the BBC to TikTok when contacted for comment.

A former Nascar driver is believed to be among seven people who have died in a plane crash at a regional airport in North Carolina, an official says.

The Cessna C550 aircraft is owned by a private company associated with Greg Biffle, a retired Nascar driver, CBS, the BBC's US partner, reported.

The small aircraft crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport around 10:20 local time (15:20GMT), aviation officials investigating the incident told reporters.

Congressman Rich Hudson of North Carolina appeared to confirm Biffle's death on X, writing that he was devastated by the loss of the racer, his wife Christina and their children.

"Greg was a great NASCAR champion who thrilled millions of fans. But he was an extraordinary person as well, and will be remembered for his service to others as much as for his fearlessness on the track," Hudson wrote, praising their aid work during hurricanes in North Carolina and Jamaica.

Professional baseball player Mitchell Garret wrote on Facebook that Biffle and his family were on their way to spend the afternoon with him.

"Unfortunately, I can confirm Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, daughter Emma, and son Ryder were on that plane… because they were on their way to spend the afternoon with us," he wrote on Facebook. "We are devastated. I'm so sorry to share this."

Statesville Airport director John Ferguson described the aircraft as a corporate jet and said that it was already engulfed in flames when he arrived on the scene.

The business jet took off around 10:06 local time and was in the air briefly before the crash.

It crashed on the east end of the runway and authorities do not yet have information on the cause of the crash.

Statesville Airport will remain closed until further notice as crews clear debris off the runway, Mr Ferguson told reporters.

Officials did not provide any information about deaths or people aboard the aircraft during the media conference.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation, said it was launching a go team to investigate the fatal crash. The team expects to arrive on scene on Thursday night.

The Statesville Regional Airport (KSVH) is owned by the City of Statesville, which is about 45 minutes north of Charlotte.

It also provides aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several Nascar racing teams.

Biffle, whose racing career spanned two decades, was named one of Nascar's 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. The 55-year-old won 19 Cup Series races in the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

Known as The Biff, the Vancouver, Washington, native received national notice in 1995 when during that year's Nascar Winter Heat Series., according to his Nascar profile.

He quickly made a name for himself in the Craftsman Truck Series, winning the 1998 Rookie of Year award and the 2000 series championship.

He went on to be named 2001 Rookie of the Year in the Xfinity Series and to win the 2002 championship, becoming the first driver with championships in both the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series.

He also co-founded the organisation's Sand Outlaws Series. Although he scaled back on racing after 2016, he seemingly came out of retirement in 2019 for a one-off race at Texas Motor Speedway, which he won.

"Racing is racing," he told Nascar.com in 2021. "It's that adrenaline, you want to be better than the competition, you want to build a better piece and have a faster car. I just enjoy the competition."

TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with US and global investors to sell the majority of its business in America, TikTok's boss told employees on Thursday.

Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive Shou Zi Chew.

The deal, which is set to close on 22 January, would end years of efforts by Washington to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.

The deal is ​line with one unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.

In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable "over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community".

The White House referred the BBC to TikTok when contacted for comment.

The Australian government has announced a gun buyback scheme in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack - its deadliest mass shooting in decades.

The scheme is the largest since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which left 35 people dead and prompted Australia to introduce world-leading gun control measures.

Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured on Sunday when two gunmen, believed to have been motivated by "Islamic State ideology", opened fire on a Jewish festival at the country's most iconic beach.

On Friday police said a group of men who were arrested in Sydney after travelling from the state of Victoria had "extremist Islamic ideology".

Police allege Sunday's attack, which they have declared a terrorist incident, was committed by a father-son duo. Naveed Akram, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act. His father Sajid was killed during the attack.

The day after the shooting, national cabinet - which includes representatives from the federal government and leaders from all states and territories - agreed to tighten gun controls.

Speaking to media on Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there are now more than 4 million firearms in Australia - more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.

"We know that one of these terrorists held a firearm licence and had six guns, in spite of living in the middle of Sydney's suburbs... There's no reason why someone in that situation needed that many guns.

"We need to get more guns off our streets."

Earlier on Friday, a senior New South Wales police officer told national broadcaster ABC seven men arrested by counter terrorism police in Sydney on Thursday evening may have been on their way to Bondi.

Tactical officers swarmed on the group, who had travelled from Victoria and were known to police there, in dramatic scenes in the suburb of Liverpool.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said "some indication" that Bondi was one of the locations they were considering visiting, but "with no specific intent in mind or proven at this stage".

Rarely used national security powers were relied upon to swoop before their plans developed.

"We made the decision that we weren't going to … take any chances in relation to what they might be doing," he said.

Officers found a knife, but no guns or other weapons, Mr Hudson added.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for the suspect in a mass shooting at Brown University that killed two people and injured nine others, sources close to the investigation told the BBC's US partner, CBS News.

Authorities are now searching for the person and a car the suspect is believed to have rented, according to CBS. They have not publicly identified the suspect.

They also are looking into a possible link between the shooting at Brown and the killing of a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology two days later.

The search is now in its sixth day, with investigators knocking on doors, asking for home-security videos, and appealing to the public for tips to find the gunman.

A news conference that police in Providence, Rhode Island, had planned for Thursday afternoon was abruptly cancelled, but they said they expected to give an update later in the day.

On Thursday, authorities told CBS sources that they are investigating possible connections between the shooting and the killing of an Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) nuclear science and engineering professor two days later.

Nuno F Gomes Loureiro, 47, from Portugal, was shot "multiple times" on Monday at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, which is about 50 miles (80km) from Providence.

Police have obtained an arrest warrant for a suspect, sources told CBS. The sources said a rental car matching the same description was seen at both crime scenes.

Federal authorities had previously said there was no link between the two murders.

On Wednesday, authorities released a photo of an individual they believe was in close proximity to their primary person of interest.

Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said they wanted to speak with the person, "who may have information relevant to the investigation".

The chief also said the killer "could be anywhere", adding that "we don't know where the person is or who he is".

A day earlier, police had shown footage of a person of interest where a man was seen walking around the university campus with a black mask over his mouth, possibly "casing" the area before the crime, Perez said.

Members of the public have expressed frustration that the mass shooting investigation has appeared to yield little progress so far.

In response, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said he believed the killer would be caught "and it is just a matter of time before we catch him".

The FBI has offered a $50,000 (£37,350) reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the attack.

The shooting occurred at Brown University's Barus & Holley engineering building during final exams.

Authorities identified the two students killed as Ella Cook, a sophomore from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an Uzbek-American freshman student.

A former Nascar driver is believed to be among seven people who have died in a plane crash at a regional airport in North Carolina, an official says.

The Cessna C550 aircraft is owned by a private company associated with Greg Biffle, a retired Nascar driver, CBS, the BBC's US partner, reported.

The small aircraft crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport around 10:20 local time (15:20GMT), aviation officials investigating the incident told reporters.

Congressman Rich Hudson of North Carolina appeared to confirm Biffle's death on X, writing that he was devastated by the loss of the racer, his wife Christina and their children.

"Greg was a great NASCAR champion who thrilled millions of fans. But he was an extraordinary person as well, and will be remembered for his service to others as much as for his fearlessness on the track," Hudson wrote, praising their aid work during hurricanes in North Carolina and Jamaica.

Professional baseball player Mitchell Garret wrote on Facebook that Biffle and his family were on their way to spend the afternoon with him.

"Unfortunately, I can confirm Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, daughter Emma, and son Ryder were on that plane… because they were on their way to spend the afternoon with us," he wrote on Facebook. "We are devastated. I'm so sorry to share this."

Statesville Airport director John Ferguson described the aircraft as a corporate jet and said that it was already engulfed in flames when he arrived on the scene.

The business jet took off around 10:06 local time and was in the air briefly before the crash.

It crashed on the east end of the runway and authorities do not yet have information on the cause of the crash.

Statesville Airport will remain closed until further notice as crews clear debris off the runway, Mr Ferguson told reporters.

Officials did not provide any information about deaths or people aboard the aircraft during the media conference.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation, said it was launching a go team to investigate the fatal crash. The team expects to arrive on scene on Thursday night.

The Statesville Regional Airport (KSVH) is owned by the City of Statesville, which is about 45 minutes north of Charlotte.

It also provides aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several Nascar racing teams.

Biffle, whose racing career spanned two decades, was named one of Nascar's 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. The 55-year-old won 19 Cup Series races in the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

Known as The Biff, the Vancouver, Washington, native received national notice in 1995 when during that year's Nascar Winter Heat Series., according to his Nascar profile.

He quickly made a name for himself in the Craftsman Truck Series, winning the 1998 Rookie of Year award and the 2000 series championship.

He went on to be named 2001 Rookie of the Year in the Xfinity Series and to win the 2002 championship, becoming the first driver with championships in both the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series.

He also co-founded the organisation's Sand Outlaws Series. Although he scaled back on racing after 2016, he seemingly came out of retirement in 2019 for a one-off race at Texas Motor Speedway, which he won.

"Racing is racing," he told Nascar.com in 2021. "It's that adrenaline, you want to be better than the competition, you want to build a better piece and have a faster car. I just enjoy the competition."

The House Oversight Committee has released a batch of around 70 photos from the estate of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It's the third such release from a tranche of over 95,000 photos the committee has acquired from Epstein's estate. It includes images of quotes from the book Lolita written across a woman's body, and redacted images of women's foreign passports.

It comes hours before the 19 December deadline for the Department of Justice to release all files related to its investigation into Epstein.

"These new images raise more questions about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its possession," said ranking member of the committee, Robert Garcia.

What's in the images released

Some of the photos released on Thursday show Epstein speaking with professor and activist Noam Chomsky aboard a private plane; Bill Gates standing beside a woman whose face is redacted; Steve Bannon sitting at a desk across from Epstein, and former Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner event.

These are the latest wealthy, powerful men to be seen in Epstein estate photos released by the House Oversight Committee - previously released photos also show US President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton, as well as film director Woody Allen, former US treasury secretary Larry Summers, attorney Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and others.

Appearing in the photos is not evidence of any wrongdoing, and many of the pictured men have said they were never involved in Epstein's illegal activity.

In a statement accompanying the photo release, Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee said the Epstein estate did not provide context or timings for the pictures.

"Photos were selected to provide the public with transparency into a representative sample of the photos received from the estate, and to provide insights into Epstein's network and his extremely disturbing activities," the statement says.

The release also includes several photos of quotes from the Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita written in black ink across different parts of a woman's body, like her chest, foot, hipbone, and back. Lolita tells the story of a young girl who was groomed by a middle-aged literature professor.

One quote from the book written across a woman's chest reads, "Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth".

There are also a number of photos of female passports and identification documents from countries around the world, including Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Most of the information on the documents, like names and birth dates, is redacted but the House Oversight Committee said in a press release that the passports belong to "women whom Jeffrey Epstein and his conspirators were engaging".

Another photo shows Epstein sitting at a desk closely surrounded by three female figures whose faces have been redacted - one has her hand on Epstein's chest under his shirt, and another is crouching to look at a nearby laptop. Epstein appears to be helping the third put on a bracelet.

Another image released is a screenshot of text messages from an unknown person who says they have been sent "some girls" and are asking for "$1000 per girl".

Photo release comes ahead of DOJ deadline

The committee has thousands of images in its possession from the Epstein estate, which are "both graphic and mundane", its statement on Thursday explained.

The House Oversight Committee first subpoenaed the estate of Epstein, who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on allegations of sex trafficking, in August.

The photos and files the Epstein estate gave to the committee are separate from what is largely referred to as "the Epstein files". Those are documents within the justice department's possession related to its own investigation into Epstein.

Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Trump signed into law last month, the DOJ has until 19 December to release its files. The extent of what's contained in the DOJ's files is unknown, and it's likely that much of the content will be heavily redacted, similar to House Oversight Committee materials.

Pope Leo has named Bishop Aldon Ronald Hicks as the next archbishop of New York.

Bishop Hicks, who - like the pope - is from the Chicago area and served in Latin America, will lead one of the Roman Catholic Church's most populous and important postings in the United States.

The 58-year-old replaces the retiring Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 75, who was seen as a conservative with close ties to President Donald Trump. Hicks said he accepted his appointment, which was announced on Thursday, with "an open heart" and Dolan called it "an early Christmas gift" for New Yorkers.

Last month, Hicks joined other bishops to condemn the Trump administration's large scale immigration-related arrests as part of its mass deportation agenda.

Hicks' early life and pastoral career closely mirror Pope Leo's. He grew up in South Holland, a short distance from Leo's Dolton neighbourhood in the suburb of Chicago.

While Pope Leo spent two decades as a missionary in Peru, Hicks worked at an orphanage in El Salvador from 2005 to 2010, according to a biography released by the New York archdiocese. Hicks was appointed bishop of Joliet by Pope Francis in 2020.

Like the pope, Hicks has been outspoken about his concerns for immigrants.

"Deeply rooted in our Gospel tradition of loving our neighbor, this letter affirms our solidarity with all our brothers and sisters as it expresses our concerns, opposition, and hopes with clarity and conviction," he said, in response to a joint-letter written by US bishops expressing concerns about the situation immigrants in the United States face.

"It is grounded in the Church's enduring commitment to the Catholic social teaching of human dignity and a call for meaningful immigration reform," he said

The Trump administration has carried out large scale immigration arrests in the Chicago area, leading to clashes between federal agents and residents protesting their presence.

The bishops' letter comes as churches grapple with how to respond to immigration activity that affects their members.

The majority of people at risk of deportation are Christians, with 61% of the at-risk group being Catholics, according to a report by the US Catholic Bishops Conference.

Hicks will now leave his position as bishop of Joliet for the ornate sanctuary at St Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan where he will lead 2.5 million Catholics in the nation's largest city.

His appointment comes a week after Cardinal Dolan, who has served in New York City for about 16 years, announced the archdiocese will set up a $300 million fund to settle claims of clergy sex abuse.

"As a church, we can never rest in our efforts to prevent abuse, to protect children and to care for survivors," the incoming archbishop said at a news conference. "While this work is challenging, it's difficult, it's painful, I hope it will continue to help in the areas of accountability, transparency and healing."

European Union leaders begin two days of talks in Brussels with a momentous decision to be taken on whether to loan tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to fund its military and economic needs.

Most of Russia's €210bn (£185bn; $245bn) worth of assets in the EU are held by Belgium-based organisation Euroclear, and so far Belgium and some other members of the bloc have said they are opposed to using the cash.

Without a boost in funding, Ukraine's finances are set to run dry in a matter of months.

One European government official described being "cautiously optimistic, not overly optimistic" that a deal would be agreed. Russia has warned the EU against using its money.

It has filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in a Moscow court in a bid to get its money back.

The Brussels summit comes at a pivotal moment.

US President Donald Trump has said a deal to end the war - which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 - is "closer now than we have been ever".

Although Russia has not responded to the latest peace proposals, the Kremlin has stressed that plans for a European-led multinational force for Ukraine supported by the US would not be acceptable.

President Vladimir Putin made his feelings towards Europe clear on Wednesday, when he said the continent was in a state of "total degradation" and "European piglets" - a derogatory description of Ukraine's European allies - were hoping to profit from Russia's collapse.

The European Commission - the EU's executive arm - has proposed loaning Kyiv about €90bn (£79bn) over the next two years - out of the €210bn of Russian assets sitting in Europe.

That is about two-thirds of the €137bn that Kyiv is thought to need to get through 2026 and 2027.

Until now the EU has handed Ukraine the interest generated by the cash but not the cash itself.

"This is a crunch time for Ukraine to keep fighting for the next year," a Finnish government official told the BBC. "There are of course peace negotiations but this gives Ukraine leverage to say 'we're not desperate and we have the funds to continue fighting'."

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says it will also ramp up the cost of war for Russia.

Russia's frozen assets are not the only option on the table for EU leaders. Another idea, backed by Belgium, is based on the EU borrowing the money on the international markets.

However, that would require a unanimous vote and Hungary's Viktor Orban has made it clear he will not allow any more EU money to help Ukraine.

For Ukraine, the hours ahead are significant and President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the EU summit.

Ahead of the Brussels meeting, EU leaders were keen to stress the momentous nature of the decision.

"We know the urgency. It is acute. We all feel it. We all see it," von der Leyen told the European Parliament.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has played a leading role in pushing for the Russian assets to be used, telling the Bundestag on the eve of the summit it was about sending a "clear signal" to Moscow that continuing the war was pointless.

EU officials are confident they have a sound legal basis to use the frozen Russian assets, but so far Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever remains unconvinced.

His Defence Minister Theo Francken warned ahead of the talks that it would be a big mistake to loan the Euroclear cash.

Hungary is seen as the biggest opponent of the move and, ahead of the summit, Prime Minister Orban and his entourage even suggested that the frozen assets plan had been removed from the summit agenda. A European Commission official stressed that was not the case and it would be a matter for the 27 member states at the summit.

Slovakia's Robert Fico has also opposed using the Russian assets, if it means the money being used to procure weapons rather than for reconstruction needs.

When the pivotal vote does finally take place, it will require a majority of about two-thirds of member states to go through. Whatever happens, European Council President António Costa has promised not to go over the heads of the Belgians.

"We're not going to vote against Belgium," he told Belgian public broadcaster RTBF. "We'll continue to work very intensively with the Belgian government because we don't want to approve something that might not be acceptable for Belgium."

Belgium will also be aware that ratings agency Fitch has placed Euroclear on a negative watch, partly because of "low" legal risks to its balance sheet from the European Commission's plans to use the Russian assets. Euroclear's chief executive has also warned against the plan.

"There are many hiccups and obstacles of course still on the way. We have to find a way to respond to Belgium's worries," the Finnish official added. "We are on the same side as Belgium. We will find a solution together to make sure all the risks are checked as much as they can be checked."

However, Belgium is not the only country to have doubts, and a majority is not guaranteed.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has told Italian MPs she will endorse the deal "if the legal basis is solid".

"If the legal basis for this initiative were not solid, we would be handing Russia its first real victory since the beginning of this conflict."

Malta, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are also said to be unconvinced by the controversial proposals.

If the deal is passed and the Russian assets are given to Ukraine, the worst-case scenario for Belgium would be one in which a court would order it to hand the money back to Russia.

Some countries have said they would be prepared to provide billions of euros in financial guarantees, but Belgium will want to see the numbers add up.

At any rate, Commission officials are confident that the only way for Russia to get it back would be by paying reparations to Ukraine - at which point Ukraine would hand its "reparations loan" back to the EU.

Violence has erupted in Bangladesh following the death of a prominent leader of the youth movement that ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sharif Osman Hadi was shot by masked attackers while leaving a mosque in Dhaka last week and died of his injuries on Thursday while being treated in Singapore.

The shooting came a day after Bangladeshi authorities announced a date for the first elections since the uprising in 2024, which Hadi had been planning to contest as an independent candidate.

As news of his death emerged on Thursday, hundreds of his supporters gathered in a square in the capital city to protest.

Later on, demonstrators vandalised the offices of Bangladesh's Prothom Ali and Daily Star newspapers, with one building partly set on fire.

"Hundreds of people have gathered here and carried out the attack," a police officer told BBC Bangla.

Troops were deployed to the scene, while firefighters rescued journalists trapped inside the building.

Hadi, 32, was a senior leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha and an outspoken critic of neighbouring India - where Hasina remains in self-imposed exile.

Bangladeshi political parties have mourned his death and urged the interim government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government, called Hadi's death "an irreparable loss for the nation".

"The country's march toward democracy cannot be halted through fear, terror, or bloodshed," he said in a televised speech on Thursday.

The interim government declared a day of national mourning on Saturday.

Soon after Hadi was shot, Yunus said it was a premeditated attack and "the objective of the conspirators is to derail the election".

"No form of violence intended to disrupt the election will be tolerated," Yunus said. "The incident is a worrying development for the country's political landscape."

Investigations are ongoing and several people have been detained in connection to the shooting.

Hasina fled to India on 5 August last year, following weeks of student-led protests, bringing an end to 15 years of increasingly authoritarian rule.

In November, she was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity after being found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the unrest.

A former Nascar driver is believed to be among seven people who have died in a plane crash at a regional airport in North Carolina, an official says.

The Cessna C550 aircraft is owned by a private company associated with Greg Biffle, a retired Nascar driver, CBS, the BBC's US partner, reported.

The small aircraft crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport around 10:20 local time (15:20GMT), aviation officials investigating the incident told reporters.

Congressman Rich Hudson of North Carolina appeared to confirm Biffle's death on X, writing that he was devastated by the loss of the racer, his wife Christina and their children.

"Greg was a great NASCAR champion who thrilled millions of fans. But he was an extraordinary person as well, and will be remembered for his service to others as much as for his fearlessness on the track," Hudson wrote, praising their aid work during hurricanes in North Carolina and Jamaica.

Professional baseball player Mitchell Garret wrote on Facebook that Biffle and his family were on their way to spend the afternoon with him.

"Unfortunately, I can confirm Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, daughter Emma, and son Ryder were on that plane… because they were on their way to spend the afternoon with us," he wrote on Facebook. "We are devastated. I'm so sorry to share this."

Statesville Airport director John Ferguson described the aircraft as a corporate jet and said that it was already engulfed in flames when he arrived on the scene.

The business jet took off around 10:06 local time and was in the air briefly before the crash.

It crashed on the east end of the runway and authorities do not yet have information on the cause of the crash.

Statesville Airport will remain closed until further notice as crews clear debris off the runway, Mr Ferguson told reporters.

Officials did not provide any information about deaths or people aboard the aircraft during the media conference.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation, said it was launching a go team to investigate the fatal crash. The team expects to arrive on scene on Thursday night.

The Statesville Regional Airport (KSVH) is owned by the City of Statesville, which is about 45 minutes north of Charlotte.

It also provides aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several Nascar racing teams.

Biffle, whose racing career spanned two decades, was named one of Nascar's 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. The 55-year-old won 19 Cup Series races in the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

Known as The Biff, the Vancouver, Washington, native received national notice in 1995 when during that year's Nascar Winter Heat Series., according to his Nascar profile.

He quickly made a name for himself in the Craftsman Truck Series, winning the 1998 Rookie of Year award and the 2000 series championship.

He went on to be named 2001 Rookie of the Year in the Xfinity Series and to win the 2002 championship, becoming the first driver with championships in both the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series.

He also co-founded the organisation's Sand Outlaws Series. Although he scaled back on racing after 2016, he seemingly came out of retirement in 2019 for a one-off race at Texas Motor Speedway, which he won.

"Racing is racing," he told Nascar.com in 2021. "It's that adrenaline, you want to be better than the competition, you want to build a better piece and have a faster car. I just enjoy the competition."

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would expand access to cannabis, a long anticipated move that would mark the most significant shift in US drug policy in decades.

The order is expected to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I narcotic, to a Schedule III drug - placing it under the same category as Tylenol with codeine, US media reports suggest.

Even if recategorised, cannabis will remain illegal at the federal level. But classifying it as a Schedule III narcotic would allow expanded research to be conducted into its potential benefits.

Several Republican lawmakers have cautioned against the move, with some arguing it could normalise cannabis use.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency notes that Schedule III narcotics - which also include ketamine and anabolic steroids - have only a "moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence".

The executive order could come as early as Thursday, although the timing could shift, CBS, the BBC's US partner, has reported.

The new classification could also have tax implications for state-authorised cannabis dispensaries, as current regulations bar them from some tax deductions if they sell Schedule I products.

Various US news outlets have reported that the announcement may also include a pilot programme that would see some older Americans reimbursed for cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, for conditions including cancer treatments.

In recent years, a majority of US states have approved cannabis for some medical use, and nearly half - 24 - have legalised recreational use. But since 1971, cannabis has been a Schedule I narcotic, which means it has no accepted medical use and a high potential to be abused.

Earlier this week, Trump said that he was "considering" the re-classification because of "tremendous amounts of research that can't be done unless you reclassify".

The Biden administration proposed a similar reclassification, and in April 2024 the DEA proposed a rule change, but got bogged down under administrative and legal issues.

Trump has long expressed a desire to change US drug policy regarding cannabis.

"I believe it is time to end endless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use," he wrote on Truth Social last year while running for president.

"We must also implement smart regulations, while providing access for adults, to safe, tested products," he said.

The reclassification proposal has met some resistance from Republican lawmakers.

On Wednesday, a group of 22 Republican Senators sent an open letter to the president, arguing that marijuana use would mean that "we cannot re-industrialise America".

The Senators pointed to lingering concerns over the health impact of cannabis, as well as research suggesting that cannabis can be linked to "impaired judgement" and "lack of concentration".

"In light of the documented dangers of marijuana, facilitating the growth of the marijuana industry is at odds with growing our economy and encouraging healthy lifestyles for Americans."

In a separate letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi in August, nine Republican representatives argued that "no adequate science or data" exists to support the change.

"Marijuana, while different than heroin, still has the potential for abuse and has no scientifically proven medical value," the letter said. "Therefore, rescheduling marijuana would not only be objectively wrong, but it would also imply to our children that marijuana is safe. That couldn't be further from the truth."

More broadly, polls show that a majority of Americans support efforts to legalise marijuana.

One Gallup poll released in November found that 64% of Americans believe that it should be legalised, although support had drifted slightly from previous years because of a 13-point drop among Republicans.

An HR executive caught on the big screen at a Coldplay concert embracing her boss has described how "the harassment has never ended" following the viral moment.

Kristin Cabot has spoken publicly for the first time about the video in which she was seen hugging Andy Byron, then-CEO of tech company Astronomer, at the show in July, before they abruptly ducked and hid from the camera.

Ms Cabot, 53, who was the company's chief people officer, stepped down following Mr Byron's resignation after the firm announced he would be placed on leave and investigated.

Speaking to the Times, Ms Cabot said she has been looking for another job but been told she is "unemployable".

The video, which showed the pair swaying to music at the concert in Boston, Massachusetts, before trying to hide, quickly went viral, after Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin said to the crowd: "Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy."

It was watched millions of times, shared widely across platforms, and the pair became the butt of many jokes. Within a few days, the internet had moved on, but for Ms Cabot, her ordeal had only just begun.

"I became a meme, I was the most maligned HR manager in HR history," Ms Cabot told The Times.

Ms Cabot was separated from her husband, who was also at the concert.

In a separate interview with the New York Times, she explained she was not in a sexual relationship with Mr Byron and the pair had never kissed before that night - although she admits to having had a "crush" on her boss.

"I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss," she said, adding she "took accountability and I gave up my career for that".

As to why she chose to speak out now, Ms Cabot told the Times "...it's not over for me, and it's not over for my kids. The harassment never ended".

Her two children are too embarrassed to be picked up from school by their mother, she said, or to go to sports games.

"They're mad at me. And they can be mad at me for the rest of their lives - I have to take that."

Ms Cabot wondered whether Mr Byron had received the same level of abuse throughout the ordeal, the Times reported.

"I think as a woman, as women always do, I took the bulk of the abuse. People would say things like I was a 'gold-digger' or I 'slept my way to the top', which just couldn't be further from reality," she said.

"I worked so hard to dispel that all my life and here I was being accused of it."

At the peak of the scandal, her appearance, body, face and clothes were scrutinised and picked apart, with many high-profile celebrities including Whoopi Golderg piling on. Gwyneth Paltrow, who was once married to Chris Martin, even took part in a tongue-in-cheek promotional video for Astronomer.

Ms Cabot told the New York Times she received threatening messages after the incident, including from a person who said they knew where she shopped and wrote: "I'm coming for you".

She said "my kids were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die", and that her family began to dread public spaces and social events.

Women were the cruellest critics, she told the New York Times, with all of the in-person bullying, plus most of the phone calls and messages from women.

Her private details were put online (known as doxxing) and for weeks she was bombarded with up to 600 calls a day, the New York Times reported. The paparazzi outside her house was like a "parade" and there were 50 or 60 death threats, she said.

Things are starting to improve, though. Ms Cabot has found therapists for her children and she has started leaving the house to play tennis, she said.

She said that while she and Mr Byron kept in touch for a short while, exchanging "crisis management advice", they decided "speaking with each other was going to make it too hard for everyone to move on and heal," and have not spoken since.

For his part, Mr Byron has not spoken publicly.

A fake statement purporting to be from him, complete with Coldplay lyrics, went viral after the concert and Astronomer had to release its own to say that he had not made any comment.

"Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding," the statement read. "Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability."

It later said: "Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted."

The BBC has tried to contact Andy Byron, via his former employer Astronomer, for comment.