Tirayut Wongsantisuk and his wife moved to Chiang Mai in the 2010s, drawn by the hilly region's cool air and lush greenery.

But worsening air quality in the Thai city, especially during this time of the year, have prompted them to consider relocating for the sake of their children.

Two of their daughters have experienced frequent nosebleeds. "I've been thinking, maybe we really should move during this time... because if something bad happens to our child, we'll feel terrible forever," Tirayut , 41, told the BBC.

Smoke from raging fires have choked parts of northern Thailand this past week, with Chiang Mai ranking among the world's most polluted cities, according to monitoring group IQAir.

A thick blanket of haze hovered over the horizon when BBC Thai visited Tirayut and other families in Chiang Mai, covering what once were mountainous views. There was a persistent burning smell in the air.

Satellite data showed a record number of 4,750 hotspots across Thailand on Tuesday, mostly in forested areas.

As of Wednesday morning, Chiang Mai's PM2.5 level, which refers to the concentration of tiny, hazardous particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres, was classified as "very unhealthy".

The months of November to March mark peak fire season in the region as farmers burn off fields before new seeds are sown. In addition to these are wildfires that break out naturally because of dry conditions in forests and farmlands.

Photographs on local media show mountains engulfed by flames, with some residents likening the blazes to "volcanoes erupting", according to local news outlet Khaosod.

Earlier this week, authorities ordered the closure of parks with high fire risk and warned that anyone found entering those areas to start fires would be arrested immediately.

In Thailand, those convicted of illegal forest burning face up to 20 years in prison and a 2m baht ($61,100; £46,200) fine.

Exposure to haze can cause various health issues, from itchy eyes and nose bleeds to heart attacks.

Tirayut says his oldest daughter, six, "had nosebleeds, a rash, and an allergic reaction in her eyes, to the point where her eyelids were swollen".

Benjamas Jaiparkan has sent her children to the neighbouring Phayao province, where the air quality is better, to temporarily live with relatives. But the 35-year-old is thinking of leaving Chiang Mai permanently.

Benjamas, a public school teacher, is especially worried about her four-year-old son, who started getting nosebleeds last year.

"I feel so sorry for him because I don't know how much more his lungs can take," she said.

Over the years, activists and residents in Thailand have filed lawsuits to demand government action against pollution.

In July 2023, about 1,700 people in Chiang Mai brought a case against former Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and two state agencies for failing to exercise their authority to reduce pollution in the north, which they say was shortening each of their lives by about five years.

In January 2024, a Chiang Mai court ordered the government to come up with an emergency plan to improve air quality within 90 days.

Hazardous haze has also been choking people elsewhere in South East Asia, with the most number of hotspots flaring up across Malaysia and Indonesia in seven years.

Does your house have a concrete roof or a thatched one?

What is your main cereal? Do you have internet access - or just a basic mobile phone? And how many married couples live under your roof?

These are among the 33 questions that more than a billion Indians will be asked as the country launches the world's largest census on Wednesday, marking the first population count in more than 15 years.

The two-phase exercise, billed as the world's most ambitious of its kind, will see more than three million officials spend a year counting every person in India.

India's 16th census - the eighth since independence in 1947 - will also include caste data and is seen as crucial for policy, welfare delivery and political representation in the world's most populous country.

With more than 1.4 billion people, India overtook China in 2023, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

Yet, falling fertility and a median age of 28 mean it remains one of the world's youngest countries, with nearly 70% of its population of working age.

The last census was held in 2011, with the 2021 round delayed by the pandemic and later pushed back further due to administrative and electoral scheduling - the first time the decennial exercise missed its schedule.

The exercise will span 36 states and federally-administered territories, more than 7,000 sub-districts, over 9,700 towns and nearly 640,000 villages, with fieldwork carried out by enumerators and supervisors - typically schoolteachers, government staff and local officials.

For the first time, the census will be conducted digitally, with enumerators using mobile apps to collect and upload data.

Authorities have introduced self-enumeration, letting residents submit details online via a 16-language portal that generates a unique ID for verification by census workers.

There will be two phases of ⁠physical door-to-door surveys.

The first phase, known as the House Listing and Housing Census, will gather information on housing conditions, amenities and household assets.

The second phase - population enumeration - is scheduled for February 2027 and will collect detailed data on demographics, education, migration and fertility.

It will also include caste enumeration, a politically sensitive issue that has long been debated.

The initial rollout will begin in selected regions, including Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Mizoram and Odisha.

In these areas, self-enumeration will run from 1 to 15 April, followed by a house listing and housing survey between 16 April and 15 May.

From its origins as a rudimentary headcount under colonial rule, India's census questionnaire has steadily expanded in scope, mirroring the state's changing priorities.

The first attempt in 1872 contained 17 questions and was essentially a house register - recording who lived where, along with basic markers such as age, religion, caste and occupation.

By 1881, when the first synchronous nationwide census was conducted, the template had stabilised around identity (name, gender, marital status), social markers (caste, religion, language) and rudimentary education and disability categories.

Over the next decades, questions on language, literacy and occupation were refined, adding secondary work and dependency details.

English proficiency - a colonial preoccupation - was one of 16 questions in the 1901 census.

A shift began with the 1941 census, when its 22-question schedule moved from "who you are" to also "how you live".

Fertility, employment status, economic dependency, migration and job search entered the frame, signalling a growing administrative focus on economic behaviour.

After independence, this widened further: the 1951 and 1961 rounds incorporated nationality, displacement (in the shadow of Partition), land ownership and more work categories.

From the 1970s onwards, the census took on a distinctly socio-economic lens.

Migration histories, duration of residence, fertility patterns and detailed employment classifications became standard.

In more recent decades, especially in 2001 and 2011, the census has tracked the modernising economy: commuting patterns, marginal versus main work, education attendance and increasingly detailed disability and fertility data.

That evolving lens is now extending to how households themselves are defined. In the latest census, a couple in a live-in relationship can be recorded as married if they consider their "relationship as a stable union" - signalling a quiet shift towards recognising changing social realities.

But as the scope of data collection has widened, so too have concerns around how such information might be used.

Some analysts say recent efforts to build databases - including the National Population Register (NPR) - and intensive revisions of electoral rolls have sharpened public anxieties around official counting, often linking it to questions of citizenship and inclusion.

"Although the census has nothing to do with citizenship, this can create anxiety, prompting some families to over-report or list absent migrant members during the census to avoid any perceived exclusion," says KS James, an Indian demographer at Princeton University.

Beyond these concerns, there is a more fundamental problem: India has been making policy without a recent population baseline.

In the absence of a fresh census, it has relied on sample surveys - from consumption expenditure to labour force data - with the statistics ministry working to keep them broadly representative.

For economists like Ashwini Deshpande of Ashoka University, the census is essential to update the basic map of India itself - what counts as rural, urban or increasingly peri-urban.

Much of that classification still rests on 2011 data, even though many areas have since transformed, blurring the lines that underpin policy.

"That has real consequences for India's vast welfare and public spending system," says Deshpande.

If eligibility for schemes is based on faulty or outdated data, the number of beneficiaries can be misjudged, distorting delivery. Programmes like the nationwide rural jobs guarantee, for instance, depend on an accurate sense of which areas are still "rural" - a category that may have shifted significantly over 15 years.

Without current data, millions of urban migrants - often in informal jobs and housing - remain poorly captured in policy design, a gap laid bare during the pandemic.

"This census is crucial - it is the definitive snapshot of India, capturing everything from caste and religion to jobs, education and amenities, and offering the most complete picture of how the population lives," says Deshpande.

The crews of two military helicopters seen hovering outside musician Kid Rock's home have been suspended from flight duties, the US Army has said.

The Army is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the mission, Spokesman Maj Montrell Russell told the BBC in a statement, including whether the crews complied with federal flying regulations and aviation safety protocols.

Kid Rock, a supporter of President Donald Trump, posted a video of himself gesturing at the AH-64 Apaches above his swimming pool on Saturday, prompting many to question why the helicopters would visit his home.

Trump, when asked about the incident on Tuesday, said in a joking manner: "Maybe they were trying to defend him."

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the crews "probably shouldn't have been doing it. You're not supposed to be playing games".

"They like Kid Rock. I like Kid Rock," he added.

The Army confirmed that two of its Apache helicopters from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Campbell conducted a flight on 28 March in the Nashville area in the state of Tennessee, where Kid Rock lives and owns two restaurants.

"The Army takes any allegations of unauthorized or unsafe flight operations very seriously and is committed to enforcing standards and holding personnel accountable," Russell said, adding that the crews would be suspended during the ongoing investigation.

Kid Rock told local outlet WKRN-TV on Monday that it is not uncommon for helicopters from the nearby Fort Campbell Army base to fly near his home.

He noted that he has performed for troops at Fort Campbell and overseas.

"I think they know this is a pretty friendly spot," the musician said. "I've talked to some of these pilots. I've told them, 'You guys see me waving when you come by the house?' I'm like, 'You guys are always welcome to cruise by my house, any time.'"

Kid Rock, who also performed at the Republican convention in 2024 insulted California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has feuded with him and Trump, in the caption of the footage he posted.

One clip shows Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, standing poolside next to a replica of the Statue of Liberty, clapping and saluting as the aircraft hovers before flying away.

"God Bless America and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend her," the caption reads.

Another video shows the Born Free singer pumping his fist before a second gunship appears to fly by his mansion, which he has dubbed the Southern White House.

Two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed on Monday by a "roadside explosion" in southern Lebanon, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix has said, citing the findings of an initial investigation.

In a separate statement, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said the explosion was of "unknown origin" and "destroyed" the peacekeepers' vehicle near Bani Hayyan.

A third peacekeeper was "severely" injured in the explosion, and a fourth was hurt, Unifil said.

It was the second such fatal incident in 24 hours. Another peacekeeper - who was also Indonesian - was killed on Sunday when a projectile, also of unknown origin, exploded in Adchit Al Qusayr, southern Lebanon.

Unifil said it had launched investigations to determine what happened in both incidents.

The findings of an "initial" investigation into the incident on Monday "point to a roadside explosion striking the convoy", Lacroix told the UN Security Council earlier.

Their deaths had "most likely" been caused by an IED (improvised explosive device), Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, later said at a briefing.

Speaking about the other incident, on Sunday, Dujarric said it was likely caused by "an explosive that landed in the position that the Indonesians were holding".

The deaths come shortly after the Israeli military announced it would step up ground and air attacks against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia as well as a political party, has fired rockets into Israel in retaliation for the ongoing US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

In a statement on Telegram, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its own review had concluded that the Bani Hayyan explosion "was not caused by IDF activity".

It went on: "A comprehensive operational examination indicates that no explosive device was placed in the area by IDF troops, and that no IDF troops were present in the area at all."

Separately, the IDF said on Tuesday that four of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon. Another soldier was severely wounded and a reservist moderately wounded, the IDF said.

Dujarric, of the UN, said the peacekeepers in Lebanon were "soldiers sent there on behalf of the international community... and everyone needs to ensure that they are protected and never targeted".

He urged Lebanon and Israel to use the Unifil mechanism for dialogue, saying "the bottom line is that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon needs to be respected".

Antara, an Indonesian government-owned news agency, named the soldier killed on Sunday as Chief Private Farizal Rhomadhon. The two soldiers killed on Monday were named as Captain Zulmi Aditya Iskandar and First Sergeant Muhammad Nur Ichwan.

In a statement, Unifil said: "We extend our sincerest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of those brave peacekeepers who gave their lives in service of peace."

Created by the UN Security Council in 1978, Unifil has since served as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon.

The peacekeeping force patrols the "Blue Line" - the de facto border between Lebanon and Israel, in collaboration with the Lebanese army.

Around 339 peacekeepers have been killed since the mission was established.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, brokered after violence flared between the two over the war in Gaza, Israel has conducted near-daily strikes on Hezbollah targets.

It says the armed group has not abided by the terms of the ceasefire - under which Hezbollah was meant to disarm and leave its positions in the south - and has accused Unifil and the Lebanese army of not doing enough to remove its militants from the region.

Israel says its latest operation in southern Lebanon was intended to ensure the security of communities in the north.

Since the ceasefire began, 1,268 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry, including 124 children.

The crews of two military helicopters seen hovering outside musician Kid Rock's home have been suspended from flight duties, the US Army has said.

The Army is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the mission, Spokesman Maj Montrell Russell told the BBC in a statement, including whether the crews complied with federal flying regulations and aviation safety protocols.

Kid Rock, a supporter of President Donald Trump, posted a video of himself gesturing at the AH-64 Apaches above his swimming pool on Saturday, prompting many to question why the helicopters would visit his home.

Trump, when asked about the incident on Tuesday, said in a joking manner: "Maybe they were trying to defend him."

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the crews "probably shouldn't have been doing it. You're not supposed to be playing games".

"They like Kid Rock. I like Kid Rock," he added.

The Army confirmed that two of its Apache helicopters from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Campbell conducted a flight on 28 March in the Nashville area in the state of Tennessee, where Kid Rock lives and owns two restaurants.

"The Army takes any allegations of unauthorized or unsafe flight operations very seriously and is committed to enforcing standards and holding personnel accountable," Russell said, adding that the crews would be suspended during the ongoing investigation.

Kid Rock told local outlet WKRN-TV on Monday that it is not uncommon for helicopters from the nearby Fort Campbell Army base to fly near his home.

He noted that he has performed for troops at Fort Campbell and overseas.

"I think they know this is a pretty friendly spot," the musician said. "I've talked to some of these pilots. I've told them, 'You guys see me waving when you come by the house?' I'm like, 'You guys are always welcome to cruise by my house, any time.'"

Kid Rock, who also performed at the Republican convention in 2024 insulted California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has feuded with him and Trump, in the caption of the footage he posted.

One clip shows Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, standing poolside next to a replica of the Statue of Liberty, clapping and saluting as the aircraft hovers before flying away.

"God Bless America and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend her," the caption reads.

Another video shows the Born Free singer pumping his fist before a second gunship appears to fly by his mansion, which he has dubbed the Southern White House.

Tech giant Oracle made "significant" job cuts on Tuesday, according to senior employees posting online, as it makes big investments in artificial intelligence (AI).

Some 10,000 people are believed to have lost their jobs so far, one employee told the BBC, citing a drop in the number of staff active on Oracle's internal messaging system Slack.

Oracle declined to comment, but one senior staff member said online the cuts were not performance based.

Oracle has been using AI tools internally and executives have previously said they are seeing fewer employees able to do more work.

"The use of AI coding tools inside Oracle is enabling smaller engineering teams to deliver more complete solutions to our customers more quickly," Mike Silicia, Oracle's other co-chief executive, said earlier this month.

Silica noted at the time that such AI tools had helped create new ways of generating sales leads and the automatic selling of Oracle services. He said the company recently used AI to build out its new company website.

Oracle is one of the largest tech companies in the world and it offers software and cloud computing infrastructure to other companies.

Larry Ellison, one of the richest people in the world, is Oracle's co-founder, chairman, and chief technology officer.

Michael Shepard, a senior manager, was not affected by the job cuts but wrote on LinkedIn on Tuesday "senior engineers, architects, operations leaders, program managers, and technical specialists" had been let go.

Shepard said the "significant reduction in force" was not based on employee performance.

"The individuals affected were not let go because of anything they did or didn't do," he added.

His was one of dozens of such posts describing the layoffs.

Former Oracle employee Kendall Levin said on LinkedIn her role was "eliminated as part of the company's mass reduction in force".

She added that she remains "a genuine believer" in where the firm is headed.

Several others described receiving early morning emails informing them they were no longer employed and would receive one month of severance pay.

Talk inside Oracle of a significant layoff began earlier this year.

Similar claims of being able to use AI tools to do more worth with fewer employees have come from tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jack Dorsey of Block.

Both executives have also overseen layoffs at their companies already this year.

However, such leaders in the tech industry have been conducting mass layoffs every year for the last several years. Previous rounds of cuts have not been blamed on AI.

Other tech companies that have cut jobs this year include Amazon, Pinterest and Epic Games.

Stargate Initiative

The job cuts at Oracle come as it has invested heavily in AI, spending both on its own infrastructure and on partnerships with other companies like OpenAI.

It plans to spend at least $50bn (£37.8bn) on infrastructure this year, and it has also raised $50bn in debt in order to "meet demand" for even more AI infrastructure.

Oracle is also part of the Stargate initiative, alongside OpenAI, Softbank and MGX, an AI investment fund backed by US President Donald Trump.

Stargate is a $500bn project to build up data center capacity in the US, which backers say is needed for planned increases in AI processing and power requirements over the next several years.

"Investing in AI infrastructure is capital-intensive, but our operating model is optimized to ensure profitability," Clayton Magouyrk, Oracle's co-chief executive, said earlier this month.

"It's unprecedented to scale a capital-intensive business so quickly."

"He said to her: 'You're no longer my sister', and she told him to go to hell."

This argument between a man and his sister in a city near Tehran - witnessed and recounted by one of their relatives - gives a telling insight into the painful rows erupting among families and friends as US and Israeli strikes continue.

The relative, who we are calling Sina, says that when his family recently got together at his grandmother's house, emotions quickly exploded, exposing stark divisions.

His uncle, a member of the Basij - a volunteer militia often deployed to suppress dissent in Iran - refused to even greet his own sister, who is opposed to the ruling regime.

After their exchange, the uncle was "very quiet… and left early", Sina says.

He and other young Iranians have described emotional scenes as rifts open up over the war.

Even among those opposed to the government, there are deep divisions over whether the war will help or hinder attempts to bring about change.

Despite the government-imposed internet blackout, the BBC has been able to maintain contact with some of the few Iranians who have found ways to remain online.

Iranians can be sent to prison for speaking to certain international media. But even so, over the month-long war, these contacts have been sharing information through intermittent text messages and occasional voice calls.

Their initial responses of shock and fear have given way to attempts to adapt, switching locations and changing routines. They describe the details of their lives; practising yoga despite the sounds of explosions, eating birthday cake alone and venturing out to near-empty coffee shops.

And, in some surprisingly personal notes, they have shared details about how the conflict is affecting their relationships. All of the names in this article have been changed.

Towards the end of March, Iranians celebrated Nowruz, the Persian new year festival that marks the spring equinox and is often a time when families get together.

Sina, who is in his 20s, is opposed to the clerical establishment and continues to support the Israeli and US air strikes, believing that they will help bring the regime down.

He says his uncle, the Basij member, had not attended Nowruz family gatherings in recent years, but turned up this time, to the surprise of his family. Usually, "we don't talk to him, nor to his children", says Sina.

He says he has barely spoken to his uncle since major protests in 2022 following the death in custody of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, who was accused of not wearing the compulsory hijab properly.

More recently, Iran saw an unprecedented crackdown by the Basij and other security forces on protests that swept across the country in December and January. At least 6,508 protesters were killed and 53,000 arrested, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

Sina says that, according to other relatives, his uncle was so angered by the protests that he said even if his own children went onto the streets and were killed, he wouldn't go to collect their bodies.

And yet, Sina says, his uncle seems to be "afraid of dying" in the war and appears to have been trying to improve relations with some family members, including his own mother, Sina's grandmother.

At Nowruz, he and his wife "just looked really down and helpless", says Sina. "I didn't get into an argument with them. They should be in prison."

Another young man, Kaveh from Tehran, spent Nowruz alone.

He says his relationship with his sister, who is also a Basij member, was already difficult. After he joined the 2022 protests, he says, she became critical of his activities and unsympathetic over the deaths of friends of his in the January protests.

Kaveh has been providing internet access to friends and family via SpaceX's Starlink, which offers connectivity via satellites. In Iran, owning or using Starlink terminals is punishable by up to two years in prison.

He initially joined his family for the holiday, but he says he left the place where they were staying and later returned to find his sister had disconnected his Starlink and the devices connected to it. When he challenged her, a row broke out, he says.

"I can't stand her anymore… I just had a fight and said I can't stand it and I left," he says.

"I was so excited about Nowruz. I packed my clothes and wanted to be there with the family," Kaveh said over an encrypted line as he travelled home alone. "But now I don't feel it at all."

Most Iranians have no internet access. Starlink devices are expensive as well as illegal, so those who have access tend to be relatively wealthy. A few others manage to connect via VPNs.

Most Iranians who agree to speak to BBC Persian are opposed to the Iranian regime. But even among the government's critics, there are deep differences over this war and its impact.

According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1,900 people have been killed in Iran by the US and Israeli strikes, while HRANA puts the total at over 3,400, more than 1,500 of them civilians.

Maral, a student in her 20s in the city of Rasht in northern Iran, has become very frustrated with her father for his continued support of the war.

He is an enthusiastic supporter of Reza Pahlavi, the crown prince of Iran before the 1979 revolution.

Pahlavi now lives in the US and has positioned himself as a potential transitional leader of the country. He supports the US and Israeli strikes on Iran despite mounting casualties, describing the attacks as a "humanitarian intervention" and recently urging the US to "stay the course".

He has gained traction in Iran in recent months as an opposition figure, with some demonstrators in the January protests chanting his name.

"I just want this war to end as soon as possible," says Maral. "Many ordinary people have died."

She says she gets "annoyed" because her father is "really optimistic", even as the bombs fall.

"We try to talk to him, but he just keeps going on about 'the Prince, the Prince,'" she says.

"My dad lives in this illusion that Iran will open up its borders and within five years everything will be rebuilt, everything will be fine. He's being influenced by Israeli propaganda that the two countries will be friends."

Her father and mother often argue about Pahlavi, she adds.

Meanwhile, Tara, a woman in her 20s in Tehran, says her close family members initially criticised her for being opposed to the war.

"They all support attacks on Iran… My mum and sister told me: 'You haven't lost anyone [during the protests], that's why you are against the strikes. You don't want your routine, exercise and coffee catch-ups to get disrupted… If they [the regime] had killed one of your friends or relatives [during the protests] you would have a different opinion.'"

But Tara says: "Thousands of innocent people could be killed in the war as well, without anyone even remembering them."

However, she says, her sister's view – like that of several other Iranians the BBC has heard from - has softened as the attacks have continued. More recently, after a nearby area was hit, she says her sister simply said: "I hope the war finishes soon."

And despite their differences, the family still try to go everywhere together, Tara says. That way, "we would all die together if they hit us".

A US freelance journalist has been kidnapped in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and one of the suspects is linked to an Iran-backed militia, Iraqi and US officials say.

Shelly Kittleson was abducted on Tuesday evening, said Al-Monitor, a news outlet for which she has contributed articles.

The Iraqi interior ministry said security forces had chased the reporter's abductors in a pursuit that resulted in one of the kidnappers' cars overturning and the arrest of one suspect.

A US state department official said an individual with ties to an Iranian-aligned militia group, Kataib Hezbollah, was detained by Iraqi authorities.

Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, confirmed the abduction of an American journalist, without naming Kittleson.

He posted on X: "The State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them and we will continue to coordinate with the FBI to ensure their release as quickly as possible."

It is understood that US officials had contacted Kittleson a number of times to warn of threats against her, including as late as Monday night.

The US state department said in a statement to the BBC: "Due to privacy and other considerations, we have nothing further to share at this time."

Al-Monitor, which is based in the US, said local news reports indicate Kittleson was taken near a hotel in the heart of the capital.

It added that the state department had confirmed it "is aware of Kittleson's kidnapping and working with the Iraqi government to secure her release".

Al-Monitor said it was "deeply alarmed" by her kidnapping, and called "for her safe and immediate release".

An Iraqi official confirmed to the BBC's US partner CBS that local authorities were working "at the highest level" to release Kittleson.

Kittleson's emergency contact Alex Plitsas, a CNN national security analyst, told CBS that Kittleson had been warned by the US government about a specific threat to her from Iran-backed paramilitaries.

Kataib Hezbollah was said to be plotting to kidnap or kill female journalists.

Plitsas said Kittleson had been warned that her name was on a list in Kataib Hezbollah's possession. A second source confirmed she had been told of a risk, but thought it was false information.

The interior ministry statement said in a statement translated from Arabic: "Security forces immediately launched an operation to apprehend the perpetrators, acting on precise intelligence and through intensive field operations, tracking the kidnappers' movements."

It added: "The pursuit resulted in the interception of a vehicle belonging to the kidnappers, which overturned as they attempted to escape."

The interior ministry did not identify the suspect, calling the abductors "unknown individuals".

"The Ministry affirms that efforts are ongoing to track down the remaining perpetrators and secure the release of the abducted woman, and to take due legal action against all those involved in this criminal act, in accordance with the law," it added.

Kittleson, based in Rome, Italy, has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. According to her bio on social media, she has worked for numerous publications.

The FBI, National Security Council, state department, Delta Force and the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service were in contact about her abduction, sources familiar told CBS.

Baghdad was once notorious for kidnappings, but abductions have decreased as the security situation in Iraq has improved in recent years.

A US judge has temporarily halted President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom construction project from continuing, ruling that proper procedures were not followed before the building project began.

The ruling comes after the White House was sued by The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

"I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have," said Judge Richard Leon, who was appointed by a Republican president.

Trump has criticised the ruling on his social media site, saying that the project is going well, and "will be the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World".

The Trump administration has previously said its plan was more economical than renovating the East Wing. It also noted that many presidents had made changes to the White House

Leon's ruling, published on Tuesday, continued: "The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!"

"(U)nless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!" he added.

The judge's ruling takes effect in 14 days, allowing a possible appeal.

In the lawsuit, the preservation group argued that the White House broke the law by beginning construction without filing plans with the National Capital Planning Commission, by not seeking an environmental assessment of the project, and by declining to seek authorisation from Congress.

It also alleged Trump was violating the US Constitution, "which reserves to Congress the right to dispose of and make all rules regarding property belonging to the United States".

The East Wing, which was constructed in 1902, was demolished in October to make way for Trump's multi-million dollar ballroom, which he says is being paid for by private donors.

Since then, the proposed blueprint has expanded from a ballroom with a capacity of 500 people to a space that can fit 1,350 guests.

The White House says the project is expected to cost $400m (£302m) and is being funded entirely by private donors.

Reacting to the judge's decision, Trump wrote on his Truth Social site: "The National Trust for Historic Preservation sues me for a Ballroom that is under budget, ahead of schedule, being built at no cost to the Taxpayer, and will be the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World."

He also criticised the group that brought the lawsuit, noting that they had also sued to stop his renovation of the Kennedy Center, which Trump recently renamed after himself.

"All I am doing is fixing, cleaning, running, and 'sprucing up' a terribly maintained, for many years, Building," Trump wrote about the concert venue in Washington DC.

In his post, Trump also said of the legal action against him: "Doesn't make much sense, does it?"

Italian prosecutors have opened a murder investigation following the deaths of a mother and her teenage daughter after a pre-Christmas meal last year.

Sara Di Vita, 15, and her mother Antonella Di Ielsi, 50, fell ill after a lunch in their hometown of Pietracatella, a small municipality 260km (161 miles) south-east of Rome.

Sara's father Gianni - the former mayor of Pietracatella - was also taken to hospital, but he later recovered. The couple's eldest daughter was not there that day.

Doctors initially attributed the symptoms to food poisoning, but the new focus comes after laboratory tests revealed the presence of a deadly poison, ricin, Italian media say - even though police still do not have a suspect.

Doctors are said to have thought the infection originated from either fish or mushrooms and discharged the mother and daughter after they went to hospital.

However, their symptoms quickly worsened and the pair were soon re-admitted.

Dr Vincenzo Cuzzone, head of the intensive care unit at Cardarelli hospital in nearby Campobasso, told Italian media that liver failure occurred first and was followed by multi-organ failure "at truly unparalleled speed".

Di Vita and Di Ielsi's deaths were initially attributed to medical negligence and doctors who discharged them were placed under investigation for manslaughter, Italian media report.

They published the test results carried out at laboratories in Italy and Switzerland.

Ricin, a highly toxic chemical, is a poison found naturally in castor beans.

Ingesting a tiny quantity can cause rapid organ failure and lead to death. There is no known antidote for ricin poisoning.

A woman has been bitten by a wolf in a major shopping street in Hamburg, according to German authorities.

The highly unusual attack took place in the bustling Grosse Bergstrasse in Hamburg Altona, near an inner-city Ikea store on Monday evening.

The woman appears to have tried to lead the disoriented animal away from the shopping street. The wolf then bit the woman's face, according to local reports and then ran off.

The woman was taken to hospital but has since been discharged.

It's believed to be the first time a person has been attacked by a wolf since the animals began to reestablish themselves in Germany decades ago.

"There has not been a case like this since the reintroduction began in 1998," a spokeswoman for the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation told German press agency dpa.

The wolf was later spotted late on Monday night in the Binnenalster lake in Hamburg. Police managed to pull it out of the water with a rope.

But the animal put up a fight, and police armed with shields are reported to have spent around an hour trying to catch it.

Matthias Hilge, a spokesperson from Hamburg's Ministry for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture, Bukea, told the BBC that there have been several sightings of the wolf in recent days in the west of the city.

He said the wolf was in safety and being given veterinary care. "Bukea will decide on the animal's future arrangements in the near future, following close consultation with experts," he said.

It was only after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 that wolves began returning to Germany after 150 years of absence.

Initially a few animals returned via Poland and today wolves roam the forests of many German states.

Last week, Germany's Upper House, the Bundesrat, approved measures by Parliament to allow wolves to be hunted.

Under the Federal Hunting law, it will now be possible to hunt wolves in order to manage their populations and protect sheep and other livestock.

Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said wolves "must be allowed to stay".

"It is not a question of driving the wolf away again, but of finding viable ways to live peacefully alongside it," he said.

Wolf hunting season is scheduled to run from 1 July to 31 October.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will meet US President Donald Trump in late April, as a state visit to the United States has been confirmed by Buckingham Palace.

On the way back, the King will pay a visit to Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic.

The US trip has been expected for some time, but such visits are carried out on behalf of the UK government - and an official announcement appeared to have been waiting for a gap in the political tensions over the Iran war.

Details of the itinerary in the US have still to be released, but it will include Washington, in what will be the first UK state visit to the US since Queen Elizabeth II's visit in 2007.

The visit will include a state dinner at the White House and the King will deliver an address to Congress.

The US marks its 250th anniversary of independence this year - and that will be a significant focus of the trip, with Buckingham Palace saying the trip will "celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship" between the countries.

There is also likely to be interest in whether the King will meet his son Prince Harry, who lives in the US, during the visit.

Ever since President Trump's visit to the UK last September, there has been speculation about the King carrying out a return visit.

The US president's visit to Windsor Castle seemed to have smoothed UK-US relations, with Trump last week saying of his time with the King: "He honoured me and our country... we had an amazing time."

Trump also spoke of the warmth of his personal relationship with the King - "I think he's fantastic" - and the president said he was looking forward to hosting the King at a state banquet.

But there have been political differences, including over the war in Iran, in which Trump publicly criticised UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as "no Winston Churchill".

And on Tuesday, President Trump said countries like the UK should secure the Strait of Hormuz themselves because "the USA won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us" and "go get your own oil!"

That followed a previous dispute when UK veterans were angered by an apparent downplaying by Trump of the UK's military involvement in Afghanistan.

Both rows had raised questions about whether a state visit to the US in April should go ahead - with Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey saying it should be cancelled.

A YouGov survey last week suggested that 49% of the British public were against the state visit to the US while 33% wanted it to go ahead.

The visit also comes in the wake of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest - and US Congressman Ro Khanna has called for King Charles to meet survivors of the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"As you are aware, this is not solely an American matter," Khanna wrote in a letter to the King on Monday.

Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing from his links to Epstein.

But while the formal announcement of the state visit might have been delayed, planning seems to have quietly continued in the background, with no signs of the visit being stopped.

The decision to hold a state visit is made by the government, with the King travelling on behalf of the Foreign Office.

Trump appears to be fascinated with the monarchy and to greatly value his relationship with King Charles - and the UK government seems ready to leverage this to improve links with the US and to reduce diplomatic tensions.

Pakistan's role as intermediary in this conflict took many by surprise.

But perhaps it shouldn't.

The head of its armed forces, Field Marshall Asim Munir, is in US President Donald Trump's favour. The US leader frequently refers to him as his "favourite" Field Marshall and has previously spoken about how Munir knows Iran "better than most".

Iran is not only Pakistan's neighbour with whom it shares a 900km (559 miles) or so border, but by their own messages a "brotherly" relationship with deep cultural and religious ties.

It also has no US air bases.

And unlike many of the usual intermediaries in the Gulf it has not yet been pulled into the conflict.

Crucially, it is willing to wade in - peace between the US and Iran by many accounts would be in its interest.

Still, there have been questions about how a country embroiled in conflict with two of its neighbours - Afghanistan and India - has positioned itself as a bringer of peace.

The country is currently bombing Afghanistan and tensions with India led to a fear of nuclear escalation only last year.

Pakistan has so far walked the tightrope between Iran and the US, passing messages between the two sides, hosting foreign ministers from other concerned Muslim nations and hitting the diplomatic telephones.

But the balancing act is not risk-free.

Much to lose

Pakistan is highly dependent on imported oil, much of it coming through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Pakistan, I'd argue, more than almost any other country outside of the Middle East has a lot of skin in the game here," Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow for South Asia at the Atlantic Council, told the BBC.

"It has a really compelling interest to do what it can to contribute to de-escalation efforts."

Pakistan's government increased the price of petrol and diesel by around 20% at the start of March and has already introduced measures including a four-day working week for government employees to try to save fuel.

"If the war continues, the economic pressures in Pakistan will increase tremendously," says Farhan Siddiqi, Professor of Political Science at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.

There's also a fear about what an escalation could bring.

In September last year, Pakistan signed a defence pact with Saudi Arabia, agreeing that "any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both".

It's led to questions about what Pakistan would do if Saudi Arabia joined the war and invoked the pact.

"The problem for us is that if we are asked to join the war on the Saudi side, our entire Western border will be largely insecure," says Siddiqi.

Pakistan is already in "all-out war" with Afghanistan; it accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring terrorist groups inside its borders, which the Taliban government deny.

When challenged about its apparent contradictory position to diplomacy when applied to its own conflicts, Pakistan has said that it tried years of talks that did not yield the security it needed.

But Siddiqi points out that opening another front is not the only concern were Pakistan to be pulled into the war, adding that there is also the "domestic reputational cost".

In the days after Iran's Supreme Leader was killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike, pro-Iran demonstrators took to the streets across Pakistan - several were killed including those who tried to storm the US consulate in Karachi.

"Public sentiment in Pakistan is overwhelmingly pro-Iran," says Maleeha Lodhi, former Pakistan ambassador to the US, UK and UN.

"I'm sure the Pakistan's decision makers have been very sensitive to that."

Something to gain

And then there's the issue of Pakistan's global standing.

"Pakistan is very sensitive to criticism that it doesn't have influence on the global stage," said Kugelman. "I don't think that's its main motivation for positioning itself as it has, but it has something to do with this as well."

"This is high-stakes diplomacy, no question about it," adds Lodhi. "It's high-risk and high-reward. If it succeeds, of course, it catapults Pakistan to the top of the global diplomatic game."

And if it doesn't?

Lodhi doesn't think the damage will be too great.

"Pakistan would still have been seen to have made a good faith effort. And if it didn't work, it wasn't because of Pakistan's lack of skills, but because you have a man who's terribly whimsical and completely, completely untrustworthy."

However, Kugelman sees some potential for backlash if after all this speculation of talks, both sides simply resume with even more force.

"Pakistan could be susceptible to allegations that it was naive," he says of that scenario. "[And that it was] brought into an effort to try to negotiate while both sides were trying to create some breathing space to think about their next steps toward escalation."

'Unconventional diplomatic games'

It's unclear how things might play out, but what is clear is that Pakistan has been quick to capitalise its relationship with Trump.

Lodhi points to Pakistan nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize '"in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention" during the Pakistan-India crisis in 2025, and Kabul handing over the man accused of planning the Kabul airport bombing during the withdrawal from Afghanistan to the US.

"Pakistan gave Trump two early wins, which are very important for him. That got the relationship off the ground and brought about this new warmth," said Lodhi.

"It's willing to play unconventional diplomatic games, unlike India," Kugelman adds.

"The fact that Pakistan's senior leaders have gone out of the way to flatter the president, that's really helped their cause in Washington and has made Pakistan a more attractive facilitator and mediator in the eyes of the administration."

But the relationship with America is not Pakistan's only card.

"Pakistan has realized that hedging is the best way to go about in regional diplomacy," said Siddiqi. "The kind of world that we face now is a world where states, especially the middle powers, are more comfortable in engaging with the policy of multi-alignment."

"I think the reason why Pakistan is best positioned to speak to Iran is because it does not carry the perception of being pro-Israeli or even being very pro-American."

Meanwhile, the diplomatic meetings continue.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is on Tuesday travelling to China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

But there are still big questions for Pakistan; and securing a peace deal is a long shot.

"Let's be fairly clear, the odds of a deal are not that high given how much mistrust there is between the Americans and the Iranians and how maximal the demands are on both the US and the Iranian side," said Kugelman.

"I think that equation is the most difficult one that Pakistan is going to have to think through if its current plans don't work out."

The death of an 11-year-old Iranian boy reportedly in an air strike while manning a security checkpoint alongside his father in Tehran has thrown focus on a new initiative to recruit children into the security services.

Alireza Jafari's mother Sadaf Monfared told the municipality-run newspaper Hamshahri that the pair had been helping Basij volunteer militia patrols and checkpoints to "maintain the security of Tehran and its people" when they were killed on 11 March.

Last week, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official in Tehran told the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency that the organisation would enrol "volunteers" aged 12 and above.

Eyewitnesses have told the BBC they have seen children, including some armed, in security roles in the capital and other cities.

Foreign-based human rights organisations have also reported Alireza's death. The Kurdish group Hengaw said he was a "fifth-grade student" who was killed while present at a checkpoint in Tehran.

Alireza's mother said her husband had told her there were not enough personnel at the checkpoint, with "only four people" present. She said he took Alireza with him and said that the boy needed to be "ready for the days ahead".

She quoted her son as saying: "Mum, either we win this war or we become martyrs. God willing, we will win, but I would like to become a martyr."

Hamshahri newspaper said they were hit by an "Israeli drone strike".

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC they were unable to verify this unless provided with the co-ordinates of the alleged strike.

Rahim Nadali, of the IRGC's Greater Tehran Muhammad Rasulollah Corps, said the new programme, known as Homeland Defender Fighters for Iran, would place children on various duties, including patrols and deployment at checkpoints.

Recruitment, he added, could take place at mosques attached to the Basij militia in Tehran, and in city squares where pro-establishment rallies have been held.

The Basij is a volunteer militia controlled by the IRGC, with an estimated one million members. It is often deployed on the streets to suppress dissent. Israel has said it recently targeted several Basij checkpoints.

Despite a government-imposed internet outage in Iran, the BBC has spoken to four eyewitnesses who said they had seen children under the age of 18 at checkpoints in Tehran, the nearby city of Karaj, and the northern city of Rasht.

Names have been changed for security reasons.

Golnaz, who is in her 20s in east Tehran, told the BBC that she had seen armed teenagers taking part in Basiji forces when she went out after an air strike on 9 March to see what was going on.

Sara, also in her 20s in west Tehran, told the BBC that she saw a teenager at a checkpoint on 25 March.

"He was holding a gun at the cars. He and the others were stopping cars and searching them. He was short and slight."

Last month, ordinary Iranians told the BBC about security checkpoints around the capital, where they said residents were stopped and searched.

Those who have been able to connect to the internet have told the BBC that the practice is still going on, and that some patrols go around with the Islamic Republic's flag and loudspeakers during the night.

Some have told the BBC that they have seen teenagers at checkpoints in cities other than Tehran as well.

Peyman, who is in his 20s and lives in Karaj, told the BBC that he saw what he called a "teenage boy" with a Kalashnikov at a checkpoint on 30 March. "His moustache hadn't fully grown," he said.

Tina, who is also in her 20s and comes from Rasht, told the BBC that she saw young people on duty in a square in the city on 14 March.

"They were wearing masks so their faces were covered. But it's obvious that they are children; I can see it from their eyes. They are short as well. They stand in front of those adult forces. I feel pity for them and I get scared at the same time."

In a report on the recruitment campaign, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it was a "grave violation of children's rights and a war crime when the children are under 15".

"There is no excuse for a military recruitment drive that targets children to sign up, much less 12-year-olds," said Bill Van Esveld of HRW. "What this boils down to is that Iranian authorities are apparently willing to risk children's lives for some extra manpower."

Pegah Banihashemi, an expert in constitutional law and human rights at the University of Chicago Law School, told the BBC: "Under international law, the use of children in security or military roles is tightly constrained and, in many contexts, unlawful."

She also said that their deployment "introduces broader risks to society: untrained minors operating under pressure, often with limited command structure and insufficient understanding of force, can unintentionally escalate violence and endanger civilians".

Holly Dagres, an Iran specialist at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank told the BBC that the use of children at security checkpoints "underscores the desperation of the Islamic Republic".

She said it shows "how deeply unpopular they are with their own population that it is struggling to recruit adults to staff security checkpoints and is resorting to using children in support roles during wartime".

Israel's defence minister has said a buffer zone will be set up inside southern Lebanon and that Israel will keep security control over a swathe of the territory even after the end of the current war against the armed group Hezbollah.

Israel Katz said the area to be occupied would go up to the Litani River in southern Lebanon - about 30km (18.6 miles) from the border with Israel.

He also said all houses in Lebanese villages near the Israeli border would be demolished.

Israel sent ground troops into southern Lebanon on 2 March and has also been launching broad strikes across the country.

The action was taken after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for Israel's assassination of Iran's supreme leader in late February, at the start of the war with Iran.

Israel was also carrying out near-daily strikes on Hezbollah before that despite a ceasefire that was agreed in 2024.

Since early March, at least 1,238 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry, including at least 124 children. The UN's humanitarian affairs office says 52 health workers have also been killed.

In the same period, 10 Israeli soldiers and two Israeli civilians have been killed by Hezbollah attacks, Israeli authorities say.

Others killed in the south in recent days include three Indonesian peacekeepers, and three Lebanese journalists, according to the UN and the Lebanese health ministry.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it killed two of the journalists, describing them as "terrorists" without providing evidence to back up its claims. It also said it was aware of reports a female journalist was killed.

It has not yet been established who killed the peacekeepers.

More than a million people - roughly one in every six in the country - have also been displaced, worsening an existing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon.

Israeli officials say the aim is to protect communities in northern Israel from Hezbollah attacks.

Speaking in a video statement published by the defence ministry on Tuesday, Katz gave further details on Israel's military intentions in southern Lebanon.

"At the end of the operation, the IDF will establish itself in a security zone inside Lebanon, on a defensive line against anti-tank missiles, and will maintain security control over the entire area up to the Litani."

"In addition, the return of more than 600,000 residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated northward will be completely prohibited south of the Litani until the safety and security of northern residents are ensured," he added.

"All houses in villages near the border in Lebanon will be destroyed - according to the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza - to remove, once and for all, the threats near the border to northern residents," he said.

Katz had already announced the intention to create a buffer zone in the south of Lebanon earlier in the month. He had also already said displaced residents would not be allowed back until northern Israel was safe and that houses would be demolished.

But his latest statement goes a step further than his last, as he said Israeli troops would stay in the region after Israel's war with Hezbollah ends.

Southern Lebanon is the heartland of Lebanon's Shia Muslim community, Hezbollah's main support base. But it is also home to other communities, including Christians.

The latest Israeli ground invasion has already caused widespread alarm among the Lebanese.

Under the ceasefire agreement that ended the war in 2024, Hezbollah was meant to disarm and leave its positions in the south. This was to be supervised by the Lebanese government and army.

Progress was made, but it was partial. Israel also maintained several military posts in the south and continued to carry out regular attacks on what it said were Hezbollah targets.

The will may have been there for the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, but it has always lacked the ability to do so. The prospect of a major confrontation between the Lebanese state and Hezbollah has also long been a major concern, reawakening fears of a descent back into civil war.

Katz previously said that Israel was taking action because the Lebanese government had done "nothing".

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has described the Israeli plans as a "collective punishment against civilians", and that they could be part of "suspicious schemes" to pursue an expansion of Israel's presence in Lebanese territory.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will meet US President Donald Trump in late April, as a state visit to the United States has been confirmed by Buckingham Palace.

On the way back, the King will pay a visit to Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic.

The US trip has been expected for some time, but such visits are carried out on behalf of the UK government - and an official announcement appeared to have been waiting for a gap in the political tensions over the Iran war.

Details of the itinerary in the US have still to be released, but it will include Washington, in what will be the first UK state visit to the US since Queen Elizabeth II's visit in 2007.

The visit will include a state dinner at the White House and the King will deliver an address to Congress.

The US marks its 250th anniversary of independence this year - and that will be a significant focus of the trip, with Buckingham Palace saying the trip will "celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship" between the countries.

There is also likely to be interest in whether the King will meet his son Prince Harry, who lives in the US, during the visit.

Ever since President Trump's visit to the UK last September, there has been speculation about the King carrying out a return visit.

The US president's visit to Windsor Castle seemed to have smoothed UK-US relations, with Trump last week saying of his time with the King: "He honoured me and our country... we had an amazing time."

Trump also spoke of the warmth of his personal relationship with the King - "I think he's fantastic" - and the president said he was looking forward to hosting the King at a state banquet.

But there have been political differences, including over the war in Iran, in which Trump publicly criticised UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as "no Winston Churchill".

And on Tuesday, President Trump said countries like the UK should secure the Strait of Hormuz themselves because "the USA won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us" and "go get your own oil!"

That followed a previous dispute when UK veterans were angered by an apparent downplaying by Trump of the UK's military involvement in Afghanistan.

Both rows had raised questions about whether a state visit to the US in April should go ahead - with Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey saying it should be cancelled.

A YouGov survey last week suggested that 49% of the British public were against the state visit to the US while 33% wanted it to go ahead.

The visit also comes in the wake of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest - and US Congressman Ro Khanna has called for King Charles to meet survivors of the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"As you are aware, this is not solely an American matter," Khanna wrote in a letter to the King on Monday.

Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing from his links to Epstein.

But while the formal announcement of the state visit might have been delayed, planning seems to have quietly continued in the background, with no signs of the visit being stopped.

The decision to hold a state visit is made by the government, with the King travelling on behalf of the Foreign Office.

Trump appears to be fascinated with the monarchy and to greatly value his relationship with King Charles - and the UK government seems ready to leverage this to improve links with the US and to reduce diplomatic tensions.

Police are trying to reach a gang-controlled area in central Haiti where at least 16 people have been killed in a series of attacks over the weekend.

While so far only 16 fatalities have been confirmed by police, a local journalist spoke of "around 20 dead", while one human rights group warned that the number of fatalities could be as high as 70.

Local rights activists said the Gran Grif gang, one of Haiti's most feared criminal organisations, was behind the deadly attacks, which they said had caused 6,000 people to flee.

Gang violence has ravaged the Caribbean country for years and the multinational police force sent to contain it has struggled to enter areas where gangs hold sway.

Residents of the rural area of Jean-Denis, near the town of Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, said that a first attack took place in the early hours of Sunday.

They told Haitian news site Le Nouvelliste that gang members had "arrived from all directions", setting houses alight and shooting at those fleeing from the flames.

Survivors described finding bodies strewn on the road the next morning.

A second deadly attack reportedly occurred on Monday.

So far, 16 bodies have been taken to nearby morgues but with gang members still roaming the area, many locals are too afraid to collect the remains of those killed.

The ombudsman's office said at least another 19 people had sustained bullet wounds, adding that the continued presence of gang members was making it difficult to verify the number of victims.

Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, director of the Haiti Observatory at the non-governmental organisation Global Initiative, told the BBC the attack seemed to have been highly co-ordinated with roads reportedly blocked to prevent police from intervening.

As often in such large-scale attacks, it was preceded by warnings and criticism has been mounting over the authorities' failure to act on these advance signals, Le Cour Grandmaison says.

The attack is believed to have been led by a commander known as "Ti Kenken".

Formerly a leading figure in a vigilante group founded to protect locals from gangs, he switched sides and joined Gran Grif, the Haiti expert explains.

Le Cour Grandmaison warns that "Ti Kenken's" alleged role in the attack raises critical concerns.

"Vigilante brigades are often viewed as essential partners for holding territory and supporting the police - but what happens when allegiances shift?" he asks.

For Le Cour Grandmaison, there is not only a risk of escalating violence in which civilians are increasingly trapped or even targeted directly, but also a danger of further fragmentation where leaders like "Ti Kenken" move fluidly between roles such as vigilante, criminal and police ally.

This is not the first time residents of Artibonite - a mainly agricultural region - have been the targets of gang violence.

In October 2024, members of Gran Grif went on a deadly rampage in Pont-Sondé, accusing residents of the small town of siding with a rival gang.

The death toll in that attack rose to over 100 as more and more bodies were retrieved in its aftermath.

Gran Grif, the gang locals say was behind both the 2024 killings and this weekend's attacks in Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States in May of last year.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time that Gran Grif, along with the Viv Ansanm coalition of gangs, were "the primary source of instability and violence in Haiti".

Rubio added that Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif's ultimate goal was to create "a gang-controlled state where illicit trafficking and other criminal activities operate freely and terrorise Haitian citizens".

The multi-national police force (MSS) deployed in 2024 to help Haiti's security forces confront the criminal groups has often found itself outgunned and outmanned.

A new, larger UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) is due to replace the underfunded MSS with its first officers due to arrive in April.

A woman has been bitten by a wolf in a major shopping street in Hamburg, according to German authorities.

The highly unusual attack took place in the bustling Grosse Bergstrasse in Hamburg Altona, near an inner-city Ikea store on Monday evening.

The woman appears to have tried to lead the disoriented animal away from the shopping street. The wolf then bit the woman's face, according to local reports and then ran off.

The woman was taken to hospital but has since been discharged.

It's believed to be the first time a person has been attacked by a wolf since the animals began to reestablish themselves in Germany decades ago.

"There has not been a case like this since the reintroduction began in 1998," a spokeswoman for the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation told German press agency dpa.

The wolf was later spotted late on Monday night in the Binnenalster lake in Hamburg. Police managed to pull it out of the water with a rope.

But the animal put up a fight, and police armed with shields are reported to have spent around an hour trying to catch it.

Matthias Hilge, a spokesperson from Hamburg's Ministry for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture, Bukea, told the BBC that there have been several sightings of the wolf in recent days in the west of the city.

He said the wolf was in safety and being given veterinary care. "Bukea will decide on the animal's future arrangements in the near future, following close consultation with experts," he said.

It was only after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 that wolves began returning to Germany after 150 years of absence.

Initially a few animals returned via Poland and today wolves roam the forests of many German states.

Last week, Germany's Upper House, the Bundesrat, approved measures by Parliament to allow wolves to be hunted.

Under the Federal Hunting law, it will now be possible to hunt wolves in order to manage their populations and protect sheep and other livestock.

Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said wolves "must be allowed to stay".

"It is not a question of driving the wolf away again, but of finding viable ways to live peacefully alongside it," he said.

Wolf hunting season is scheduled to run from 1 July to 31 October.

A Russian-owned tanker carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude oil has docked on the northern coast of Cuba, ending a near-total fuel blockade by the US on the communist-run island.

The tanker's arrival marks the first crude oil shipment to dock in one of Cuba's ports since early January.

It follows an apparent softening in Washington's oil blockade, after President Trump said last weekend that he had "no problem" with countries sending fuel to Cuba.

The country has been hit by a series of nationwide blackouts, and most hospitals have been unable to operate normally, with severe rationing in place.

The Anatoly Kolodkin oil tanker arrived in the port of Matanzas, east of Havana, on Tuesday.

President Trump said on Sunday that he did not object to other nations sending oil to the island because Cubans "have to survive".

Cuba was cut off from oil supplies in January after US forces captured its main regional ally, Venezuela's socialist leader Nicolás Maduro - and Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sent oil to the island.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday: "We allowed this ship to reach Cuba in order to provide humanitarian needs to the Cuban people. These decisions are being made on a case-by-case basis."

However, Washington said there has been no change in policy and the oil blockade remains in place.

While the crude oil is now in Cuba, it still needs to be refined at an ageing refinery in Havana – a process which could take longer than a week.

The island has been feeling the effects of the blockade with most hospitals unable to function normally and schools and government offices being forced to close. Cuba's main economic motor of tourism has also been impacted.

Drivers have been limited to purchasing a maximum of 20 litres at petrol pumps, for which they must join a waiting list via a state-run app. Wait times can last several weeks, and the fuel must be paid for in US dollars.

Analysts have said the Russian oil would buy the Cuban economy only a few weeks. Jorge Piñón, an expert on Cuba's energy sector at the University of Texas at Austin, said the more urgent need is diesel, which could be used for backup power generators or for transportation systems.

Police are trying to reach a gang-controlled area in central Haiti where at least 16 people have been killed in a series of attacks over the weekend.

While so far only 16 fatalities have been confirmed by police, a local journalist spoke of "around 20 dead", while one human rights group warned that the number of fatalities could be as high as 70.

Local rights activists said the Gran Grif gang, one of Haiti's most feared criminal organisations, was behind the deadly attacks, which they said had caused 6,000 people to flee.

Gang violence has ravaged the Caribbean country for years and the multinational police force sent to contain it has struggled to enter areas where gangs hold sway.

Residents of the rural area of Jean-Denis, near the town of Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, said that a first attack took place in the early hours of Sunday.

They told Haitian news site Le Nouvelliste that gang members had "arrived from all directions", setting houses alight and shooting at those fleeing from the flames.

Survivors described finding bodies strewn on the road the next morning.

A second deadly attack reportedly occurred on Monday.

So far, 16 bodies have been taken to nearby morgues but with gang members still roaming the area, many locals are too afraid to collect the remains of those killed.

The ombudsman's office said at least another 19 people had sustained bullet wounds, adding that the continued presence of gang members was making it difficult to verify the number of victims.

Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, director of the Haiti Observatory at the non-governmental organisation Global Initiative, told the BBC the attack seemed to have been highly co-ordinated with roads reportedly blocked to prevent police from intervening.

As often in such large-scale attacks, it was preceded by warnings and criticism has been mounting over the authorities' failure to act on these advance signals, Le Cour Grandmaison says.

The attack is believed to have been led by a commander known as "Ti Kenken".

Formerly a leading figure in a vigilante group founded to protect locals from gangs, he switched sides and joined Gran Grif, the Haiti expert explains.

Le Cour Grandmaison warns that "Ti Kenken's" alleged role in the attack raises critical concerns.

"Vigilante brigades are often viewed as essential partners for holding territory and supporting the police - but what happens when allegiances shift?" he asks.

For Le Cour Grandmaison, there is not only a risk of escalating violence in which civilians are increasingly trapped or even targeted directly, but also a danger of further fragmentation where leaders like "Ti Kenken" move fluidly between roles such as vigilante, criminal and police ally.

This is not the first time residents of Artibonite - a mainly agricultural region - have been the targets of gang violence.

In October 2024, members of Gran Grif went on a deadly rampage in Pont-Sondé, accusing residents of the small town of siding with a rival gang.

The death toll in that attack rose to over 100 as more and more bodies were retrieved in its aftermath.

Gran Grif, the gang locals say was behind both the 2024 killings and this weekend's attacks in Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States in May of last year.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time that Gran Grif, along with the Viv Ansanm coalition of gangs, were "the primary source of instability and violence in Haiti".

Rubio added that Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif's ultimate goal was to create "a gang-controlled state where illicit trafficking and other criminal activities operate freely and terrorise Haitian citizens".

The multi-national police force (MSS) deployed in 2024 to help Haiti's security forces confront the criminal groups has often found itself outgunned and outmanned.

A new, larger UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) is due to replace the underfunded MSS with its first officers due to arrive in April.

Spain's Supreme Court has ruled that a man kissing the hand of a woman without her consent can constitute sexual assault.

In a case that dates back to 2023, a man approached a woman at a bus stop in Madrid, kissed her hand and made gestures to suggest she follow him and that he would pay her.

A court found the man guilty of sexual assault and fined him €1,620 (£1,400; $1,858), a sanction that was upheld by Madrid's provincial tribunal.

The convicted man took the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that there had been no violence or intimidation in his interaction with the woman.

According to court documents, he argued that the victim "might have felt bothered, offended, victim of an intrusion into her comfort zone, but there was never a clear risk for her sexual integrity".

He also argued that the incident had occurred in a public place, near a police station and in full daylight. At the most, his legal team said, his actions constituted the lesser crime of harassment of a sexual nature in a public place.

However, in its ruling, the Supreme Court found that the encounter had exceeded mere harassment, stating that there had been "a clear sexual component because he even kissed [her hand]."

A woman, the court added, "cannot tolerate being subjected to a man taking her hand and kissing her without consent in acts that have a clear and obvious sexual connotation".

Two of the magistrates issued dissenting votes, in the belief that the incident had not been a case of sexual assault.

"A kiss (or two) on the hand of another person is, in our culture, a form of greeting, now obsolete," they said, according to court documents.

They added that, along with kissing someone on the cheek or shaking their hand, these "are not acts of a sexual nature".

The issue of sexual consent has been at the centre of intense debate in Spain in recent years.

Legislation approved in 2022, known as the "Only yes means yes law" placed emphasis on the need for consent and eliminated the need to prove that there had been violence or intimidation in order for an encounter to be deemed sexual assault.

In 2023, the president of Spain's football federation, Luis Rubiales, sparked enormous controversy when he celebrated the victory of the women's team in the World Cup final by kissing player Jenni Hermoso on the lips.

He said the kiss had been consensual, a claim she denied. The case went to court and in 2025 Rubiales was found guilty of sexual assault and fined.

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Four astronauts are about to become the most closely watched crew since Apollo.

They will be the first to orbit the moon for more than 50 years, testing the path back for the next generation.

The crew includes three Nasa astronauts - Commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch - along with Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.

Not only are they accomplished pilots, engineers and scientists, they are also spouses and parents balancing a heroic adventure against the risks they and their loved ones will face.

Here's what we know about them.

Reid Wiseman - Commander

Reid Wiseman is a US Navy test pilot turned astronaut, who spent six months on the International Space Station in 2014 as a flight engineer on Expedition 40. Wiseman says he has a lifelong love of flying, but on the ground he's afraid of heights.

He will command Artemis II in what is the second flight of the Orion spacecraft, and the first to carry people around the Moon in more than 50 years.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Wiseman lost his wife to cancer in 2020 and has raised their two teenage daughters alone. He describes being a single parent as his "greatest challenge and the most rewarding phase" of his life.

He has not shielded his children from the realities of risk, however. While out on a walk with them, he said: "Here's where the will is, here's where the trust documents are, and if anything happens to me, here's what's going to happen to you… That's part of this life."

He says he wishes more families had that conversation – because "you never know what the next day is going to bring".

Although he carries the title of commander, he is careful not to make Artemis II sound like his mission alone.

"When I look at Victor, Christina and Jeremy, they want to go do this mission, they are keenly driven, they are humble to a fault. It is so cool to be around them," he says, hoping that in decades to come their flight will be seen as a "tiny step" towards people living on the Moon and, eventually, walking on Mars.

For the personal item Nasa allows astronauts to take up with them, Wiseman plans to take a small notepad so that he can jot down his thoughts during the mission.

Christina Koch - Mission specialist

Christina Koch is an engineer and physicist who became an astronaut in 2013 and went on to set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 days aboard the International Space Station in 2019. During that mission she also took part in the first all-female spacewalk.

Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised in North Carolina, she will become the first woman to travel to the Moon.

Her journey to Artemis II began with a photograph. As a child she kept a poster of the Earth rising above the lunar surface – Bill Anders' famous Earthrise picture from Apollo 8 – on her bedroom wall, and decided she wanted to become an astronaut when she learnt that a human, not an automatic camera, had squeezed the shutter.

"The fact that it was a human behind that lens made that picture so much more profound and changed the way we thought of our own home," she says. "The Moon was not just a symbol for thinking about our place in the Universe, it is a beacon for science and understanding where we came from."

Koch has spent more than 25 years around Apollo veterans through a scholarship foundation and Nasa remembrance events, and says that what the former astronauts have really taught her is camaraderie.

Koch is taking handwritten notes from people close to her for her personal item, which she has described as a "tactile connection" to loved ones back on Earth.

At home, spaceflight is a running conversation with her husband. She says he's inquisitive about "what the big milestones are, what the risky parts are, when he can sigh a sigh of relief, when he needs to be glued to the TV".

One of the more prosaic preparations has been to persuade him that Artemis is not like her ISS mission - there will be no casual phone calls from orbit, no quick check-ins to locate a missing item in a cupboard. "He's not going to be able to ring me and ask where something is in the house," she laughs. "He's going to have to find it."

Jeremy Hansen - Mission specialist

Jeremy Hansen is a former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and physicist who joined the Canadian Space Agency in 2009. Although he has never flown in space before, he has played a key role in training new astronauts at Nasa's Johnson Space Centre, becoming the first Canadian to lead that work.

He is married with three children and enjoys sailing, rock climbing and mountain biking.

Like Koch, Hansen traces his fascination with space back to Apollo 8. Growing up in rural Canada, he turned his treehouse into an imaginary spaceship after seeing a photograph of Buzz Aldrin standing on the lunar surface.

The risks the Apollo astronauts took has shaped how he talks to his own family about Artemis II. Over the Christmas holidays they watched footage of the uncrewed Artemis I launch together so he could warn them that, when the main engines light, it can briefly look and sound like the rocket is exploding – and reassure them that this is normal.

He has told them, too, that when they hear engineers on the loop discussing "worst case scenarios" or unusual sensor readings, it will often sound scarier than it is; it is simply how teams probe the edges of safety on a first crewed flight.

If all goes to plan, Hansen will become the first non-American to travel to the Moon – a milestone he sees as a sign of how far international cooperation in space has come since Apollo. "The Artemis missions have set such an ambitious goal for humanity that… nations around the globe are coming together," he says.

Hansen will carry four Moon-shaped pendants for his wife and three children, engraved with the phrase "Moon and back" and set with their birthstones. The Canadian will also be taking maple syrup and maple cookies on his lunar voyage.

Victor J Glover - Pilot

Victor Glover is a former US Navy fighter pilot and test pilot who was selected as a Nasa astronaut in 2013. He served as pilot of Nasa's SpaceX Crew 1 mission and spent nearly six months on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64. Born in Pomona, California, he is married with four children and is set to become the first black person to travel to the Moon.

Those who know him say he is the most charismatic of the quartet and the most sharply dressed, with designer brown leather boots that somehow look good even with an orange flight suit. His call sign, "IKE", is reputedly short for "I Know Everything", a nod to his three master's degrees in flight test engineering, systems engineering and military operational art and science.

At a red carpet event in 2023, in New York, he looked every inch the modern astronaut celebrity, alongside his wife Dionna.

Preparing for Artemis II, Glover has been working through original Gemini and Apollo journal papers from the 1960s, hunting for engineering and piloting lessons that might still apply. Between the graphs and equations, he says, you glimpse the people behind the missions; what their families were going through, what they knew and did not yet know as they pushed into the unknown.

"Pushing ourselves to explore is core to who we are," he says. "It is part of being human… We go out to explore, to learn where we are, why we are, understanding the big questions about our place in the universe."

Glover has said he will take with him a Bible, his wedding rings and family heirlooms, along with a collection of inspirational quotations compiled by Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart.

In a Nasa video, each of the astronauts distil the mission into a single phrase. "We are ready," says Koch; "We are going," adds Hansen; "To the Moon," says Glover. Wiseman, completes the sentence: "For all humanity!"

Farm work is personal for many people in the state of California, where nearly three-quarters of America's fruits and nuts are grown.

That's why, when sexual abuse allegations against famed farmworker union activist Cesar Chavez came to light in March, it sent shockwaves throughout the state.

"As the daughter and granddaughter of farmworkers, this is deeply personal," state senator Suzette Martinez Valladares said during a meeting to discuss removing Chavez's name from streets, parks and schools - as well as renaming Cesar Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day.

"The legacy of farmworkers belongs to families like mine across California - not to any one individual," Valladares said, while she and other lawmakers shared stories of how their families worked in the fields picking crops under the hot sun.

As a prominent labour organiser, Chavez helped lead a major strike against Delano grape growers in the 1960s, which sparked boycotts across the country, in order to gain better wages and conditions for workers. His mantra, "si, se puede" - which means "yes, we can" in Spanish - has been adopted by activists and politicians who came after him, and was even used by Barack Obama's presidential campaign during his first run for office.

In 1994, Chavez was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton, and in 2014 President Barack Obama declared 31 March to be Cesar Chavez Day.

But his legacy today has taken a sharp turn, after civil rights leader Dolores Huerta - who helped Chavez co-found the National Farm Workers Association - went public in the New York Times alleging he raped her decades ago.

The newspaper's investigation also included testimony from two other women, who were the daughters of farmworkers, who said he molested them when they were underage in the 1970s.

Huerta, 95, said she kept quiet about the sexual assault because she feared it would have hurt the farmworkers movement if she spoke up. Huerta is also a revered and beloved figure in the farmworkers movement with many schools and streets named in her honour - although not nearly as many as Cesar Chavez.

In a sign of how deep the wounds are after these claims came to light, California lawmakers barely uttered his name when they voted unanimously last week to rename the state holiday "Farmworkers Day". Similar votes are happening across the United States, where Chavez's name is emblazoned on dozens of schools, streets and other public buildings nationwide. Chavez statues have already begun to be removed and murals vandalised.

But those who once counted Chavez as a hero say they cannot let these revelations stop them from celebrating the accomplishments of the wider labour movement.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she was "devastated" by the allegations against Chavez and her memory of him was now "painful".

But she recognised his importance as a figure in the movement.

"It was because of people like Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King and other leaders that I made a commitment as a child that I wanted to spend my life fighting for justice," she said.

In the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, artist MisterAlek transformed a Cesar Chavez mural he painted in 2021 and replaced it with a painting of Delores Huerta.

"After learning about all the new allegations and all the new stuff that came out, I felt somewhat responsible of changing the mural because it's my art piece, right, I created it," MisterAlek told a local ABC News affiliate.

The new mural of Huerta "illustrates the type of person that she was," he added. "It was someone that was at the rallies doing activism and speaking loud for people defending our rights."

But some artists don't want to remove their memorials to the union leader completely.

"I'd love to bring this mural into the 21st Century," said artist JD "Zender" Estrada.

He painted a mural in 1994 in the Boyle Heights neighbourhood of Los Angeles, when the street was first named Cesar Chavez Avenue. It depicts Chavez carrying four farmworkers.

Estrada disagrees with calls to completely remove Chavez from murals, and thinks they should be renovated and updated rather than "whitewashed".

The muralist thinks Chavez can remain on murals but be less prominent as long as the community agrees. Zender also thinks the murals could better reflect the role of farmworkers from the Philippines and other countries in the labour movement.

"I'm very sympathetic to the victims of what happened," Zender said. "But we have to preserve and conserve murals. They are important in Los Angeles."

Zender said he was commissioned to paint the mural by the Chavez Foundation and by the City Council in an attempt to educate people in Los Angeles because so few of them at the time knew who Cesar Chavez was. There was a more famous boxer with same name, he recalls.

"And this is Hollywood," Zender said. "We love an icon."

The loud screech of a Typhoon and F-35 jet rips through the night sky above RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. It's followed by the heavier rumble of the larger refuelling aircraft that will join its mission - hunting down Iranian drones.

The RAF Voyager is the giant petrol station in the sky for the Typhoon and F-35 jets which have been patrolling the skies over Cyprus and Jordan for the past month.

The BBC is among the first news outlets to witness these defensive missions in the air being conducted day and night, ever since the US and Israel began their bombing campaign against Iran.

From the cockpit of the Voyager we watched the shimmering lights of Cyprus fade into the distance. We were getting closer to the coast of Israel and Lebanon.

From that direction we see a brief flash of orange light. One of the crew points to it and tells me: "Quite often you can see either incoming missiles from Iran or the Israeli response."

"It might be the Iron Dome from Israel," the pilot interjects over the intercom, referring to the country's air defence system.

"We don't know for sure," he adds, "but there's a lot of kinetic things happening in that area at the moment".

Evidence, then, that even after a month of heavy bombing Iran still poses a threat an is still firing missiles and drones.

During this nine-hour mission, the Typhoon and F-35 jet refuel seven times - taking on a total of 30 tonnes of aviation fuel.

We see them appear out of the dark at speed to make the delicate manoeuvre to feed their fuel-hungry jets - locking on to a hose trailing from the tanker wing.

For the fighter pilots, it's routine. It's the hunting down of Iranian drones which poses more of a challenge.

Over the past month, British jets operating out of Cyprus and Qatar have shot down several. They won't say exactly how many times they've fired their sophisticated advanced short range air-to-air missiles (ASRAAM) to take down a drone, but it's in the single figures. It's an expensive golden bullet to bring down a relatively cheap fibreglass drone.

On the ground, Squadron Leader "Bally", an RAF F-35 pilot, explains the complexity of the mission.

"Operating on a fast jet is already a dangerous business", he says. "Let alone when trying to target something close to the surface."

With the drones flying low and slow, he says that "there's a risk of flying into the ground".

The threats, he says, are "not just enemy activity", but also the dangers of flying too close to other jets operating in the area.

On this mission they identify no targets. But the jets have been conducting what's been called "Operation Luminous" since the start of the war.

Despite criticism, government ministers have repeatedly said they made sufficient preparations - moving in additional jets, air defence systems and personnel to Cyprus weeks before the conflict started.

Maj Gen Tom Bewick, Commander British Forces Cyprus, insisted there'd been "prudent planning" before the war - including additional ground-based air defences and radar.

But that didn't stop a drone hitting the base on the second night of the war. The small drone, probably fired from Lebanon, hit a hangar on a side of the base used by the US Air Force.

It's well known the US regularly flies a U-2 spy plane from RAF Akrotiri, though it's not publicly acknowledged.

The BBC understands the drone - with a two-metre wingspan - had been tracked by radar approaching the base, time enough to sound the air raid warning and to get people out of harm's way.

But Gen Bewick says the damage was minimal.

"They didn't get much bang for their buck," he says, adding that he "suspects" whoever fired it "hit what they were aiming at".

Since that incident, Gen Bewick says Akrotiri's air defences have been "thickened".

There are now eight Typhoon jets and eight F-35 jets on the base. There's been the recent arrival of Wildcat helicopters fitted with short range air defence missiles and Merlin helicopters with Early Warning Radar.

The Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Dragon, is now providing additional air defences operating off the coast of Cyprus. Gen Bewick says he's "chuffed to bits" to have a "super high-end" warship in the region, but adds that they now have good air defences on the base.

Given that Iran has publicly stated that RAF Akrotiri is a target, Gen Bewick says he'd be "a fool not to take the Iranians at their word". He acknowledges the base "could easily be attacked again", but says it's now "as well protected as it can be".

There are signs of reassurance at the base. Most of the service families who left their homes after the attack have now returned. The air raid warnings are less frequent - with improved intelligence and detection.

The UK has also been giving assurances to Cyprus. In the aftermath of the attack, the President of Cyprus called for "open and frank discussions" about the future of RAF Akrotiri.

Gen Bewick says he's now working in close co-operation with the Cypriot authorities, but stresses the UK's sovereignty of the base "is not up for debate".

No one knows how long this war will last. When and how it ends is completely out of the UK's control. The heightened defence posture at RAF Akrotiri will inevitably stretch the UK's already strained armed forces.

Some of the Royal Navy helicopters now based at RAF Akrotiri were supposed to join the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales on her planned voyage to the North Atlantic.

RAF jets have paused their decade-long counter ISIS missions "Operation Shader", while they focus on defending Cyprus.

Group Captain Adam Smolak, the Station Commander at RAF Akrotiri, also does not expect a quick end to the war. He predicts they'll be defending the base "for quite some time to come".

History suggests that US military interventions in this volatile region is rarely quick or easy.

The Chinese government is set to ban people from storing the cremated remains of their loved ones in empty apartments instead of paying for expensive cemetery plots.

The new law will put an end to "bone ash apartments", which have risen in popularity as spaces in cemeteries remain scarce.

Low property prices in the country mean that for many, it is more affordable to entomb the ashes of relatives in an empty apartment than pay for funeral costs.

The legislation prohibits the use of residential properties "specifically for the placement of ashes" as well as the burial of remains outside of cemeteries and areas where ecological burial is legal.

Bone ash apartments are empty properties which are turned into ritual halls by family members of the deceased. Their loved one's ashes are placed inside and the space turned into an ancestral shrine.

The apartments are often identifiable by closed curtains or sealed-off windows, Chinese media has reported.

Mourners are making the most of low property prices, which have fallen in China in recent years and were down 40% in 2025 from 2021.

Meanwhile, cemetery spaces are limited and only come with a temporary lease which must be renewed every 20 years.

The price for a burial plot in Beijing's Changping Tianshou Cemetery ranges from around 10,000 yuan (£1,095) to 200,000 yuan (£21,917), according to its website. The cheaper options are "eco-friendly burial plots".

A standard tombstone plot starts at about 150,000 yuan (£16,400), with prices rising to 300,000 yuan (£32,841), which the website notes is "relatively high" in Beijing.

The price of funerals is also high. In 2020, funerals cost nearly half of the country's average annual salary, according to a survey by British insurance firm SunLife.

On social media, commentators have pointed out the cost of cemetery plots and queried how the new law will be regulated. One person wrote on Weibo, China's equivalent of X: "Who would resort to this if cemetery plots were affordable?"

Another said: "How will those enforcing these rules know if the apartments are being used just to store ashes? And how will they deal with those cases?"

The ban comes days before the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, where people tidy the graves of loved ones and make ritual offerings.

On Tuesday, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Civil Affairs laid out new requirements for the funeral industry following concerns over high costs.

It said it would introduce new rules to tackle fraud and a lack of transparency in funeral pricing to "reduce the burden of funerals on the masses".

Israel's parliament has approved a law that would make the death penalty the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly terror attacks.

Critics have described the new law as discriminatory and several European nations warn it risks undermining "democratic principles".

The new law passed its third and final reading in the Knesset by 62 votes to 48 on Monday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voting in favour.

The bill stipulates that Palestinians convicted in Israeli military courts of carrying out deadly attacks deemed to be "acts of terrorism" would be executed by hanging within 90 days, with a possible postponement of up to 180 days.

In theory, Jewish Israelis could also be executed under the law - but in practice this almost certainly would not happen, as the death penalty could only be carried out where the intention of the attack was to "negate the existence of the state of Israel".

The legislation was pushed hard by the far-right, with the National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir its driving force. After the vote, he posted on X: "We made history!!! We promised. We delivered."

A member of Ben-Gvir's party, Limor Son-Har-Melech, who survived an attack by Palestinian gunmen in which her husband was killed, argued that the law was necessary, citing the example of how one of her husband's killers was later released and went on to take part in the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel.

During the debate in the Knesset, she said: "For years, we endured a cruel cycle of terror, imprisonment, release in reckless deals, and the return of these human monsters to murder Jews again."

But Yair Golan, the leader of opposition Democrats party, criticised the legislation and said it would lead to international sanctions.

"The death penalty law for terrorists is an unnecessary piece of legislation designed to get Ben-Gvir more likes," he said. "It does not contribute one ounce to Israel's security."

On the eve of the vote, the UK, France, Germany and Italy expressed their "deep concern", saying that the bill risked "undermining Israel's commitments with regard to democratic principles".

The Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, condemned the adoption of the law, saying it "seeks to legitimise extrajudicial killing under legislative cover".

And Hamas, which controls Gaza, said in a statement on Monday evening that the approval of the bill "threatens the lives" of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and called on the international community to "ensure the protection of our prisoners".

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has already petitioned the country's Supreme Court against the law.

"The law is unconstitutional, discriminatory by design and - for West Bank Palestinians - enacted without legal authority," it said in a statement.

The Supreme Court will now have to consider whether to hear the challenge to the bill.

Israel has only executed two people in its history - one of them the infamous Nazi official Adolf Eichmann, who played an important role in perpetrating the Holocaust.