US President Donald Trump has removed Attorney General Pam Bondi - a longtime ally and fierce defender of his administration - from her post as America's top law enforcement officer.

Trump praised her in a post on Truth Social and said she would be "transitioning" to a role in the private sector.

Bondi's time leading the justice department was often overshadowed by its handling of the release of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein and its investigation into the convicted sex offender.

She is the second Trump administration official in recent weeks to be cut from her post, after Kristi Noem was ousted as homeland security chief in March. Bondi will be replaced by her former deputy, Todd Blanche.

Bondi said she would be "working tirelessly" to transfer her work to Blanche, adding that the job had "been the honour" of a lifetime.

Bondi added that in her new private sector position - which she did not identify - she would "continue fighting for President Trump and this administration".

The announcement comes less than two months after a combative congressional hearing in which Bondi was peppered with questions from lawmakers - at times descending into shouting matches in which she called one Democrat a "washed up loser".

As recently as Thursday morning, Trump was defending Bondi, saying: "She is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job."

But hours later, Trump confirmed her departure on Truth Social, saying that her new private sector role would be "announced at a date in the near future". The news was first broken by Fox.

Trump lauded Bondi's performance as attorney general in his post, saying she had done "a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in crime across our country."

But Trump reportedly had grown increasingly frustrated with Bondi, in particular over her handling of the Epstein files.

When she was sworn into the post in February 2025, she vowed transparency on the Epstein case and promised to release an alleged client list associated with the disgraced financier, who died in 2019.

The department later said no such list existed.

In the end, millions of files related to Epstein were released, but under pressure - including from Trump supporters - and only after Congress passed a law requiring the Department of Justice to make unclassified records public.

Some lawmakers say Bondi and the justice department have redacted victims' names as required by law.

Others have said the department has failed to fully comply with the law and is inappropriately withholding documents, which it denies.

The agency, and subsequently Bondi, faced bipartisan backlash, with lawmakers accusing the justice department of failing to obscure some identifying information about survivors while protecting the identities of those who were not victims.

A handful of Republicans who worked with her closely over the years praised her on Thursday.

"Pam Bondi led this Department with strength and conviction and I'm grateful for her leadership and friendship," Blanche wrote on X. "We will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe."

Others quickly celebrated her departure.

Among them was Kentucky lawmaker Thomas Massie, a regular critic of Bondi's handling of the Epstein files.

"I hope the next AG will release all the Epstein files according to the law and follow up with investigations, prosecutions and arrests," he wrote on X.

California Democrat Ro Khanna - who worked with Massie on a bipartisan effort to compel the release of the files - posted that the "the Senate must fight to make sure Bondi is not replaced with another lawless sycophant."

Another Republican critic of Bondi's, South Carolina representative Nancy Mace, accused her of having "stonewalled every effort to hold the guilty accountable" and "seriously undermined President Trump" with her handling of the files.

Survivors also told the BBC that Bondi had yet to meet them or respond to their emails about Epstein's wrongdoing, and the matter has become a political liability for Trump.

Bondi has called Epstein a "monster" and told the victims she was sorry for the abuse they endured.

Most recently, a congressional committee formally summoned Bondi to answer questions over her handling of the Epstein investigation. She was expected to appear before them this month.

Under her leadership, the justice department has pursued a number of criminal investigations into political opponents of the president, including California Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.

In September, Trump pushed Bondi to more aggressively investigate his political adversaries. In a social media post addressed directly to Bondi, he said: "We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility."

The justice department under her tenure faced questions over its handling of the investigation into federal immigration agents fatally shooting two people during confrontations in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide demonstrations in January.

Bondi was part of Trump's legal team during his first impeachment trial and when he made false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him due to voter fraud.

She also publicly supported him by showing up at court during his hush money trial in New York, which ended in May with a conviction of 34 counts of fraud. Trump is appealing.

Iran's two largest steel plants have been shut down due to multiple rounds of US-Israeli air strikes, the companies operating them say.

"Our initial estimate is that restarting these units will take at least six months and up to one year," Mehran Pakbin, deputy head of operations at the Khuzestan Steel Company in south-western Iran, was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

Mobarakeh Steel Company said its production lines in the centre of the country had "completely shut down following the high volume of attacks".

The strikes, which Israeli media and Iran's foreign minister said were first launched by Israel in co-ordination with the US last Friday, could cause major damage to Iran's economy.

Iran is the 10th biggest producer of steel globally, according to data from the World Steel Association. In addition to using steel domestically for construction and manufacturing, it exports the material across the world.

Any halt to production could have major implications to supply chains and businesses across the country, which for years have been affected by comprehensive Western sanctions.

The BBC has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the US military's Central Command (Centcom) for comment.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post on Friday: "Israel has hit two of Iran's largest steel factories, a power plant and civilian nuclear sites among other infrastructure. Israel claims it acted in co-ordination with the US."

Israeli media reported that an Israeli security source had said the strikes were expected to cause billions of dollars in damage to the Iranian economy, and that the steel plants were linked to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC said it had targeted US-linked steel and aluminium facilities in Gulf states in response.

On Thursday, the Israeli military reported several new incoming missile attacks from Iran, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said its military had "engaged with" 19 missiles and 26 drones launched from Iran.

The IRGC also targeted an Amazon cloud computing centre in Bahrain, according to Iranian state media.

US and Israeli forces look to have been hitting a wider range of targets in Iran in recent weeks, with US President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth saying on Wednesday that the US would bring Iran "back to the stone ages".

The comments sparked concern among Iranians - even those who support US-Israeli intervention against the Islamic Republic - that the scope of the offensive is broadening beyond the Iranian government and military.

There have also been attacks on health-linked facilities, with a spokesperson for Iran's health ministry confirming on Thursday that a medical research centre in Tehran - the Pasteur Institute of Iran - was attacked on 23 March. The spokesman described it as "a direct assault on international health security" and said it breached the Geneva Conventions.

On Tuesday, the Iranian government said there was an attack on one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Iran - Tofigh Daru Research & Engineering Company - which produces anaesthetic and cancer drugs.

The IDF said in a statement that it had carried out the strike and alleged that the company had transferred "chemical substances, including fentanyl, that were used for research and development of chemical weapons".

Separately, on Thursday, a highway bridge linking the capital Tehran to the nearby city of Karaj was hit by air strikes, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported. Two people were killed, according to the deputy for security at the Alborz governor's office.

There was no immediate comment from the US military, but Trump wrote on Truth Social: "The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again."

"Much more to follow! IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!" he added.

The IDF told the BBC it was "not aware" of any strikes on Karaj.

Iran has been under internet blackout for 34 days, with connectivity to the outside world at 1% of normal levels on Thursday, according to NetBlocks - making it difficult to verify information from the country.

Additional reporting by Ghoncheh Habibiazad

Iran's two largest steel plants have been shut down due to multiple rounds of US-Israeli air strikes, the companies operating them say.

"Our initial estimate is that restarting these units will take at least six months and up to one year," Mehran Pakbin, deputy head of operations at the Khuzestan Steel Company in south-western Iran, was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

Mobarakeh Steel Company said its production lines in the centre of the country had "completely shut down following the high volume of attacks".

The strikes, which Israeli media and Iran's foreign minister said were first launched by Israel in co-ordination with the US last Friday, could cause major damage to Iran's economy.

Iran is the 10th biggest producer of steel globally, according to data from the World Steel Association. In addition to using steel domestically for construction and manufacturing, it exports the material across the world.

Any halt to production could have major implications to supply chains and businesses across the country, which for years have been affected by comprehensive Western sanctions.

The BBC has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the US military's Central Command (Centcom) for comment.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post on Friday: "Israel has hit two of Iran's largest steel factories, a power plant and civilian nuclear sites among other infrastructure. Israel claims it acted in co-ordination with the US."

Israeli media reported that an Israeli security source had said the strikes were expected to cause billions of dollars in damage to the Iranian economy, and that the steel plants were linked to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC said it had targeted US-linked steel and aluminium facilities in Gulf states in response.

On Thursday, the Israeli military reported several new incoming missile attacks from Iran, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said its military had "engaged with" 19 missiles and 26 drones launched from Iran.

The IRGC also targeted an Amazon cloud computing centre in Bahrain, according to Iranian state media.

US and Israeli forces look to have been hitting a wider range of targets in Iran in recent weeks, with US President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth saying on Wednesday that the US would bring Iran "back to the stone ages".

The comments sparked concern among Iranians - even those who support US-Israeli intervention against the Islamic Republic - that the scope of the offensive is broadening beyond the Iranian government and military.

There have also been attacks on health-linked facilities, with a spokesperson for Iran's health ministry confirming on Thursday that a medical research centre in Tehran - the Pasteur Institute of Iran - was attacked on 23 March. The spokesman described it as "a direct assault on international health security" and said it breached the Geneva Conventions.

On Tuesday, the Iranian government said there was an attack on one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Iran - Tofigh Daru Research & Engineering Company - which produces anaesthetic and cancer drugs.

The IDF said in a statement that it had carried out the strike and alleged that the company had transferred "chemical substances, including fentanyl, that were used for research and development of chemical weapons".

Separately, on Thursday, a highway bridge linking the capital Tehran to the nearby city of Karaj was hit by air strikes, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported. Two people were killed, according to the deputy for security at the Alborz governor's office.

There was no immediate comment from the US military, but Trump wrote on Truth Social: "The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again."

"Much more to follow! IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!" he added.

The IDF told the BBC it was "not aware" of any strikes on Karaj.

Iran has been under internet blackout for 34 days, with connectivity to the outside world at 1% of normal levels on Thursday, according to NetBlocks - making it difficult to verify information from the country.

Additional reporting by Ghoncheh Habibiazad

A man has died near Athens as a storm hits parts of Greece with gale-force winds and flooding, while a Saharan dust storm enveloped the island of Crete.

The man was found under a car in the Nea Makri rural area early on Thursday, according to the fire department.

Storm Erminio has flooded streets, closed some schools and moored ferries. Meanwhile, some flights were disrupted on Crete on Wednesday after dust from an African storm filled the air, turning the sky red-orange.

The weather is expected to be bad on Thursday in most areas of the country "with long-lasting and intense rains and storms and possibly with local hail", according to the national meteorological service.

A red warning is in place in Crete, mainly in the west and south, from midday until late at night on Thursday.

The fire department received 674 calls for assistance from Wednesday through the early hours of Thursday. The majority were in the Attica region that encompasses Athens, with most calls for fallen trees.

High winds have kept ferries moored in ports, with Greek media reporting some departures may resume on Thursday, weather permitting.

Streets as well as the basement of the local police station in Nea Makri were flooded. A bridge was knocked down on the island of Poros and vehicles have reportedly been swept away. Some schools have also been closed.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is poised to become one of the most valuable publicly traded companies in the world.

The company, which manufactures rockets, space exploration technology and Starlink satellites, is currently privately held. But on Wednesday it made a confidential filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering, which would allow shares to be traded in the stock market.

The value of SpaceX once it goes public is expected to surpass $1tn (£751bn). That would make its eventual stock market debut one of the most financially significant in history.

Musk's own holding in SpaceX would put the billionaire on track to become the world's first trillionaire.

The BBC has contacted SpaceX for comment.

The company is aiming to officially go public sometime in June, according to reports in Bloomberg, Reuters and the New York Times.

A confidential IPO filing with the SEC allows a company to avoid immediately revealing information to the public while it requests feedback from the regulator. The next step will be for company executives to hold "roadshows" - meetings with big investors to convince them to buy shares.

By making shares of SpaceX available for purchase by the public, the company is looking to raise $50bn or more, according to the reports.

Earlier this year, SpaceX took over xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence venture. After that all-stock merger, SpaceX is believed to have become the most valuable private company in the world, with an internal valuation of $1.25tn.

Recently, Musk's various companies have been becoming increasingly intertwined.

Last year, xAI, best known for its chatbot Grok, took over X, the social media platform previously called Twitter that Musk bought in 2022.

This degree of consolidation was a clear sign to investors that SpaceX was preparing to go public.

Emily Zheng, a senior analyst at Pitchbook, earlier told the BBC that by bringing xAI under SpaceX, Musk could show potential investors that he was consolidating costs and able to easily share resources between his companies.

With its large-scale ambitions, SpaceX is in need of a massive cash infusion that going public can provide, Zheng added. The company is racing to keep up with the "sheer cost of compute, infrastructure, and energy" needed to expand, she said.

Earlier this year, Tesla, Musk's electric vehicle company, revealed it had invested more than $2bn in xAI.

The billionaire said a significant share of Tesla's manufacturing would begin to shift toward building robots, which would make use of xAI technology like Grok.

Grok is already included in some Teslas as an AI assistant.

SpaceX would also partner with Tesla and xAI in the massive chipmaking endeavour Musk announced last month, which he is calling Terafab.

"Tesla, xAI and SpaceX have all done amazing things that people did not think could be done before," Musk said in a March presentation discussing Terafab.

Musk started SpaceX in 2002 with the aim of reducing the cost of launching crafts into space, mainly by making rockets that could be launched more than once. It first contracted with Nasa in 2006.

Today, most of SpaceX's work continues to revolve around rockets and the operation of Starlink, a fleet of satellites offering internet connectivity across the globe.

But Musk often discusses grander ambitions for the company, including putting data centers needed for AI in space and building a self-sufficient city on Mars, which many experts have said could be impossible to realise.

The Iran war requires a "serious" approach that does not change every day, Emmanuel Macron has said, in an apparent reference to US President Donald Trump's seemingly contradictory remarks about the conflict.

"This is not a show. We are talking about war and peace and the lives of men and women," the French president told journalists upon arrival in South Korea for a state visit.

"When you want to be serious you don't say every day the opposite of what you said the day before," Macron added.

"And maybe you shouldn't be speaking every day. You should just let things quieten down."

Macron was answering questions on the US-Israel war in Iran, which has now entered its second month. France and other European countries have supported some of the US operations in the region, but have so far resisted getting dragged into the war.

Trump and his administration have so far offered mixed messages on the conflict, at various times suggesting that a ceasefire was near, that the war had already been won or that the US was going to fight on.

Macron also addressed Trump's recent comments in which the US president said he was reconsidering his country's membership of Nato.

"Alliances like Nato are valuable because of what is unspoken – meaning the trust behind them," Macron said, arguing that casting doubt on one's commitment to the organisation emptied it of its substance.

Partners sign agreements and show up if issues arise, Macron added, "rather that commenting on them every day to say that you will or will not respect them".

"I feel like there is too much chatter, it's all over the place," he said.

He added he was unwilling to comment on an operation that the US and the Israelis "decided on by themselves", Macron said. "They then lament that they are alone in an operation they decided on alone. It's not our operation."

Macron also mentioned the US strikes on Iran in June 2025, which Trump said had "obliterated" Iranian nuclear facilities.

However, in the wake of the February 2026 war the US president said it was the "last best chance to strike at Iran's nuclear weapons programme".

"I remind you that six months ago were told that everything had been destroyed and all had been sorted out," Macron noted.

He argued that international observers were needed to check the nuclear development situation in Iran, and a framework to prevent further enriching.

"You still have today and you'll still have in the future people who have the know-how, hidden laboratories, etc. So it's not targeted military action even lasting a few weeks which can sort out the nuclear problem for good."

Trump has been on the offensive against France, which he accuses of failing to help in the war on Iran.

At a private lunch on Wednesday, Trump mocked Macron by imitating a French accent and saying that his wife Brigitte "treats him extremely badly" and that Macron was still "recovering from the right to the jaw".

Trump was likely referring to a 2025 video which showed Macron being shoved in the face by Brigitte.

Macron dismissed the comments as "neither elegant nor up to standard".

"I won't respond to them, they don't deserve a reply," he said.

The comments on Macron's marriage have been exceptionally bad received in France, where even staunch Macron critics came to his defence.

"For Donald Trump to speak to him like that and to speak of his wife in such a manner - I find that absolutely unacceptable," said Manuel Bompard of hard-left France Unbowed party.

Tehran has retaliated to the strikes on its territory by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway which enables the passage of a large proportion of the world's energy supply. In the absence of a quick resolution to the closure, Trump has said the countries most affected by the disruption should solve the problem themselves.

Macron pushed back against the idea of a military operation to liberate the strait, saying it was "unrealistic" because it would take too long and be too dangerous.

"It would expose anyone crossing the strait to coastal threats from the [Iranian] Revolutionary Guards, who possess significant resources, as well as ballistic missiles, [and] a host of other risks," he said.

A seven-month-old girl was shot and killed in while sitting in her pushchair in "broad daylight" in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, police have said.

Police believe the baby was the unintended victim of a suspected gang-related shooting.

Footage from the scene shows two men driving against the flow of traffic through the Williamsburg neighbourhood when a man sitting on the back of the motorbike takes out a gun and fires "at least two rounds", New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a news conference.

The bike then crashed and the suspected shooter was apprehended, but a "massive" manhunt was under way for the driver, she said.

"A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant," New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

"Today is a devastating reminder of how much more work there is to be done to combat gun violence across this city."

Several adults and children, two of whom were in buggies, had been on a street corner when the shooting occurred.

The seven-month-old's parents ran for cover in a nearby corner shop, where they realised their child had been shot, the BBC's US partner CBS reported.

"All the kids started ducking in the corner. The family went to the store and the mom started screaming when she noticed the baby was bleeding from [her] head," witness Bernius Maldonado told CBS.

Emergency services were called at around 13:21 local time (17:21 GMT).

The child was taken to the nearby Woodhull Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police reported no other people killed or injured in the incident.

"As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that this family is feeling or the grief that they now carry with them," Tisch said. "It is unspeakable."

Footage seen by police showed the suspects crashing into a car shortly after fleeing the scene.

Both suspects were throw from the moped - but the rear passenger landed so hard he lost "both of his shoes", Tisch said.

An ambulance was called for the injured male and was brought to Brooklyn Hospital, where he was then taken into police custody.

Investigators believe he fits the description of the shooter, based on the clothing he was wearing and his appearance, but was taken into custody as part of an unrelated investigation.

Police are working to connect him to the shooting.

A 2,500-year-old golden helmet considered one of Romania's greatest treasures has been recovered more than a year after it was stolen during a raid on a Dutch museum.

It and two golden bracelets dating back to about 450BC were unveiled as having been returned to the museum on Thursday, secured behind a glass case with two armed police guarding them. A third bracelet has not yet been found.

The theft of the Coțofenești helmet and bracelets by an armed gang who broke into the Drents Museum in Assen caused outrage in Romania and raised questions about security for priceless artefacts on loan to other countries.

"It's a long-awaited result," Romanian prosecutor Daniela Buruiană told journalists.

"We are happy that we are now witnessing here the recovery of the Romanian artefacts," she added.

The treasures, which date from the Dacian era - an Iron Age civilisation that existed roughly where Romania is now - had been on loan from Romania's national history museum when they had been stolen.

Their theft prompted a spat between the two governments that led to the Dutch government paying a reported €5.7m (£5m; $6.5m) in insurance compensation.

Romanian officials refused to discuss what would happen to that money now.

Robert van Langh, director of the Drents Museum in the northern Netherlands, said the helmet had been slightly dented but could be restored. The bracelets remained in perfect condition, he said.

Romanian prosecutor Rareș-Petru Stan spoke of the "major impact" that the theft had had in his home country, and praised his Dutch colleagues for their "hard work and keeping the faith".

"We are continuing the investigation to find the last bracelet," he added, "and we are grateful that we will be able to return this treasure to the Romanian people."

Dutch public prosecutor Corien Fahner revealed that the helmet and bracelets were handed over to authorities on Wednesday following negotiations involving lawyers for the three suspects.

Two men in their mid-30s and one aged 21 will face trial later this month.

The suspects were arrested within days of the gang using explosives to break into the museum, but by then there was no trace of the priceless items.

Art experts have suggested that the helmet and bracelets were stolen to order by a criminal gang.

Several Dutch provincial museums have been targeted in recent years because of the difficulty in providing adequate security for priceless artefacts. The helmet and bracelets were in a glass case that provided little resistance to the armed group.

In 2024, two works by Andy Warhol were stolen from a gallery in the southern Netherlands, and six years ago a Frans Hals painting called Two Laughing Boys was stolen from a small museum in the central town of Leerdam.

The former head of the national history museum in Bucharest, Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu, faced considerable domestic criticism for loaning the gold objects abroad and lost his job within days of the theft.

He spoke of his relief that the helmet had been retrieved.

"This is a unique item in European and even global cultural heritage," he told RTL Nieuws. "The helmet is an important social and political symbol of Dacian civilisation."

Four children have been "brutally stabbed and killed" at a school in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, the police have said.

"The suspect has been apprehended, and the motive behind the killings is still under investigation," Uganda's police force added in a brief statement on X.

The school has been named as the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in the capital's Makindye Division.

More details will be provided later, it added.

Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper is quoting local residents as saying that the suspect posed as a parent to get into the school and then after talking to the administrator attacked the children. The victims were between the ages of two and three, the newspaper adds.

Videos of the aftermath being shared on social media show images of crowds of angry and distressed people.

The suspect was quickly apprehended to "prevent him from being lynched", local journalist Erich Mboowa has reported on X.

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The United States has lifted sanctions on Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez.

The move comes less than three months after US forces seized the country's previous leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife in a military raid in Caracas and took them to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

Rodríguez, a close ally of Maduro who served as his vice-president, had been placed on the sanctions list in 2018, with the US accusing her of undermining democracy.

She was sworn in as interim president by Venezuela's National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro loyalists, days after the US raid and has been described by Trump as "a terrific person".

Rodríguez welcomed her removal from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.

Those named on the list have their assets in the United States blocked and US nationals are barred from doing business from them.

In a post on X, Rodríguez called it "a significant step in the right direction to normalise and strengthen relations between our countries".

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the move showed the progress that had been made "between our two countries to promote stability, support economic recovery, and advance political reconciliation in Venezuela".

"As President Trump has said, Delcy Rodríguez is doing a great job and is working with the United States very well," Kelly added.

Opposition activists in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, however, were critical of the move, arguing that the US should exert pressure on Rodríguez to release all political prisoners still held in the country's jails.

The release of political prisoners had been one of the key demands US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had made of Rodríguez in the wake of Maduro's removal.

And while the National Assembly has passed an amnesty law and hundreds of detainees have been freed, prisoners' rights group Foro Penal says that almost 500 political prisoners remain behind bars.

The lifting of sanctions is the latest sign of warming relations between the Trump administration and Rodríguez's team.

Earlier this week, the US officially reopened its embassy in Caracas, seven years after closing it.

A Venezuelan diplomatic team has also been dispatched to the US to reopen its embassy in Washington.

In the months since Maduro's removal from office, several high-level US delegations have travelled to Venezuela to discuss how the US can expand its access to Venezuela's oil and mineral wealth.

Critics of Rodríguez however have bemoaned the fact that there has been little talk of democratic elections.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has been living in exile since leaving Venezuela to collect the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in December, met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday.

Despite having been sidelined by Trump in favour of Rodríguez, Machado struck an optimistic note, calling the meeting "excellent" and praising the secretary of state's "dedication to democracy, freedom and Venezuelans' well-being".

Speaking to Fox News after the meeting, Rubio insisted that the US was making progress in Venezuela.

Pointing to the three-prong plan he said the US was pursuing, he assured viewers that Venezuela had moved into the second phase: that of recovery.

"Ultimately, there will have to be a transition phase. There will have to be free and fair elections in Venezuela, and that point has to come," he said.

"It's not forever, but we have to be patient, but we also can't be complacent," he said without giving an indication as to when elections could be held in Venezuela.

A 19th Century painting by iconic artist Raja Ravi Varma has become the most expensive Indian artwork ever sold, setting a new auction record.

The painting, Yashoda and Krishna, was sold for 1.67bn rupees ($17.9m; £13.6m) at a Saffronart auction in Delhi on Wednesday. It beat the previous record set by MF Husain's Untitled (Gram Yatra) which fetched $13.8m last year.

The surge in sales and records highlight growing demand for Indian and South Asian art, with collectors pushing prices to new highs.

Varma, who was born in 1848 in what is now the southern state of Kerala, is widely regarded as a pioneer of modern Indian painting and one of the most influential artists from the subcontinent.

The painting was bought by billionaire businessman Cyrus Poonawalla, founder and managing director of Serum Institute of India, one of the world's largest vaccine producers.

In a statement released by Saffronart, Poonawalla described the work as a "national treasure", adding that it "deserves to be made available for public viewing periodically".

"It will be my endeavour to facilitate this going forward," he said.

Varma's works have been classified as "art treasure" under India's Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, which means that they cannot be exported and can be sold only to Indian buyers.

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• How record auctions are fuelling India's art boom

Minal Vazirani, president and co-founder of Saffronart, said that the valuation was a "powerful reminder of the enduring cultural and emotional resonance of Indian art".

Ashish Anand, CEO and managing director of DAG (formerly Delhi Art Gallery), said that the impact of the record sale would percolate down to the art market, "giving rise to Indian art being viewed as a serious financial asset and beyond its value for aesthetics and personal delight".

According to Saffronart's catalogue, the work was put up for auction by a private collector.

Varma's realistic depictions of scenes from Hindu epics and mythology are widely recognised in India - so much so that prints of his works are often found in household shrines.

Yashoda and Krishna is an oil-on-canvas painting from the 1890s, when Varma was at the height of his career. It portrays a sweet moment between Hindu deity Krishna as a child and his foster mother Yashoda.

In the painting, Yashoda is seen milking a cow, while Krishna stands beside her holding a cup and waiting. The child has a mischievous look in his eyes while Yashoda's face reflects warmth and care. Their ornaments are minimal, but intricately detailed.

"Varma's genius lies in this very balance: the sacred rendered through the familiar," the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, which promotes and preserves Varma's legacy, wrote in an Instagram post last month, before the auction.

"The textures of silk, the gleam of jewellery, the softness of skin and the gentle stillness of the cow together create a scene that is both devotional and intimate."

The image of Krishna and Yashoda has long inspired artists across South Asia, who have depicted them in songs, temple carvings and local painting traditions. But Varma portrayed them in a more natural way, as art historians have noted.

Artist A Ramachandran wrote that while an "iconographical image of god [usually] evoked awe and not love and affection", Varma changed that, breaking the distance between Krishna and the person looking at the painting.

The record sale also spotlights how collectors are increasingly willing to pay a premium for Indian art which has historical and cultural significance.

Anand of DAG told the BBC that there is a "clear shift in how Indian art is being perceived".

"As the market matures and benchmarks rise, collectors are recognising both its cultural and financial value," he said, adding that fundamentally, it was quality that was driving this momentum.

"The best works - those with provenance, rarity and historical significance - are now commanding extraordinary prices, reflecting the maturing of the market."

Experts add that exclusivity is also pushing prices higher. Many masterpieces by artists such as Varma, Amrita Sher-Gil and VS Gaitonde are either in private collections or rarely come up for auction.

There is also a growing recognition of mythology as a serious and desirable genre within the global art market, Anand said.

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The brother of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi says he fears her life is in imminent danger after she suffered a suspected heart attack in prison in north-western Iran.

Hamidreza Mohammadi, who is based in Norway, told the BBC that the 53-year-old human rights activist was found unconscious in her bed by fellow inmates at Zanjan Prison last week.

She was taken to the prison infirmary but officials refused to transfer her to a hospital despite her history of heart and lung problems, he said. She also suffers from severe blood pressure fluctuations.

He demanded that she be released immediately for a thorough medical examination.

He also warned that strikes and explosions near the prison since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran a month ago had only added to her stress.

"This war has had a terrible effect on prisoners in Iran. If the prison gets hit, if the prisoners need immediate medical attention, they will not get anything and their lives are in danger," he told the BBC's Newsday programme.

"It's been really difficult for her family... Her children have gone through a lot. Now they experience very uncertain time when they don't know even if in the future there will be any peace or if their mother is going to live or die," he added.

Narges Mohammadi, the vice-president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against female oppression in Iran and promoting human rights.

She has spent more than a decade of her life in prison. In 2021, she began serving a 13-year sentence on charges of committing "propaganda activity against the state" and "collusion against state security", which she denied.

In December 2024, she was given a temporary release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison on medical grounds.

She continued campaigning while undergoing treatment and was arrested in the north-eastern city of Mashhad last December after giving a speech at the memorial ceremony of a fellow human rights activist. Her family said she was taken to hospital after being beaten on the head and neck during the arrest.

A few weeks later protests against Iran's clerical establishment swept across the country. At least 6,508 protesters were killed and 53,000 others arrested in an unprecedented crackdown by security forces on the unrest, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

In early February, Mohammadi was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court in Mashhad to an additional seven and a half years in prison after being convicted of "gathering and collusion" and "propaganda activities", her lawyer said.

She was transferred without warning the following week to Zanjan prison and has been allowed only limited communication with her family since then.

Last Sunday, her legal team and one family member were allowed to visit to visit her in prison under heightened surveillance.

The Free Narges Coalition said in a statement on Tuesday that "her general health was extremely poor, and she appeared pale and weak with significant weight loss when brought to the visitation room by a prison nurse".

It then cited Mohammadi's cellmates as saying that on 24 March she "was found unconscious in her bed, with her eyes rolled back", and that this lasted more than an hour. She was carried to the prison infirmary by fellow inmates, where medication was administered to restore her consciousness, it added.

"Despite this medical emergency, and evident indications of a heart attack, authorities refused to transfer Mohammadi to a hospital or allow her to visit a specialist."

Mohammadi also reported that she had suffered debilitating headaches, nausea, double vision since her violent arrest, and that bruises were still visible on her body, according to the coalition.

"According to the Iranian law, in wartime, when they [authorities] cannot guarantee safety of the prisoners, especially prisoners who are not dangerous to society, they must be allowed to leave the prison until the war is over," Hamidreza Mohammadi said.

"But not only [have they not done] it, they have denied all the political prisoners any medical attention, and their excuse is 'it is wartime'. So our demand is that she immediately be released for a thorough medical examination."

"We know her medical history, we know that she has heart problems and pulmonary problems. She must be in a hospital."

Four children have been "brutally stabbed and killed" at a school in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, the police have said.

"The suspect has been apprehended, and the motive behind the killings is still under investigation," Uganda's police force added in a brief statement on X.

The school has been named as the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in the capital's Makindye Division.

More details will be provided later, it added.

Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper is quoting local residents as saying that the suspect posed as a parent to get into the school and then after talking to the administrator attacked the children. The victims were between the ages of two and three, the newspaper adds.

Videos of the aftermath being shared on social media show images of crowds of angry and distressed people.

The suspect was quickly apprehended to "prevent him from being lynched", local journalist Erich Mboowa has reported on X.

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You could almost hear a sigh of relief from Nasa on Wednesday as its Artemis II rocket finally blasted off.

There's a lot riding on this mission - the safety of its four astronauts, Nasa's reputation, and the credibility of America's claim to be leading the new global space race.

There are mundane questions too: Could the onboard toilet break again? When can the crew nap?

Here's what the next 24 hours should look like for Artemis II.

Where are the astronauts now?

Commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are now orbiting Earth about 42,500 miles away, testing out the Orion spacecraft.

The craft's solar wings were fully deployed not long after launch, giving it power to help sustain its journey.

About the size of a minibus, its never been flown in space before by humans so pilot Victor Glover is spending the day pushing it to the extreme.

Nasa want to be sure Orion is voyage-worthy before the crew push on into deep space from where there is no easy return.

They're testing out the life support systems too. But if something goes wrong, the crew has specially-designed suits that could keep them alive for around six days.

What are the crew doing?

Unlike the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, we can watch a huge amount of what's happening on this voyage as Nasa livestreams the mission.

Cameras above the astronauts' heads show them checking monitors, holding up mobile phones, and pressing buttons.

Then about eight hours after launch, the crew were allowed their first sleep onboard.

On the radio the crew use to communicate with mission command, we heard Commander Reid Wiseman asking where are the team's pyjamas.

He asked for their "comfort garments", before the astronauts went into the sleeping area for about four hours.

Schedules in space are incredibly strict. Every minute is accounted for by Mission Control.

The crew can sleep for about four hours at a time, adding up to eight hours over a 24-hour period.

Sleeping in space can be tricky. The crew must strap themselves in, and generally some astronauts struggle to nod off as their bodies adapt to weightlessness.

But others say their best sleep ever is in space.

This crew have strict instructions to exercise for 30 minutes every day to protect their muscle and bone density as they live without gravity.

Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover went first, testing out Orion's "flywheel exercise device", which is about the size of a carry-on suitcase.

Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen were scheduled to exercise later on - using the wheel for rowing, squats and deadlifts.

We assume they've had their first meals too, from Nasa's tailor-made Artemis II menu.

There is no fridge in Orion, so a lot of the food is freeze-dried and activated using water from an onboard tap.

The crew were allowed to pick their meals in advance, which include macaroni cheese, beef brisket, and five different hot sauces.

They're allowed two drinks a day, including coffee or a "chocolate breakfast drink".

And crucially, as far as we know, the toilet is working. During launch, the facilities broke, raising worries that the team would have to spend 10 days in a craft without a toilet.

After giving astronaut Christina Koch instructions on how to fix the specially-designed loo, Mission Control radioed the crew: "Happy to report that toilet is go for use.... We do recommend letting the system get to operating speed before donating fluid".

When do they go to the Moon?

Today is building up to the snazzily named "trans-lunar injection" burn. Basically, it is a massive push that will propel them out of Earth's orbit and on course to the Moon.

It is supposed to happen Thursday night UK time, but if there are problems, it could be postponed or even cancelled.

A cancellation would be a major setback for Nasa and America as it tries to become the first country to land humans again on the lunar surface by 2028.

If it all goes to plan, the burn will fire for six minutes to send them on a trajectory around the Moon that also uses lunar gravity to slingshot them back to Earth.

Eventually they should fly 6,400 miles (10,299km) beyond the far side of the Moon, which always faces away from the Earth.

That's meant to happen on Monday (6 April). The astronauts will be the first people to see some areas of the far side, although probes from countries including India and China have previously documented this region.

They'll be taking photographs and making observations of this mysterious place for us to see and learn from back on Earth.

A man has died near Athens as a storm hits parts of Greece with gale-force winds and flooding, while a Saharan dust storm enveloped the island of Crete.

The man was found under a car in the Nea Makri rural area early on Thursday, according to the fire department.

Storm Erminio has flooded streets, closed some schools and moored ferries. Meanwhile, some flights were disrupted on Crete on Wednesday after dust from an African storm filled the air, turning the sky red-orange.

The weather is expected to be bad on Thursday in most areas of the country "with long-lasting and intense rains and storms and possibly with local hail", according to the national meteorological service.

A red warning is in place in Crete, mainly in the west and south, from midday until late at night on Thursday.

The fire department received 674 calls for assistance from Wednesday through the early hours of Thursday. The majority were in the Attica region that encompasses Athens, with most calls for fallen trees.

High winds have kept ferries moored in ports, with Greek media reporting some departures may resume on Thursday, weather permitting.

Streets as well as the basement of the local police station in Nea Makri were flooded. A bridge was knocked down on the island of Poros and vehicles have reportedly been swept away. Some schools have also been closed.

Courts in Brazil will be able to determine shared custody arrangements for the pets of separating couples, under new laws.

Lawmakers in the Brazilian Congress on Tuesday viewed the law change as a reflection on the importance people place on their pets.

The legislation means that if a couple separates without reaching an agreement regarding their pet, "a judge will determine the shared custody arrangement and the equitable distribution of the animal's maintenance expenses between the parties".

Currently, the country of 213 million people has about 160 million pets, according to the Instituto Pet Brasil.

For the law to apply to separating couples, the animal must have spent the majority of its life with the pair.

Shared custody will not be granted in cases of prior criminal records or a history or risk of domestic violence.

Members of the congress said there had been an increase in pet custody disputes in courts, while noting the law responds to "changes that have occurred in Brazilian society in recent decades," according to a statement accompanying the law.

The statement added that couples with fewer children tend to have closer relationships with their animals, "often considered true family members".

Currently in the UK, dogs are legally seen as inanimate objects akin to cars, houses or other personal items, meaning custody cases come down to determining who the sole owner is.

In 2014, France changed its law so pets were considered "living and feeling beings" rather than "moveable goods". That change meant couples would be able to fight for shared custody in divorce cases.

Australia currently has no legislation on how the courts should navigate living arrangements for pets after a breakup.

The most recent example of a pet being given joint custody was in Spain in 2021. A judge granted joint custody of a dog to a separated couple who went to court to determine who the pet should live with.

The Madrid court considered that both parties were "jointly responsible" and "co-caretakers" of Panda the dog.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is poised to become one of the most valuable publicly traded companies in the world.

The company, which manufactures rockets, space exploration technology and Starlink satellites, is currently privately held. But on Wednesday it made a confidential filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering, which would allow shares to be traded in the stock market.

The value of SpaceX once it goes public is expected to surpass $1tn (£751bn). That would make its eventual stock market debut one of the most financially significant in history.

Musk's own holding in SpaceX would put the billionaire on track to become the world's first trillionaire.

The BBC has contacted SpaceX for comment.

The company is aiming to officially go public sometime in June, according to reports in Bloomberg, Reuters and the New York Times.

A confidential IPO filing with the SEC allows a company to avoid immediately revealing information to the public while it requests feedback from the regulator. The next step will be for company executives to hold "roadshows" - meetings with big investors to convince them to buy shares.

By making shares of SpaceX available for purchase by the public, the company is looking to raise $50bn or more, according to the reports.

Earlier this year, SpaceX took over xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence venture. After that all-stock merger, SpaceX is believed to have become the most valuable private company in the world, with an internal valuation of $1.25tn.

Recently, Musk's various companies have been becoming increasingly intertwined.

Last year, xAI, best known for its chatbot Grok, took over X, the social media platform previously called Twitter that Musk bought in 2022.

This degree of consolidation was a clear sign to investors that SpaceX was preparing to go public.

Emily Zheng, a senior analyst at Pitchbook, earlier told the BBC that by bringing xAI under SpaceX, Musk could show potential investors that he was consolidating costs and able to easily share resources between his companies.

With its large-scale ambitions, SpaceX is in need of a massive cash infusion that going public can provide, Zheng added. The company is racing to keep up with the "sheer cost of compute, infrastructure, and energy" needed to expand, she said.

Earlier this year, Tesla, Musk's electric vehicle company, revealed it had invested more than $2bn in xAI.

The billionaire said a significant share of Tesla's manufacturing would begin to shift toward building robots, which would make use of xAI technology like Grok.

Grok is already included in some Teslas as an AI assistant.

SpaceX would also partner with Tesla and xAI in the massive chipmaking endeavour Musk announced last month, which he is calling Terafab.

"Tesla, xAI and SpaceX have all done amazing things that people did not think could be done before," Musk said in a March presentation discussing Terafab.

Musk started SpaceX in 2002 with the aim of reducing the cost of launching crafts into space, mainly by making rockets that could be launched more than once. It first contracted with Nasa in 2006.

Today, most of SpaceX's work continues to revolve around rockets and the operation of Starlink, a fleet of satellites offering internet connectivity across the globe.

But Musk often discusses grander ambitions for the company, including putting data centers needed for AI in space and building a self-sufficient city on Mars, which many experts have said could be impossible to realise.

Tech giant Palantir has pushed back against concerns that military use of its AI platforms could lead to unforeseen risks, in an exclusive interview with the BBC, insisting that the way the technology is used is the responsibility of its military customers.

It comes as experts have expressed concern over the use of Palantir's AI-powered defence platform - Maven Smart System - during wartime and its reported use in US attacks on Iran.

Analysts have warned that the military's use of the platform, which helps personnel plan attacks, leaves little time for "meaningful verification" of its output and could lead to incorrect targets being hit.

But the company's UK and Europe head, Louis Mosley, told the BBC in a wide-ranging interview that while AI platforms like Maven have been "instrumental" to the US management of the Iran war, responsibility for how their output is used must always remain "with the military organisation".

"There's always a human in the loop, so there is always a human that makes the ultimate decision. That's the current set-up."

The Maven Smart System was launched by the Pentagon in 2017 and is designed to speed up military targeting decisions by bringing together masses of data, including a range of intelligence, satellite and drone images.

The system analyses this data and can then provide recommendations for targeting. It can also suggest the level of force to use based on the availability of personnel and military hardware, such as aircraft.

But scrutiny has grown over the use of such tools in warfare. In February, the Pentagon announced that it would be phasing out Anthropic's Claude AI system - which helps to power Maven - after the company refused to allow use of its AI in autonomous weapons and surveillance. Palantir says alternatives can replace it.

Since the war with Iran began in February, the US has reportedly used Maven to plan strikes across the country.

Pushed by the BBC on the risk that Maven might suggest incorrect targets - which could include civilians - Mosley insisted that the platform is only meant to serve as a guide to speed up the decision-making process for military personnel and that it should not be seen as an automated targeting system.

"You could think of it as a support tool," Mosley said. "It's allowing them to synthesise vast amounts of information that previously they would have had to do manually one by one."

However, Mosley deferred to individual militaries when challenged by the BBC on the risk of time-pressured commanders ordering their officers to take Maven's output as being rubber-stamped.

"That's really a question for our military customers. They're the ones that decide the policy framework that determines who gets to make what decision," he said. "That's not our role."

Since 28 February, the US has launched more than 11,000 strikes against Iran, many reportedly identified by Maven.

Adm Brad Cooper, head of the US military in the Middle East, has hailed AI systems for helping officers "sift through vast amounts of data in seconds, so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react".

But some worry AI's involvement in mission planning creates significant risks.

"This prioritisation of speed and scale and the use of force then leaves very little time for meaningful verification of targets to make sure that they don't include civilian targets accidentally," Prof Elke Schwarz of Queen Mary University of London said.

"If there's a risk of killing and you co-opt a lot of your critical thinking to software that will take care of these things for you, then you just become reliant on the software," she added. "It's a race to the bottom."

In recent weeks, Pentagon officials have faced questions as to whether AI tools such as Maven were used to identify targets in the deadly strike on a school in the Iranian town of Minab. Iranian officials said the strike killed 168 people, including around 110 children, on the opening day of the war.

In Congress, a number of senior Democrats have called for increased scrutiny of AI platforms like Maven. Rep Sara Jacobs - a member of the House Armed Services Committee - called for clearly enforced rules and regulations about how and when AI systems are used.

"AI tools aren't 100% reliable — they can fail in subtle ways and yet operators continue to over-trust them," she told NBC News last month.

"We have a responsibility to enforce strict guardrails on the military's use of AI and guarantee a human is in the loop in every decision to use lethal force, because the cost of getting it wrong could be devastating for civilians and the service members carrying out these missions."

But Mosley pushed back against suggestions that the speed of his company's platform is rushing decision making at the Pentagon and potentially creating dangerous situations. He instead argued that the speed at which commanders are now taking action is a "consequence of the increased efficiency" that Maven has enabled.

Citing "operational security", the Pentagon declined to comment when approached by the BBC on how AI systems like Maven will be used in future or who would be held responsible should something go wrong.

But officials in the US appear to be moving forward with plans to further integrate Maven into its systems.

Last week, the Reuters news agency reported that the Pentagon had designated Maven as "an official program of record" - establishing it as a technology to be integrated long-term across the US military.

In a letter obtained by Reuters, deputy Defence Secretary Steve Feinberg said the platform would provide commanders "with the latest tools necessary to detect, deter, and dominate our adversaries in all domains".

Additional reporting by Jemimah Herd

More than 1,800 civilians have been killed in Burkina Faso since Ibrahim Traoré seized power three years ago in acts amounting to "war crimes and crimes against humanity", a new report says.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says about 1,837 civilians, including dozens of children, were killed in 57 incidents between January 2023 and August 2025.

It attributes most of the killings - 1,255 - to the military and allied militias, with the rest blamed on Islamist militants.

HRW finds President Traoré and six senior military commanders "may be liable as a matter of command responsibility for grave abuses and should be investigated". It also says five jihadist leaders may be culpable.

The Burkinabé authorities have not yet commented on the report but have dismissed previous accusations that their forces have killed civilians.

One of the reasons the military gave for seizing power was to tackle the jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda who have been waging an insurgency in Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries for over a decade and control huge parts of the country.

The report is based on analysis of open-source information, including photos, videos and satellite imagery, and interviews with witnesses and survivors.

"All sides are responsible for the war crimes of willful killing, attacks on civilians and civilian objects, pillage and looting, and forced displacement," the report says.

It accuses the junta of committing "horrific abuses" and failing to hold perpetrators to account while blocking reporting to hide the suffering of civilians caught in the violence.

"The scale of atrocities taking place in Burkina Faso is mind-boggling, as is the lack of global attention to this crisis," says Philippe Bolopion, HRW's executive director.

The report cites one of the deadliest incidents in December 2023 in which it says the military and allied militias killed more than 400 civilians in the northern town of Djibo.

A 35-year-old woman told the rights group that her two daughters died on the spot and bullets injured her and her nine-month-old son.

"Make sure no-one is breathing before heading out," she recounted a militia member as saying.

Survivors described the killings as brutal and said they continue to suffer deep psychological trauma.

"Many survivors described the killings as 'butchery' and said they were left with deep psychological wounds," the report notes.

Since the military government seized power, authorities have been accused of carrying out brutal campaigns increasingly targeting civilians in response to attacks by al-Qaeda affiliate JNIM, the biggest jihadist group in the country.

Civilians described to HRW a feeling of being "caught between a rock and a hard place", threatened with death by JNIM while also being targeted by government forces.

The rights group says JNIM has used widespread threats and violence to dominate and punish communities and has targeted civilians refusing to submit to its authority, whom it accuses of supporting the government.

In August 2024, JNIM attackers "shot dead at least 133 people and injured more than 200 in fewer than two hours", it says.

HRW is now urging the International Criminal Court to open a preliminary investigation into the alleged crimes committed by all the parties since September 2022.

It has also called on Burkina Faso's partners and donors to impose sanctions and to refrain from cooperating with the country's army.

Traoré seized power in September 2022 after overthrowing Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had taken over only nine months earlier.

Despite his authoritarian reputation, 37-year-old Traoré has gained a huge following across the continent for his pan-Africanist vision and criticism of Western influence.

Burkina Faso, like its neighbours Mali and Niger which are also under military rule, has moved away from working with Western countries, especially France, in its fight against the Islamist groups. All three have instead turned towards Russia for military assistance, however the violence has continued unabated.

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The Australian government has announced long-awaited gambling advertising reforms, after years of public pressure.

The suite of measures will further limit when and where gambling ads can appear, as well as who can star in them - but it stops short of a full ban, which had cross-party support and the backing of a range of community groups.

Restrictions have been fiercely opposed by powerful gambling agencies, as well as media firms and sports organisations who feared a steep revenue hit.

Australians lose more money to gambling, per capita, than anywhere else in the world.

A number of countries - like Italy, Belgium and Spain - have introduced total or near-total bans on gambling advertising, and a parliamentary inquiry weighing up reform in Australia recommended similar more than 1000 days ago.

In a speech to the National Press Club on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was "getting the balance right" with this package.

"Letting adults have a punt if they want to, but making sure our children don't see betting ads everywhere they look."

Under the reforms, from January 1:

• TV ads from betting agencies will be capped at three per hour, between 6am and 8:30pm, and banned completely from any live sports broadcasts during those hours
• Gambling ads will be banned from radio during school pick-up and drop-off times
• Celebrities and sports players will not be permitted to appear in gambling advertising
• Gambling ads on online platforms will be banned, unless people have a logged in account, are over 18 and have the option to opt-out
• Gambling ads will be outlawed in sports venues and on players' and officials' uniforms

The government will also crack down on illegal, offshore gaming sites, and ban more types of online gambling - like Keno and apps and websites modelled on poker machines.

The measures have already prompted backlash from voices in the gambling industry.

In a statement, Responsible Wagering Australia - the peak body for betting agencies - said the new measures are "draconian" and set a "dangerous precedent".

"Today it's gambling advertising, tomorrow it's alcohol, then it's sugary drinks, fast food, critical minerals and who knows what else comes next," chief executive Kai Cantwell said.

He accused the government of blindsiding a sector that supports 30,000 jobs and "provides critical funding to sport, racing and broadcast industries".

A spokesperson from Sportsbet - one of Australia's biggest agencies - said they were concerned the "overly blunt" restrictions could have "unintended consequences", like driving more Australians towards illegal offshore betting which isn't limited by the same conditions.

"Sportsbet recognises changing community sentiment on gambling advertising and has already taken proactive steps."

Many of those advocating for change were also unhappy, believing the proposed changes don't go far enough.

"Imagine three cigarette ads per hour," Reverend Tim Costello said.

"Australian children deserve to grow up in a country that puts their wellbeing before corporate profits."

His Alliance for Gambling Reform were among groups calling for a full gambling advertising ban on the web and broadcast platforms, and the establishment of a national industry regulator.

Similarly, Australian Medical Association vice-president Julian Rait in a statement declared that "partial bans do not work".

"Anything less than a comprehensive ban will continue to expose Australians - especially children - to relentless gambling promotion," he said in a statement.

The alleged Bondi gunman has lost his court bid to suppress the names and addresses of his mother, brother and sister due to fears over their safety.

Lawyers for Naveed Akram - who is facing 59 charges over December's attack on a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach that killed 15 people - argued that his family could be targeted by vigilantes and had already experienced abuse.

Last month, details of Akram's family were suppressed under an interim order but on Thursday, a Sydney court lifted it after several media outlets opposed the move.

The case had attracted "unprecedented" attention in Australia and globally, the judge ruled, and information about the family was already widely available online.

"This case has unprecedented public interest, outrage, anger and grief," Judge Hugh Donnelly told the court.

He said the request for a suppression order lasting 40 years did not meet the exceptional circumstances threshold and would have limited impact as it would only apply in Australia and not social media platforms or international media outlets.

The judge said the case was "exceptional by virtue of the sheer magnitude and intensity of the commentary" on overseas platforms, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Donnelly said it was "unfortunate" that Akram's driver's licence had already been posted online but that his lawyers had not properly explained how an order could be enforced.

He also said he was not critical of an interview that Akram's mother gave to a local outlet but that suppressing her identity would do little, the ABC reported.

On the names and workplaces of Akram's siblings, the court said they were unlikely to be part of any court proceedings as they had "little relevance to the case".

Akram, 24, appeared in court via video link from the high security prison where he is being held.

During a hearing last month, the court heard that people had driven past Akram's family home, shouting abuse and death threats.

Family members also reported receiving threatening texts and phone calls.

"We live in constant fear someone will harm us or set our house on fire. I fear for my life and the lives of my children," Akram's mother wrote in a statement.

Lawyers for the media organisations who opposed the suppression order argued that the details of his family were already widely known and there was no evidence of an imminent risk to them, according to the Guardian Australia.

Nasa's Artemis II mission thundered away from Florida's coast, taking its four crew members on their historic journey to circle the Moon.

There was a deep rumbling as a sheet of brilliant white flame suddenly erupted, momentarily engulfing the whole launch pad as the mightiest rocket Nasa has ever built rose into the sky.

Nasa's Space Launch System (SLS) majestically crept upwards - slow at first, then gathering pace, riding on two blinding pillars of flame that crackled and roared with increasing volume until the rumbling was almost deafening, a sound we could feel in our bodies as we watched on in amazement, three miles (4.8km) away from the launch pad.

There were small cheers from those in the know as the rocket past the moment of maximum danger - one minute and 10 seconds into the launch. This is where the pressure hits the rocket the hardest, and when engineers know that even a small structural weakness can be disastrous.

There was no weakness, and SLS arced out over the Atlantic like a fiery white angel, leaving a white smoky trail as the sound subsided and the spacecraft disappeared from view, shrinking to a single bright star as it chased the Moon.

Afterwards, there was a giddy euphoria among staff at the Kennedy Space Center.

One person told me they felt quite emotional and another said they wanted to cry – no doubt a release of tension built up over the past few months when Artemis II came close to launch, but ended up being scrubbed for various reasons.

Tonight, though, Nasa employees were laughing and clapping - this is the moment that they have spent years working towards. There is still work to do, but for now they are bathing in the moment of triumph.

• Everything you need to know about the Artemis II mission
• First stop, the Moon. Next stop, Mars? Why Nasa's mission matters
• Inside the Moon mission to fly humans further than ever

In the hour before take-off there were issues which threatened the launch.

They concerned the launch abort system, which enables Nasa engineers to eject the astronauts and blow up the rocket if there is a malfunction.

The countdown clock was held at 10 minutes while engineers resolved the problem. They worked quickly, but it was an agonising wait to see if the launch could still go ahead.

Then came the staccato rhythm of the calls by each engineer responsible for the rocket's critical systems: "booster, go", "GNC, go", "range, go" – each reply, a tiny release of tension and a build-up of expectation.

"Artemis II, this is launch director," said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the first woman to hold the position at Nasa.

"You are go for launch," she told the crew. "We go for all humanity", Commander Reid Wiseman responded.

Cheesy words in normal circumstances, but that was the moment our spines began to tingle and we knew we were about to witness history.

The Kennedy Space Center was built to send astronauts to the Moon, but that hasn't happened since 1972 when Apollo 17 blasted off. Today, the centre was back in business, doing what it was made for.

The press corps headed outside, where clouds that had threatened to cancel the launch had evaporated.

As the countdown clock restarted, the atmosphere turned to electric anticipation.

The four RS 25 engines and twin solid rocket boosters lit up, driving more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust into the Florida evening sky.

"God Speed Artemis II" Blackwell-Thompson said in another echo from the past. The same words were used in a launch from here in 1962 to send John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, on his way.

I have been lucky enough to see launches of the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center. Those launches are almost as impressive in flight, surging into space with an enormous bang and rising at the speed of a bullet.

But the SLS launch was not only more beautiful, it meant much more: a moment full of emotion for all those who saw it, perhaps because it reminded us of what humanity can do when it comes together, or perhaps because we may be entering a new era of space travel.

In the 1990s, I had the opportunity to speak to Neil Armstrong, who, in 1969, became the first person to ever walk on the moon.

Our discussion came at a time when the dream of human space travel seemed to be over. I asked him whatever happened to that dream? He smiled and said "the reality may have faded but the dream is still there and it will come back in time".

Today was the day the dream returned.

Two walkers find themselves stranded on a remote hillside as night closes in, hundreds of miles from home, after being inspired out into the wilderness by a TikTok video. It might sound like an unusual emergency - but for Mike Park, CEO of Mountain Rescue England and Wales, it's become a familiar story.

"We had two people stuck on a hill at 8pm, no torches. One was in their early 20s and the other was late 30s. It was their first time on a hill. They'd travelled a long way because they'd seen a TikTok route. They set off on their walk at 2pm - too late - wearing shorts, T‑shirts and carrying only a picnic," he recalls.

"They got off‑route, found themselves in unfamiliar ground – but they did the right thing by calling for help."

Park says this recent rescue, just a few days ago in the Lake District, is typical of the kind of callouts many colleagues now see.

His rescue team were able to safely find the pair and walk them off the hill – but the incident perfectly captures some changing behaviours. Their situation was self-inflicted; they weren't prepared and got into trouble, extra layers and some good torches could have seen them rescue themselves - but they were also quick to call for help when they knew something was wrong - a decision Park says saved them from far more severe consequences.

"If we hadn't reached them, they'd have been stuck all night in the dark. By morning, I'm confident they'd be suffering hypothermia - possibly unable to walk."

Over the past few years, mountain rescue teams say there's been a stark rise in the number of people needing to be rescued.

This has ignited a delicate but important debate. Who is responsible for safety on our mountains? And, are increased warning signs and even barriers the answer to saving lives in our most dangerous landscapes, or is risk the price we pay for true adventure?

The rise in callouts

Mountain rescue callouts have been steadily rising for decades. Sport England figures suggest there's been a particular boom in recent years, with the number of us regularly climbing a hill or mountain rising from 2.8m people in 2018 to 3.6m in 2024.

Living an active lifestyle is something the public body estimates could be saving the NHS billions each year, by reducing the number of people developing chronic conditions.

However, it's also contributed to sharp rises in the number of rescues required by the volunteers who make up the UK's so-called "fourth emergency service".

In England and Wales, the number of callouts rescue teams attend has doubled in the past decade, reaching well over 3,000 a year by 2024, according to Mountain Rescue England and Wales.

So what's changed?

One of the key themes rescue teams pick up on is how incidents featuring younger adventurers, aged 18 to 24, have soared in recent years. Callouts for the age group almost doubled in England and Wales between 2019 and 2024, from 166 to 314.

It now makes them the most rescued age group, overtaking walkers in their 50s who had previously needed the most help.

Mike Park has spent the past 40 years on the hills of the Lake District, rescuing those in danger. He has observed a significant shift among younger people in embracing the outdoors - but says he believes better technology and wider social changes in the past few decades have also fed into the overall rise.

"It doesn't matter what age you are - society is more adventurous, more reliant on help, less outdoor‑aware, and less prepared," he says.

"When I first started our team did 10-15 callouts a year. We average around 100 now. The rise hasn't been steady - it's steepened sharply, especially in the last 10 years and after Covid-19."

Park believes part of what makes the mountains of the UK so attractive is that most can be easily accessed for a day-trip - at worst a short weekend break. They are on our doorstep, via the same motorways and service stations we might stop at on our way to a theme park or music gig.

This can breed a sense of overfamiliarity - with some misjudging just how alien and dangerous these environments can be, he suggests.

Park says decades ago, many people who went into the UK's mountains would have it as their sole major pastime, they were "hillwalkers or mountaineers, that was it". Now, outdoor adventures are easy to pick up alongside the many other work and leisure activities people juggle.

"There's so much to do now, we don't concentrate on any one thing. People might do the outdoor environment one week, swimming the next, holiday the week after," he says.

Rescuers say it should be seen as only good news that millions of people are now inspired each year to venture into the outdoors themselves, encouraged by stories of the physical and mental health benefits - and beautiful images spread across social media.

But the reality of having so many novices is also starting to take its toll on some of the UK's busiest rescue teams, who are increasingly grappling with exhaustion and stretched staffing.

It's important to note that no rescue team we spoke to begrudge doing these kinds of rescues - they are grateful they can help those who need it and avoid the situation getting any worse. It doesn't matter how you got there, just that they can help you get down safely.

But according to Park, the fact people are seemingly more willing to take risks in the first place - and then more willing to pick up the phone when things go wrong - has fundamentally changed what kind of rescues his teams do.

"Ten years ago, 70% of callouts were because someone physically couldn't get off a hill," he says.

"Now, most people haven't physically injured themselves - it's that they're mentally unable to get down, because they weren't prepared for the environment."

In other words, people's bodies are capable of getting them off the mountains, but they lack the experience, confidence or equipment to do it safely.

Online influencers

Many mountain rescuers believe the increase in online influencers is playing a role. There are pictures and videos across sites like TikTok and Instagram encouraging people to venture out to beautiful plateaus and waterfalls.

Seeing people influenced by social media "used to be rare, but now it's constant," explains Martin McMullan, from the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team in Northern Ireland.

"People search out iconic locations made popular by influencers. Some go just to experience it - others are trying to create their own content for their platforms."

In some rare cases, McMullan says influencers may even be attempting to get rescued - to create more interesting content for their channels. He became suspicious of one case a few years ago, when his team was called to Northern Ireland's highest peak in "very serious" sub-zero winter conditions.

At the summit McMullan says they found a group of young people who they escorted part of the way down, before calling in a helicopter to evacuate them to safety. It was only days later, when a friend alerted him to it, that McMullan realised the whole thing had been filmed by the group, clutching onto their phones as they were rescued.

"They'd been livestreaming parts of it - even when things became dangerous. We were oblivious to it at the time. They probably thought it made great social media content."

McMullen says although being far from the first time he'd had a rescue filmed by members of the public keen to capture the drama of the job, it was the first time his team suspected a group had gone out with the idea of getting rescued, something they denied.

Hotspots

The vast majority of mountain rescue teams, thankfully, rarely find themselves called out to a death. But the spread is far from even and there are certainly hotspots.

The rescue team covering Yr Wydffa, Snowdon, is far and away the busiest in the UK. The team is often called to fatal incidents and has seen a rise in deaths. Across north Wales, there were 14 fatalities in the mountains back in 2015. Last year there were 23.

So-called body recovery callouts can have a significant impact on the rescuers, with a growing importance being placed on welfare checks and support for the teams who regularly battle the elements to retrieve bodies so they can be returned to their loved ones.

There have been suggestions that putting up physical warning signs, or even fencing, on some of the UK's most dangerous ridges and waterfalls could potentially save lives. The National Trust and conservation project, Fix the Fells, recently decided signs were needed to prevent accidents on England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike.

Over eight years, four people died and more than 40 were rescued from the treacherous ravine known as Piers Gill, before a sign and large rocks were placed on the nearby route to encourage people away from the area.

In mid-Wales, one assistant coroner has recommended multiple times that signs be put up around some of the region's impressive waterfalls. Five people have died at the beauty spots in the past few years, which has prompted the assistant coroner for south Wales central, Rachel Knight, to write three Prevention of Future Death Reports - recommending improvements.

In the most recent one, she argued clearer warning signs were needed for walkers who risked falling from the paths above the waterfalls – suggesting without them, many would fail to understand "the significant risks they face" in the area and more people were likely to die.

So could putting up signs work in other remote areas?

Andy Buchan is due to take over Mike Park's role at Mountain Rescue England and Wales in May.

In some of the most extreme areas, like Crib Goch, a notorious knife edge ridge in north Wales with annual fatalities, Buchan says some ideas should be considered.

"I won't call it signposting in terms of actually putting signs up on the mountain, but certainly signposting towards more information could really help."

Buchan suggests that in rescue hotspots such as Crib Goch, which does already have some warnings placed on the route, more could be done to help walkers access weather forecasts and safety information before they get to an area - potentially by placing additional signs or QR codes in car parks hikers are likely to use before heading out.

However, what Buchan and others I speak to really don't want to see - despite some potential benefits - is the same widespread canvassing of signs and fencing witnessed in other countries.

"There are other parts of the world that I've travelled, like the US, where you can get to remote places and then all of a sudden, when you want to go and have a look at the view over the cliff, there's a big metal barrier around and there's concrete being put in place and it kind of destroys the remoteness of the location that you're in," Buchan explains.

'The mountain isn't going anywhere'

In preparing for the role, Buchan has had plenty of time to think about the current challenges, but is overwhelmingly positive about seeing more people out on the hills.

"We encourage people to get outside for their physical and mental wellbeing," he says. "People recognise the countryside is a cost‑effective way to have great experiences. It's great - but it does come with risk."

The story of Jack Carne is testament to that. Jack and his two best friends had travelled a few hours from their hometown of Barnsley to reach the mountains of Eryri, also known as Snowdonia, in north Wales. Inspired, after the Covid-19 lockdowns, by the freedom the mountains offered them, the trio in their 20s had been out hiking at every possible opportunity. They were committed, fit and experienced - but on this occasion, just "10 metres from the top" of Glyder Fawr, a peak thousands of feet up, everything went wrong.

A rock Jack had grabbed hold of broke away in his hands. His friends could do nothing as they watched him fall. In just an instant he was gone - disappearing out of sight beneath them. Three friends went up the mountain that day. Only two came back.

It was the starkest reminder possible about the unpredictability and the dangers lurking just beneath the surface of the UK's most picturesque landscapes – even for those who come prepared.

At the inquest into Jack's death, the coroner remarked how the young men were all well-equipped and experienced enough for the route they'd chosen.

"It was a scramble - nothing harder than anything we'd done before," Matty Belcher, one of those three friends, told me. "In fact it was easier than a lot of stuff we'd done," added the 27-year-old.

"Mountain Rescue said the boulder that actually took Jack was a freak accident," adds Brandan Smith, 25, the group's third member.

"That rock could have gone in a week's time, a year's time."

One week after Jack's death, Brandan and Matty were back at the same peak - this time making it the additional 10m to the summit, where they had time to reflect alongside Jack's dad, who they'd brought with them.

"Jack's dad wanted to see it - put his mind at ease, instead of guessing what happened," explains Matty.

For Brandan and Matty, it was a key moment - that inspired them to keep adventuring and not give up on the beauty of our landscape, despite the risks.

"Jack was the one who absolutely loved it the most out of us," says Brandan. "He was probably the best of us at climbing - he was brilliant - he always pushed me, believed I could do it even when I didn't.

"If we'd stopped going out after he died, Jack would've kicked us for it."

The key thing, both men say, is for those looking to adventure, to always be aware of the risks.

"For us, if someone isn't feeling safe, we turn back. No question. There's always another day," says Brandan. "It's always going to be there - the mountain isn't going anywhere."

Top picture credit: Getty Images

BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. Emma Barnett and John Simpson bring their pick of the most thought-provoking deep reads and analysis, every Saturday. Sign up for the newsletter here

At least four people have been killed by a series of powerful explosions at an ammunitions depot in Burundi's largest city, Bujumbura, local residents have told the BBC.

The blasts erupted late on Tuesday at the facility, located in the suburb of Musaga, due to an electrical fault, an army spokesperson said.

Shrapnel and debris were propelled more than 5km (three miles) and several houses in nearby districts were destroyed by the force of the explosions.

The authorities have not yet provided any casualty figures but family members and eyewitnesses told the BBC of four separate deaths in the city. The AFP news agency quotes security sources as saying that dozens of people had died.

One woman told BBC Gahuza that a relative, who had been detained at Mpimba Central Prison, had died after a bomb hit the facility.

Numerous inmates at the prison, which is located near the ammunitions store, are reported to have been injured.

In the north-eastern neighbourhood of Gisandema, witnesses told BBC Gahuza that a bomb had destroyed a house and killed a domestic worker.

The authorities have said they cannot yet comment on the number of casualties as they are still assessing the extent of the damage.

The explosions sent plumes of smoke rising above the city, sparking panic in the city of more than a million people.

President Evariste Ndayishimiye, in a message on X, expressed his condolences to all Burundians, adding that the authorities are "here to help".

More BBC stories about Burundi:

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

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

President Donald Trump's address from the White House on Wednesday evening was - despite some speculation beforehand - largely a rehash of what he has been saying for days about the Iran war.

In a 20-minute primetime speech, he said the "core strategic objectives" of the US-Israeli military operation were "nearing completion" after a month of war and projected it would last another two to three weeks.

There were the usual threats against Iran, too, including a repeated pledge to bomb the country "back to the stone age".

If you were to copy and paste his posts on Truth Social over the last week or so, you would not be far off this address to the nation.

The president did attempt to persuade Americans of the merits of this war. There is good reason for that, as polls suggest a consistent majority of voters disapprove of the military operation he launched on 28 February.

Trump urged Americans to see this war as an "investment" in their future, and suggested it was nothing compared to other conflicts over the past century or more in which the US has ended up being involved for far longer.

But there was little here for those hoping for clear answers on where this war is heading or potential exit ramps for the US. There were glaring omissions which leave a plethora of questions unanswered.

Firstly, Israel is still attacking Iran and taking incoming drone and missile attacks – including earlier on Wednesday in Tel Aviv just hours before the beginning of Passover.

A key question is whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government agrees with the timetable of a few more weeks that was provided by Trump. We simply do not know at this point in time.

Secondly, what happened to the 15-point peace plan the White House was urging Iran to accept just days ago? There was no mention of it by Trump on Wednesday night. Is Washington now ditching many of those demands, including the retrieval of its stockpile of enriched uranium?

That, too, is unclear.

The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels which has been effectively closed off by Iran, is a central issue in this conflict.

The president, however, does not appear to have a settled view on it.

One moment he is demanding Iran allow tankers through, and the next he is telling allies to go and sort it out for themselves. "Go to the strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves," he said on Wednesday. "The hard part is done, so it should be easy."

He then simply said, without expanding further, that the strait would reopen "naturally" when the war was over. That is unlikely to reassure those concerned about oil prices.

Trump's pointed criticism of some allies - he said at one point that they should "build up some delayed courage" and lead an operation to reopen the strait - came after he floated the idea of pulling out of the Nato military alliance in an interview earlier on Wednesday.

But that rhetoric was completely absent from this speech, despite briefings suggesting it would be a key part of his words tonight.

Another key unanswered question relates to ground troops. What are the thousands of marines and paratroopers actually going to be doing in the region as they continue to arrive?

The truth is that after this national address, we are really none the wiser about what the president sees as victory in this war.

And given the often conflicting nature of his statements from one day to the next, everything could change at any time.

Meanwhile, the average price of gas in the US has topped $4 for the first time in nearly four years and the president's approval ratings are cratering, just months before the crucial midterm elections which will determine control of Congress.

This is a US president looking for a way out of this war – and he is still casting about to find one.

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck in the Molucca Sea off Indonesia's Ternate island early Thursday, killing at least one person.

The quake, which struck at 06:48 local time (22:48 GMT) at a depth of 35km, sparked tsunami warnings which have since been withdrawn.

A 70-year-old woman in North Sulawesi died after being crushed by building debris, and another person broke their leg after jumping off a building, Indonesia's national news agency Antara reported.

While the region experiences high levels of seismic activity, some residents told the BBC this was one of the strongest earthquakes they have felt in at least the past six years.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned that tsunami waves less than 0.3m (1 ft) "were possible" along the coasts of Guam, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Taiwan. The tsunami alert was lifted after two hours.

Journalist Isvara Safitri, who lives in central Manado, recalled how furniture in her room shook for several seconds.

"It was really strong... My head even felt dizzy," Safitri told BBC Indonesian.

Even the roads outside the house were shaking, she said, adding that the earthquake "feels like the strongest" she's experienced over the past six years.

Yayuk Oktiani, who lives in Bitung, a city on the north-eastern coast of Sulawesi, said she often experiences tremors, "but they're never as strong as this one".

Oktiani was at the market when "everything started shaking". Several stores experienced power outages and as the tremors got stronger, people fled, she told the BBC.

She headed straight for her child's school, which is located "very close" to the sea.

"The situation there was chaotic... The teachers immediately told parents to bring their children home, even though they had only just arrived," she told the BBC.

In Ternate, resident Budi Nurgianto said the walls in his house vibrated for what felt like more than a minute. He rushed outside, into a scene of panic.

"There were many people outside... I even saw some people leaving their house without having finished their shower," he told AFP news agency.

Manado and Bitung are located on the island of Sulawesi, while Ternate is a volcanic island in the North Maluku province.

The epicentre of the quake was roughly midway between Manado and Ternate.

At least two aftershocks, with magnitudes 5.5 and 5.2, followed the major quake, with authorities warning of more to come.

The national geological agency reported "damage to buildings and injuries" about an hour after the initial tremor, but did not provide further detail.

Footage from a search and rescue team in Manado shows residents and officials walking through the rubble at a sports complex, with some shouting "oh my God".

Large pieces of furniture were flung onto the ground, with some metallic structures bent out of shape.

A patient at Siloam Hospital in Manado recalled the frantic efforts to evacuate staff and patients.

"We were sitting there drinking tea... [Initially we] didn't realise it was an earthquake. And then we heard a child scream, 'Come down, hurry up,' " said Admini, 69.

Nurses and doctors quickly set up makeshift treatment areas, out in the open and inside vehicles.

"Everyone was huddled together outside," Admini said. "Some were in wheelchairs, others were helping each other."

Additional reporting by Heyder Affan in Jakarta

The Supreme Court appeared sceptical of President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, a sign the high court could strike down a key element of his immigration agenda.

A majority of the court's justices on Wednesday seemed unconvinced that the US should stop granting citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants and some temporary US visitors.

The administration has argued that its effort to limit birthright citizenship is necessary to help rein in illegal immigration. Opponents argue it would upend more than a century of precedent and unravel a cornerstone of US immigration law enshrined by the 14th Amendment.

Trump attended the oral arguments in person on Wednesday, a rare move by a sitting president that underscored the high stakes of the case.

A defeat for Trump would mark a second straight setback at the high court, following the decision last month that invalidated the president's global tariffs. A win would help Trump deliver on his pledge to reshape America's immigration policies.

During more than two hours of arguments, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer sought to convince the justices that the 14th Amendment - which establishes the concept of birthright citizenship and was extended formerly to enslaved people - and subsequent court rulings and laws passed by Congress all mistakenly expanded birthright citizenship.

Chief Justice John Roberts, a key swing vote on the court, questioned Trump's authority to exclude the children of undocumented immigrants from receiving US citizenship.

"I'm not quite sure how you can get to that big group," Roberts said.

• Trump says he will attend birthright citizenship arguments at Supreme Court
• Trump wants to end birthright citizenship. Where do other countries stand?

The oral arguments turned on a key clause in the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the US who are "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

Bauer argued that the clause should only apply to the children of foreign diplomats and a few other limited groups. Parents who are in the country illegally when their children are born have "allegiance" to their home countries and therefore don't fall under the jurisdiction of US law, he said.

"Jurisdiction means allegiance," Sauer said. Citing a previous court opinion, he later argued that "permanent residence and domicile decides [citizenship]. That's what the court should be bound by."

But several justices said that interpretation would fundamentally reshape how Americans and people living around the world understand the US birthright citizenship process.

Justice Elena Kagan said the administration was seeking to undo a legal tradition of birthright citizenship that dates back to English common law. "What the 14th Amendment did was accept that tradition and not attempt to put any limitations on it. That was the clear rationale," Kagan said.

Several justices also pointed to the 1898 Supreme Court ruling, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the landmark decision that upheld birthright citizenship in the case of a child born to Chinese immigrants living in the US.

Cecillia Wang, an ACLU attorney representing the plaintiffs in court on Wednesday, used the decision to argue that Trump's executive order should be overturned.

"If we agree with you how to read Wong Kim Ark, then you win," Justice Brett Kavanaugh said. "That could be just a short opinion."

Whether the court ultimately issues a broad or narrow opinion remains to be seen. The difference between a sweeping ruling on constitutional grounds versus a more tailored opinion on statutory grounds is a critical one, legal experts said.

The justices could choose to focus on a 1952 law passed by Congress that codified birthright citizenship and not wade into the larger constitutional debate, said Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration law expert.

"The court does not like to rule on constitutional issues if it doesn't have to," Yale-Loehr said. "The court could argue that the Trump executive order is invalid on statutory grounds."

The court is expected to issue its decision in June. It would be the first major immigration case decided by the court on its merits since Trump started his second term. The court has taken up other immigration cases, but has so far sent them back to lower courts for further review.

Trump's push to end birthright citizenship is one part of his larger immigration crackdown. But it's nevertheless a longtime goal of many on the right, and something Trump has supported since his first term in office. A victory in this case would help Trump make the case that he is delivering on his campaign pledge to limit illegal immigration.

A loss would be a setback to Trump's immigration agenda. But it would also represent a larger blow to his efforts to aggressively expand executive power since returning to office. The ruling in February overturning Trump's sweeping global tariffs showed the justices are not willing to give Trump a blank check to bypass Congress and the courts.

Trump signaled his interest in the case by attending the oral arguments on Wednesday. Critics said his appearance was an improper effort to influence the court ahead of a decision that will have major repercussions for his domestic policy agenda.

"We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow 'Birthright' Citizenship!" Trump said incorrectly on social media after leaving the court.

President Donald Trump has told the nation in a televised speech that the US military has nearly completed its goals in the Iran war.

He vowed to strike Iran "extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks and finish the job "very fast", without setting any timeline for ending the conflict.

In his primetime address, Trump called for countries that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz to show "courage" and seize the key waterway, which has been effectively closed by Iranian attacks since the conflict began.

The president is grappling with rocketing gas prices and sliding personal popularity ratings as the war continues into its fifth week and US midterm elections loom in November.

Wednesday night's speech did little immediately to reassure global oil markets that disruption to the Strait of Hormuz shipping route will ease anytime soon.

The price of benchmark Brent crude was trading at about $100 a barrel before the president started speaking. Afterwards it rose to $105.

In the 20-minute speech from the White House, Trump said the US was "nearing completion" of its "core strategic objectives" in the conflict, and had "decimated" Iran's navy drone and ballistic missile forces.

"Very shortly, we are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks," Trump said.

However, he provided little insight into the state of what he described as "ongoing" discussions with Iran's leadership, leaving open the possibility of hitting Iranian energy infrastructure if negotiations prove fruitless.

"If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously," the US president said.

"We have not hit their oil, even though that's the easiest target of all, because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding."

Earlier in the day, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Iran had asked for a ceasefire - a claim that Iran's foreign ministry quickly described as "false and baseless".

In his speech on Wednesday night, as he has done several times in recent days, Trump called on US allies to do more to secure shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz.

He urged them to "build up some delayed courage".

"Go to the Strait and just take it," he added.

Trump made no specific mention of the future of the Nato alliance, after earlier telling the British newspaper the Telegraph that he'd reconsider the US role in what he described as a "paper tiger".

His address to the nation came shortly after it emerged that Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is known as "the Trump whisperer" because of his influence with the president, is planning to visit the White House next week.

The president's political opponents were quick to criticise his speech. New York Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described the address as "rambling, disjointed and pathetic".

"Donald Trump's actions in Iran will be considered one of the greatest policy blunders in the history of our country, failing to articulate objectives, alienating allies, and ignoring the kitchen table problems Americans are facing," Schumer wrote on X. "He is completely unfit to be Commander-in-Chief and the whole world knows it."

According to an update by US Central Command on Wednesday, American forces have struck more than 12,300 targets across Iran since Operation Epic Fury began, including Iranian naval vessels and facilities, missile launchers and defence manufacturing plants.

But despite his claims of victory, Iranian attacks across the region continued on Wednesday, with authorities in both the United Arab Emirates and Qatar responding to missile and drone strikes.

In separate incidents, British troops said they brought down 10 Iranian drones in countries including Jordan, Bahrain and Cyprus.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week suggested that two-thirds of Americans believe the US should end the war quickly, even if it means not achieving Trump's goals. In the survey, 60% of respondents disapproved of the military strikes on Iran, while 35% approved.

Officials in Utah have formally closed a 51-year-old cold case after using new DNA technology to identify a murdered teenager as a victim of serial killer Ted Bundy.

Laura Ann Aime, 17, disappeared after leaving a party on Halloween in 1974. Her body was discovered about one month later by hikers in the American Fork Canyon.

On Wednesday, the Utah County Sheriff's Office announced that new testing "confirmed irrefutably that DNA evidence recovered from Laura's body verified the existence of DNA belonging to Bundy".

Between February 1974 and February 1978 Bundy murdered at least 30 women. He has also been linked to many more killings throughout the country.

Before he was executed in Florida in 1989, Bundy confessed to Laura's killing, but since he would not elaborate or give any detail to his actual involvement in her death, "the Sheriff's Department elected to keep this case open until investigators could prove, without a shadow of doubt", that he was her killer, the sheriff said in a statement.

"This case is now officially closed," Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith declared during a news conference, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The sheriff added that if Bundy were still alive, prosecutors would pursue the death penalty against him.

Bundy is among America's most infamous serial killers, and began his spree by attacking victims throughout the Pacific Northwest of the US. He later killed victims in Colorado, Utah and Florida.

At the time of Laura's death, he was living in Salt Lake City and studying law at the University of Utah.

The sheriff's statement said Laura is remembered as an "outgoing free spirit who enjoyed outdoor activities and shared a passion for riding horses, hunting, and caring for her several siblings".

Bundy was known to often approach women in public places, gain their trust with his charm or a fake injury, and then lure them to secluded areas and kill them.

He was first arrested in 1975 for kidnapping a woman and sentenced to 15 years in jail.

But in 1977 he escaped by jumping out of a prison library window.

He was recaptured for eight days and then escaped again, continuing to kill until he was finally caught in 1978.