A Russian drone attack on a market in southern Ukraine has killed five people and injured 21, including a 14-year-old girl, the prosecutor general's office says.

The attack took place at 09:50 local time (06.50 GMT) in the town of Nikopol, just across the Dnipro river from land occupied by Russia since their full-scale invasion.

Pictures published by the regional prosecutor show smashed market kiosks strewn with metal, glass and food.

It comes after at least 15 civilians were killed in drone and missile strikes across the country on Friday.

A drone and missile attack by Ukraine on the southern Russian city of Taganrog overnight killed at least one person and seriously injured four, Russia said.

The regional governor Yuri Slyusar said the attack caused a fire to break out in the premises of a logistics company in the city.

A Ukrainian Defence Ministry official blamed the casualties on "Russian air defence operations".

Kyiv also reported hitting a factory in another city, Togliatti, that it said produced parts used by Russia's military.

Ukraine's Nikopol frequently comes under fire, and almost half of the town's 100,000 residents left long ago for safety.

But these drones hit in the middle of Saturday morning – in a busy spot – and the number of casualties is high.

Two men were injured in a second strike on the same location, the prosecutor said, adding that the attacks were being investigated as a war crime.

President Zelensky has offered Russia a truce for the Easter holidays. But so far, Moscow is ignoring that.

Russia launched almost 300 drones against Ukraine again overnight, the Ukrainian air force said, and casualties were also reported in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the northern Sumy region.

Meanwhile Moscow said it had shot down 85 Ukrainian drones.

Major daytime attacks by Russia, which were once rare, have been increasing.

They are happening as efforts to end the war, led by the US, have stalled since US President Donald Trump and his team shifted focus to the conflict in the Middle East.

A mafia boss wanted for murder has been arrested at a luxury villa on the Amalfi Coast after more than a year on the run, Italian police have said.

In a statement, Italy's Carabinieri military police force said Roberto Mazzarella had escaped last January when he was supposed to have been arrested on murder charges.

The 48-year-old, arrested in the town of Vietri sul Mare, is considered a powerful figure within the Camorra organised crime group in Naples, and is listed as one of Italy's most dangerous fugitives.

Police said Mazzarella was with his wife and two children at the time of his arrest, and did not resist arrest.

The Mazzarella clan is famed for its involvement in counterfeiting in Naples, which has long been associated with banknote forgery.

A number of patrol boats were also involved in the arrest, positioning themselves off the coast.

Footage of the arrest was released by the Carabinieri, showing heavily armed officers entering the villa.

Police last month detained 16 people allegedly linked to the Mazzarella clan on charges of cyber fraud.

According to Italian news agency Ansa, he was living at the property under a false name.

Police also found three luxury watches, about €20,000, some false documents, and mobile phones at the resort.

The Australian government has encouraged people to go ahead with their Easter travel plans, despite fuel shortages at hundreds of petrol stations across the country.

"Easter is a very special time of faith and family," energy minister Chris Bowen said on Saturday, adding: "Go take a break - but get no more fuel than you need".

Fuel prices in Australia have soared since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and gas shipments.

Bowen said 312 of Australia's roughly 8,000 service stations had run out of diesel, mostly in rural areas where it takes longer to replenish stocks.

In televised remarks, he said the nation had 39 days worth of petrol, 29 days worth of diesel and 30 days worth of jet fuel in reserve.

Australia imports about 90% of its fuel from the Middle East and has been particularly exposed to the disruption caused by the conflict and Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The near-total suspension of international shipping in the vital waterway - through which around 20% of the world's oil and natural gas flows - has prompted governments around the world to implement measures to conserve fuel.

In a rare televised address to the nation on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned that the economic shock from the Middle East conflict would be felt for months.

"Australia is not an active participant in this war. But all Australians are paying higher prices because of it," he said.

He encouraged Australians to limit unnecessary fuel use and switch to public transport where possible.

A small number of vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days.

On Friday, a Malta-flagged container ship owned by French company CMA CGM traversed the waterway, according to French media reports.

It is unclear how the vessel secured safe passage and the ship's owners have not yet commented.

Shipping analysts said it was the first vessel owned by a major Western European firm to go through the strait since the conflict began on 28 February.

While Iran has said "non-hostile vessels" can use the waterway, the ongoing conflict - in which several ships have been attacked - has halted normal transport activity.

A Japanese vessel carrying natural gas also successfully crossed the waterway, its operator confirmed.

On Saturday, Turkey's transport minister said that a second Turkish-flagged vessel had crossed the strait - one of 15 that had been waiting to transit since hostilities erupted.

The first crossed, with Iranian permission, on 13 March.

"Two of these 15 made the crossing," Abdulkadir Uraloglu told CNN's Turk channel. "This is explained by our initiatives and also by the fact that they were using Iranian ports or carrying goods coming from or bound for Iran."

About a fifth of the world's oil and liquid natural gas is transported through the Strait of Hormuz from the Gulf countries.

While traffic is down about 95% compared to before the conflict, shipping through the narrow waterway has not stopped altogether.

About 100 vessels have been able to pass through the strait, according to data analysed by BBC Verify in late March.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of choosing "Easter escalation" over an Easter ceasefire after Russia carried out another deadly large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine.

Six civilians were killed and 40 others injured as Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles across the country.

Major daytime attacks, which were once rare, have been increasing.

It's happening as efforts to end the war, led by the US, have stalled since US President Donald Trump and his team shifted focus to the conflict in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Zelensky agreed with a British intelligence assessment that the situation on the frontline in the east was the "most favourable" for Ukraine in 10 months, as the advance of Russian troops appears to have slowed.

But there has been no let-up in the air raids.

In the Zhytomyr region, west of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, rescuers had to search for survivors beneath the rubble of their homes as a whole line of houses was destroyed.

In the Kyiv region, a drone was filmed careering towards a block of flats, then slamming into its side, starting a fire.

In Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine, a woman was killed and other people were critically injured in a day of strikes the mayor called "one of the biggest" on the city so far.

Zelensky described the barrage as Russia's response to his proposal of a temporary truce for the holidays: Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter next weekend both in Ukraine and in Russia.

"The Russians have only intensified their strikes, turning what should have been silence in the skies into an Easter escalation," he wrote on X.

In recent days, Ukraine has launched multiple deep strikes of its own, targeting energy facilities on the northern coast of Russia in particular. One port, in Ust-Luga, has been hit by drones multiple times, forcing Russia to suspend exports.

Zelensky said the offer of a holiday truce was still on the table if Moscow agreed, and that message had been passed on in a call to Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Plans for further in-person talks with Russia, mediated by the US, have now been postponed twice. Moscow says they are "on hold".

Zelensky said Trump's team were welcome to come to Kyiv, then shuttle to Moscow, to keep the peace process alive.

But there are doubts over whether Moscow is really looking for a deal as the global context has shifted in its favour.

For Ukraine, the potential scarcity of fuel and surge in prices caused by the war on Iran is a worry: its own frontline troops need large amounts of diesel for their tanks and vehicles.

Conversely, it's good news for Russia, which can make more money on energy exports to fund its weapons production and pay for soldiers.

There are also concerns here about a potential shortage of US defensive missiles to shoot down the ballistic missiles that Russia keeps firing at Ukraine, since so many US Patriot systems are now being used in the war with Iran.

"The longer the war in the Middle East continues, the greater the risk that we will receive less weaponry," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv in recorded messages. "This is extremely difficult – perhaps one of the most challenging tasks."

He did describe the situation on the frontline as "stable", with small territorial gains in places and losses elsewhere, and suggested the threat of a major Russian breakthrough had receded.

Even so, Ukraine's focus appears to be on holding the line now, not major advances of its own.

US President Donald Trump is seeking $152m (£115m) to reopen the infamous Alcatraz prison as part of his proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year.

Located near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, the site, also known as The Rock, was once regarded as one of America's most notorious prisons, but has served as a tourist attraction in recent years.

The budget request is seeking money "to rebuild Alcatraz as a state-of-the-art secure prison facility", with funds covering the first year of costs.

The plan has been met with scepticism by a number of politicians in California, with questions raised about the final cost of the project and the challenges of running Alcatraz as an active prison.

The maximum security facility was closed in 1963. As a tourist site, it is currently run by the National Park Service.

Former speaker for the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said the budget proposal from the Trump administration was "absurd on its face and should be rejected outright".

"Rebuilding Alcatraz into a modern prison is a stupid notion that would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the intelligence of the American people."

The request will need to be approved by the US Congress.

Previous criticism of Trump's plan has pointed to the lack of running water and sewage on the island, and the fact all supplies are required to be brought in by boat.

By the time Alcatraz closed, it was three times more expensive to operate than any other federal prison, according to the US Bureau of Prisons.

Pelosi also raised a concern echoed by other San Francisco politicians, that turning Alcatraz back into a functioning prison would mean the loss of an iconic landmark.

According to the National Park Service, the facility currently brings in $60m (£45m) in revenue as an attraction.

Money being sought to reopen the prison as an active facility is part of a $1.7bn (£1.3bn) investment into the Bureau of Prisons.

Announcing his plans on Truth Social last year, Trump said was directing "the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ".

The prison would "house America's most ruthless and violent offenders".

Alcatraz was originally a naval defence fort, before being converted first to a military prison and then to a federal prison in the 1930s after being taken over by the Department of Justice.

Some of its most notable inmates have included notorious gangsters Al Capone, Mickey Cohen and George "Machine Gun" Kelly.

Alcatraz has served as a location in a number of films, notably 1962's Birdman of Alcatraz, starring Burt Lancaster, 1979's Escape from Alcatraz, starring Clint Eastwood, and 1996 film The Rock, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.

An incident ahead of a local football derby in the Peruvian capital Lima has left one fan dead and dozens injured.

Officials are investigating the cause. Initial reports suggested parts of the stadium's wall and structure had collapsed, which has since been disputed.

Confirming the death, Peruvian Health Minister Juan Carlos Velasco Guerrero told media at a Lima hospital that 47 people were hurt - three of which are in a critical condition.

Hundreds had gathered around Alejandro Villanueva Stadium wearing football shirts and waving flags of the home team, Alianza Lima, ahead of a match against local rivals Universitario de Deportes.

Fire Chief Marcos Pajuelo told reporters that the structure of the southern stands appeared to be in good condition.

"There are no collapsed walls or sections fallen into the pit," Pajuelo said.

Saturday night's match will still go ahead as planned, the football league said.

Earlier, the interior ministry published on X that 40 firefighters responded to an emergency at the stadium "involving people trapped in a structure".

However, Alianza Lima later published a statement, also on X, that said: "According to the preliminary information available, the incident is not related to the collapse of walls or structural facilities of the sports complex".

The Peruvian Professional Football League's said in a statement that authorities are investigating the circumstances of the rally and highlighted its "commitment to the safety and well-being of all attendees at sporting events."

Government ministers in Senegal have been banned from all non-essential foreign travel following the rise in the price of oil resulting from the conflict in Iran, the prime minister has announced.

Speaking at a youth rally on Friday, Ousmane Sonko said that the current cost of a barrel of oil was approaching double what had been budgeted for.

Sonko has postponed his own trips to Niger and Spain as part of the restrictions. He said that the mines minister would announce further measures to curb government spending in the coming week.

Senegal's move is the latest response from the continent to the oil price rise, which has seen countries reducing fuel levies and rationing electricity.

In his speech to young people, the prime minister said he did not want to "frighten" his audience or put pressure on them. Instead, he wanted to give them a "sense of this world, which is a difficult world", but added that though things were hard the Senegalese were resilient.

Despite a fledgling oil and gas industry, Senegal relies heavily on importing fuel.

Last year, the International Monetary Fund described the economy as "robust" with a growth rate of almost 8% and low inflation.

But its public debt – standing at more than 130% of the total annual size of the economy - is high. Sonko, installed as prime minister two years ago, blamed the previous government for saddling his administration with the debt, which he said had made the current situation of dealing with the price of oil even more difficult.

Elsewhere on the continent, this week South Africa's government responded to the rising oil price by reducing the tax it charges on petrol in an effort to limit the increase of the cost of fuel at the pumps.

Fuel shortages in Ethiopia have forced some government institutions to send employees on annual leave. South Sudan has started to ration electricity in its capital, Juba, while Zimbabwe is increasing the ethanol content in its petrol.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran has also led to a restriction of the supply of fertiliser to the rest of the world. An estimated 30% of this essential farming input goes through the Gulf.

Humanitarian organisation the International Rescue Committee warned on Wednesday that this was a "food security timebomb", particularly for East Africa which relies on fertiliser imports from the Middle East.

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

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

The Uffizi Galleries in Florence has confirmed they were subject to a cyber-attack - but denied that the security systems protecting its famous works had been compromised.

They stressed that nothing had been either damaged or stolen, after hackers were reported to have infiltrated the museum's IT systems and accessed sensitive security data.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that hackers had infiltrated the museums' IT systems, allegedly extracting access codes, internal maps and the locations of CCTV cameras and alarms, before issuing a ransom demand.

But the Uffizi Galleries contested this account, saying its security systems were inaccessible from the outside.

The attackers appeared to have moved through interconnected systems, computers and phones, gradually piecing together a detailed picture of the museum's operations, Corriere reported.

A ransom demand was later sent to museum director Simone Verde's personal phone, the newspaper said, with a threat to sell the data on the dark web.

The Uffizi is home to some of Italy's most celebrated artworks, such as Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera.

Corriere said the cyber-attack occurred between late January and early February, affecting not only the Uffizi but also its separate sites at Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens.

Ever since the Louvre museum in Paris was raided in broad daylight in October and priceless historic treasures stolen, with the masked gang seemingly able to take advantage of its weak and aging CCTV system, all major museums have had to reassess their security.

The Uffizi said work that was already under way had been accelerated "both before and after the cyber-attack".

Its situation was "nothing like the Louvre", it stressed, with analogue cameras replaced with digital ones, following recommendations made by the police in 2024.

Responding to claims that the hackers had found out the location of surveillance cameras and sensors, it said there was "no evidence whatsoever that the hackers possessed any maps of the security systems".

Anyone walking through the museum could see were the cameras were, as was the case with any public space, it said, so there was little surprise that their location had been found out.

"No passwords were stolen - none whatsoever - because the security systems are entirely internal and closed-circuit," it said, adding that employees' phones had also not been compromised by the hack.

Two floors of the Palazzo Pitti normally house the "Medici Treasure", so-called because the powerful Renaissance banking family spent their summers there, and Corriere claimed the hack had led to parts of the palace being closed since 3 February and valuable items being temporarily transferred to a vault of the Bank of Italy for safekeeping.

The museum did not deny that the treasures had been taken to a bank vault but insisted the move was part of planned renovation work.

Some doors and emergency exits at the palace had been sealed with bricks and mortar, and staff instructed not to speak publicly about the incident, according to Corriere.

However, the Uffizi attributed the bricked-up doors in part to fire-safety measures.

For decades, there had been no fire safety certification, it pointed out, and only two days ago it had submitted a safety notice to the fire brigade.

Other doors were sealed, it added, "to prevent excessive permeability of the historic building's spaces - structures dating back to the 1500s - considering their changed functions and the evolving international context".

It also reacted to claims that the intruders had stolen the Uffizi's entire digital photographic archive - a decades-long record of artworks and documents - insisting that its photographic server was intact because a back-up was in place.

Although it appeared to acknowledge the server had been taken down, it said that was necessary for the backup to be restored. That was now complete and no data had been lost, it said.

Despite the controversy, the Uffizi, Italy's second-most visited museum after the Vatican, generating around €60m (£52m; $69m) in annual revenue, remains open to visitors, with ticketing and public areas largely unaffected.

"All they stand for is anger, hatred, and destruction," roared a hoarse Viktor Orban. The Hungarian prime minister was speaking at a mass election rally in Györ in western Hungary on 27 March, referring to opposition protesters who chanted "Filthy Fidesz" during his speech. For just a moment, his carefully cultivated image as the voice of calm navigating his country through stormy seas was shattered. His bad-tempered outburst showed a different side of a man used to cracking jokes and charming even his critics.

Most opinion polls put the opposition Tisza party and its leader Peter Magyar far ahead of Orban's Fidesz - the latest by 58% to Orban's 35%. And he is doing everything he can to close the gap. After 16 years of virtually unchallenged rule, Orban has been forced to take to the road again. In the past three elections, he gave few rallies. Now Europe's longest-serving leader is trying to mobilise his supporters and reach the undecided. He has just a week left to rescue his government, and the international populist movement he embodies, from a crushing defeat.

In power since 2010, Orban has had the support of both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has long been a thorn in the side of the EU - and one of the few EU leaders not supportive on Ukraine. For Europe's growing band of nationalist parties, in power or on the brink of it, he is the model. The 12 April Hungarian parliamentary election is being watched closely all over the world.

"We can notice a big change in public perception," said Endre Hann of the Median agency, a public-opinion research firm. In January, 44% of those asked said they thought Fidesz would win, compared with 37% for Tisza. By March, 47% believed Tisza would win, while 35% believed Fidesz would. "This reflects a huge change of trust. People believe that it can be changed," he says.

An intriguing dynamic is playing out in this election - the same voter anger against those seen as "corrupt ruling elites" across Europe, is now working against him. In Hungary, it is now Orban and his Fidesz party who are seen by many, especially the young, as the "corrupt ruling elite".

The Orban government has been repeatedly accused of draining state coffers and giving state tenders for projects to companies owned by close associates. The government explains this concentration of wealth as an attempt to put wealth in national, instead of foreign hands.

The projects included bridges, football stadiums and motorways. His son-in-law, Istvan Tiborcz, owns a string of prominent hotels. His childhood friend Lörinc Meszaros, a former gas fitter, has become the wealthiest man in the country. Orban refuses to answer questions about the personal wealth of his friends and family. All deny wrongdoing.

Can Orban save himself by blaming Ukraine - and its EU backers - for his country's woes? And can the smooth-talking lawyer who hopes to unseat him convince Hungarians, particularly those in rural areas which make up the Fidesz heartlands, that he can deliver the "more humane, better functioning country" that he promises?

Under pressure

Each day brings a new indication that Orban is in trouble, from alleged voter-intimidation schemes to a dramatic Russian proposal to stage a fake assassination attempt on Orban.

But Fidesz claims the sense that it's in trouble has been cooked up by the opposition. "All these scandals are just the usual suspects trying to build a narrative," says Zoltan Kiszelly, a political analyst from the government think tank Szazadveg. "When the opposition lose the election, this gives them an excuse to allege 'fraud'."

Political analyst Gabor Török - one of the few analysts in this extremely polarised society respected by both sides - wrote recently on his blog: "This is not the 'calm strength' or the 'strategic calm,' image, nor the one carefully cultivated for years and displayed on 'Prime Minister of Hungary' posters.

"If the remaining two weeks unfold like this, it does not bode well for the government side."

Global referendum

The shockwaves of an Orban defeat would reverberate far beyond Hungary's borders.

"Budapest is the headquarters of illiberal democracy in the world," argues Michael Ignatieff, former rector of the Central European University, which was forced out of the Hungarian capital in 2019. "This is not just an election. This is a referendum on that whole model of authoritarian rule that Orban represents."

He's referring to the network of think tanks, fellowships, and gatherings of right-wing influencers who zig-zag across the Atlantic to support one another. On consecutive days last month, the American Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a platform for people across the political right to discuss ideas, and Patriots for Europe, the right-wing European Parliament group, held major events in Budapest.

The fact that no leading US politician attended the Hungarian CPAC event this year raised eyebrows within Fidesz, but the Republicans are not leaving Orban in the lurch. US secretary of state Marco Rubio was here in February, and vice president JD Vance is expected in Budapest a few days before the vote.

A victory for Fidesz in this election would add momentum to the chances of far-right parties in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Portugal. Defeat for Fidesz would take some of the wind out of their sails. "While the rest of Europe is being sucked into the radical nationalist tunnel, we can show the way out," a senior Tisza official told me.

Getting the vote out

Despite a poor showing in the polls, Orban's allies deny that there is panic in the Fidesz camp.

According to Zoltan Kiszelly, the crucial factor will be whether Fidesz can persuade their supporters to get out on polling day.

"We are very optimistic. Nobody believes in the opinion polls, neither our own, nor the opposition ones," he says.

"The majority of the voters are for Fidesz. Of pensioners, of women, of the Gypsies [Roma], of the poor, of the blue collar workers, of the rural people. The question is, will they cast their vote?"

To make sure they do, Fidesz has worked hard to update its database of supporters. Around 4.5 million of the 8.2 million-strong Hungarian electorate live in small towns and villages - the Fidesz heartlands. Since 2002, Fidesz has built a strong system of local patronage in the villages - the mayor decides who receives work, and who gets firewood in winter.

According to an investigative documentary released last week, mayors have been told how many votes each village needs to produce for Fidesz. Those interviewed in the film claim the incentives include cash payments of €120 (£104) per vote, food coupons, prescription medicines and even illegal drugs in exchange for voting for Fidesz. Those who refuse say they are denied the chance to participate in public works schemes, often the only local work available.

Cars and minibuses are organised on election day. "Companions" stand by to accompany voters, who feign illiteracy or illness, into the voting booth, to make sure they vote for Fidesz and get their money, people interviewed in the film claim. There has been no official government reaction to these allegations. One minister told the BBC that any wrongdoing should be dealt with by the appropriate authorities.

Rival parties at previous elections offered potatoes and even small sums for votes, but nothing on the scale of this election, we were told by people who have been involved in elections over the decades.

"Everyone here votes Fidesz," said Nikki, 32, in Tiszabö, a village of 2,000 inhabitants, with a large Roma majority, in the northern Great Plain region of Hungary.

She praises the Fidesz mayor for rebuilding the roads, the kindergarten, and the sports centre. She claims votes won't need to be bought on 12 April, as Fidesz will win "because of the war".

The Russian connection

Orban has told voters that this election is a simple choice between peace and war.

According to Fidesz, only Orban can prevent the "warmongers" in Brussels from dragging the EU, and with it Hungary, into the war in Ukraine against Russia.

Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party, is painted as a puppet of Brussels. The Fidesz message is that a vote for the opposition would mean that Hungary, as a Nato member, will be forced to send Hungarian troops either in a future Nato peacekeeping operation, or a full-scale war with Russia, and young Hungarian men will die again on the eastern front. That's a message designed to resonate deeply in a country on the losing side of both World Wars. Since 2022, Orban has argued that Russia cannot be defeated, and that instead of supporting Ukraine militarily and economically, the West should pressure Kyiv to seek peace with Moscow - on Russia's terms, if needed.

"The Fidesz anti-Ukraine, pro-Russian message is flagging," veteran pollster Endre Hann of the Median agency told me. His latest figures suggest a growing 52% of those asked agreed that "Russia committed a serious and unprovoked act of aggression against Ukraine" with its 2022 full-scale invasion. Just 33% agreed with the Fidesz narrative that "Russia acted legally, to defend its interests and security."

Orban is the most pro-Russian leader in the EU. His government has refused to follow German, Czech and Polish efforts to wean themselves off Russian oil. In this campaign, Fidesz has painted Ukraine and its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, as the enemy. Giant billboards show a grinning Ukrainian president with the slogan: "Don't let Zelensky have the last laugh!"

Since 27 January, no crude oil from Russia has reached Hungary via Ukraine through the Druzhba pipeline, which translates as the "Friendship pipeline". A major hub and pumping station at Brody in western Ukraine was damaged that day in a Russian attack. Hungarian refineries depend on the pipeline, and Orban accuses Zelensky of deliberately failing to restore the flow of oil in order to harm his election chances.

The "peace or war" message, argues Zoltan Kiszelly, the Fidesz analyst, is more sophisticated than it sounds.

"The government aims to connect the current situation, the threat of no oil, with practical issues like the cap on utility bills," he explains. Since 2013, all household and electricity costs have been capped by the government, resulting in the lowest prices for consumers in the EU. That is only possible, the government argues, thanks to cheap oil and gas from Russia.

An unlikely challenger

Magyar, 45, is a former Fidesz insider who joined the party as an enthusiastic student, married the former Fidesz justice minister, and worked as a Hungarian diplomat in Brussels. In February 2024 he suddenly quit the party and all his posts in state companies, and gave an interview which garnered two million views within days, accusing the government of cowardice and corruption. He then founded the Tisza party, named after a tributary of the Danube.

A slight figure in neat shirts and jackets, Magyar seemed too slick and urbane to reach the hearts of the rural electorate, but has proven himself a strong challenger. Orban, 62, is a village boy who speaks village Hungarian, Magyar is a Budapest lawyer by training. Conscious that his status as a member of the metropolitan elite may make him less likely to appeal to rural voters, Magyar has toured the countryside indefatigably for the past two years, drawing large crowds. Unlike Orban, who waxes lyrical on global politics, Magyar focusses on domestic issues such as healthcare, education, transport and rural depopulation in his speeches.

His relationship with Russia is also different. He has pledged that if he wins, "we will study and where needed change the existing contracts with Russia, [and] diversify our energy resources in every possible way". He has also promised to "restore Hungary's seat at the EU and Nato tables."

Magyar says he learnt quickly on his six nationwide tours. He quickly abandoned his notes after being criticised for sounding stilted, and started speaking "from the heart", he told me in an interview earlier this year. "After the first days, I read the criticism and learnt… to go closer to the people, to let them ask questions and reply openly and honestly, which is rare in Hungarian politics."

He has gone from a rank outsider to the man who is widely expected to unseat Orban. While Orban usually visits one city a day on the campaign trail, Magyar visits from three to six, in an effort to reach all 106 individual constituencies by voting day.

He is no stranger to controversy himself. After becoming a politician, his ex-wife depicted him as an unstable figure, prone to bursts of anger and domestic violence. Anti-Tisza protesters once held banners featuring a shoe, which he allegedly once threw at her. More recent attempts by Fidesz to discredit him include convincing a former girlfriend to secretly tape his conversations, and taking him to a party where cocaine was being used. Magyar denies any domestic abuse, and speaks fondly of his ex-wife in public. He denies ever taking drugs, and last week published the negative results of a drug test. He challenges certain Fidesz politicians to do the same.

A poll published by the 21 Research Agency, a pro-democracy think tank, earlier this week showed the Tisza candidate pulling ahead in most of its 20 swing districts. Magyar has spoken of a "tipping point" in the countryside, and if this poll proves right, he has already reached it.

Orban and Fidesz have a media empire to amplify their message, but Magyar instead relies heavily on broadcasting each rally live on Facebook. While previous opposition leaders mustered crowds of a few dozen if they ventured out of Budapest, Magyar attracts hundreds in villages, and thousands or tens of thousands in provincial urban Fidesz strongholds.

A top Fidesz official grudgingly admitted that Magyar has "a brutal energy", which his own camp often lacks. Magyar's promise to build "a more humane, efficient country" resonates with all those fed up with the governing party, especially the young.

What would a Fidesz victory or defeat mean for Hungary? "What we have now is a state that has been fully captured by a single party," Andras Baka, former president of Hungary's supreme court, told me. If Fidesz wins "we have an ever more rigid autocracy."

If Tisza wins, there will be a big laundry list to tackle, including restoring the independence of the courts, the state prosecution service, the state audit office, the public media, and the intelligence services from the government of the day. Whether a Tisza government can do that, and how quickly, would depend on the margin of victory.

Top image credit: NurPhoto/AFP via Getty Images

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The Uffizi Galleries in Florence has confirmed they were subject to a cyber-attack - but denied that the security systems protecting its famous works had been compromised.

They stressed that nothing had been either damaged or stolen, after hackers were reported to have infiltrated the museum's IT systems and accessed sensitive security data.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that hackers had infiltrated the museums' IT systems, allegedly extracting access codes, internal maps and the locations of CCTV cameras and alarms, before issuing a ransom demand.

But the Uffizi Galleries contested this account, saying its security systems were inaccessible from the outside.

The attackers appeared to have moved through interconnected systems, computers and phones, gradually piecing together a detailed picture of the museum's operations, Corriere reported.

A ransom demand was later sent to museum director Simone Verde's personal phone, the newspaper said, with a threat to sell the data on the dark web.

The Uffizi is home to some of Italy's most celebrated artworks, such as Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera.

Corriere said the cyber-attack occurred between late January and early February, affecting not only the Uffizi but also its separate sites at Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens.

Ever since the Louvre museum in Paris was raided in broad daylight in October and priceless historic treasures stolen, with the masked gang seemingly able to take advantage of its weak and aging CCTV system, all major museums have had to reassess their security.

The Uffizi said work that was already under way had been accelerated "both before and after the cyber-attack".

Its situation was "nothing like the Louvre", it stressed, with analogue cameras replaced with digital ones, following recommendations made by the police in 2024.

Responding to claims that the hackers had found out the location of surveillance cameras and sensors, it said there was "no evidence whatsoever that the hackers possessed any maps of the security systems".

Anyone walking through the museum could see were the cameras were, as was the case with any public space, it said, so there was little surprise that their location had been found out.

"No passwords were stolen - none whatsoever - because the security systems are entirely internal and closed-circuit," it said, adding that employees' phones had also not been compromised by the hack.

Two floors of the Palazzo Pitti normally house the "Medici Treasure", so-called because the powerful Renaissance banking family spent their summers there, and Corriere claimed the hack had led to parts of the palace being closed since 3 February and valuable items being temporarily transferred to a vault of the Bank of Italy for safekeeping.

The museum did not deny that the treasures had been taken to a bank vault but insisted the move was part of planned renovation work.

Some doors and emergency exits at the palace had been sealed with bricks and mortar, and staff instructed not to speak publicly about the incident, according to Corriere.

However, the Uffizi attributed the bricked-up doors in part to fire-safety measures.

For decades, there had been no fire safety certification, it pointed out, and only two days ago it had submitted a safety notice to the fire brigade.

Other doors were sealed, it added, "to prevent excessive permeability of the historic building's spaces - structures dating back to the 1500s - considering their changed functions and the evolving international context".

It also reacted to claims that the intruders had stolen the Uffizi's entire digital photographic archive - a decades-long record of artworks and documents - insisting that its photographic server was intact because a back-up was in place.

Although it appeared to acknowledge the server had been taken down, it said that was necessary for the backup to be restored. That was now complete and no data had been lost, it said.

Despite the controversy, the Uffizi, Italy's second-most visited museum after the Vatican, generating around €60m (£52m; $69m) in annual revenue, remains open to visitors, with ticketing and public areas largely unaffected.

Nasa has shared the first high-resolution images of the Earth taken by the Artemis II crew as they head on their trip around the Moon.

The mission's commander, Reid Wiseman, took the "spectacular" images, Nasa says, after the crew completed a final engine burn that set them on a trajectory towards our closest celestial neighbour.

The first image, called Hello, World, shows the vast expanse of blue that is the Atlantic Ocean, framed by a thin glow of the atmosphere as the Earth eclipses the Sun and green auroras at either pole.

The Earth appears to us as upside down, with the western Sahara and Iberian peninsula visible to the left and the eastern portion of South America to the right.

Nasa identified the bright planet to the bottom right as Venus.

The images were taken after the crew successfully completed a trans-lunar injection burn in the early hours of Friday.

The burn took the Orion spacecraft out of Earth's orbit as the four astronauts aboard aim to travel the more than 200,000 miles to the Moon.

Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled outside of the Earth's orbit.

The crew should pass around the far side of the Moon on 6 April and return to Earth on 10 April.

After the burn was completed, the crew were "glued to the windows" taking pictures, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen told mission control in Houston.

"We are getting a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth, lit by the Moon," he said.

Wiseman later called back down to mission control in Houston to ask how to clean the windows, as the astronauts' enthusiasm to see into space had left them dirty.

Another view captured by Wiseman shows the Earth divided by night and day. That frontier between light and darkness is known as the terminator.

Early reports indicate that the pilot of a US F-15 fighter aircraft downed over Iran was rescued - which, if confirmed, would be the latest in the long history of US combat search-and-rescue missions over decades.

The search operation is ongoing deep inside Iran for a second crew member, according to CBS, the BBC's US partner.

Combat search and rescue, or CSAR, missions are considered among the most complex, time-sensitive operations that US and allied militaries prepare for.

In the US, elite units of the air force are specially trained for CSAR missions and are often pre-emptively deployed near conflict areas where aircraft could be lost.

What is Combat Search and Rescue?

Put simply, CSAR missions are military operations aimed at finding, aiding and potentially rescuing personnel in need, including downed pilots and isolated troops.

In contrast to conventional search-and-rescue efforts - which could take place during humanitarian operations or after disasters - CSAR missions occur in hostile or contested environments.

In some cases - as in Friday's reported recovery effort in Iran - the operations may happen deep in enemy territory.

The missions are extremely time-sensitive, as enemy forces would likely be deployed in the same area to try and locate the same US personnel the CSAR teams are trying to rescue.

In modern times, CSAR missions are often conducted by helicopters, with refuelling aircraft in support and other military aircraft on hand to conduct strikes and patrol the area.

Notably, verified video that emerged from Iran on Friday appeared to show US military helicopters and at least one refuelling aircraft operating over Iran's Khuzestan province.

The history of CSAR missions

Airborne, wartime rescue missions have a long history, dating back to World War One pilots conducting impromptu landings in France to rescue downed colleagues.

The US military's pararescue units trace their lineage back to a 1943 mission in which two combat surgeons parachuted into then-Burma - now Myanmar - to help wounded soldiers.

The world's first helicopter rescue took place a year later, when a US lieutenant rescued four soldiers from behind Japanese lines, according to Smithsonians Air & Space Magazine. The incident also marked the first operational use of a helicopter in combat.

Formal search-and rescue units were first established in the US in the immediate aftermath of the conflict. But modern CSAR began during the Vietnam War.

One mission, known as Bat 21, led to the loss of several aircraft and multiple US casualties while attempting to recover the pilot of an aircraft shot down behind North Vietnamese lines.

The war required a vast expansion of CSAR missions with increased scope and complexity. The experience helped the military refine tactics and procedures that have helped form the foundation of rescue operations since.

The US Air Force's pararescue teams

While each US military branch has their own limited CSAR capabilities, the US Air Force has the primary responsibility for finding and rescuing military personnel.

This work is primarily conducted by what are known as pararescuemen, part of the military's broader special-operations community.

The official pararescue motto is "These Things We Do, That Others May Live", and their work is considered part of a broader promise to US service members that they will not be left behind.

These personnel are highly trained as both combatants and paramedics, and go through what is widely considered one of the hardest selection and training pipelines in the US military.

The selection-and-training process - which takes approximately two years from start to finish - includes parachute and dive training, as well as basic underwater demolition, survival, resistance and escape training, and a full civilian paramedic course.

They also received specialised courses in battlefield medicine, complex recovery operations and weapons.

Historically, about 80% of potential pararescuemen wash out of the course, although it is often more, according to military news site Sofrep.

On the ground, these teams are led by specialised Combat Rescue Officers, who are fully trained pararescue operators responsible for planning, co-ordinating and executing the recovery missions.

Recent US rescue missions

Pararescue teams deployed extensively throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conducting thousands of missions to rescue US and allied troops that were wounded or required extraction.

In 2005, for example, air force pararescue teams were involved to recover a US Navy Seal who was wounded and seeking shelter in an Afghan village after his team was ambushed and its other three members killed - an incident later made into the film Lone Survivor.

Missions to recover downed US pilots have been rare in recent decades.

In 1999, the pilot of an F-117 stealth fighter shot down over Serbia was found and recovered by parescuemen.

In an highly publicised incident in Bosnia in 1995, US pilot Scott O'Grady was rescued in a joint air force and Marine Corps CSAR mission after being shot down and evading capture for six days.

"All they stand for is anger, hatred, and destruction," roared a hoarse Viktor Orban. The Hungarian prime minister was speaking at a mass election rally in Györ in western Hungary on 27 March, referring to opposition protesters who chanted "Filthy Fidesz" during his speech. For just a moment, his carefully cultivated image as the voice of calm navigating his country through stormy seas was shattered. His bad-tempered outburst showed a different side of a man used to cracking jokes and charming even his critics.

Most opinion polls put the opposition Tisza party and its leader Peter Magyar far ahead of Orban's Fidesz - the latest by 58% to Orban's 35%. And he is doing everything he can to close the gap. After 16 years of virtually unchallenged rule, Orban has been forced to take to the road again. In the past three elections, he gave few rallies. Now Europe's longest-serving leader is trying to mobilise his supporters and reach the undecided. He has just a week left to rescue his government, and the international populist movement he embodies, from a crushing defeat.

In power since 2010, Orban has had the support of both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has long been a thorn in the side of the EU - and one of the few EU leaders not supportive on Ukraine. For Europe's growing band of nationalist parties, in power or on the brink of it, he is the model. The 12 April Hungarian parliamentary election is being watched closely all over the world.

"We can notice a big change in public perception," said Endre Hann of the Median agency, a public-opinion research firm. In January, 44% of those asked said they thought Fidesz would win, compared with 37% for Tisza. By March, 47% believed Tisza would win, while 35% believed Fidesz would. "This reflects a huge change of trust. People believe that it can be changed," he says.

An intriguing dynamic is playing out in this election - the same voter anger against those seen as "corrupt ruling elites" across Europe, is now working against him. In Hungary, it is now Orban and his Fidesz party who are seen by many, especially the young, as the "corrupt ruling elite".

The Orban government has been repeatedly accused of draining state coffers and giving state tenders for projects to companies owned by close associates. The government explains this concentration of wealth as an attempt to put wealth in national, instead of foreign hands.

The projects included bridges, football stadiums and motorways. His son-in-law, Istvan Tiborcz, owns a string of prominent hotels. His childhood friend Lörinc Meszaros, a former gas fitter, has become the wealthiest man in the country. Orban refuses to answer questions about the personal wealth of his friends and family. All deny wrongdoing.

Can Orban save himself by blaming Ukraine - and its EU backers - for his country's woes? And can the smooth-talking lawyer who hopes to unseat him convince Hungarians, particularly those in rural areas which make up the Fidesz heartlands, that he can deliver the "more humane, better functioning country" that he promises?

Under pressure

Each day brings a new indication that Orban is in trouble, from alleged voter-intimidation schemes to a dramatic Russian proposal to stage a fake assassination attempt on Orban.

But Fidesz claims the sense that it's in trouble has been cooked up by the opposition. "All these scandals are just the usual suspects trying to build a narrative," says Zoltan Kiszelly, a political analyst from the government think tank Szazadveg. "When the opposition lose the election, this gives them an excuse to allege 'fraud'."

Political analyst Gabor Török - one of the few analysts in this extremely polarised society respected by both sides - wrote recently on his blog: "This is not the 'calm strength' or the 'strategic calm,' image, nor the one carefully cultivated for years and displayed on 'Prime Minister of Hungary' posters.

"If the remaining two weeks unfold like this, it does not bode well for the government side."

Global referendum

The shockwaves of an Orban defeat would reverberate far beyond Hungary's borders.

"Budapest is the headquarters of illiberal democracy in the world," argues Michael Ignatieff, former rector of the Central European University, which was forced out of the Hungarian capital in 2019. "This is not just an election. This is a referendum on that whole model of authoritarian rule that Orban represents."

He's referring to the network of think tanks, fellowships, and gatherings of right-wing influencers who zig-zag across the Atlantic to support one another. On consecutive days last month, the American Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a platform for people across the political right to discuss ideas, and Patriots for Europe, the right-wing European Parliament group, held major events in Budapest.

The fact that no leading US politician attended the Hungarian CPAC event this year raised eyebrows within Fidesz, but the Republicans are not leaving Orban in the lurch. US secretary of state Marco Rubio was here in February, and vice president JD Vance is expected in Budapest a few days before the vote.

A victory for Fidesz in this election would add momentum to the chances of far-right parties in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Portugal. Defeat for Fidesz would take some of the wind out of their sails. "While the rest of Europe is being sucked into the radical nationalist tunnel, we can show the way out," a senior Tisza official told me.

Getting the vote out

Despite a poor showing in the polls, Orban's allies deny that there is panic in the Fidesz camp.

According to Zoltan Kiszelly, the crucial factor will be whether Fidesz can persuade their supporters to get out on polling day.

"We are very optimistic. Nobody believes in the opinion polls, neither our own, nor the opposition ones," he says.

"The majority of the voters are for Fidesz. Of pensioners, of women, of the Gypsies [Roma], of the poor, of the blue collar workers, of the rural people. The question is, will they cast their vote?"

To make sure they do, Fidesz has worked hard to update its database of supporters. Around 4.5 million of the 8.2 million-strong Hungarian electorate live in small towns and villages - the Fidesz heartlands. Since 2002, Fidesz has built a strong system of local patronage in the villages - the mayor decides who receives work, and who gets firewood in winter.

According to an investigative documentary released last week, mayors have been told how many votes each village needs to produce for Fidesz. Those interviewed in the film claim the incentives include cash payments of €120 (£104) per vote, food coupons, prescription medicines and even illegal drugs in exchange for voting for Fidesz. Those who refuse say they are denied the chance to participate in public works schemes, often the only local work available.

Cars and minibuses are organised on election day. "Companions" stand by to accompany voters, who feign illiteracy or illness, into the voting booth, to make sure they vote for Fidesz and get their money, people interviewed in the film claim. There has been no official government reaction to these allegations. One minister told the BBC that any wrongdoing should be dealt with by the appropriate authorities.

Rival parties at previous elections offered potatoes and even small sums for votes, but nothing on the scale of this election, we were told by people who have been involved in elections over the decades.

"Everyone here votes Fidesz," said Nikki, 32, in Tiszabö, a village of 2,000 inhabitants, with a large Roma majority, in the northern Great Plain region of Hungary.

She praises the Fidesz mayor for rebuilding the roads, the kindergarten, and the sports centre. She claims votes won't need to be bought on 12 April, as Fidesz will win "because of the war".

The Russian connection

Orban has told voters that this election is a simple choice between peace and war.

According to Fidesz, only Orban can prevent the "warmongers" in Brussels from dragging the EU, and with it Hungary, into the war in Ukraine against Russia.

Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party, is painted as a puppet of Brussels. The Fidesz message is that a vote for the opposition would mean that Hungary, as a Nato member, will be forced to send Hungarian troops either in a future Nato peacekeeping operation, or a full-scale war with Russia, and young Hungarian men will die again on the eastern front. That's a message designed to resonate deeply in a country on the losing side of both World Wars. Since 2022, Orban has argued that Russia cannot be defeated, and that instead of supporting Ukraine militarily and economically, the West should pressure Kyiv to seek peace with Moscow - on Russia's terms, if needed.

"The Fidesz anti-Ukraine, pro-Russian message is flagging," veteran pollster Endre Hann of the Median agency told me. His latest figures suggest a growing 52% of those asked agreed that "Russia committed a serious and unprovoked act of aggression against Ukraine" with its 2022 full-scale invasion. Just 33% agreed with the Fidesz narrative that "Russia acted legally, to defend its interests and security."

Orban is the most pro-Russian leader in the EU. His government has refused to follow German, Czech and Polish efforts to wean themselves off Russian oil. In this campaign, Fidesz has painted Ukraine and its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, as the enemy. Giant billboards show a grinning Ukrainian president with the slogan: "Don't let Zelensky have the last laugh!"

Since 27 January, no crude oil from Russia has reached Hungary via Ukraine through the Druzhba pipeline, which translates as the "Friendship pipeline". A major hub and pumping station at Brody in western Ukraine was damaged that day in a Russian attack. Hungarian refineries depend on the pipeline, and Orban accuses Zelensky of deliberately failing to restore the flow of oil in order to harm his election chances.

The "peace or war" message, argues Zoltan Kiszelly, the Fidesz analyst, is more sophisticated than it sounds.

"The government aims to connect the current situation, the threat of no oil, with practical issues like the cap on utility bills," he explains. Since 2013, all household and electricity costs have been capped by the government, resulting in the lowest prices for consumers in the EU. That is only possible, the government argues, thanks to cheap oil and gas from Russia.

An unlikely challenger

Magyar, 45, is a former Fidesz insider who joined the party as an enthusiastic student, married the former Fidesz justice minister, and worked as a Hungarian diplomat in Brussels. In February 2024 he suddenly quit the party and all his posts in state companies, and gave an interview which garnered two million views within days, accusing the government of cowardice and corruption. He then founded the Tisza party, named after a tributary of the Danube.

A slight figure in neat shirts and jackets, Magyar seemed too slick and urbane to reach the hearts of the rural electorate, but has proven himself a strong challenger. Orban, 62, is a village boy who speaks village Hungarian, Magyar is a Budapest lawyer by training. Conscious that his status as a member of the metropolitan elite may make him less likely to appeal to rural voters, Magyar has toured the countryside indefatigably for the past two years, drawing large crowds. Unlike Orban, who waxes lyrical on global politics, Magyar focusses on domestic issues such as healthcare, education, transport and rural depopulation in his speeches.

His relationship with Russia is also different. He has pledged that if he wins, "we will study and where needed change the existing contracts with Russia, [and] diversify our energy resources in every possible way". He has also promised to "restore Hungary's seat at the EU and Nato tables."

Magyar says he learnt quickly on his six nationwide tours. He quickly abandoned his notes after being criticised for sounding stilted, and started speaking "from the heart", he told me in an interview earlier this year. "After the first days, I read the criticism and learnt… to go closer to the people, to let them ask questions and reply openly and honestly, which is rare in Hungarian politics."

He has gone from a rank outsider to the man who is widely expected to unseat Orban. While Orban usually visits one city a day on the campaign trail, Magyar visits from three to six, in an effort to reach all 106 individual constituencies by voting day.

He is no stranger to controversy himself. After becoming a politician, his ex-wife depicted him as an unstable figure, prone to bursts of anger and domestic violence. Anti-Tisza protesters once held banners featuring a shoe, which he allegedly once threw at her. More recent attempts by Fidesz to discredit him include convincing a former girlfriend to secretly tape his conversations, and taking him to a party where cocaine was being used. Magyar denies any domestic abuse, and speaks fondly of his ex-wife in public. He denies ever taking drugs, and last week published the negative results of a drug test. He challenges certain Fidesz politicians to do the same.

A poll published by the 21 Research Agency, a pro-democracy think tank, earlier this week showed the Tisza candidate pulling ahead in most of its 20 swing districts. Magyar has spoken of a "tipping point" in the countryside, and if this poll proves right, he has already reached it.

Orban and Fidesz have a media empire to amplify their message, but Magyar instead relies heavily on broadcasting each rally live on Facebook. While previous opposition leaders mustered crowds of a few dozen if they ventured out of Budapest, Magyar attracts hundreds in villages, and thousands or tens of thousands in provincial urban Fidesz strongholds.

A top Fidesz official grudgingly admitted that Magyar has "a brutal energy", which his own camp often lacks. Magyar's promise to build "a more humane, efficient country" resonates with all those fed up with the governing party, especially the young.

What would a Fidesz victory or defeat mean for Hungary? "What we have now is a state that has been fully captured by a single party," Andras Baka, former president of Hungary's supreme court, told me. If Fidesz wins "we have an ever more rigid autocracy."

If Tisza wins, there will be a big laundry list to tackle, including restoring the independence of the courts, the state prosecution service, the state audit office, the public media, and the intelligence services from the government of the day. Whether a Tisza government can do that, and how quickly, would depend on the margin of victory.

Top image credit: NurPhoto/AFP via Getty Images

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With a pit in their stomach, families and industries across Europe are watching gas prices and the cost of filling vehicles with petrol spiral.

While the UK government has told voters pretty much to keep calm and carry on, the European Commission - the EU's executive arm - has called on people to work more from home and to travel a lot less.

Policymakers warn things could get much worse - depending on what happens next in the Middle East. Yet it feels like only yesterday that Europeans faced a cost-of-living crisis on the back of spiralling energy costs and inflation following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This means conversations in Europe are turning (again) to the issue of energy independence.

And nuclear energy seems to be back in fashion as part of a home-grown European energy mix - in the UK as well as the EU. But how quick a fix can nuclear be - and how safe and reliable is it really?

At the recent European Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who perhaps forgot she was a minister in the German government when it took the decision to phase out nuclear power plants in 2011, described Europe broadly turning its back on nuclear as a "strategic mistake".

In 1990, Europe produced around a third of its electricity from nuclear power. That has now fallen to an average of 15%, leaving the continent "completely dependent on expensive and volatile imports" of fossil fuels, she said, putting Europe at a disadvantage compared with other regions of the world.

Europe imports more than 50% of its energy. Mainly oil and gas.

This leaves the continent vulnerable to unexpected reductions in supply, as was the case with Russia after Europe imposed energy export sanctions, or price increases on the global market, as we are now seeing because of Iran's strangling of energy exports via the Strait of Hormuz.

Gas prices rise at a similar rate across Europe but the impact on electricity prices varies depending on each country's energy mix.

In Spain - which has invested heavily in wind and solar power - the average electricity price for the rest of 2026 is forecast at around half of Italy's, where gas sets the electricity price 90% of the time.

France is Europe's largest nuclear producer. It generates about 65% of its electricity from nuclear power. Based on futures contracts, German electricity prices for next month are five times those of France - an eye-watering contrast.

Germany phased out nuclear power following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. This left the energy-hungry industries that traditionally power the German economy - cars and chemicals - hugely gas-dependent.

This week, Berlin's top economic research institutes more than halved their growth forecasts for 2026 to a predicted 0.6% of GDP because of global price hikes for gas.

A renewed enthusiasm for nuclear power is palpable in Europe:

• Italy is preparing draft laws to repeal its longstanding ban
• Belgium seems to be making a complete U-turn after years of reluctance about investing in nuclear energy
• Greece, historically cautious because of seismic concerns, has opened a public debate on advanced reactor designs
• Sweden reversed a four-decade old decision to abandon nuclear technology
• In the UK, Chancellor Rachel Reeves recently announced streamlining regulation to help advance nuclear projects.

"To build national resilience, drive energy security and deliver economic growth, we need nuclear," said Reeves.

New polling from YouGov suggests growing support for nuclear energy in Scotland, with the majority of people now backing it as part of the country's energy supply.

No prizes for guessing that France is the loudest nuclear cheerleader. President Emmanuel Macron is ever eager to point to the industry's credentials as a low carbon-emitter, potentially helping the EU towards its net zero goals.

He told Europe's nuclear summit that "nuclear power is key to reconciling both independence, and thus energy sovereignty, with decarbonisation, and thus carbon neutrality".

He also emphasised the increased energy demand from AI and his belief that nuclear power could give Europe a competitive edge or "the ability to open data centres, to build computing capacity and to be at the heart of the artificial intelligence challenge."

Until last year, Germany blocked efforts to treat nuclear energy on a par with renewables in EU legislation. That caused a lot of friction with Berlin's supposed closest EU friend, France.

But Berlin has since agreed to the removal of anti-nuclear bias. A cynic might say that could have something to do with defence and security concerns, provoked by deteriorating relations with the Trump administration.

Germany has asked France to extend its independent nuclear deterrent to European partners, something France agreed to this month.

But beware of viewing nuclear as an energy panacea.

Nuclear development is a long-term project, not a short-term fix to current energy insecurity.

Building nuclear reactors can be subject to extremely long delays, as recent examples in France and the UK have illustrated, at Flamanville-3 and Hinkley Point C.

Waste management and public concerns regarding the safety of nuclear energy persist.

Environmental groups warn investment in nuclear energy can divert funds and political attention from speeding up the development of renewables, and an added layer of strategic risk is that a number of Central European countries, especially Hungary and Slovakia, still depend on Russian nuclear technology and uranium.

"You're ignoring the history of nuclear in Europe if you think it can just slot in [as an easy energy crisis solution]," Chris Aylett told me. He's a Research Fellow at the Environment and Society Centre, Chatham House.

Nuclear energy is part of the solution, he believes, but many European nuclear reactors are old and governments need to invest considerably just to maintain or extend their working life.

"The main challenge is maintaining existing share [of nuclear power]. If governments really want to increase the share, they need a lot of time and a lot of money."

But many of Europe's governments are indebted, cash-strapped and faced with numerous, competing priorities - such as how to maintain welfare and boost defence spending to the levels promised to US President Donald Trump.

Nuclear is also being beaten on price as the costs of wind and solar have gone down, Aylett points out.

So, with price and practicality in mind, the European Commission has rushed to embrace the concept of small modular reactors (SMRs).

SMRs are viewed as more cost-effective sources of nuclear power. They can be mass factory-produced and are particularly well-suited to meeting the energy demands of AI data centres, the production of hydrogen and local heating networks.

A €330m (£288m; $381m) EU nuclear energy investment package has just been unveiled, with strong support for SMRs. Brussels hopes to bring the up and coming technology online by the early 2030s.

The focus on SMRs is international. Last week, the US and Japan announced a $40bn project to develop SMRs in Tennessee and Alabama, while last month Emma Reynolds, the environment secretary, published the regulatory justification for Rolls-Royce's plan to become the first company to try to build SMRs in the UK.

But as attractive as they sound, SMRs are viewed as unproven at commercial scale. As of early 2026, no construction licences had been granted anywhere in the EU.

Nuclear fusion research is also benefiting from EU attention, though. The EU aims to develop the first commercial fusion power plant online.

But for now, most in Europe still rely on fossil fuel imports.

It is plainly in the continent's interest to be more energy independent, Aylett argues, so as not to be exposed to the whims of exporters including erratic authoritarians, or algorithms in oil and gas commodity markets.

European governments clearly see nuclear as part of the medium to long-term solution. But what of the here and now?

Early reports indicate that the pilot of a US F-15 fighter aircraft downed over Iran was rescued - which, if confirmed, would be the latest in the long history of US combat search-and-rescue missions over decades.

The search operation is ongoing deep inside Iran for a second crew member, according to CBS, the BBC's US partner.

Combat search and rescue, or CSAR, missions are considered among the most complex, time-sensitive operations that US and allied militaries prepare for.

In the US, elite units of the air force are specially trained for CSAR missions and are often pre-emptively deployed near conflict areas where aircraft could be lost.

What is Combat Search and Rescue?

Put simply, CSAR missions are military operations aimed at finding, aiding and potentially rescuing personnel in need, including downed pilots and isolated troops.

In contrast to conventional search-and-rescue efforts - which could take place during humanitarian operations or after disasters - CSAR missions occur in hostile or contested environments.

In some cases - as in Friday's reported recovery effort in Iran - the operations may happen deep in enemy territory.

The missions are extremely time-sensitive, as enemy forces would likely be deployed in the same area to try and locate the same US personnel the CSAR teams are trying to rescue.

In modern times, CSAR missions are often conducted by helicopters, with refuelling aircraft in support and other military aircraft on hand to conduct strikes and patrol the area.

Notably, verified video that emerged from Iran on Friday appeared to show US military helicopters and at least one refuelling aircraft operating over Iran's Khuzestan province.

The history of CSAR missions

Airborne, wartime rescue missions have a long history, dating back to World War One pilots conducting impromptu landings in France to rescue downed colleagues.

The US military's pararescue units trace their lineage back to a 1943 mission in which two combat surgeons parachuted into then-Burma - now Myanmar - to help wounded soldiers.

The world's first helicopter rescue took place a year later, when a US lieutenant rescued four soldiers from behind Japanese lines, according to Smithsonians Air & Space Magazine. The incident also marked the first operational use of a helicopter in combat.

Formal search-and rescue units were first established in the US in the immediate aftermath of the conflict. But modern CSAR began during the Vietnam War.

One mission, known as Bat 21, led to the loss of several aircraft and multiple US casualties while attempting to recover the pilot of an aircraft shot down behind North Vietnamese lines.

The war required a vast expansion of CSAR missions with increased scope and complexity. The experience helped the military refine tactics and procedures that have helped form the foundation of rescue operations since.

The US Air Force's pararescue teams

While each US military branch has their own limited CSAR capabilities, the US Air Force has the primary responsibility for finding and rescuing military personnel.

This work is primarily conducted by what are known as pararescuemen, part of the military's broader special-operations community.

The official pararescue motto is "These Things We Do, That Others May Live", and their work is considered part of a broader promise to US service members that they will not be left behind.

These personnel are highly trained as both combatants and paramedics, and go through what is widely considered one of the hardest selection and training pipelines in the US military.

The selection-and-training process - which takes approximately two years from start to finish - includes parachute and dive training, as well as basic underwater demolition, survival, resistance and escape training, and a full civilian paramedic course.

They also received specialised courses in battlefield medicine, complex recovery operations and weapons.

Historically, about 80% of potential pararescuemen wash out of the course, although it is often more, according to military news site Sofrep.

On the ground, these teams are led by specialised Combat Rescue Officers, who are fully trained pararescue operators responsible for planning, co-ordinating and executing the recovery missions.

Recent US rescue missions

Pararescue teams deployed extensively throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conducting thousands of missions to rescue US and allied troops that were wounded or required extraction.

In 2005, for example, air force pararescue teams were involved to recover a US Navy Seal who was wounded and seeking shelter in an Afghan village after his team was ambushed and its other three members killed - an incident later made into the film Lone Survivor.

Missions to recover downed US pilots have been rare in recent decades.

In 1999, the pilot of an F-117 stealth fighter shot down over Serbia was found and recovered by parescuemen.

In an highly publicised incident in Bosnia in 1995, US pilot Scott O'Grady was rescued in a joint air force and Marine Corps CSAR mission after being shot down and evading capture for six days.

Cuba will free 2,010 prisoners as part of a "humanitarian and sovereign gesture," it announced on Thursday, as it faces continued political pressure from the US.

Those freed will include foreign nationals, young people, women and those aged over 60, a statement from the Cuban embassy in the US said.

It said the release was taking place "in the context of the religious celebrations of Holy Week, which is a customary practice in our criminal justice system".

Since returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump has made clear his desire to change Cuba's leadership and has implemented an oil blockade, causing severe fuel shortages and widespread blackouts across the country.

Last week, a Russian-owned tanker carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude oil became the first crude oil shipment to dock in one of Cuba's ports since early January.

Cuba holds hundreds of political prisoners behind bars, according to Human Rights Watch, with government critics subject to harassment and criminal prosecution.

Eligibility for the release was based on "a careful analysis" of offences, along with "their good conduct while in prison, the fact that they had served a significant portion of their sentences, and their state of health," the embassy statement added.

It is the second time this year that Cuba has announced a prisoner release. In March, 51 prisoners were set free after talks with the Vatican. In 2025, Cuba released 553 people in a deal brokered by the Vatican and the US.

Just weeks ago, from the foothills of the mountains Dezi Freeman had disappeared into months before, police told the world they "strongly" believed Australia's most wanted man was dead.

The well-known conspiracy theorist and self-described "sovereign citizen" had escaped into dense bushland near the small Victorian town of Porepunkah in August, immediately after shooting and killing two police officers who had come to search his home in relation to historical child sex abuse offences.

But on Monday morning, Australia woke to the news that Freeman had been found alive after one of the largest manhunts in Australian history - only to have been killed in a standoff at a remote farm where he had set up camp.

His death has brought a semblance of closure to some of those affected, surfaced complicated feelings in others, and raised many questions.

Not least among them: where had Freeman spent the past seven months - and did he have help?

Pre-dawn raid shocks town

Police had spent at least 24 hours staking out the ramshackle campsite on a property in Thologolong, a town near the Victorian/New South Wales border, before calling on Freeman - real name Desmond Filby - to surrender.

"We gave him every opportunity to come out peacefully and safely. He didn't take that option," Victoria Chief Commissioner of Police Mike Bush said.

After three hours, Freeman came out of one of the three old shipping containers at the camp at around 8:30 local time (22:30 Sunday BST), bearing a gun stolen from the slain officers. He was shot by multiple police snipers simultaneously, local media have reported, citing police sources.

It was a shock for locals – including the elderly farmer who owns the land, according to his family.

Richard Sutherland has been in Tasmania for months, his brother and neighbour Neil Sutherland has said, and he certainly did not know Freeman or sympathise with his beliefs.

Appearing in Thologolong and its surrounds recently, however, were a handful of road signs graffitied with Freeman's name – something Janice Newnham told the BBC she'd thought was "somebody's April Fool's Day joke".

She is still sceptical that locals in the town of 22 could have known where Freeman was hiding.

"The main form of social activity is going to the pub or going to the shop or going to the local football - everyone seems to know what everyone else is doing," she says.

How did police find Freeman?

When Freeman first vanished, there was huge focus on his skills as a bushman. Friends and locals said he knew the mountains like the back of his hand and was capable of surviving off grid.

This was one of the reasons police struggled to find him after the shooting, says Dr Vincent Hurley, a former police hostage negotiator who now lectures on policing at Macquarie University.

"If that crime was to occur in the city, he would leave his electronic footprint all over," Hurley explains, because mobile phones, car and bus journeys, and ATMs can all be easily tracked, including by using newer technologies such as facial recognition.

But "there was no easy way to actually try and track him down because they literally just had to go searching through the bush", says Hurley.

"And that's pretty, pretty rare."

The most recent similar case, he says, was Malcolm Naden, who was captured in New South Wales in 2012 after nearly seven years on the run.

But while Naden left in his wake a string of burgled properties and makeshift camps – including at a zoo – there was no trace of Freeman.

Police are convinced he had help staying off their radar.

"We're keen to learn who, if any - but we suspect some - assisted him in getting away from Porepunkah… if anyone was complicit, they will be held accountable," Bush told reporters.

While it is theoretically possible to walk the 150km (93 miles) from Porepunkah to Thologolong, police think it unlikely. The mountainous terrain is rugged and covered by thick bush. With temperatures ranging from below freezing in August to 40C in the summer months, it would also have been tough without shelter.

Police sources have told local media Freeman's arrival appears to have been recent.

Fierce bushfires swept through the area in January, coming within a kilometre of the property where Freeman was hiding.

The whole area had been evacuated and was swarming with emergency services while helicopters were flying overhead, Newman says.

"They were 40 degree days in the bushfire as well," she adds, "so it would have been very hot inside the container."

And pictures from the camp, published by local media, held signs that he hadn't spent his time there alone.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, which cited unidentified police sources in its reporting, there were spinning air ducts recently fitted to the shipping container, a job likely to require more than one person. There were also three camp chairs pictured beside an open box of beer.

Freeman's family have condemned his actions and have been closely watched by police during the manhunt; his wife was reportedly shocked by Monday's news, having thought he was already dead.

Hurley is convinced that whoever helped him shared his sovereign citizen beliefs, including that they are not subject to government authority.

"No reasonable person down there [in Porepunkah] would have supported him, only because of the horrendous nature of the crime. And... he's a bit of a loner. So it would have been someone who shared his sympathies."

He is also convinced that the tip-off which led police to the hideout would not have come from his peers in the sovereign citizen movement. "They hate the police and they're not going to assist them."

Ultimately, Hurley says he believe Freeman was never going to surrender: "Being captured alive, that would be the ultimate humiliation and betrayal to him as a person. For the duration of the time he was at large, he was symbolically giving the middle finger to the police all over Australia."

In an interview with Nova radio this week, Bush hinted some of these questions may long go unanswered.

It's still early days in terms of the investigation into who may have aided Freeman, he said.

He admitted police had "obtained information" about where Freeman was hiding, but emphasised that "we can't go into how".

No one had claimed the A$1m (£525,000; $709,000) reward for information about the fugitive, Bush said, before stressing that anything in relation to the money and how police had found Freeman was "absolutely confidential".

He added: "I'm quite sure we'll never be sharing those details."

Nasa has shared the first high-resolution images of the Earth taken by the Artemis II crew as they head on their trip around the Moon.

The mission's commander, Reid Wiseman, took the "spectacular" images, Nasa says, after the crew completed a final engine burn that set them on a trajectory towards our closest celestial neighbour.

The first image, called Hello, World, shows the vast expanse of blue that is the Atlantic Ocean, framed by a thin glow of the atmosphere as the Earth eclipses the Sun and green auroras at either pole.

The Earth appears to us as upside down, with the western Sahara and Iberian peninsula visible to the left and the eastern portion of South America to the right.

Nasa identified the bright planet to the bottom right as Venus.

The images were taken after the crew successfully completed a trans-lunar injection burn in the early hours of Friday.

The burn took the Orion spacecraft out of Earth's orbit as the four astronauts aboard aim to travel the more than 200,000 miles to the Moon.

Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled outside of the Earth's orbit.

The crew should pass around the far side of the Moon on 6 April and return to Earth on 10 April.

After the burn was completed, the crew were "glued to the windows" taking pictures, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen told mission control in Houston.

"We are getting a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth, lit by the Moon," he said.

Wiseman later called back down to mission control in Houston to ask how to clean the windows, as the astronauts' enthusiasm to see into space had left them dirty.

Another view captured by Wiseman shows the Earth divided by night and day. That frontier between light and darkness is known as the terminator.

A French-owned ship has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, more than a month after the US-Israeli war with Iran effectively closed the vital transport route.

The Malta-flagged container ship owned by French company CMA CGM crossed the Strait, media organisation BFM TV - which is owned by the shipping company - confirmed on Friday. CMA CGM declined to comment.

It is the first ship owned by a major Western European firm to go through the strait since the conflict began, shipping analysts Kpler confirmed.

While Iran has said "non-hostile vessels" can use the waterway, the ongoing conflict - in which several ships have been attacked - has halted normal transport activity.

Tracking data showed the French-owned ship passed close to the coast of Oman on the opposite side of the waterway to Iran. It's not known what the ship was carrying.

A Japanese ship carrying natural gas also made it out of the Strait of Hormuz, Japanese shipping giant MOL confirmed.

"The safety of the vessel and all crew members have been confirmed," MOL said. "We will continue to place the highest priority on ensuring the safety of our crew, cargo, and vessels as operations proceed."

Several ships that made the journey through the strait on Thursday hugged "unusually close" to the coast of Oman, according to maritime news and intelligence service Lloyd's List.

US President Donald Trump has said America could reopen the strait.

"With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE," he wrote on Truth Social. "IT WOULD BE A "GUSHER" FOR THE WORLD???"

About a fifth of the world's oil and liquid natural gas is transported through the Strait of Hormuz from the Gulf countries.

But when the conflict began in late February, shipping was suspended, leaving about 200 vessels stranded in the surrounding waters according to Lloyd's List.

The dramatic slowdown in traffic through the strait has led to skyrocketing global oil prices, which in turn has caused fuel prices to rise and led to fears of higher inflation around the world.

While traffic is down about 95% compared to before the conflict, shipping through the narrow waterway has not stopped altogether.

About 100 vessels have been able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to data analysed by BBC Verify in late March, about five to six ships a day.

Roughly a third of those ships had links to Iran, Verify confirmed, while other vessels were linked to countries such as Pakistan and India.

The White House is asking Congress to boost the US defence budget to $1.5tn (£1.1tn), a sweeping rise that would mark the largest expansion in military spending since the Second World War.

It includes funding for the Trump administration's proposed Golden Dome missile defence system, as well as a boost in domestic production of naval vessels, including new Trump-class battleships.

The administration said it would pair the proposed increase with a call for cuts across domestic agencies, including eliminating some climate, housing, and education programmes.

The request, which will need to be approved by the US Congress, is separate from the $200bn that the Pentagon sought for the war in Iran.

A summary of the budget posted online notes that the cuts will be achieved by "reducing or eliminating woke, weaponised and wasteful programmes, and by returning local responsibilities to their respective governments".

President Donald Trump has long signalled a desire to increase the defence budget and boost domestic defence manufacturing.

At a private event at the White House earlier this week - which was caught on camera - Trump said that military spending should be a national priority going forward.

"It's not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all of these individual things, they can do it on a state basis," the president said, adding that the focus should be on "military protection."

Non-defence spending in the proposed budget has fallen by 10%, or about $73bn.

Trump's proposed budget would mark a 42% increase over the previous fiscal year, totalling $445bn.

Of the total, approximately $1.1tn would be in discretionary spending for the Pentagon, the highest on record.

Another $350bn - specifically for the industrial defence base - would come from a process known as budget reconciliation, a procedural shortcut that lets some legislation pass the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes.

The budget also requests pay rises for troops and $65.8 billion in shipbuilding funding, including for what Trump has referred to as a "Golden Fleet" of next generation vessels.

These include the heavily-armed Trump-class battleships unveiled in December.

At a press conference announcing the battleship, Trump said that the construction of the first of the vessels, the USS Defiant, would begin soon, with the first ships operational in two-and-a-half years.

Administration officials have repeatedly warned that the US currently lags behind China in both shipbuilding capacity and total output.

Additionally, the budget also includes an unclear amount funding for the $185bn Golden Dome, which officials have said will include multiple layers of land, sea and space based sensors and interceptors designed to protect the US from next-generation missiles and drones.

The Congressional Budget Office, however, has put the potential price tag at $542bn over 20 years on the space-based systems alone.

Experts have said the total cost could eventually soak up a large chunk of the massive US defence budget.

Rapper Gucci Mane was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint in Dallas earlier this year, leading to the arrests of eight men, including a fellow artist signed to his label, officials say.

Prosecutors allege rapper Pooh Shiesty, born Lontrell Williams Jr, led the ambush under the guise of a meeting, holding Mane captive inside a recording studio and forcing him to sign papers releasing him from his contract.

Mane is an Atlanta-based artist who has collaborated with Usher, Doja Cat, Drake and other stars. He founded his label, 1017 Records, in 2007 and Williams Jr signed as an artist in 2020.

The defendants, who are yet to enter their pleas, could face life in prison if convicted.

Eight of the nine defendants were arrested on Wednesday in Dallas, Memphis and Nashville, and charged in federal court with kidnapping and armed robbery.

One suspect remains at large, and investigators are working with authorities in the state of Georgia to locate him, US Attorney Ryan Raybould told a news conference on Thursday.

The incident took place on 10 January, a federal complaint says, when Williams Jr was supposed to be under house arrest for a previous firearms conspiracy conviction.

He was allegedly joined by eight co-defendants, including his father, Lontrell Williams Sr, all of whom are accused of participating in the crime.

A sworn statement from the FBI says Williams Jr pointed a "black AK-style pistol" at Mane and forced him to sign the papers. He also allegedly stole Mane's wedding ring, watch, earrings and cash.

The other suspects allegedly brandished pistols as well, demanding property from additional victims in the room, identified in the complaint only by initials.

One of the victims was choked and injured, and had his Rolex watch, Louis Vuitton bag, AirPods and wallet stolen from him, according to the complaint.

"Within hours of leaving the Dallas studio, a number of the defendants were on social media displaying some of the items that appeared to be the jewellery that had been robbed from the victims," Raybould said.

Prosecutors say the rapper and the other victims believed "they were going to be executed" before the defendants ordered them to leave the building and go to their cars.

Representatives for Williams Jr and Mane did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Eight people from different African countries have been deported to Uganda from the United States, the first such transfer under a migration deal signed last year.

The group arrived on Wednesday after a US judge approved their cases, Uganda's foreign ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said its deal with the US designated Uganda as a safe third country for migrants who cannot return to their countries, for reasons such as persecution.

The Uganda Law Society has condemned the deportations, saying the individuals had effectively been dumped in the country "through an undignified, harrowing and dehumanising process".

The organisation called the process illegal and said it would challenge it in court.

The BBC has asked the US Department of Homeland Security for comment.

President Donald Trump's administration has deported dozens of people to third countries since coming into power last January - part of its hard-line approach towards immigration.

Human rights campaigners have condemned the policy, with some questioning its legality.

Uganda's foreign ministry said it could not give many details about the deportees for privacy reasons, but said: "Uganda continues to uphold its longstanding commitment to providing sanctuary to persons in need and assuring they are treated with dignity."

It said they were neither Ugandan nor US citizens but were "of African origin who may not be granted asylum in the USA and are reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their country of origin".

The BBC's US partner CBS News reports that Uganda agreed to accept deported migrants as long as they did not have criminal histories.

According to the US, many of those transferred to other third countries have been convicted criminals.

Since the start of his second term, Trump has embarked on sweeping efforts to remove undocumented migrants - a key election promise that drew mass support during this campaign.

Uganda is among several African countries which, as a third country, have accepted deportees from the US. These include Eswatini, Ghana and South Sudan.

Additional reporting by Richard Kagoe

More stories about Uganda:

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

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

The Uffizi Galleries in Florence has confirmed they were subject to a cyber-attack - but denied that the security systems protecting its famous works had been compromised.

They stressed that nothing had been either damaged or stolen, after hackers were reported to have infiltrated the museum's IT systems and accessed sensitive security data.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that hackers had infiltrated the museums' IT systems, allegedly extracting access codes, internal maps and the locations of CCTV cameras and alarms, before issuing a ransom demand.

But the Uffizi Galleries contested this account, saying its security systems were inaccessible from the outside.

The attackers appeared to have moved through interconnected systems, computers and phones, gradually piecing together a detailed picture of the museum's operations, Corriere reported.

A ransom demand was later sent to museum director Simone Verde's personal phone, the newspaper said, with a threat to sell the data on the dark web.

The Uffizi is home to some of Italy's most celebrated artworks, such as Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera.

Corriere said the cyber-attack occurred between late January and early February, affecting not only the Uffizi but also its separate sites at Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens.

Ever since the Louvre museum in Paris was raided in broad daylight in October and priceless historic treasures stolen, with the masked gang seemingly able to take advantage of its weak and aging CCTV system, all major museums have had to reassess their security.

The Uffizi said work that was already under way had been accelerated "both before and after the cyber-attack".

Its situation was "nothing like the Louvre", it stressed, with analogue cameras replaced with digital ones, following recommendations made by the police in 2024.

Responding to claims that the hackers had found out the location of surveillance cameras and sensors, it said there was "no evidence whatsoever that the hackers possessed any maps of the security systems".

Anyone walking through the museum could see were the cameras were, as was the case with any public space, it said, so there was little surprise that their location had been found out.

"No passwords were stolen - none whatsoever - because the security systems are entirely internal and closed-circuit," it said, adding that employees' phones had also not been compromised by the hack.

Two floors of the Palazzo Pitti normally house the "Medici Treasure", so-called because the powerful Renaissance banking family spent their summers there, and Corriere claimed the hack had led to parts of the palace being closed since 3 February and valuable items being temporarily transferred to a vault of the Bank of Italy for safekeeping.

The museum did not deny that the treasures had been taken to a bank vault but insisted the move was part of planned renovation work.

Some doors and emergency exits at the palace had been sealed with bricks and mortar, and staff instructed not to speak publicly about the incident, according to Corriere.

However, the Uffizi attributed the bricked-up doors in part to fire-safety measures.

For decades, there had been no fire safety certification, it pointed out, and only two days ago it had submitted a safety notice to the fire brigade.

Other doors were sealed, it added, "to prevent excessive permeability of the historic building's spaces - structures dating back to the 1500s - considering their changed functions and the evolving international context".

It also reacted to claims that the intruders had stolen the Uffizi's entire digital photographic archive - a decades-long record of artworks and documents - insisting that its photographic server was intact because a back-up was in place.

Although it appeared to acknowledge the server had been taken down, it said that was necessary for the backup to be restored. That was now complete and no data had been lost, it said.

Despite the controversy, the Uffizi, Italy's second-most visited museum after the Vatican, generating around €60m (£52m; $69m) in annual revenue, remains open to visitors, with ticketing and public areas largely unaffected.

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The White House is asking Congress to boost the US defence budget to $1.5tn (£1.1tn), a sweeping rise that would mark the largest expansion in military spending since the Second World War.

It includes funding for the Trump administration's proposed Golden Dome missile defence system, as well as a boost in domestic production of naval vessels, including new Trump-class battleships.

The administration said it would pair the proposed increase with a call for cuts across domestic agencies, including eliminating some climate, housing, and education programmes.

The request, which will need to be approved by the US Congress, is separate from the $200bn that the Pentagon sought for the war in Iran.

A summary of the budget posted online notes that the cuts will be achieved by "reducing or eliminating woke, weaponised and wasteful programmes, and by returning local responsibilities to their respective governments".

President Donald Trump has long signalled a desire to increase the defence budget and boost domestic defence manufacturing.

At a private event at the White House earlier this week - which was caught on camera - Trump said that military spending should be a national priority going forward.

"It's not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all of these individual things, they can do it on a state basis," the president said, adding that the focus should be on "military protection."

Non-defence spending in the proposed budget has fallen by 10%, or about $73bn.

Trump's proposed budget would mark a 42% increase over the previous fiscal year, totalling $445bn.

Of the total, approximately $1.1tn would be in discretionary spending for the Pentagon, the highest on record.

Another $350bn - specifically for the industrial defence base - would come from a process known as budget reconciliation, a procedural shortcut that lets some legislation pass the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes.

The budget also requests pay rises for troops and $65.8 billion in shipbuilding funding, including for what Trump has referred to as a "Golden Fleet" of next generation vessels.

These include the heavily-armed Trump-class battleships unveiled in December.

At a press conference announcing the battleship, Trump said that the construction of the first of the vessels, the USS Defiant, would begin soon, with the first ships operational in two-and-a-half years.

Administration officials have repeatedly warned that the US currently lags behind China in both shipbuilding capacity and total output.

Additionally, the budget also includes an unclear amount funding for the $185bn Golden Dome, which officials have said will include multiple layers of land, sea and space based sensors and interceptors designed to protect the US from next-generation missiles and drones.

The Congressional Budget Office, however, has put the potential price tag at $542bn over 20 years on the space-based systems alone.

Experts have said the total cost could eventually soak up a large chunk of the massive US defence budget.

Hiring in the US surged last month, despite the energy shock and uncertainty stemming from the US-Israel war in Iran.

Employers added 178,000 jobs, far more than expected, helping push down the unemployment rate to 4.3%, the Labor Department said.

Analysts said the gains were likely lifted by the end of strikes in the health care industry which led to steep losses in February. But the figures are still likely to increase confidence in the resilience of the job market, which has slowed sharply over the last year.

It is also expected to bolster the case for the US central bank to hold off on cutting interest rates, as it waits to see what impact the rise in oil prices has on the economy.

US President Donald Trump has pushed the Federal Reserve to lower borrowing costs aggressively, a move that would give the economy a boost.

But the bank has held off in recent months, citing concerns about inflation, which remains above its 2% target. Fed chair Jerome Powell has described the economy as being in a delicate balance, with muted job creation but also relatively limited job cuts.

The White House crackdown on immigration, and other policy changes such as tariffs have contributed to the static market.

The war in Iran could add to that dynamic, though it remains too soon to fully gauge its impact. The Labor Department typically surveys employers and households around the middle of the month, which was only a few weeks after the conflict had started.

Economists have warned that a sustained rise in oil prices could push up transport and food costs, pushing households and businesses to cut back spending in other areas and leading to wider slowdown.

Multiple weapons experts have disputed a US claim that Iran may have been responsible for a deadly strike on the town of Lamerd on the first day of the war.

Six experts - who examined footage of the strike and all commented independently - contested the US suggestion that it was an Iranian missile, citing the missile's visual features, the way it exploded, its trajectory and the number of strikes in the area as the basis for their analysis.

Iranian officials have said 21 people, including four children, were killed.

BBC Verify originally reported on the strikes on 28 March, citing experts who said it was likely a US Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) was used. The US Central Command (Centcom) - which oversees US military operations in the Middle East - declined to comment for that report.

Centcom then released a statement on 31 March denying it was a US missile, instead saying that footage of the attack was consistent with an Iranian Hoveyzeh cruise missile.

"US forces do not target civilians, unlike the Iranian regime which has attacked civilian locations in neighboring countries more than 300 times," the statement added.

When BBC Verify went back to Centcom with the experts' analysis, it said it had "nothing to add" to its original statement.

Lamerd, a town in southern Iran, came under attack on 28 February. CCTV footage published by Iranian state media - which was authenticated and geolocated by BBC Verify - showed a munition moments before it exploded above a residential area. Experts identified it as likely being a US missile, based on its appearance, the size of the blast and the distance from potential US launch sites in the Middle East.

In BBC Verify's initial report, three analysts at the defence intelligence company Janes and an expert at McKenzie Intelligence all said the missile seen in the footage was likely a PrSM - a brand new missile manufactured by Lockheed Martin for the US military.

A New York Times report also found that a PrSM likely hit Lamerd.

On Tuesday US Navy Capt Tim Hawkins said in the statement: "After looking into the reports, U.S. Central Command has confirmed the accusations are false."

"U.S. forces did not launch any strikes at any time into the city of Lamerd or anywhere within 30 miles during the opening day of Operation Epic Fury," adding that it "does not show a Precision Strike Missile (PrSM)".

"The munition depicted in the video appears to be twice as long, consistent with the dimensions and silhouette of an Iranian Hoveyzeh cruise missile," Capt Hawkins said.

Multiple weapons experts have disputed Centcom's claims, noting the Hoveyzeh has a number of distinctive features which they say are not visible in the Lamerd strike footage.

On the same day nearly 400km east, strikes hit an Iranian school and a nearby military base in Minab, killing 168 people according to Iranian officials. Expert video analysis suggests a US Tomahawk missile struck the military compound.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the incident was under investigation, adding that US forces "never target civilian targets".

PrSM vs Hoveyzeh missile

Amael Kotlarski, a weapons analyst at Janes - a defence intelligence company - said that the Hoveyzeh missile has a belly-mounted turbojet and a pair of mid-body wings.

"Crucially, no matter the angle from which the missile is viewed from, the wings and the turbo jet would be visible. None of that is clearly distinguishable from the footage," he said.

Another munitions expert from McKenzie Intelligence also said the missile seen in the video had no wings or external engine. They said that distinctive "canard fins", consistent with a PrSM, are visible in the footage.

"I remain convinced that the weapon seen is a PrSM and not a Iranian Hoveyzeh Cruise Missile - the two are vastly different in appearance," they added.

Trevor Ball, a weapons expert with the investigative outlet Bellingcat said in a post on X that the length of the missile was "much more consistent with the PrSM" than a Hoveyzeh missile.

"The Hoveyzeh silhouette is also much different, with wings and a visible engine depending on angle," he added.

Airburst warhead

In the verified CCTV footage, the munition appears to explode mid-air above a Lamerd residential area. Experts say this is consistent with the airburst feature of a PrSM, where a weapon explodes above the ground to disperse fragments over a wider area, which is seen in some technologically advanced missiles.

Despite the footage being low resolution, a mid-air explosion is clearly visible. Experts say this is not a known capability of the Hoveyzeh missile.

The manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, describes the PrSM as an "optimized warhead" which contains pre-formed fragments that explode outwards. This, it says, "increases lethality" and "maximizes area effects".

Intelligence expert and ex-National Crime Agency (NCA) investigator Chris Proops said the mid-air explosion was more consistent with a PrSM than any Iranian cruise missile currently in service.

Images taken after the strike further support the assessment that an airburst munition was used. It shows the walls and ground covered by small tightly-packed impact marks which match the spread of fragments from an airburst warhead like a PrSM, according to expert analysis.

"Those pock marks are witness marks of a fragmentation munition," an analyst from McKenzie Intelligence said.

Kotlarski from Janes added: "To put it simply, the warhead behaviour and effect from the Lamerd strike displays a level of technical sophistication that we have not observed, so far, from any Iranian cruise or ballistic missile."

He said that while there is "little solid data" on the Hoveyzeh's warhead, it is thought to use a more "primitive" impact-fuzed high-explosive warhead, meaning it would detonate on or after hitting a target.

The three verified strikes

Since our initial investigation, BBC Verify has confirmed additional footage that shows there were three separate strikes on a sports hall, a residential area and near an educational centre in Lamerd that day.

"While it is feasible that an Iranian cruise missile could malfunction, it is a bit beyond credulity to have a number of them fail above the same location at the same time," said an analyst from McKenzie Intelligence.

Experts also say the munition in the verified CCTV footage does not appear to be damaged, malfunctioning or intercepted.

N R Jenzen Jones, director of Armament Research Services, said although it's difficult to positively identify the munition, "it appears to be correctly aligned for the terminal phase of its flight".

Newly published footage, shared by pro-government local media and confirmed by BBC Verify, shows that a small primary school which is located next to the sports hall was also damaged.

Debris and warped metal which may be munition fragments can also be seen on a street in the residential area. But multiple experts BBC Verify spoke to could not identify the fragments.

The intended target on the day may have been an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound adjacent to the sports hall. BBC Verify has reviewed dozens of photos and videos of the aftermath of the strike and has not yet seen any on-the-ground footage of the IRGC base after the attack. The base also appeared to be undamaged in high-resolution satellite imagery on 9 March.

Centcom's statement says US forces did not launch any strikes at any time into the city of Lamerd or anywhere within 30 miles during the opening day of Operation Epic Fury.

But the US Department of Defense has previously posted an illustrative map captioned "First 100 hours" of the US-Israeli war with Iran, marking the locations of US-Israeli strikes and Iranian air defences along Iran's southern coast, including the area around Lamerd.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also told BBC Verify that it was not aware of any Israeli strikes in that part of Lamerd on 28 February.

BBC Verify asked Centcom for further details about its assessment of what happened in Lamerd, but it did not provide any additional information.

Additional reporting by Peter Mwai and Matt Murphy.

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A major gathering of Muslims in northern Paris is going ahead as planned after a French court overturned a government bid to ban it.

The Paris police department argued that the four-day Annual Encounter of Muslims of France was a security threat because it could be a target of terrorism.

But the organisers – the Muslims of France (MF) association – sought an emergency injunction to let the event go ahead, arguing that a ban would be a breach of basic liberties.

The administrative court agreed and overturned the government decree, just two hours before the planned 1400 (13:00 BST) opening.

In its ruling the court said that elements provided by police "did not establish the risk of counter-demonstrations, or that the gathering would be targeted by far-right groups."

It also dismissed the argument that the event would pose an unacceptable strain on police resources, noting that the organisers had themselves assured extra security.

Part cultural and religious conference, part trade fair, the gathering used to be an annual event, but has not been held since 2019. Before that it regularly drew tens of thousands of people from across Europe.

The Muslims of France association - France's biggest Muslim body - is said by critics to be close to the international Muslim Brotherhood, though it denies that.

Earlier, in justifying the ban, the Paris police department said that in "an international and national context which is particularly tense," the gathering was "exposed to an important terrorist risk toward the Muslim community."

"In a context of political agitation and a heavy polarisation of debate" it was possible that "small far-right groups could mobilise with a view to disrupting the event," it said.

It also claimed that actions against the gathering could be "conducted remotely by foreign influences."

France has regularly accused Russia, as well as Iran, of stirring up dissension by paying proxies to carry out small-scale acts of provocation or sabotage.

The ban came as France announced plans for a new "anti-separatism" law, aimed mainly at Muslim structures promoting ideas deemed contrary to the principles of the Republic.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the aim was to complement a previous similar law, passed five years ago, which allowed the government to close associations accused of promoting Islamic separatism.

"There are still some structures which we have been unable to reach," he told a radio station. "One issue is how we control collective childcare. We need to be able to control it, but right now we can't.

"More generally we want to be able to ban publications which carry appeals to hate, violence or discrimination," he said.

The MF's lawyer Sefen Guez Guez told the injunction hearing that banning the event was a "manifest breach of the right to assemble" and clearly aimed at "promoting the (government's) new law."

But a police lawyer said the sole reason was to preserve public order. "This is not an anti-Muslim or anti-Islam decree," he said.

Cuba will free 2,010 prisoners as part of a "humanitarian and sovereign gesture," it announced on Thursday, as it faces continued political pressure from the US.

Those freed will include foreign nationals, young people, women and those aged over 60, a statement from the Cuban embassy in the US said.

It said the release was taking place "in the context of the religious celebrations of Holy Week, which is a customary practice in our criminal justice system".

Since returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump has made clear his desire to change Cuba's leadership and has implemented an oil blockade, causing severe fuel shortages and widespread blackouts across the country.

Last week, a Russian-owned tanker carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude oil became the first crude oil shipment to dock in one of Cuba's ports since early January.

Cuba holds hundreds of political prisoners behind bars, according to Human Rights Watch, with government critics subject to harassment and criminal prosecution.

Eligibility for the release was based on "a careful analysis" of offences, along with "their good conduct while in prison, the fact that they had served a significant portion of their sentences, and their state of health," the embassy statement added.

It is the second time this year that Cuba has announced a prisoner release. In March, 51 prisoners were set free after talks with the Vatican. In 2025, Cuba released 553 people in a deal brokered by the Vatican and the US.