At least one person has been killed and three injured in a "massive" overnight drone attack on Moscow and the capital region, local officials say.

Regional Governor Andrei Vorobyev says the casualties were in the towns of Vidnoye and Domodedovo, just outside the capital. Seven apartments in a residential building were damaged.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin says 73 drones heading towards the city were shot down. The roof of one building was damaged by drone wreckage.

One district train network is now suspended, and flight restrictions are in place at Moscow's airports after the attack - one of the biggest since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The attack comes just hours ahead of a crunch meeting between representatives from the United States and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia, focused on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In a post on social media, Governor Vorobyev published pictures purportedly showing one of the damaged apartments, and burnt vehicles in what looked like a car park in the Moscow region.

He said 12 people - including three children - had to be evacuated from their damaged flats after the overnight strike.

Flight restrictions were imposed in Moscow's Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports - major transport hubs used by millions of passengers every year.

Ukraine has not commented on the issue.

US stocks plunged on Monday as fears grew over an economic slowdown, after President Donald Trump did not rule out a recession.

The Nasdaq sank by 4.0% at the close of trading, its largest single-day loss since 2022, and there were heavy losses on other markets with tech stocks seeing the largest drops.

Tesla shares fell about 15.4%, while chipmaker Nvidia was down more than 5%. Other major tech stocks including Meta, Amazon and Alphabet also sank.

The S&P 500 Index slid 2.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.1%.

It comes after Trump said the US economy was in a period of transition, after he was asked about concerns over a potential recession.

Speaking to Fox News in an interview broadcast on Sunday but recorded on Thursday, Trump appeared to acknowledge the concerns. "I hate to predict things like that," he said. "There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing."

There are growing fears among economic analysts that growth will slow and prices will rise.

Last week, the main US markets fell back to the level before Trump's election victory last November, which had initially been welcomed investors due to hopes of tax cuts and lighter regulation.

Philippine police have arrested former president Rodrigo Duterte after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity over his deadly "war on drugs".

Duterte was arrested by police in Manila airport shortly after his arrival from Hong Kong.

Duterte's brutal anti-drugs crackdown, which occured when he was president of the South East Asian nation from 2016 to 2022, saw thousands of people killed.

The 79-year-old had earlier said he was ready to go to prison, when responding to reports of his possible arrest.

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines called the arrest a "historic moment".

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but today, it has bent towards justice. Duterte's arrest is the beginning of accountability for the mass killings that defined his brutal rule," said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy.

But Duterte's former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo has slammed the arrest, saying it was "unlawful" as the Philippines had withdrawn from the ICC.

The ICC earlier said that it has jurisdiction in the Philippines over alleged crimes committed before the country withdrew as a member.

Duterte was in Hong Kong to campaign for his senatorial slate in the upcoming May 12 mid-term elections.

Footage aired on local television showed him walking out of the airport using a cane. Authorities say he is in "good health" and is being cared for by government doctors.

The 'war on drugs'

Duterte, a former mayor of one of the country's largest cities, swept to power on the promise of a widespread crackdown against crime.

With fiery rhetoric, he rallied security forces to shoot drug suspects dead. More than 6,000 suspects were gunned down by police or unknown assailants during the campaign, but rights groups say the number could be bigger.

"Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there are three million drug addicts [in the Philippines]. I'd be happy to slaughter them," he said a few months into office.

But critics said his "war on drugs" led to police abuse and that many of the drug suspects summarily executed.

Investigations in parliament pointed to shadowy "death squad" of bounty hunters targeting drug suspects.

Duterte has denied the allegations.

The ICC first took note of the alleged abuses in 2016 and started its investigation in 2021. It covered cases from November 2011, when Duterte was mayor of Davao, to March 2019, before the Philippines withdrew from the ICC.

Duterte cultivated an image of a tough-talking and anti-establishment man of the masses, endearing him to Filipinos who elected him as the country's first president from the southern island of Mindanao.

His daughter, Sara Duterte, is the Philippines current vice-president and is tipped as a potential presidential candidate in 2028.

In recent months, the Duterte family's alliance with incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos unraveled spectacularly before the public view, soon after Marcos and Sara Duterte won the 2022 elections by a landslide.

Marcos initially refused to co-operate with the ICC investigation, but as his relationship with the Duterte family deteriorated, he changed his stance, and later indicated that the Philippines would co-operate.

It is not clear yet whether Marcos would go as far as extraditing the former president to stand trial in The Hague.

Additional reporting by Virma Simonette in Manila

"She's a phony, but I guess the public likes that…" This is the line that actress Joan Crawford is said to have declared about film star Bette Davis.

The back-and-forth sniping between the pair played out in the tabloids of the 1930s and 40s. "Bette is a survivor... She survived herself," Crawford is also said to have remarked.

Their tempestuous relationship was so notorious that in 2017 it was made into an Emmy award-winning TV series, Feud.

Hollywood rivalries are of course nothing new - yet conflicts today rarely play out so publicly. That might be why the dispute between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, which spilled out into the open in December 2024, is still in the headlines three months on.

The subsequent legal battle brought to light a fallout during production of the film, It Ends With Us. After the promotional and cinematic run had ended, the pair - who didn't appear on the red carpet together at the premiere in New York - filed lawsuits against each other.

Lively has accused Baldoni and others of carrying out a smear campaign against her after she complained about alleged sexual harassment on set. Baldoni, meanwhile, has accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicist of carrying out a smear campaign against him, and claim that she tried to take over control of the film. Both sides deny all allegations.

What emerged as this all played out is that crisis PR managers had been employed. Legal representatives for Lively obtained numerous text messages between Baldoni's publicist Jennifer Abel and the crisis team he retained, led by Melissa Nathan, whose previous clients include Johnny Depp and Drake. Ms Nathan was alleged to have texted Ms Abel, "You know we can bury anyone."

Lively has now reportedly taken on the CIA's former deputy chief of staff Nick Shapiro to advise on her legal communications strategy.

While the outcomes of the lawsuits remain to be seen but the feud has cast the spotlight on an industry that would ordinarily remain largely invisible: that is, the publicity machine at work behind the scenes in Hollywood.

"On every set, there are fights, liaisons… there are all sorts of things that go on," explains Richard Rushfield, founder and columnist at Hollywood newsletter The Ankler. "Hollywood is a world full of very messy people coming together for these giant projects, where they put together teams quickly to make these things and disband immediately after.

"Between all that a lot of stuff goes on, and they deal with it quietly – they're very obsessive about controlling the narrative. When this stuff explodes into the public, beyond control, it makes everyone very nervous."

But the world of the Hollywood PR has shifted in recent years, partly because of the growth of social media, which has changed the relationship between celebrities and fans, bringing them into direct contact and removing some of the mystique.

So, what does that mean for the people whose job it is to keep a lid on the industry's messy reality?

From Tom Hardy to Sarah Jessica Parker

Few fallouts have spilled out into the open in recent years – and those that did were picked over simply because they're so rare. Actor Dwayne Johnson revealed "a fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaborating" with his Fast & Furious co-star Vin Diesel, in a 2018 interview.

The stars of another action film, Mad Max: Fury Road, Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, are reported to have filmed many of their scenes separately.

And then there were the alleged tensions between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker, who were co-stars of Sex and the City, which ran for six years. In 2018, after Parker offered condolences for Cattrall's brother's death, Cattrall responded on social media, calling Parker a "hypocrite" and stating, "You are not my family. You are not my friend."

But behind the scenes, hundreds of other spats will never see the light of day. "Some of a publicist's best work may never be seen," says Daniel Bee, a publicist and brand consultant based in Los Angeles, "because it stopped something that was wrong, or re-crafted something to a different narrative, or pointed the light in a different direction.

"The most interesting stuff I've ever done as a publicist is the stuff nobody will ever know about."

'Powerful forces at play'

Since Daniel Bee started out as an entertainment publicist in 1997, he has observed a shift in the wider industry. "I started my career in the British media, there were 11 national newspapers competing with each other. It was a bear pit, hard work, and it was getting to know individuals via relationships.

"Now, you're up against an anonymous algorithm and accounts where you don't know who you're up against. It's harder to control than ever before."

Certainly, social media has posed challenges for those attempting to control narratives around major films and their stars – while also heralding new forms of "dark arts" through which publicists can attempt to shape opinion.

"There has always been an army of advisors and consultants doing PR voodoo," says Eriq Gardner, entertainment law expert and founding partner of Puck News. "While I'd love to say the public is media-literate and savvy enough to read between the lines to see the spin, the truth is there are a lot of powerful forces at play and sometimes a large amount of misinformation."

So-called PR voodoo is different now that a celebrity – or their fans – can access an audience of millions with a click.

While the publicists of previous eras might only have had to worry about print and broadcast platforms, smartphones and social media mean today's digital landscape is a wild west where anyone can shape their own narrative. A badly judged post or comment can damage an actor's career.

But the flipside is a whole new medium in which PRs can practise their "voodoo".

Astroturfing and ways to 'cause mischief'

One of the tactics is "astroturfing" – or disguising an orchestrated campaign as a spontaneous up-swelling of public opinion.

This works by manipulating public opinion and creating a false impression of grassroots support (hence the name) or opposition, often coordinated through social media accounts in a way that seems organic.

The practice isn't new, but has been given new life with the advent of social media algorithms.

"It's deliberately planting disinformation, or twisted versions of the truth, in certain sections of social media," says Carla Speight, founder of the PR Mastery app. "The aim is the halfway point of influential where they will get a bit of traction, but so that it's not too obvious – you wouldn't hire a Kardashian to do it.

"It's built up in layers," she continues. "It's like playing a very sinister game of chess. You're putting all the pieces in the right places, just the right amount of mixed-up information, and then you just watch it explode."

Although the posts might appear to be genuine public opinion, in fact it's a faked crowd – whether that's made up of bots or real people, who can be paid to coordinate their posts.

"All it takes is one or two people to create a meme and put it with the right people," says Ms Speight. "It needs to appear as a trend, and then it's gone. Something is dripped here, something else over there, and when it's done well… it causes a bit of mischief."

Reinventing an age-old tactic?

But all of this is simply a new platform for an age-old trend that has been going on long before the advent of social media, according to Mr Bee. "Undetected smear campaigns have always been a thing," he points out.

"Previously it would have been a publicist whispering to a diarist of a national newspaper. The issue with digital media is it's anonymous and untraceable."

What has changed, he continues, is that audiences have become savvier. "Whereas before, a quite subservient audience would just take what was given to them in the media, with natural scepticism, curiosity, and a greater level of information, I think people use more critical thinking."

Eriq Gardner is less convinced: "I'm not sure the public approaches what they read with enough scepticism."

And yet those in the industry are often alert to it. According to Ms Speight, "Usually, there's a distinct sort of tell, and it may be the PR thing where we have 'spidey senses' and we can sort of see it, but you're asking, 'Where has that come from? Who started that?' And when there's never a specific place to point it to, that's usually a tell-tale sign."

The Hollywood ecosystem

What's clear, though, is that, with studios providing some publications with significant advertising revenue, as well as supplying talent for special events and front covers, revelations often emerge elsewhere in the media.

"When [scandals] come out, it's usually from places outside of Hollywood," argues Mr Rushfield. "The Harvey Weinstein story was broken by The New York Times and the New Yorker."

It was The New York Times that first reported Lively's legal complaint in December. "It's one of the few places that can afford to do that, and then everyone else jumped in so nobody was sticking their neck out." Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against the New York Times in December, although a federal judge indicated this week that it might be dismissed.

Even when bigger outlets break news about Hollywood disputes, the growing dominance of social media means that stories might not have the same cut-through they had previously.

Doreen St Felix, a writer who was previously an editor on Lena Dunham's newsletter, recently wrote in The New Yorker that stories of harassment and abuse, for example, now receive a "curdled, cynical, and exhausted reception" - this, less than a decade after the emergence of the MeToo movement.

She went on to claim that: "The late 2010s genre of #MeToo reportage cannot thrive on today's volatile internet. Information is misinformation and vice versa. Victims are offenders and offenders are victims."

Sometimes, however, the best way for publicists to prevent stories being amplified is by bypassing social media entirely when reacting to a scandal.

"If you give it to the press first, they don't quote as many of the comments on social media," says Ms Speight. "You control the narrative completely, because the comments come afterwards."

Mr Rushfield points out that very little of the revelations in the entertainment press comes out because someone "uncovered" something. "Almost everything you read is there because somebody placed it there - somebody is dictating a story."

What viewers want

None of this industry would exist if the appetite weren't there and if the viewing public didn't want to unpick details about their lives – and rifts. And yet attitudes towards celebrity have undoubtedly changed since the advent of social media.

"It's now a two-way communication, which it never was before," points out Mr Bee. "It was generally celebrities, or lawyer or government or whatever, just saying something that gets reported, and that message is conveyed. Now, you have to be prepared for a two-way conversation."

But he thinks there are different attitudes to the media today than in the era of celebrity gossip magazines. Nodding to the UK, he continues: "We had the Leveson Inquiry, we're about to get an ITV drama about phone hacking, it's as if the curtain has been lifted."

As for the Lively and Baldoni lawsuits, it's not clear how these will play out - but the very fact that it has so unusually spilled into the public domain is a reminder of how well-oiled the Hollywood publicity machine is the rest of the time. And that is unlikely to change soon.

BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.

A Palestinian who made antisemitic social media posts has been charged with knowingly arriving in the UK without leave, the Home Office says.

Mosab Abdulkarim Al-Gassas - also known as Abu Wadee - is believed to have arrived by small boat and been brought ashore in Kent on Thursday but was not arrested until Sunday evening, a day after newspapers first reported his arrival.

A Home Office spokesperson said he had been remanded in custody.

Abu Wadee will appear at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it had uncovered videos in which he prayed for all Jews to be killed, and pictures he had posted of himself holding an assault rifle.

It said the Home Office must take immediate action to "ensure that he cannot pose a threat to public security".

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp had written to the government earlier, calling for him to be "deported immediately".

Philp said: "I am glad the authorities have tracked him down, but he should never have been able to get here in the first place."

A Home Office spokesperson said earlier: "The government is committed to ending small boat crossings which undermine our border security, and restoring order to the asylum system to ensure that the rules are respected and enforced.

"The British public can be reassured that we take all steps necessary at all times to protect the nation's security, including taking action in the Border Security Bill to give the police and immigration officers stronger powers to act where anyone poses a threat."

US stocks plunged on Monday as fears grew over an economic slowdown, after President Donald Trump did not rule out a recession.

The Nasdaq sank by 4.0% at the close of trading, its largest single-day loss since 2022, and there were heavy losses on other markets with tech stocks seeing the largest drops.

Tesla shares fell about 15.4%, while chipmaker Nvidia was down more than 5%. Other major tech stocks including Meta, Amazon and Alphabet also sank.

The S&P 500 Index slid 2.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.1%.

It comes after Trump said the US economy was in a period of transition, after he was asked about concerns over a potential recession.

Speaking to Fox News in an interview broadcast on Sunday but recorded on Thursday, Trump appeared to acknowledge the concerns. "I hate to predict things like that," he said. "There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing."

There are growing fears among economic analysts that growth will slow and prices will rise.

Last week, the main US markets fell back to the level before Trump's election victory last November, which had initially been welcomed investors due to hopes of tax cuts and lighter regulation.

Head in hands, eight-year-old Timmy muttered to himself as he tried to beat a robot powered by artificial intelligence at a game of chess.

But this was not an AI showroom or laboratory – this robot was living on a coffee table in a Beijing apartment, along with Timmy.

The first night it came home, Timmy hugged his little robot friend before heading to bed. He doesn't have a name for it – yet.

"It's like a little teacher or a little friend," the boy said, as he showed his mum the next move he was considering on the chess board.

Moments later, the robot chimed in: "Congrats! You win." Round eyes blinking on the screen, it began rearranging the pieces to start a new game as it continued in Mandarin: "I've seen your ability, I will do better next time."

China is embracing AI in its bid to become a tech superpower by 2030.

DeepSeek, the breakthrough Chinese chatbot that caught the world's attention in January, was just the first hint of that ambition.

Money is pouring into AI businesses seeking more capital, fuelling domestic competition. There are more than 4,500 firms developing and selling AI, schools in the capital Beijing are introducing AI courses for primary and secondary students later this year, and universities have increased the number of places available for students studying AI.

"This is an inevitable trend. We will co-exist with AI," said Timmy's mum, Yan Xue. "Children should get to know it as early as possible. We should not reject it."

She is keen for her son to learn both chess and the strategy board game Go – the robot does both, which persuaded her that its $800 price tag was a good investment. Its creators are already planning to add a language tutoring programme.

Perhaps this was what the Chinese Communist Party hoped for when it declared in 2017 that AI would be "the main driving force" of the country's progress. President Xi Jinping is now betting big on it, as a slowing Chinese economy grapples with the blow of tariffs from its biggest trading partner, the United States.

Beijing plans to invest 10tn Chinese yuan ($1.4tn; £1tn) in the next 15 years as it competes with Washington to gain the edge in advanced tech. AI funding got yet another boost at the government's annual political gathering, which is currently under way. This comes on the heels of a 60 billion yuan-AI investment fund created in January, just days after the US further tightened export controls for advanced chips and placed more Chinese firms on a trade blacklist.

But DeepSeek has shown that Chinese companies can overcome these barriers. And that's what has stunned Silicon Valley and industry experts – they did not expect China to catch up so soon.

A race among dragons

It's a reaction Tommy Tang has become accustomed to after six months of marketing his firm's chess-playing robot at various competitions.

Timmy's machine comes from the same company, SenseRobot, which offers a wide range in abilities – Chinese state media hailed an advanced version in 2022 that beat chess Grand Masters at the game.

"Parents will ask about the price, then they will ask where I am from. They expect me to come from the US or Europe. They seem surprised that I am from China," Mr Tang said, smiling. "There will always be one or two seconds of silence when I say I am from China."

His firm has sold more than 100,000 of the robots and now has a contract with a major US supermarket chain, Costco.

One of the secrets to China's engineering success is its young people. In 2020, more than 3.5 million of the country's students graduated with degrees in science, technology, engineering and maths, better known as STEM.

That's more than any other country in the world - and Beijing is keen to leverage it. "Building strength in education, science and talent is a shared responsibility," Xi told party leaders last week.

Ever since China opened its economy to the world in the late 1970s, it has "been through a process of accumulating talent and technology," says Abbott Lyu, vice-president of Shanghai-based Whalesbot, a firm that makes AI toys. "In this era of AI, we've got many, many engineers, and they are hardworking."

Behind him, a dinosaur made of variously coloured bricks roars to life. It's being controlled through code assembled on a smartphone by a seven-year-old.

The company is developing toys to help children as young as three learn code. Every package of bricks comes with a booklet of code. Children can then choose what they want to build and learn how to do it. The cheapest toy sells for around $40.

"Other countries have AI education robots as well, but when it comes to competitiveness and smart hardware, China is doing better," Mr Lyu insists.

The success of DeepSeek turned its CEO Liang Wenfeng into a national hero and "is worth 10 billion yuan of advertising for [China's] AI industry," he added.

"It has let the public know that AI is not just a concept, that it can indeed change people's lives. It has inspired public curiosity."

Six homegrown AI firms, including DeepSeek, have now been nicknamed China's six little dragons by the internet – the others are Unitree Robotics, Deep Robotics, BrainCo, Game Science, and Manycore Tech.

Some of them were at a recent AI fair in Shanghai, where the biggest Chinese firms in the business showed off their advances, from search and rescue robots to a backflipping dog-like one, which wandered the halls among visitors.

In one bustling exhibition hall, two teams of humanoid robots battled it out in a game of football, complete in red and blue jerseys. The machines fell when they clashed – and one of them was even taken off the field in a stretcher by their human handler who was keen to keep the joke going.

It was hard to miss the air of excitement among developers in the wake of DeepSeek. "Deepseek means the world knows we are here," said Yu Jingji, a 26-year-old engineer.

'Catch-up mode'

But as the world learns of China's AI potential, there are also concerns about what AI is allowing the Chinese government to learn about its users.

AI is hungry for data - the more it gets, the smarter it makes itself and, with around a billion mobile phone users compared to just over 400 million in the US, Beijing has a real advantage.

The West, its allies and many experts in these countries believe that data gathered by Chinese apps such as DeepSeek, RedNote or TikTok can be accessed by the Chinese Communist Party. Some point to the country's National Intelligence Law as evidence of this.

But Chinese firms, including ByteDance, which owns TikTok, says the law allows for the protection of private companies and personal data. Still, suspicion that US user data on TikTok could end up in the hands of the Chinese government drove Washington's decision to ban the hugely popular app.

That same fear – where privacy concerns meet national security challenges - is hitting Deepseek. South Korea banned new downloads of DeepSeek, while Taiwan and Australia have barred the app from government-issued devices.

Chinese companies are aware of these sensitivities and Mr Tang was quick to tell the BBC that "privacy was a red line" for his company. Beijing also realises that this will be a challenge in its bid to be a global leader in AI.

"DeepSeek's rapid rise has triggered hostile reactions from some in the West," a commentary in the state-run Beijing Daily noted, adding that "the development environment for China's AI models remains highly uncertain".

But China's AI firms are not deterred. Rather, they believe thrifty innovation will win them an undeniable advantage – because it was DeepSeek's claim that it could rival ChatGPT for a fraction of the cost that shocked the AI industry.

So the engineering challenge is how to make more, for less. "This was our Mission Impossible," Mr Tang said. His company found that the robotic arm used to move chess pieces was hugely expensive to produce and would drive the price up to around $40,000.

So, they tried using AI to help do the work of engineers and enhance the manufacturing process. Mr Tang claims that has driven the cost down to $1,000.

"This is innovation," he says. "Artificial engineering is now integrated into the manufacturing process."

This could have enormous implications as China applies AI on a vast scale. State media already show factories full of humanoid robots. In January, the government said that it would promote the development of AI-powered humanoid robots to help look after its rapidly ageing population.

Xi has repeatedly declared "technological self-reliance" a key goal, which means China wants to create its own advanced chips, to make up for US export restrictions that could hinder its plans.

The Chinese leader knows he is in for a long race – the Beijing Daily recently warned that the DeepSeek moment was not a time for "AI triumphalism" because China was still in "catch-up mode".

President Xi is investing heavily in artificial intelligence, robots and advanced tech in preparation for a marathon that he hopes China will eventually win.

US stocks plunged on Monday as fears grew over an economic slowdown, after President Donald Trump did not rule out a recession.

The Nasdaq sank by 4.0% at the close of trading, its largest single-day loss since 2022, and there were heavy losses on other markets with tech stocks seeing the largest drops.

Tesla shares fell about 15.4%, while chipmaker Nvidia was down more than 5%. Other major tech stocks including Meta, Amazon and Alphabet also sank.

The S&P 500 Index slid 2.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.1%.

It comes after Trump said the US economy was in a period of transition, after he was asked about concerns over a potential recession.

Speaking to Fox News in an interview broadcast on Sunday but recorded on Thursday, Trump appeared to acknowledge the concerns. "I hate to predict things like that," he said. "There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing."

There are growing fears among economic analysts that growth will slow and prices will rise.

Last week, the main US markets fell back to the level before Trump's election victory last November, which had initially been welcomed investors due to hopes of tax cuts and lighter regulation.

"She's a phony, but I guess the public likes that…" This is the line that actress Joan Crawford is said to have declared about film star Bette Davis.

The back-and-forth sniping between the pair played out in the tabloids of the 1930s and 40s. "Bette is a survivor... She survived herself," Crawford is also said to have remarked.

Their tempestuous relationship was so notorious that in 2017 it was made into an Emmy award-winning TV series, Feud.

Hollywood rivalries are of course nothing new - yet conflicts today rarely play out so publicly. That might be why the dispute between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, which spilled out into the open in December 2024, is still in the headlines three months on.

The subsequent legal battle brought to light a fallout during production of the film, It Ends With Us. After the promotional and cinematic run had ended, the pair - who didn't appear on the red carpet together at the premiere in New York - filed lawsuits against each other.

Lively has accused Baldoni and others of carrying out a smear campaign against her after she complained about alleged sexual harassment on set. Baldoni, meanwhile, has accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicist of carrying out a smear campaign against him, and claim that she tried to take over control of the film. Both sides deny all allegations.

What emerged as this all played out is that crisis PR managers had been employed. Legal representatives for Lively obtained numerous text messages between Baldoni's publicist Jennifer Abel and the crisis team he retained, led by Melissa Nathan, whose previous clients include Johnny Depp and Drake. Ms Nathan was alleged to have texted Ms Abel, "You know we can bury anyone."

Lively has now reportedly taken on the CIA's former deputy chief of staff Nick Shapiro to advise on her legal communications strategy.

While the outcomes of the lawsuits remain to be seen but the feud has cast the spotlight on an industry that would ordinarily remain largely invisible: that is, the publicity machine at work behind the scenes in Hollywood.

"On every set, there are fights, liaisons… there are all sorts of things that go on," explains Richard Rushfield, founder and columnist at Hollywood newsletter The Ankler. "Hollywood is a world full of very messy people coming together for these giant projects, where they put together teams quickly to make these things and disband immediately after.

"Between all that a lot of stuff goes on, and they deal with it quietly – they're very obsessive about controlling the narrative. When this stuff explodes into the public, beyond control, it makes everyone very nervous."

But the world of the Hollywood PR has shifted in recent years, partly because of the growth of social media, which has changed the relationship between celebrities and fans, bringing them into direct contact and removing some of the mystique.

So, what does that mean for the people whose job it is to keep a lid on the industry's messy reality?

From Tom Hardy to Sarah Jessica Parker

Few fallouts have spilled out into the open in recent years – and those that did were picked over simply because they're so rare. Actor Dwayne Johnson revealed "a fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaborating" with his Fast & Furious co-star Vin Diesel, in a 2018 interview.

The stars of another action film, Mad Max: Fury Road, Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, are reported to have filmed many of their scenes separately.

And then there were the alleged tensions between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker, who were co-stars of Sex and the City, which ran for six years. In 2018, after Parker offered condolences for Cattrall's brother's death, Cattrall responded on social media, calling Parker a "hypocrite" and stating, "You are not my family. You are not my friend."

But behind the scenes, hundreds of other spats will never see the light of day. "Some of a publicist's best work may never be seen," says Daniel Bee, a publicist and brand consultant based in Los Angeles, "because it stopped something that was wrong, or re-crafted something to a different narrative, or pointed the light in a different direction.

"The most interesting stuff I've ever done as a publicist is the stuff nobody will ever know about."

'Powerful forces at play'

Since Daniel Bee started out as an entertainment publicist in 1997, he has observed a shift in the wider industry. "I started my career in the British media, there were 11 national newspapers competing with each other. It was a bear pit, hard work, and it was getting to know individuals via relationships.

"Now, you're up against an anonymous algorithm and accounts where you don't know who you're up against. It's harder to control than ever before."

Certainly, social media has posed challenges for those attempting to control narratives around major films and their stars – while also heralding new forms of "dark arts" through which publicists can attempt to shape opinion.

"There has always been an army of advisors and consultants doing PR voodoo," says Eriq Gardner, entertainment law expert and founding partner of Puck News. "While I'd love to say the public is media-literate and savvy enough to read between the lines to see the spin, the truth is there are a lot of powerful forces at play and sometimes a large amount of misinformation."

So-called PR voodoo is different now that a celebrity – or their fans – can access an audience of millions with a click.

While the publicists of previous eras might only have had to worry about print and broadcast platforms, smartphones and social media mean today's digital landscape is a wild west where anyone can shape their own narrative. A badly judged post or comment can damage an actor's career.

But the flipside is a whole new medium in which PRs can practise their "voodoo".

Astroturfing and ways to 'cause mischief'

One of the tactics is "astroturfing" – or disguising an orchestrated campaign as a spontaneous up-swelling of public opinion.

This works by manipulating public opinion and creating a false impression of grassroots support (hence the name) or opposition, often coordinated through social media accounts in a way that seems organic.

The practice isn't new, but has been given new life with the advent of social media algorithms.

"It's deliberately planting disinformation, or twisted versions of the truth, in certain sections of social media," says Carla Speight, founder of the PR Mastery app. "The aim is the halfway point of influential where they will get a bit of traction, but so that it's not too obvious – you wouldn't hire a Kardashian to do it.

"It's built up in layers," she continues. "It's like playing a very sinister game of chess. You're putting all the pieces in the right places, just the right amount of mixed-up information, and then you just watch it explode."

Although the posts might appear to be genuine public opinion, in fact it's a faked crowd – whether that's made up of bots or real people, who can be paid to coordinate their posts.

"All it takes is one or two people to create a meme and put it with the right people," says Ms Speight. "It needs to appear as a trend, and then it's gone. Something is dripped here, something else over there, and when it's done well… it causes a bit of mischief."

Reinventing an age-old tactic?

But all of this is simply a new platform for an age-old trend that has been going on long before the advent of social media, according to Mr Bee. "Undetected smear campaigns have always been a thing," he points out.

"Previously it would have been a publicist whispering to a diarist of a national newspaper. The issue with digital media is it's anonymous and untraceable."

What has changed, he continues, is that audiences have become savvier. "Whereas before, a quite subservient audience would just take what was given to them in the media, with natural scepticism, curiosity, and a greater level of information, I think people use more critical thinking."

Eriq Gardner is less convinced: "I'm not sure the public approaches what they read with enough scepticism."

And yet those in the industry are often alert to it. According to Ms Speight, "Usually, there's a distinct sort of tell, and it may be the PR thing where we have 'spidey senses' and we can sort of see it, but you're asking, 'Where has that come from? Who started that?' And when there's never a specific place to point it to, that's usually a tell-tale sign."

The Hollywood ecosystem

What's clear, though, is that, with studios providing some publications with significant advertising revenue, as well as supplying talent for special events and front covers, revelations often emerge elsewhere in the media.

"When [scandals] come out, it's usually from places outside of Hollywood," argues Mr Rushfield. "The Harvey Weinstein story was broken by The New York Times and the New Yorker."

It was The New York Times that first reported Lively's legal complaint in December. "It's one of the few places that can afford to do that, and then everyone else jumped in so nobody was sticking their neck out." Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against the New York Times in December, although a federal judge indicated this week that it might be dismissed.

Even when bigger outlets break news about Hollywood disputes, the growing dominance of social media means that stories might not have the same cut-through they had previously.

Doreen St Felix, a writer who was previously an editor on Lena Dunham's newsletter, recently wrote in The New Yorker that stories of harassment and abuse, for example, now receive a "curdled, cynical, and exhausted reception" - this, less than a decade after the emergence of the MeToo movement.

She went on to claim that: "The late 2010s genre of #MeToo reportage cannot thrive on today's volatile internet. Information is misinformation and vice versa. Victims are offenders and offenders are victims."

Sometimes, however, the best way for publicists to prevent stories being amplified is by bypassing social media entirely when reacting to a scandal.

"If you give it to the press first, they don't quote as many of the comments on social media," says Ms Speight. "You control the narrative completely, because the comments come afterwards."

Mr Rushfield points out that very little of the revelations in the entertainment press comes out because someone "uncovered" something. "Almost everything you read is there because somebody placed it there - somebody is dictating a story."

What viewers want

None of this industry would exist if the appetite weren't there and if the viewing public didn't want to unpick details about their lives – and rifts. And yet attitudes towards celebrity have undoubtedly changed since the advent of social media.

"It's now a two-way communication, which it never was before," points out Mr Bee. "It was generally celebrities, or lawyer or government or whatever, just saying something that gets reported, and that message is conveyed. Now, you have to be prepared for a two-way conversation."

But he thinks there are different attitudes to the media today than in the era of celebrity gossip magazines. Nodding to the UK, he continues: "We had the Leveson Inquiry, we're about to get an ITV drama about phone hacking, it's as if the curtain has been lifted."

As for the Lively and Baldoni lawsuits, it's not clear how these will play out - but the very fact that it has so unusually spilled into the public domain is a reminder of how well-oiled the Hollywood publicity machine is the rest of the time. And that is unlikely to change soon.

BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.

An Albanian national who travelled to the UK illegally has told the BBC how his life became "unbearable" after he ended up working on a cannabis farm.

Gzim, who wished to remain anonymous, was one of more than 12,600 Albanians who made the trip to the UK by small boat in 2022 - the peak year for English Channel migrant crossings.

Last year the number of Albanians that made the dangerous journey dropped to just 616 people, following a campaign by the UK and Albanian governments.

Gzim says he is speaking out to warn others, as the UK government relaunches a social media campaign aimed at warning Albanians who enter illegally of possible hardships in the UK.

He says he found a smuggler on TikTok who agreed to help him make the journey to England, and after travelling to France via buses, he arrived in Dunkirk, where a boat was launched to Dover.

He says his cousins, who were already in the UK, paid the smuggler £3,500 for him to cross the channel.

After being placed in a hotel, he says he was able to leave unnoticed to work on a cannabis farm.

He said: "I wanted a better life, to help my family, like all the other people who have done this journey.

"I knew the risks involved with this kind of business, but I hoped that I wouldn't be unlucky."

He says the cannabis farm was broken into and because of this he didn't get paid.

Gzim moved into a construction role where he says he felt forced to take a lower wage - not enough to cover his own expenses and support his family back home.

Five months after arriving in the UK he said it got so "unbearable" he decided to return to Albania.

He added: "I dreamed of other things. I hoped I would make it.

"Nobody wants to leave his homeland. Nobody wants to leave his people and his friends. But in Albania it is a war of survival and I didn't have any other choice."

• How many people cross the Channel in small boats

New social media adverts are highlighting stories of migrants who entered the UK illegally "only to face debt and exploitation".

This approach originally started in 2023 under the Conservative government.

It followed a cooperation agreement signed by the UK and Albania under the previous government to try and reduce illegal migration.

The numbers on small boats had already started to fall before the agreement was struck.

The National Crime Agency said the reduction in crossings is due to a number of different factors, including law enforcement activity, deportations, diminished demand for travel to the UK and potential displacement to other methods.

Last year more than 2,600 people were returned to Albania, more than any other nationality.

Balkans expert Andi Hoxhaj told a a committee of MPs in 2022 that he estimated about 40% of people leave Albania for "economic opportunities".

Lavdrim Krashi, an MP in the ruling Socialist Party, said some people had been lured on social media by promises of a better life in Britain.

He told the BBC: "The promotion was made to especially young people to come to the UK and if you make it there, don't worry about any finances because money really grows on trees, and we know that's not the case."

"The numbers travelling illegally has drastically reduced in the last few years, but always more can be done".

"It's not in our interest to lose our young people, we want to make them thrive in the Albanian economy".

Families left behind

But there are also ongoing concerns about Albanians being trafficked into the UK.

They are still among the most common nationalities referred to the National Referral Mechanism as potential modern day slaves.

Jorida Tabaku, an opposition MP from the Democratic Party said: "When people go there they face a different reality".

"A lot of them are paying very much to go to the UK, a lot of them are leaving families behind because they are unemployed men."

Albanian TV journalist Eraldo Harlicaj says depopulation of the country has been an issue for years.

"We have lots of problems here again, " he said.

"Nothing has changed about Albania from 2022 when we had the peak of illegal migration.

"Most of the young Albanians who wanted to go to England are in England, so we don't have any more to send."

Since 2022 the British Embassy has invested £6m in a project aimed at stemming the flow of people leaving northern Albania for a life of illegal working in the UK.

The New Perspectives programme is designed to create job and business opportunities.

Vasyl Chornyi, the team leader, said: "There are organised criminal groups using their social media, trying to lure people into trafficking scheme."

"Trying to change the narrative with a positive image that people can make their life here is extremely important," he added.

The project provides business mentoring and coaches people in employment and entrepreneurship skills.

Albert Halilaj, the Mayor of Kukës said: "The number of immigrants going abroad is falling down. The young people of Kukës are not looking to migrate anymore.

"Tourism is the sole focus of the future of Kukës, and i'd like to make a public call to all the immigrants abroad that they can return here and they will find support for their investments in every field."

The migration agreement with Britain has also resulted in closer co-operation to tackle people smuggling.

Head of the Albanian Border and Migration Police, Saimir Boshnjaku, said: "Albanian law enforcement officers have been deployed in the UK, especially in Dover, to support the British authorities".

A network of UK-funded cameras has also been installed on the Albania-Kosovo border to tackle illegal migration and criminal gangs.

The equipment includes a fleet of drones and number plate recognition cameras to recognise British vehicles which criminals use to avoid detection by the local police.

Minister for Europe, Stephen Doughty said: "By working directly with Albanian communities, we are discouraging the dangerous journeys to the UK.

"Together with tougher border controls and cracking down on people-smuggling gangs, the government is focused on the international challenge and delivering on its Plan for Change."

Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

Overflowing wheelie bins and black bags piled high have become commonplace in Birmingham in recent weeks.

It's because refuse collectors have been striking on and off since January - and it shows.

Many streets are littered with the contents of the bins, with rubbish strewn everywhere as animals have clawed their way into them.

Rat infestations have been reported in parts of the city as the rodents have enjoyed feasting on the fallout of the row, which is over plans to downgrade some staff and reduce their pay.

On Tuesday an indefinite all-out strike gets under way, prompting fears over the scale of the vermin plaguing some areas.

The council said it had made a "fair and reasonable" offer to the union Unite, whose members have staged the series of one-day walkouts.

In some parts of the second city, residents said bins had not been collected since mid-February.

Abu Shah, a shop owner in Ward End, described the situation as "terrible".

"People are leaving their bins anywhere and everywhere," he said.

"Rats are slowly getting into them and opening them up. You can see nappies coming out the bags.

"It's just going to get worse and worse. Someone needs to do something about it and come to an agreement."

Teddy Smith, who has lived in Digbeth for 15 years, said it was "horrific".

"There's already a rat infestation around here now. They are coming out to lunch every day," he said.

"[The rubbish] is alive at night, completely alive. If it is left like this... I don't know what the future holds. It's going to get even worse."

Pest control specialists have seen a spike in calls since the one-day walkouts started.

William Timms, owner of WJ Pest Solutions, said his had gone up 75%.

"There are rats in front gardens, back, and gaining access because of the bins being left out.

"We're going to be inundated with them. It's unbelievable at the moment. The all-out strike is going to make it worse."

He urged people to keep their rubbish bags high off the ground and away from walls so rats can't get on them.

Unite has claimed 70 staff could lose up to £8,000 a year each, which its national lead officer Onay Kasab described as an "absolute abomination" and "appalling".

"We don't want to be out on strike but it doesn't have to be this way," he said. "Our members are out on strike because we want to get to an agreement."

The council, whose finances have been overseen by government commissioners since the authority declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023, said only 17 staff would be affected by changes and none would lose as much as the union suggested.

A spokesman added: "This escalation of industrial action will mean greater disruption to residents - despite the fair and reasonable offer that the council made to Unite.

"To the small number of workers whose wages are impacted ongoing by the changes to the service (of whom there are now only 40) we have already offered alternatives.

"Our door is still open, and we would encourage Unite to come back to the table."

A Palestinian who made antisemitic social media posts has been charged with knowingly arriving in the UK without leave, the Home Office says.

Mosab Abdulkarim Al-Gassas - also known as Abu Wadee - is believed to have arrived by small boat and been brought ashore in Kent on Thursday but was not arrested until Sunday evening, a day after newspapers first reported his arrival.

A Home Office spokesperson said he had been remanded in custody.

Abu Wadee will appear at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it had uncovered videos in which he prayed for all Jews to be killed, and pictures he had posted of himself holding an assault rifle.

It said the Home Office must take immediate action to "ensure that he cannot pose a threat to public security".

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp had written to the government earlier, calling for him to be "deported immediately".

Philp said: "I am glad the authorities have tracked him down, but he should never have been able to get here in the first place."

A Home Office spokesperson said earlier: "The government is committed to ending small boat crossings which undermine our border security, and restoring order to the asylum system to ensure that the rules are respected and enforced.

"The British public can be reassured that we take all steps necessary at all times to protect the nation's security, including taking action in the Border Security Bill to give the police and immigration officers stronger powers to act where anyone poses a threat."

An argument in the White House tore apart the US alliance with Ukraine, shook European leaders and highlighted JD Vance's key role in forcefully expressing Donald Trump's foreign policy. The vice-president has come out punching on the global stage - so what is it that drives his worldview?

Vance's first major foreign speech, at the Munich Security Conference in mid-February, caught many by surprise.

Rather than focusing on the war raging in Ukraine, the US vice-president only briefly mentioned the bloodiest European conflict since World War Two.

Instead, he used his debut on the international stage to berate close US allies about immigration and free speech, suggesting the European establishment was anti-democratic. He accused them of ignoring the wills of their people and questioned what shared values they were truly banding together with the US to defend.

"If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you, nor for that matter is there anything you can do for the American people," he warned.

It was a bold and perhaps unexpected way to introduce himself to the world - by angering European allies. But days later he was back in the news, at the centre of a blistering row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he accused of being ungrateful.

For those who have been studying the rise of Vance, these two episodes came as no surprise.

The vice-president has come to represent an intellectual wing of the conservative movement that gives expression to Trumpism and in particular how its America First mantra applies beyond its borders. In writings and interviews, Vance has expressed an ideology that in his mind joins the dots between American workers, global elites and the role of the US in the wider world.

On the campaign trail with Donald Trump last year, Vance spent much of his time sharply criticising Democrats - the usual attack-dog duties that traditionally get dished out to running mates - and sparring with reporters.

• The 'hillbilly' Maga loyalist who became vice-president
• Vance took the lead attacking Zelensky. Why?

And while Elon Musk's outsized and unconventional role in the Trump administration initially overshadowed him, that Munich speech and the Oval Office showdown have raised the profile of Trump's deputy.

It's also led to questions about the winding ideological journey he's made during his years in the conservative movement - and what he truly believes now.

"He's much more of a pragmatist than an ideologue," said James Orr, associate professor of philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge and a friend whom Vance has described as his "British sherpa".

"He's able to articulate what is and is not in the American interest," Orr said. "And the American interest is not the interest of some abstract utopia or matrix of propositions and ideas, but the American people."

Vance has repeatedly returned to this "America First" - or perhaps "Americans First" - theme in speeches, drawing a line between what he castigates as Washington's economic and foreign policy orthodoxy abroad and the struggles of the left-behind American working class at home.

At the Republican National Convention last summer, for example, he lamented how in small towns across the US "jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war". And he attacked then-President Joe Biden, saying: "For half a century, he's been a champion of every single policy initiative to make America weaker and poorer."

But Vance is also someone who, after a tough upbringing in an Ohio family with Appalachian roots and sudden fame on the back of a bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, has tried out many different views.

Not only is he a former "Never Trumper" who described the US president in 2016 as "reprehensible" and "an idiot", his book places much of the blame for the plight of the rural poor squarely on the choices made by individuals.

More recently he's shifted that blame to elites – a group he's variously defined as Democrats, conventional Republicans, liberals, corporate leaders, globalists and academics.

In speeches, Vance regularly argues that "America is not just an idea… America is a nation."

He couples this statement with an anecdote about his family's ancestral graveyard in Kentucky, where he says he and his wife, and their children will one day be buried, arguing that family and homeland are more important than some of America's traditional core ideas.

In Vance's view, the Trump administration's priority should be to make life better for Americans who have been in the country for generations, and yet have little of the nation's vast wealth.

Rod Dreher, a conservative American writer who is also a friend of the vice-president, said Vance's thinking arises from a belief that "moderate normie Republicans… failed to offer anything to stop the so-called forever wars, and they also failed to offer anything to ordinary Americans like where he comes from, who are suffering economically from globalism and from the effects of mass migration and fentanyl."

"He got red-pilled, so to speak, by Donald Trump," Dreher told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme this week.

"Red-pilled" is internet slang for suddenly waking up to a supposedly hidden truth, as featured in The Matrix movies. It's commonly used by those on the right online who believe they have special access to reality and that people with liberal, centrist or establishment views are uncritical thinkers.

And Vance is a vice-president who, more than his boss, seems extremely plugged into internet culture. He's an enthusiastic user of X, often jumping directly into arguments rather than using it, as many politicians do, as a platform for announcements.

His appearances on fringe right-wing podcasts, while he was trying to drum up support for a Senate run, provided fodder for his opponents, as did provocative trollish comments such as that the US was being run by "childless cat ladies".

Married to the daughter of Indian immigrants, he has rejected and been rejected by members of the alt-right even if he does echo some of their views. However, he does have friends and allies both at the top of Silicon Valley and in some of its lesser known corners.

After graduating from Yale Law School, he was brought into the world of venture capital by influential Silicon Valley conservative Peter Thiel, who later funded his US Senate campaign.

He has cited people like the blogger Curtis Yarvin, a key guru in the "neo-reactionary" movement which dreams up fantasies of technologically-assisted, hyper-capitalist societies led by powerful monarchs.

His familiarity with the internet's fringes was further demonstrated when he spread false rumours about immigrants eating pets and an allegation about Ukrainian corruption - which the BBC traced back to Moscow.

• Why the Danes now feel threatened by Trump
• Greenland heads to polls as Trump eyes territory

"He sort of stews in this online world," said Cathy Young, a writer for the conservative, anti-Trump media outlet The Bulwark.

At the same time, Young said, his anecdote about family graveyards and homeland suggests another political tendency - a "disturbing undertone of nativism".

"That bothers some people and rightly so," she said. "Part of the American legacy is that we are a nation of immigrants. [Former Republican President] Ronald Reagan talked about that, about one of the distinctive things about this country is that anyone can come here from any part of the world and become an American."

Vance's "Americans First" thinking clearly extends to the issue of the war in Ukraine. When he was a senator, he was often critical of America's involvement in the war and the huge sums spent on it, his former Senate colleague Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, recalled.

"His position then was very much like what it is now… that the conflict must end," Hawley told the BBC. "It needs to end in a way that's maximally advantageous to the security of the United States and it needs to end in a way that gets our European allies to take increased responsibility."

Vance regularly accused the Biden administration of being more interested in Ukraine than in stemming illegal immigration. Writing in 2022, during his Senate campaign and after the Russian invasion, he said: "I will be damned if I am going to prioritize Ukraine's eastern border right now when our own southern border is engulfed by a human tsunami of illegal migrants."

His views burst out into the open during that dramatic argument with President Zelensky in the Oval Office. Vance accused Zelensky of lacking respect, of sending politicians on a "propaganda tour" of Ukraine and of being insufficiently thankful for US aid.

"Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who's trying to save your country," he told the Ukrainian president.

The argument left European leaders scrambling to defend Zelensky, while also trying to maintain negotiations over a possible peace deal.

Vance then prompted widespread outrage from allies when he poured scorn on the idea of security guarantees in the form of troops "from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years".

He later denied he was talking about the UK or France, the only two European countries that have publicly stated their willingness to send peacekeepers to Ukraine.

But the vice-president's willingness to step on the toes of allies reflect a world view which, in his words, has little time for "moralisms about 'this country is good', 'this country is bad'".

"That doesn't mean you have to have a complete moral blind spot, but it means that you have to be honest about the countries that you're dealing with, and there's a complete failure to do that with most of our foreign policy establishment in this country," he told a New York Times columnist last year.

His tone has shifted from the two years he spent in the US Senate before being picked by Trump. Democrat Cory Booker remembered Vance as "very pragmatic and thoughtful".

"That's why some of this stuff surprises me," Booker told the BBC.

• Vance's cousin criticises him for 'belittling' Zelensky

Others detect the same disconnect.

David Frum, now a writer for The Atlantic magazine, said that Vance's views have changed significantly from when he first commissioned the former marine, who was attending Ohio State University at the time, to write for his website on conservative politics more than 15 years ago.

"He was not in any way the culture warrior that he is today," Frum said.

Frum, a former George W Bush speechwriter who's a staunch critic of Trump, called Vance's view of Russia "ideological admiration".

In Munich, as he spoke about free speech, he cited cases involving conservatives and Christians in Western countries but avoided any mention of Russia's harsh clampdowns on expression.

But he and his defenders view the situation through a different lens.

"It's not to say Russia isn't a threat, it's just to say that Europe and Great Britain frankly have far worse problems at home," Dreher said.

A quick end to the conflict in Ukraine is, in Vance's mind, not only about putting a stop to billions of dollars being spent thousands of miles away.

He himself has said that there are bigger issues for the US and its friends to focus on than Ukraine, namely the threat of China, which he has called "our most significant competitor... for the next 20 or 30 years".

Vance's views on Ukraine and his willingness to publicly air them provided a dramatic moment in the early days of Trump's second presidential term.

But it also offered a vivid illustration of the vice-president's ideology, his prominence in the Trump administration and how he views America's place in the world.

With reporting by Rachel Looker and Anthony Zurcher in Washington and Lily Jamali in San Francisco

Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.

Actor Gene Hackman was alone.

The two-time Academy Award winner didn't make any calls and missed meals.

Medical experts say it's possible the 95-year-old, who was in declining health and suffering from advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, did not even realise his wife of more than 30 years was dead in the home where he was living.

If he did, experts told the BBC, he likely went through various stages of confusion and grief, trying to wake her up before the disease caused him to become distracted or too overwhelmed to act - a process that likely repeated for days before he, too, died.

Officials in New Mexico say Betsy Arakawa, 65, died of a rare virus about seven days before Hackman perished on 18 February of natural causes.

The pair - and one of their dogs - were found dead in their Santa Fe home after neighbourhood security conducted a welfare check and saw their bodies on the ground through a window.

Authorities, at first, said the grim discovery was "suspicious enough" to launch an investigation.

Their remains were discovered in advanced stages of decomposition. Arakawa was found in a bathroom with scattered pills nearby. Hackman was found near the kitchen with a cane and sunglasses. One of their three dogs was found dead in a crate.

But a police investigation found no foul play.

Instead, the case has shed light on the grim realities of Alzheimer's disease, which damages and destroys cells in one's brain over time - taking away memory and other important mental functions.

"It's like he was living in a reel," Catherine V Piersol, an occupational therapist with decades of experience in dementia care, told the BBC of how Hackman may have experienced the repeated loss of his wife.

She noted patients with advanced Alzheimer's disease like the actor live in the present and are unable to both look back at moments in the past or look forward and act.

"I imagine he would be trying to wake her up and not being successful. But then [he] could have been distracted in another room because of one of the dogs or something," she described.

Then later, he'd again notice his wife on the ground and would "live through it again", she said.

Though no one knows how Hackman spent his last days alive, the grim nature of the possibilities were discussed by authorities and the area's medical examiner.

At a press conference last week, Dr Heather Jarrell, New Mexico's chief medical examiner, said Arakawa died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a respiratory illness caused by exposure to infected rodents. Hackman's death was the result of significant heart disease, with Alzheimer's disease as a contributing factor.

Given Hackman's advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, it is "quite possible that he was not aware that she [his wife] was deceased", Dr Jarrell said.

His autopsy indicated he had not eaten recently, though he showed no signs of dehydration. Officials found no evidence that he had communicated with anyone after his wife's death and could not determine whether he was able to care for himself.

Ms Piersol said patients with advanced Alzheimer's aren't able to pick up on environmental cues like light and darkness, making it harder to determine when he should eat, sleep or bathe themselves.

"Those [cues] are oftentimes just, no longer available to people at this stage of dementia," she said.

Dr Brendan Kelley, a neurologist who specialises in memory and cognition at UT Southwestern Medical Center, explained why Hackman may also not have been able to call authorities for help. He said Alzheimer's disease can leave patients caught between emotional discomfort and the inability to act on it.

"A person might feel worried or frightened, but at the same time they might not be capable to take the actions that you or I might normally think to do in order to alleviate that worry or concern, such as calling somebody else, or going to speak to a neighbour."

Dr Kelley says Alzheimer's patients experience emotions like pain and sadness, and experience physical needs like hunger and thirst, it's just harder for them to identify what they are feeling.

He said missing meals could also increase levels of confusion and agitation.

The couple's deaths and the startling details of Hackman living in the home for a week after his wife's passing has shocked the Santa Fe area, where the couple had lived for more than 20 years.

"It's just absolutely devastating," says Jeffery Gomez, a long-time resident of the city, who remembers seeing Hackman around town in his different cars, always with a smile on his face.

His partner, Linda, said the details were triggering, explaining she cared for her elderly mother with dementia. "Even when you have help, it's a lot," she said.

"We know Gene and his wife were very private people and she was probably trying to shield him from the public," she added, "but the thought of doing that alone? It's a lot to shoulder."

Laura N Gitlin, a behavioural scientist who researches ways to support caregivers told the BBC, this is becoming a common problem among caregivers.

"With the aging of a population, we also simultaneously have a shrinking of the number of people in the family, number of children, or relatives who live nearby," she explained.

Ms Gitlin noted along with there being less caregivers, there is less support for these individuals on making big decisions - such as when it's time to place a loved one in a home instead of caring for them by yourself.

Jeffery Gomez said he couldn't understand how no one checked in on the couple for such a long while.

"It breaks my heart he was alone so long."

A list of organisations in the UK offering support and information with some of the issues in this story is available at BBC Action Line.

An oil tanker and a cargo vessel have collided in the North Sea, the Coastguard has said.

An HM Coastguard spokesperson said: "HM Coastguard is currently co-ordinating the emergency response to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire."

The RNLI said there were reports "that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships".

The alarm was raised at 09:48 GMT and the incident "is ongoing", an HM Coastguard spokesman.

A Coastguard Rescue Helicopter from Humberside was called, alongside lifeboats from Skegness, Bridlington, Maplethorpe and Cleethorpes, an HM Coastguard fixed wing aircraft, and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability.

Live reporting

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

The government has a "moral duty" to help long-term sick and disabled people to work if they can, Labour MPs have said, as ministers plan to reform welfare.

The Get Britian Working group of 36 Labour MPs said the country faced "hard choices" to overcome a "crisis of economic inactivity", in a letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall.

The letter comes before Kendall is expected to set out changes to the welfare system, aimed at cutting the benefits bill.

The chancellor has earmarked several billion pounds in draft spending cuts to welfare and other government departments ahead of the Spring Statement.

There is unease over the plans within the party, with Labour MP Rachael Maskell warning against "draconian cuts" that risk "pushing disabled people into poverty".

Maskell told the BBC she had picked up "deep deep concern" among Labour MPs.

She said: "I look in the past at what Labour has achieved in this space and believe that we can hold onto our values, ensure that we're helping people and not harming people."

But ministers are worried about the surge in the number of people claiming benefits since the Covid pandemic and the cost to the taxpayer.

As of January, 9.3 million people aged 16 to 64 in the UK were economically inactive - a rise of 713,000 since the pandemic.

The Department of Work and Pensions says some 2.8 million people are economically inactive because of long-term sickness.

Last year, the government spent £65bn on sickness benefits and that figure is forecast to increase by tens of billions before the next general election.

Some of the reforms to the welfare system have already been announced and include plans to use 1,000 work coaches to help the long-term unemployed into work.

In its letter, the Get Britian Working group said the cost of worklessness among the long-term sick and disabled "goes far beyond economic necessity".

"It is a moral duty," the letter said.

The letter said the group - most of whom were elected for the first time at last July's general election - was formed to "press for fundamental change to our welfare system to support work".

"We believe reforming out broken system is not only necessary, but also a truly progressive endevour," the letter said.

On Sunday, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said the welfare system was "not fair on the taxpayer", as he confirmed changes to sickness benefits would be revealed soon.

"We don't believe it is good that if somebody could work with a bit of support that they're left to live a life on benefits," McFadden told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

He said 2.8 million people were currently on long-term sickness benefits and added that, if the government did not act, the level would rise to more than four million.

"We can't allow that to happen," he said.

A former senior Facebook executive has told the BBC how the social media giant worked "hand in glove" with the Chinese government on potential ways of allowing Beijing to censor and control content in China.

Sarah Wynn-Williams - a former global public policy director - says in return for gaining access to the Chinese market of hundreds of millions of users, Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, considered agreeing to hiding posts that were going viral, until they could be checked by the Chinese authorities.

Ms Williams - who makes the claims in a new book - has also filed a whistleblower complaint with the US markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleging Meta misled investors. The BBC has reviewed the complaint.

Facebook's parent company Meta, says Ms Wynn-Williams had her employment terminated in 2017 "for poor performance".

It is "no secret we were once interested" in operating services in China, it adds. "We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored."

Meta referred us to Mark Zuckerberg's comments from 2019, when he said: "We could never come to agreement on what it would take for us to operate there, and they [China] never let us in."

Facebook also used algorithms to spot when young teenagers were feeling vulnerable as part of research aimed at advertisers, Ms Wynn-Williams alleges.

A former New Zealand diplomat, she joined Facebook in 2011, and says she watched the company grow from "a front row seat".

Now she wants to show some of the "decision-making and moral compromises" that she says went on when she was there. It is a critical moment, she adds, as "many of the people I worked with… are going to be central" to the introduction of AI.

In her memoir, Careless People, Ms Wynn-Williams paints a picture of what she alleges working on Facebook's senior team was like.

Mr Zuckerberg, she says, did not get up before midday, loved karaoke and did not like to be beaten at board games, such as Risk. "I didn't realise that you were supposed to let him win. I was a little naive," she told us.

However, Ms Wynn-Williams says her allegations about the company's close relationship with China provide an insight into Facebook's decision-making at the time.

"China is Mark Zuckerberg's white whale," meaning a goal that he obsessively pursued, says Ms Wynn-Williams.

The country is the world's biggest social media market, but access to Facebook remains blocked there, alongside the likes of X and YouTube.

"It's the one piece on the board game that he hasn't conquered," she says.

Ms Wynn-Williams claims that in the mid-2010s, as part of its negotiations with the Chinese government, Facebook considered allowing it future access to Chinese citizens' user data.

"He was working hand in glove with the Chinese Communist Party, building a censorship tool… basically working to develop sort of the antithesis of many of the principles that underpin Facebook," she told the BBC.

Ms Wynn-Williams says governments frequently asked for explanations of how aspects of Facebook's software worked, but were told it was proprietary information.

"But when it came to the Chinese, the curtain was pulled back," she says.

"Engineers were brought out. They were walked through every aspect, and Facebook was making sure these Chinese officials were upskilled enough that they could not only learn about these products, but then test Facebook on the censorship version of these products that they were building."

Meta told the BBC that such claims about China had been "widely reported" at the time.

In her SEC complaint, Ms Wynn-Williams also alleges Mr Zuckerberg and other Meta executives had made "misleading statements… in response to Congressional inquiries" about China.

One answer given by Mr Zuckerberg to Congress in 2018 said Facebook was "not in a position to know exactly how the [Chinese] government would seek to apply its laws and regulations on content"

Meta told the BBC that Mr Zuckerberg gave accurate testimony, adding it did not operate services in China.

Most Facebook executives didn't allow their own children on Facebook - according to Ms Wynn-Williams. "They had screen bans. They certainly wouldn't allow them to use the product."

And yet she says reports from 2017 - that the company had been using algorithms to target and categorise vulnerable teens - were true.

"The algorithm could infer that they were feeling worthless or unhappy," she alleges.

The company - which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp - could, she claims, identify when a teenage girl had deleted a selfie on its platforms, and then notify a beauty company that it would be a good moment to target the child with an advert.

Ms Wynn-Williams says she "felt sick" at the thought and tried to push back, "although I knew it was futile".

"They said: 'The business side thinks this is exactly what we should be doing. We've got this amazing product, we can get young people, which is a really important advertising segment.'"

Meta told the BBC this was false - it has never offered tools to target people based on their emotional state - and that the research it previously did was to help marketers understand how people express themselves on Facebook, not to target ads.

Overall, Ms Wynn-Williams says the company has not done enough to address the issue of young people's safety on social media.

"This is one of the most valuable companies in the world. They could invest in this and make it a real priority and do more to fix it."

Facebook said it was transparent about advert-targeting and had shared updates regarding its approach to creating age-appropriate advert experiences for teens.

It also said it had introduced "Teen Accounts" for tens of millions of young people with built-in protections. It also said it was giving parents more oversight over their teens' use of the app.

As well as poor performance, Meta says the 45-year-old was also fired for "toxic behaviour" after she had made "misleading and unfounded allegations of harassment".

But Ms Wynn-Williams told the BBC she was let go after she had complained about inappropriate comments by one of her bosses - Joel Kaplan, who is now Meta's chief global affairs officer.

Meta told us she had been paid by "anti-Facebook activists" and she was not a whistleblower.

"Whistleblower status protects communications to the government, not disgruntled activists trying to sell books," it said.

In regard to Ms Wynn-Williams' book, Meta has confirmed to the BBC that it has launched legal action in the US to "halt the further distribution of defamatory and untrue information".

To counter this, a legal representative for Ms Wynn-Williams said: "Meta has made a number of false and inconsistent statements about Sarah since the news of her memoir broke... while Meta's statements are trying to mislead the public, the book speaks for itself"

We asked her why she was speaking out now. She said she wanted Meta to change as it "influences so much of our day-to-day life" and we need to ensure "we get the future we deserve".

"We're in this moment where tech and political leaders are coming together and as they combine forces, that has a lot of consequences for all of us.

"I think it's really important to understand that and to understand you look at all these engineers who are influencing the highest level of government."

A Palestinian who made antisemitic social media posts has been charged with knowingly arriving in the UK without leave, the Home Office says.

Mosab Abdulkarim Al-Gassas - also known as Abu Wadee - is believed to have arrived by small boat and been brought ashore in Kent on Thursday but was not arrested until Sunday evening, a day after newspapers first reported his arrival.

A Home Office spokesperson said he had been remanded in custody.

Abu Wadee will appear at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it had uncovered videos in which he prayed for all Jews to be killed, and pictures he had posted of himself holding an assault rifle.

It said the Home Office must take immediate action to "ensure that he cannot pose a threat to public security".

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp had written to the government earlier, calling for him to be "deported immediately".

Philp said: "I am glad the authorities have tracked him down, but he should never have been able to get here in the first place."

A Home Office spokesperson said earlier: "The government is committed to ending small boat crossings which undermine our border security, and restoring order to the asylum system to ensure that the rules are respected and enforced.

"The British public can be reassured that we take all steps necessary at all times to protect the nation's security, including taking action in the Border Security Bill to give the police and immigration officers stronger powers to act where anyone poses a threat."

A woman shot dead in a block of flats has been named locally as Joanne Penney.

The 40-year-old was killed at a property on Green Park in Talbot Green, Rhondda Cynon Taf, on Sunday evening.

A 42-year-old man from Talbot Green has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is in custody.

South Wales Police remain at the scene and are investigating the incident.

A number of crime scenes have been set up in the area as inquiries continue and road closures remain in place as officers gather evidence.

Det Ch Insp James Morris said: "I understand the concern this will cause the local community, and I want to reassure people that a team of experienced detectives are already working at pace to piece together the events of last night."

Residents of the town, approximately ten miles north-west of Cardiff, have spoken of their shock and alarm at the fatal shooting.

Local councillor Sarah Jane Davies said recent events in the area had caused "concern and alarm" in the community.

Calum Williams, who lives just a few houses from the incident, said he heard the gunshot.

"It's terrible. I live just two doors down from where it happened. I was making a bottle for the baby and I heard a gunshot.

"It's pretty frightening, especially with the baby."

Carolyn Pugh, who lives nearby, said she heard the police helicopter hovering last night.

"It was scary. Within seconds, they [police] were everywhere," she said.

"You didn't know what was happening but you knew there was something bad.

"I've been here about 28 years and it was never like this."

Local resident Anthony Dando, 59, also said he was shocked by the incident.

"We've had trouble around here before but never with a gun. It's frightening that sort of thing happens so close to your front door," he said.

"It's shocking to hear what happened to the girl. It's so sad for her family and our thoughts are with them."

At the scene - BBC Wales reporter Stephen Fairclough

There is shock here that a member of this community has been shot and killed at a home on a very ordinary street, just a stone's throw away from Talbot Green's popular out-of-town retail park.

The police outer cordon stretches across the road between a sheltered housing complex and a detached house.

Behind the cordons, scenes of crime officers and South Wales Police's scientific unit are examining a number of locations on the maisonette-lined cul-de-sac.

Police are signing residents in and out of the taped off area.

Some say this is a quiet area without any trouble. Others have said there are drug problems and have been fights.

All say, however, they never expected a gun to be used here.

The Trump administration is repurposing a mobile application - originally created to facilitate asylum appointments - into a way for undocumented migrants already in the US to "self-deport".

The app, known as CBP Home, allows migrants to submit an "intent to depart", which US Customs and Border Patrol says offers them a chance to leave without "harsher consequences".

US officials have repeatedly suggested that undocumented migrants in the country should leave voluntarily, rather than be arrested and subject to deportation.

This is the latest move in the White House's effort to dramatically overhaul the US immigration system, which has included promises of mass detentions.

Originally launched as CBP One in 2020, the mobile application was expanded during the Biden administration to allow prospective migrants to book appointments to appear at a port of entry.

At the time, officials credited the application with helping reduce detentions at the border and portrayed the technology as part of a larger effort to protect asylum seekers making the often dangerous journey.

Now, on the newly rebranded application, undocumented migrants identify themselves and declare their intention to leave the country.

In a statement, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that by self-deporting through the app, migrants "may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream".

"If they don't, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return," she added.

The app also asks migrants whether they have "enough money to depart the United States" and whether they have a "valid, unexpired passport from your original country of citizenship".

The BBC has contacted DHS for further details about how the process works once the forms on the app are filled out.

CBP Home can also be used to apply and pay for I-94 entry and exit cards up to seven days before travel, book inspections for perishable cargo and check wait times at US border crossings.

According to DHS, the app is meant to complement a $200m (£155m) domestic and international ad campaign calling for undocumented migrants to "stay out and leave now".

The Trump administration moved quickly to scrap the CBP One app as part of a larger shift in immigration strategy. It also paused parole programmes, and an uptick in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the country followed.

In late February, the administration said it would create a national registry for undocumented migrants and those failing to sign up could possibly face criminal prosecution.

The registration requires any undocumented migrants above the age of 14 to provide the US government an address and their fingerprints.

Experts said that the registration system will face hurdles, as it is difficult to enforce and fraught with logistical challenges.

US stocks plunged on Monday as fears grew over an economic slowdown, after President Donald Trump did not rule out a recession.

The Nasdaq sank by 4.0% at the close of trading, its largest single-day loss since 2022, and there were heavy losses on other markets with tech stocks seeing the largest drops.

Tesla shares fell about 15.4%, while chipmaker Nvidia was down more than 5%. Other major tech stocks including Meta, Amazon and Alphabet also sank.

The S&P 500 Index slid 2.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.1%.

It comes after Trump said the US economy was in a period of transition, after he was asked about concerns over a potential recession.

Speaking to Fox News in an interview broadcast on Sunday but recorded on Thursday, Trump appeared to acknowledge the concerns. "I hate to predict things like that," he said. "There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing."

There are growing fears among economic analysts that growth will slow and prices will rise.

Last week, the main US markets fell back to the level before Trump's election victory last November, which had initially been welcomed investors due to hopes of tax cuts and lighter regulation.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has accused Israel of weaponising humanitarian aid with its blockade of goods and electricity into Gaza.

Speaking in Geneva, Philippe Lazzarini warned of a renewed hunger crisis if aid supplies did not resume.

Israel stopped the entry of all aid at the beginning of the month, accusing Hamas of rejecting a US proposal to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire.

It also cut off electricity over the weekend - a move the UK and Germany have condemned - with Energy Minister Eli Cohen saying the move aimed to "bring back all the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after [the war]."

When the truce began, aid supplies increased tenfold, easing food shortages and restoring some health services.

Now those supplies have been blocked and electricity to a major water desalination plant has been cut.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres's spokesman said this would substantially reduce the availability of drinking water in Gaza.

"The Secretary-General is very concerned about Israel's decision to limit the electricity supply going into Gaza. This latest decision will substantially reduce the availability of drinking water in the Gaza Strip," said Stephane Dujarric.

"Starting today, the facility is set to run on backup generators, which will reduce water production capacity. Restoring this connection is vital for tens of thousands of families and children."

The Israeli government has further said it has not ruled out cutting off water supplies.

Mr Lazzarini also criticised Israel's move to cut off aid and electricity, saying an increasing impact on the population could be expected.

"Obviously, the risk is that we go back to a situation we experienced months ago about deepening hunger in the Gaza Strip," he said.

"Whatever the intent is, it's clearly a weaponisation of humanitarian aid into Gaza. We have seen the situation is deteriorating very, very quickly."

Israel has banned Unrwa amid claims some of its staff support Hamas and says other aid agencies should step in. But they too are being blocked from Gaza.

Mr Lazzarini said the only viable alternative to the agency was "capable Palestinian institutions... in a Palestinian state".

Unrwa was continuing to operate in Gaza and the West Bank, he said, adding that the Israeli ban had left it facing "serious operational challenges".

• What is Unrwa and why has Israel banned it?

Israeli negotiators were due in Qatar for talks on extending the ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel wants Hamas to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire.

But Hamas wants to start negotiations on the ceasefire's second phase, which would see the release of the remaining hostages from Gaza, withdrawal of Israeli forces and a permanent end to war.

Hamas is believed to be holding 24 living hostages as well as the bodies of 35 others.

Hamas's attack in October 2023 killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, inside Israel and saw 251 people taken hostage. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements.

Israel's military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters.

More than 30 people have been rescued following a collision between an oil tanker and a cargo vessel in the North Sea off the coast of East Yorkshire.

An emergency response has been ongoing since around 10:00 GMT on Monday and one vessel is believed to be leaking fuel into the sea. Here is what we know so far.

What are the ships involved in the incident?

The Stena Immaculate is a US-flagged oil and chemical tanker, which was on its way to Hull after departing from a Greek port, according to ship tracking site MarineTraffic.

• Latest updates on the tanker collision

The Solong is a Portuguese-flagged container vessel with capacity to carry 9,500 tonnes of cargo.

It had been making its way south from the Scottish port of Grangemouth to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Photos and videos from the scene showed large clouds of smoke billowing out from the oil tanker, and the company which manages the Stena Immaculate has reported "multiple explosions".

What were the ships carrying and has there been environmental damage?

The Stena Immaculate was carrying jet fuel - which, a US official confirmed to CBS News, the BBC's US partner, was being transported on behalf of the American military.

The US maintains several military facilities in the UK.

Crowley, the company which manages the vessel, confirmed that fuel had been released into the sea, though HM Coastguard said the extent of any pollution was still being assessed.

The Solong was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide among its cargo, according to a report from maritime data provider Lloyd's List Intelligence.

Dr Mark Hartl, associate professor of marine biology at Herriot Watt University, said sodium cyanide is very soluble in water and can be toxic because it interferes with the respiration of animals, but at this point it is not clear if any has entered the water.

Alastair Hay, professor of environmental toxicology at Leeds University, said there is a risk that some hydrogen cyanide gas might have been produced if the sodium cyanide came into contact with water. If this happened, the hydrogen cyanide "could present a risk to any of those involved in rescue", Prof Hay added.

Dr Hartl said marine creatures have a major avoidance reaction so may have already vacated the affected area.

Marine ecology and conservation expert Dr Tom Webb said the chemical pollution resulting from incidents like this one "can directly impact birds, and it can also have long-lasting effects on the marine food webs that support them".

How did the collision unfold?

Data from tracking site MarineTraffic appears to indicate that one ship was moving and the other was nearly stationary when the collision happened.

The Stena Immaculate was drifting at a speed of 0.1 knots at 09:48 GMT.

The Solong approached from the north at a speed of 16 knots.

Crowley said the Stena Immaculate was struck by the Solong while it was anchored.

It said its cargo tank carrying jet fuel was ruptured in the crash, causing a fire and the release of fuel.

However, it is still unclear what caused the cargo ship to strike the oil tanker.

How many people were on board?

We still do not know precisely how many people were on board, how many were injured or to what extent. No fatalities have been confirmed.

Local MP Graham Stuart said he had been informed that one person was in hospital, but the other 36 mariners across both crews were safe and accounted for, although that has not been confirmed by the authorities.

The chief executive of the Port of Grimsby earlier said that 32 people had been brought ashore.

The firm which operates the Stena Immaculate said its crew of more than 20 had all been brought to safety.

It is not known precisely how many people were on the Solong.

America's top diplomat has said that he sees promise in Ukraine's proposal for a partial ceasefire to end the three-year war with Russia, ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia between US and Ukrainian officials.

"I'm not saying that alone is enough but it's the kind of concession you would need to see in order to end the conflict," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.

Kyiv is expected to propose an aerial and naval truce with Russia during the negotiations on Tuesday, a Ukrainian official told AFP.

Russia has previously rejected the idea of a temporary ceasefire, saying it was an attempt to buy time and prevent Ukraine's military collapse.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although he is not expected to play any formal role in the talks between his country and the US.

The Ukrainian team will be represented by Zelensky's head of office Andriy Yermak, the country's national security adviser and several foreign and defence ministers.

Rubio will represent the US delegation alongside National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Before arriving in Jeddah on Monday, Rubio said that it was important to "establish clearly Ukraine's intentions" for a peace deal and that the country would "have to be prepared to do difficult things like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things to end this".

"I'm not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do," he added. "We want to listen to see how far they're willing to go, and compare that to what the Russians want, and then see how far apart we truly are."

He said that both sides needed to realise that "there's no military solution" to the conflict and it can only be resolved through "diplomatic means".

It comes as Donald Trump steps up pressure on Zelensky to agree to a ceasefire with Moscow, without any promises of US security guarantees.

The talks mark the first official meeting since Zelensky's visit to the White House descended into acrimony last month.

Following the meeting, the US paused military aid and intelligence sharing for Kyiv in an apparent bid to get Zelensky to the negotiating table.

Rubio said that he hoped the pause in aid could be "resolved" but that the negotiations on Tuesday "would be key to that".

The suspension "came about because we felt that they [Ukraine] were not committed to any sort of peace process", he said, and "if that changes, obviously our posture can change".

"The President is going to use whatever tools he has at his disposal to try to get both sides to that table so this war will end," he added.

Earlier on Monday, Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff said he expected "substantial progress" during the negotiations.

Asked whether he thought Zelensky would return to the US to sign a minerals deal later in the week, he told Fox News: "I am really hopeful. All the signs are very, very positive."

Zelensky has previously said he is willing to sign a minerals deal with the US, which would establish a joint fund from the sale of Ukrainian minerals.

Witkoff said that among the issues to be discussed in Saudi Arabia were security protocols for the Ukrainians and territorial issues.

He said the US administration had never shut off intelligence sharing for anything defensive that Ukraine needed, while on Sunday Trump told Fox News that he had "just about" lifted the intelligence sharing pause on Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also spoke to Trump ahead of the talks, Downing Street said.

"The Prime Minister said he hoped there would be a positive outcome to the talks that would enable US aid and intelligence-sharing to be restarted," the spokeswoman said.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently holds around a fifth of Ukraine's territory, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014.

People living near new pylons in Great Britain will get hundreds of pounds off their bills, as part of government plans to boost energy infrastructure.

Households within 500m of new or upgraded pylons will get discounts of up to £2,500 over 10 years, equivalent to £250 a year.

The government said such incentives could help reduce opposition and delays to new projects, which are needed to deliver more clean energy.

However, rural campaign groups said it was "impossible to put a price on the loss of a landscape".

The bill discounts are expected to be in place from 2026.

The idea forms part of the government's Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is due to be published this week.

The legislation aims to speed up the building of new homes and infrastructure by cutting red tape and simplifying the planning process, and the government has put the changes at the heart of its push for economic growth.

Alongside money off bills, the government will publish new guidance on how developers should provide benefits to communities hosting transmission infrastructure, by funding projects like sports clubs, educational programmes or leisure facilities.

The government said this would mean communities could get £200,000 worth of funding per km of overhead electricity cable in their area, and £530,000 per substation.

The government is also looking at how communities near onshore wind farms and other energy infrastructure can receive benefits.

The plans were welcomed by RenewableUK, which represents the sector.

The group's head of policy, James Robottom, said bill discounts would "help to enable the roll-out of much-needed new grid infrastructure at a faster pace, so that we can make the most of the vast amounts of clean power we're producing".

However, Jackie Copley, campaign lead at CPRE, the countryside charity, said: "Investing in local green spaces or improving community infrastructure would be a better way to spend this money.

"Paying individuals comes with many problems, including questions of fairness, likely legal challenges, and the fact that it's impossible to put a price on the loss of a landscape."

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: "It is no longer a question of whether we build the new infrastructure we need but a question of how and this must be done in lockstep with local communities.

"This government's Planning and Infrastructure Bill will slash energy bills for local people living near new projects, so they benefit as we drive forward in our mission to achieve a more prosperous and energy secure future for the next generation."

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the plans would also "benefit the whole country by ensuring we build the clean power system we need".

The idea of giving people living near new pylons money off their energy bills was also proposed under the previous Conservative government.

A government survey in 2024 suggested 78% of people would find an energy infrastructure project more acceptable if they were offered discounts on their bills.

Some energy companies already offer bill discounts to customers who live near infrastructure like wind turbines, while grants are also available for local communities affected.

Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales have attended the annual Commonwealth Day service, a year after both were forced to cancel because they were receiving cancer treatment.

The event at Westminster Abbey on Monday celebrated the Commonwealth's "powerful influence for good in the world".

Queen Camilla, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal also attended, along with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The King's appearance at the service was his first in two years, while Catherine was absent last year as she was undergoing chemotherapy, which she has since completed.

Ahead of commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the King paid tribute to the "sacrifice and selflessness" of Commonwealth forces.

He also said restoring the "disrupted harmony of our entire planet" is the most "important" task facing humanity.

In an address included in a booklet given to the congregation, the King wrote: "More than one and-a-half million men and women who served during the war came from across the Commonwealth to support the United Kingdom and its allies.

"On this special anniversary, we remember with particular pride and everlasting gratitude the untold sacrifice and selflessness of so many from around our family of nations who gave their lives in that dreadful conflict."

The theme of this year's Commonwealth Day is Together We Thrive, which celebrates the "enduring spirit of the Commonwealth family".

During his bidding, the Dean of Westminster said: "As different peoples we rejoice in this opportunity to reflect, in mutual respect, on our shared dignity and commitment to the service of others.

"We celebrate the love and affection that binds us in unity and gives us resilience and strength."

Among the performers at the service were Shree Muktajeevan Swamibapa, a Hindu Scottish pipe band, and musicians, acrobats and singers from the Masai Cultural Arts team.

Violinist Braimah Kanneh-Mason and his sister Jeneba on piano also played during the service.

Protesters from the anti-monarchy group Republic held up placards reading "not my King" and "down with the Crown" as they gathered outside the abbey ahead of the service.

Some players 'not good enough and probably overpaid'

'Amorim will be there a long time'

'Club runs out of money at Christmas if we don't make changes'

'We've made errors - but can win Premier League in three years'

Women's team 'every bit as important as men's team'

Actor and producer Noel Clarke has accused the publisher of the Guardian of having "smashed my life for years" as he gave evidence at his High Court libel trial.

The star of Doctor Who and Kidulthood began his testimony on Monday.

The 49-year-old is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) for libel over a series of articles from 2021 and 2022 that included allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour.

Clarke denies the allegations, while GNM is defending its reporting as being both true and in the public interest.

Asked about his alleged inappropriate sexual behaviour towards an actress who appeared in a film he was involved with, he became quite emotional and tearful, telling the Guardian's barrister Gavin Millar KC: "They have smashed my life for years with this rubbish. You know what you're doing. You make me sick, I would not do this."

Mr Millar asked Mr Clarke about an allegation that while working on Doctor Who, he made an inappropriate sexual suggestion to a female costume assistant.

He replied: "I don't remember that incident, I don't remember the woman in question. So I say it didn't happen."

Mr Millar asked: "It didn't happen or you don't remember it?"

Mr Clarke replied: "It didn't happen."

He was also asked about his interactions with a woman whom he worked with in the run-up to a particular project, where it was alleged that he physically pushed his body against her in a sexual way, and groped her.

Mr Clarke responded saying that he had subsequently had messages from the woman over the years, adding that this proves that her allegations were absolute nonsense.

He said: "I'm sitting here having sworn on the Bible, and I'm telling you she's lying."

He is due to continue giving evidence until Wednesday.

The case is scheduled to last six weeks.