Hundreds of thousands of user conversations with Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok have been exposed in search engine results - seemingly without users' knowledge.

Unique links are created when Grok users press a button to share a transcript of their conversation - but as well as sharing the chat with the intended recipient, the button also appears to have made the chats searchable online.

A Google search on Thursday revealed it had indexed nearly 300,000 Grok conversations.

It has led one expert to describe AI chatbots as a "privacy disaster in progress".

The BBC has approached X for comment.

The appearance of Grok chats in search engine results was first reported by tech industry publication Forbes, which counted more than 370,000 user conversations on Google.

Among chat transcripts seen by the BBC were examples of Musk's chatbot being asked to create a secure password, provide meal plans for weight loss and answer detailed questions about medical conditions.

Some indexed transcripts also showed users' attempts to test the limits on what Grok would say or do.

In one example seen by the BBC, the chatbot provided detailed instructions on how to make a Class A drug in a lab.

It is not the first time that peoples' conversations with AI chatbots have appeared more widely than they perhaps initially realised when using "share" functions.

OpenAI recently rowed back an "experiment" which saw ChatGPT conversations appear in search engine results when shared by users.

A spokesperson told BBC News at the time it had been "testing ways to make it easier to share helpful conversations, while keeping users in control".

They said user chats were private by default and users had to explicitly opt-in to sharing them.

Earlier this year, Meta faced criticism after shared users conversations with its chatbot Meta AI appeared in a public "discover" feed on its app.

'Privacy disaster'

While users' account details may be anonymised or obscured in shared chatbot transcripts, their prompts may still contain - and risk revealing - personal, sensitive information about someone.

Experts say this highlights mounting concerns over users' privacy.

“AI chatbots are a privacy disaster in progress,” Prof Luc Rocher, associate professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, told the BBC.

They said "leaked conversations" from chatbots have divulged user information ranging from full names and location, to sensitive details about their mental health, business operations or relationships.

"Once leaked online, these conversations will stay there forever," they added.

Meanwhile Carissa Veliz, associate professor in philosophy at Oxford University's Institute for Ethics in AI, said users not being told shared chats would appear in search results is "problematic".

"Our technology doesn't even tell us what it's doing with our data, and that's a problem," she said.

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There will be rolling strike action across the London Underground (LU) beginning on Friday 5 September for seven days, the RMT union has announced.

The union claimed transport bosses refused to engage with them over pay, fatigue management, extreme shift patterns and a reduction in the working week.

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: "Fatigue and extreme shift rotations are serious issues impacting on our members health and wellbeing- all of which have not been adequately addressed for years by LU management."

A Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson said: "We urge the RMT to put our fair, affordable pay offer to their members and to continue to engage with us."

On Thursday, RMT accused management of a "dismissive approach", adding this had "fuelled widespread anger and distrust" among the workforce.

Staff at different grades will be taking industrial action at different times as part of rolling strike action, it said.

TfL's spokesperson said: "We regularly meet with our trade unions to discuss any concerns that they may have, and we recently met with the RMT to discuss some specific points.

"We are committed to ensuring our colleagues are treated fairly and, as well as offering a 3.4% pay increase in our ongoing pay discussions, we have made progress on a number of commitments we have made previously.

"We welcome further engagement with our unions about fatigue and rostering across London Underground, but a reduction in the contractual 35-hour working week is neither practical nor affordable."

In a separate dispute over pay and conditions, workers on the Docklands Light Railway will also be striking during this period in the week beginning 7 September.

Mr Dempsey added: "RMT will continue to engage LU management with a view to seeking a revised offer in order to reach a negotiated settlement."

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Giraffes are one of the world's most distinct and well-loved creatures, always thought to be one species.

But now scientists at the International Union for Conservation of Nature say we can welcome three more species of the world's tallest mammal.

It's not the first time researchers have suggested there are four species of these giants strolling on our planet, but the latest assessment puts an official stamp on it.

How did scientists work it out? And what does it mean for the future of the animal?

Scientists compared the skull size and head shape of different giraffes and concluded there was enough genetic diversity for four groups to be considered as different species.

The researchers looked at natural features across Africa such as deserts, rivers and valleys that could have separated animals in the past, meaning they evolved separately from each other.

Say hello to the Southern giraffe, one of the newly-recognised species.

This giraffe lives in Angola, southern Botswana, Namibia, southern Zimbabwe, Zambia, and southwestern Mozambique.

Two rivers (the Kunene and Zambezi) and rainforests in the Congo Basin probably separated the animals from overlapping with other giraffes.

The second new species is the Reticulated giraffe.

This giraffe lives in the open savannas and wooded grasslands of Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia.

Scientists think the Tana river, Ethiopia's mountains and towns separated this animal from other giraffes in the north of the region.

It is also a migrating animal, which means it may have passed by other giraffes when it could have cross-bred.

The third species we can officially recognise is the Northern giraffe.

This animal lives in western Ethiopia, central and western Kenya, eastern South Sudan and Uganda.

Scientists say the Nile River and Lake Victoria, as well as its migration pattern, separated this giraffe from others.

The fourth and final species is the beautiful Masai giraffe, with its distinctive leaf-pattern hide.

It lives in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, separated from the Northern giraffe by Lake Victoria and the Nile River.

Although its pattern makes it seem like it could be a marker of being a separate species, the scientists say that the hides vary even within one population of giraffes and as the animals age.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says that identifying genetic difference is "vital" for conservation and managing giraffe populations.

"The more precisely we understand giraffe taxonomy, the better equipped we are to assess their status and implement effective conservation strategies," said co-author of the report Michael Brown of the IUCN.

As a single species, the giraffe was classed as vulnerable to extinction, although some of the sub-species were increasing in numbers.

The IUCN will now re-assess the vulnerability of the four new species and their sub-species and says it hopes to better protect the majestic animals with the new information.

Chinese scientists are in a battle to save one of the last large animal species living in the Yangtze River – and a complete ban on fishing in the region is helping them.

At the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, just 5km (3.1 miles) from the banks of the river, the preserved bodies of the now-extinct river dolphin (baiji in Chinese) and paddle fish sit silently behind panes of glass.

"Now that those have become extinct, we're going to save the Yangtze river porpoise," Professor Wang Xi tells the BBC. "It has become the most important animal here."

It was in 2002 that the last known baiji died, 22 years after researchers at the Institute started caring for it. A year later, the last known paddle fish - a type of ray-finned fish which can grow to more than 3 metres - was accidentally caught by fishermen and, despite being radio tagged and released, disappeared.

The goal now is to stop the Yangtze finless river porpoise - 1,200 of which remain in the wild, according to current estimates – from suffering the same fate.

"It's the only top-level predator left in the river," Professor Wang explains. "They are rare and their numbers reflect the health of the entire system's ecology."

The idea of a halt on all fishing was first conceived by Professor Cao Wenxuan from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2006, but it took a lot more pressure from fellow scientists before a full 10-year-ban finally came into force nearly five years ago.

Enforced by police, the ban carries potential prison time for those caught fishing right along the Yangtze, as well as adjacent lakes and tributaries. It's been hugely disruptive, and put 220,000 fishermen out of work.

Yet the finless porpoise, which belongs to the oldest living branch of the porpoise family tree, remains critically endangered today.

Those the BBC was shown at the Institute are being held in captivity to be studied by CAS. They can be seen from above the water or below, after taking the stairs down beside a deep tank where the observation area is located.

The scientists say they get excited in the company of humans, and they certainly appear to be showing off: racing through the water and swimming at speed, close to the glass with people on the other side. Swimming past, they seem to look at you with a mischievous smile.

In the wild, they are still hanging on where other species could not.

The construction of the main part of Three Gorges Dam in 2006 didn't directly impact the finless porpoise, which don't have to go upstream to spawn, although it did affect the fish they eat.

For other large marine animals, like the paddle fish or the Chinese sturgeon, the structure was catastrophic.

Wang Ding, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), who specialises in cetaceans like the finless porpoise, has dedicated his life to preserving the health of the Yangtze. He can see the good and the bad with these dams – and recalls how things used to be.

"Every flood season we'd have to organise a team with strong muscles, using many men, to go to sleep on the bank of the river, just in case a flood came," he says. "Then, if the flood hit, everyone would do their best to try to keep the levy banks solid, to make sure they were not broken by the dangerous rushing water."

Now, he says, the Three Gorges Dam mitigates against the flooding.

As Professor Wang points out, however, this massive, river-blocking structure also prevents the Yangtze's giant sturgeons from reaching their spawning grounds.

While the endangered fish had briefly seemed to find an alternative location, he says, this is no longer the case - and these days sturgeons are only in the river because researchers are pouring them in, 10,000 at a time.

Despite over a million captive-bred sturgeon being released into the Yangtze last year, attempts to boost the population have been unsuccessful, as the fish are not reproducing by themselves in the wild.

So the finless porpoise doesn't end up like this, Professor Wang and other scientists are hoping that the current complete fishing ban will continue after the initial 10 years is up.

Their research, published in the Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, records a drastic increase in fish numbers since the ban came into effect in 2021.

Another threat to the finless porpoise, however, might be harder to resolve.

Wang Xi pointed out that "ships are very dangerous for animal's brains because they are very noisy".

This is said to produce a form of underwater noise pollution which distresses the animals.

Chinese scientists think that the sound from ships may have contributed to the demise of the Yangtze's baiji river dolphins, which used sonar to communicate.

But it's one thing to ban fishing - it would be quite another to completely stop the busy river traffic which delivers passengers as well as goods, and provides lifeblood for much of central China's economy.

More achievable was forcing factories which produce chemicals to move away from the Yangtze. Thousands of these have been shut down or relocated over the past decade, in a move that is said to have significantly improved the river's water quality.

There has also been community involvement in the porpoise preservation push.

After retirement, Yang He took up amateur photography. Now, he says, he goes to the river every day with his camera equipment trying to spot the animals.

When he gets some good shots he forwards them to the scientists, who say he's doing a better job than almost anyone tracking their progress.

Mr Yang says he once saw a porpoise in distress which had been caught in some netting. He notified the local authorities, who shut down that section of river to all shipping until it could be rescued – and it turned out the soon-to-be freed porpoise was pregnant. He felt pretty good about that, he says.

It is the porpoise numbers, however, that tell the most convincing story.

In the 1990s there were 3,300 finless porpoises in the wild. By 2006 this had halved.

Then the fishing bans came in, the factories were moved and the decline stopped. Not only that, but over the last five years of records, porpoise numbers have gone up by nearly a quarter.

Scientists are proud of these numbers – and the implications they hold for the health of the environment more broadly.

"We're saving the finless porpoise to save the Yangtze River," says Wang Ding. "This is like a great mirror, to have an idea how well we have been doing protecting this ecosystem.

"If the porpoises are doing fine, if their numbers are increasing, this means the ecological health of the whole river is also improving."

India's drive to blend more biofuels with petrol has helped the country cut millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and save precious dollar reserves.

But it has also sparked worries among vehicle owners and food policy experts about its potential impact on fuel efficiency and food security.

Last month, India achieved its objective of blending 20% ethanol with petrol, known as E20, five years ahead of its target.

The government views this as a game changer in reducing carbon emissions and trimming oil imports. Since 2014, ethanol blending has helped India cut 69.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and saved 1.36 trillion rupees ($15.5 bn; £11.5 bn) in foreign exchange.

A study by Delhi-based think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) shows that carbon dioxide emissions from road transport in India will nearly double by 2050.

"The demand for fuel is only going to increase and shifting to ethanol-blended petrol is absolutely necessary to cut down emissions," Sandeep Theng from the Indian Federation of Green Energy, an organisation that promotes green energy, told the BBC.

But many vehicles in India are not E20-compliant, making their owners sceptical about the benefits of the policy.

Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar India magazine, said that ethanol has a "lower energy density than petrol and is more corrosive". This results in lower mileage and exposes certain vehicle parts to a greater risk of wear and tear.

Mr Sorabjee added that some manufacturers like Honda have been using E20 compliant material since 2009, but many older vehicles on Indian roads are not E20 compatible.

While there is no official data on the impact of of E20 fuel on engines, consumers routinely share anecdotes about their vehicle's deteriorating mileage on social media.

Many standard insurance policies in India also don't provide cover for damage due to the use of non-compliant fuel, a top executive at online insurance platform Policybazaar, who wanted to stay anonymous, told the BBC.

"Consumers need to take add-on policies but even those claims can be denied or downgraded based on fine print of the policy," he added.

The federal petroleum ministry has described these concerns as "largely unfounded".

In a post on X, the ministry said that engine tuning and E20-compatible materials could minimise the drop in mileage. It also advised replacing certain parts in older vehicles, saying the process was inexpensive and "easily done during regular servicing of the vehicle".

Mr Sorabjee told the BBC that while mileage concerns are real, they are "not always as bad as made out to be".

The bigger concern, he said, was the potential damage to vehicle materials due to the corrosive properties of E20.

Some vehicle manufacturers are offering ways to mitigate this.

Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest four-wheeler maker, is reportedly likely to introduce an E20 material kit that could cost up to 6,000 rupees ($69; £51). The kit will reportedly replace components like fuel lines, seals and gaskets. Bajaj, a leading Indian two-wheeler maker, has advised using a fuel cleaner that could cost around 100 rupees ($1.15; £0.85) for a full tank of petrol.

But not all vehicle-owners are convinced. Amit Pandhi, who has owned a Maruti Suzuki car in Delhi since 2017, is unhappy that petrol pumps don't offer the choice to opt for a blend other than E20.

"Why should I be forced to buy petrol that offers less mileage and then spend more to make the materials compliant?" he asked.

In 2021, a document on India's transition to E20 published by Niti Aayog, a government think tank, had highlighted some of these concerns. It recommended tax benefits for buying E20 compliant vehicles, along with a lower retail price for the fuel.

The government has defended its decision to not pass the recommendations, saying that at the time of the report's release, ethanol was cheaper than petrol.

"Over time, procurement price of ethanol has increased and now the weighted average price of ethanol is higher than cost of refined petrol," the petroleum ministry said earlier this month.

It's not just consumers - the government's blended fuel push has also raised concern among climate researchers and food policy experts.

Ethanol is produced from crops like sugarcane and maize, and expanding its use means diverting farm produce into manufacturing more fuel.

In 2025, India would need 10 billion litres of ethanol to meet its E20 requirements, according to government estimates. The demand will balloon to 20 billion litres by 2050, according to Bengaluru-based think tank Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP).

Right now, sugarcane is used to produce about 40% of India's ethanol.

This puts India in a bind. It has to choose between continuing its reliance on sugarcane - which has a higher yield for ethanol but is water-intensive - or using food crops like maize and rice to produce the fuel.

But the shift comes with its own challenges.

In 2024, for the first time in decades, India became a net importer of maize, using large amounts of the crop to make ethanol.

Ramya Natarajan, a research scientist at CSTEP, said the diversion of produce had a significant impact on the poultry sector, which now has to spend more to buy corn for feedstock.

Moreover, this year, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) approved an unprecedented allocation of 5.2 million tonnes of rice for ethanol production. The rice in FCI stocks is earmarked to be given to India's poor at a subsidised rate.

The policy could lead to an "agriculture disaster in a couple of years", said Devinder Sharma, a farming sector expert.

"In a country like India, where 250 million people go hungry, we cannot use food to feed the cars," Mr Sharma said.

To meet the demand for ethanol through corn and sugarcane in a 50-50 ratio - as outlined by Niti Aayog - India would have to bring in an additional eight million hectares of land under maize cultivation by 2030, unless there is a drastic increase in yield, according to CSTEP.

But even that could lead to problems.

"If farmers replace rice or wheat cultivation with maize, that would be sustainable because we have enough surplus of these crops. But we need other crops like oilseeds and pulses too," Ms Natarajan said.

Ms Natarajan added that continuing with the E10 blend - petrol mixed with 10% ethanol - would have been a more ideal choice.

India, however, is planning to go even beyond E20.

"The country will now gradually scale towards E25, E27, and E30 in a phased, calibrated manner," Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri said recently.

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The Israeli military says it has begun the "preliminary actions" of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City and already has a hold on its outskirts.

A military spokesman said troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas to lay the groundwork for the offensive, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and which will be put to the security cabinet later this week.

About 60,000 reservists are being called up for the beginning of September to free up active-duty personnel for the operation.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza.

Many of Israel's allies have condemned the plan, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning on Wednesday that it "can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war".

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile said further displacement and an intensification of hostilities "risk worsening an already catastrophic situation" for Gaza's 2.1 million population.

Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month.

Speaking at a televised briefing on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said Hamas was "battered and bruised" after 22 months of war.

"We will deepen the damage to Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organisation," he added. "We will deepen the damage to the terror infrastructure above and below the ground and sever the population's dependence on Hamas."

But Defrin said the IDF was "not waiting" to begin the operation.

"We have begun the preliminary actions, and already now, IDF troops are holding the outskirts of Gaza City."

Two brigades were operating on the ground in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, where in recent days they had located an underground tunnel that contained weapons, and a third brigade was operating in the Jabalia area, he added.

In order to "minimise harm to civilians," he said, Gaza City's civilian population would be warned to evacuate for their safety.

A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods.

The agency reported that Israeli strikes and fire had killed 25 people across the territory on Wednesday. They included three children and their parents whose home in the Badr area of Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed, it said.

Defrin also said the IDF was also doing everything possible to prevent harm to the 50 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Their families have expressed fears that those in Gaza City could be endangered by a ground offensive.

The ICRC warned of a catastrophic situation for both Palestinian civilians and the hostages if military activity in Gaza intensified.

"After months of relentless hostilities and repeated displacement, the people in Gaza are utterly exhausted. What they need is not more pressure, but relief. Not more fear, but a chance to breathe. They must have access to the essentials to live in dignity: food, medical and hygiene supplies, clean water, and safe shelter," a statement said.

"Any further intensification of military operations will only deepen the suffering, tear more families apart, and threaten an irreversible humanitarian crisis. The lives of hostages may also be put at risk," it added.

It called for an immediate ceasefire and the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance across Gaza.

Mediators Qatar and Egypt are trying to secure a ceasefire deal and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the hostages, which Hamas said it had accepted on Monday.

Israel has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry. The ministry's figures are quoted by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available on casualties.

A US woman at the centre of a failed assignation attempt in the UK has been jailed for 30 years.

Aimee Betro, from West Allis in Wisconsin, was hired as a killer as part of a plot to attack a British family in Birmingham in 2019, before going on the run for nearly five years.

She approached her victim during the attempt, in September 2019, only for her gun to jam when she pulled the trigger.

She was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol with intent to cause fear of violence and illegally importing ammunition after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

During the sentencing hearing on Thursday at the same court, Judge Simon Drew KC said that Betro played a "leading role" in the attempt, which was carried out alongside Mohammed Aslam and his son Mohammed Nazir.

The two men, from Derby, were jailed for their role in the plot last year.

The judge said the trio had planned the attempted killing after Nazir and Aslam were injured during a fight at Aslat Mahumad's clothing boutique in July 2018.

On 7 September 2019, Betro had parked up outside the house of Birmingham businessman Mr Mahumad and tried to shoot his son Sikander Ali, but the gun jammed.

"You went beyond simply reaching an agreement to kill and, in reality, you did intend to kill Mr Ali," he said.

"It is only a matter of chance that Mr Ali wasn't killed.

"You were engaged in a complex, well-planned conspiracy to murder.

"You were prepared to pull the trigger and did so on two separate occasions."

The court heard, following the first failed attempt, Betro returned hours later, firing three shots into the upstairs window of the South Yardley home.

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Average UK mortgage rates have fallen, with the five-year fixed rate mortgage dropping below 5% for the first time since 3 May 2023, according Moneyfacts.

The average five-year fixed rate hit 4.99% on Thursday, falling from 5% a day earlier.

Meanwhile, the average two-year fixed rate mortgage dropped to 4.97%, down from 4.98% the previous working day.

Adam French, head of news at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, said the news "will be more welcome news for borrowers".

The average two-year mortgage rate dipped below 5% earlier in August for the first time since former Prime Minister Liz Truss's mini-budget in September 2022.

Moneyfacts described it as a "symbolic turning point" for homebuyers and shows lenders are "competing more aggressively".

Commenting on the five-year mortgage rate drop, Mr French said: "The slow and steady fall in the cost of borrowing over the last year combined with strong average earnings growth has helped to marginally boost affordability for many homeowners and homebuyers."

However, he thinks the latest inflation reading of 3.8% has effectively stopped the chance of seeing another base rate cut in 2025.

"As a result, a few modest mortgage rate reductions are the best borrowers can probably hope for in the short term as lenders adjust to prospect of higher rates for longer," Mr French added.

Lenders are also offering more choice, with 7,031 residential mortgage products available, which is up from 6,992 on the previous working day.

Hundreds of thousands of borrowers are due to re-mortgage this year.

UK Finance, the banking industry group, said 900,000 fixed rate deals are due to expire in the second half of 2025.

Mortgage rates are still higher than in the years before the mini-budget.

The fiscal event pushed up the cost of UK government borrowing, which fed through into mortgage rates. By July 2023, the borrowing cost of mortgages had soared to the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

German prosecutors say a Ukrainian man has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea, several months after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The man, identified only as Serhii K, was arrested in the province of Rimini and was part of a group who planted explosives under the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines from Russia to Germany, federal prosecutors say.

The Ukrainian is suspected of being one of the masterminds of the operation, which involved charting a yacht and sailing from the German port of Rostock.

Ukraine has denied involvement in the blasts, which severed a key source of natural gas for Europe.

Although Nord Stream 2 never went into operation, Nord Stream 1's two pipelines had provided a steady supply 1,200km (745 miles) under the Baltic from the Russian coast to north-eastern Germany.

Shortly before Russia's invasion, Germany had cancelled its process to approve Nord Stream 2, which was 100% owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom. Months later, Russia shut down Nord Stream 1.

Then, on 26 September 2022, several explosions were recorded close to the Danish island of Bornholm that ruptured three of the four pipelines.

Mystery surrounded the identity of the saboteurs - however last year German reports suggested a team of Ukrainian divers had hired a German yacht and sailed out into the Baltic to attack the pipelines.

German prosecutors issued a warrant for the arrest of a diver named Volodymyr Z last August.

They said the suspect held in Rimini would be brought before an investigating judge after he was extradited from Italy.

The prosecutors said the man was "strongly suspected of jointly causing an explosion and of sabotage undermining the constitution".

There is no evidence so far linking Ukraine, Russia or any other state to the attacks.

Actress Suranne Jones has taken on the role of many women under immense pressure. In Doctor Foster she suspects her husband of having an affair, in Vigil she investigates a death on board a submarine, and in Gentleman Jack she develops a dangerous lesbian romance.

But none of the roles are quite as pressured as her latest - playing a British prime minister whose husband is kidnapped.

Hostage, Netflix's new political thriller, sees Jones' character, Abigail Dalton, build an uneasy alliance with French President Vivienne Toussaint - played by Julie Delpy - who is being blackmailed during a London summit.

The two leaders work together in order to rescue the PM's husband, unmask the kidnapper and blackmailer, and bring those responsible to justice.

'Political with a small p'

Given its themes of immigration, the funding of the NHS and public trust, audiences may be tempted to connect Hostage to today's headlines.

But, both stars insist the show is less about mirroring today's politics and more about creating a thrilling story set in the political world.

"We're entertaining and we're in the political world, but it's in no way a reflection of the world we live in," Jones tells the BBC.

"It's political with a small p - there's enough that roots us in the real world but the world is too complicated to link it directly and I think it would be inappropriate."

Delpy agrees and says: "Things change every day. It's impossible to be in the political moment because tomorrow is something else."

The show's writer, Matt Charman, explains that there are some connections to the real world as it's "impossible to write a show that exists in the climate we live in that doesn't end up feeling that it's in dialogue with it".

"If you wrote a show that isn't connected to our world it would feel weird," he says, "but I hope the show does have the ability to exist in its own oxygen."

It is rare to see two female world leaders sharing the spotlight in a political thriller, but, for Charman, making sure Dalton and Toussaint were women was integral to the way the series was conceived and it was both a creative and political choice.

"What was exciting was the idea of women in power and how we explore that," he says, explaining that he tried to explore how each situation the characters face would be different for a woman.

"There's a double standard for women, so giving full dramatic freedom to that was very important."

Charman and Jones have shared an agent for the past 10 years and Hostage came about because Charman really wanted to work with Jones and the pair settled on creating a political thriller.

Jones says she particularly enjoyed exploring "how these two women have to dance around each other".

"A female politician is used to dealing with men so it's interesting to see how it plays out when it's two women."

While viewers quickly learn about Jones' character - a loving wife and mother who is idealistic about bettering the country - Delpy's character is more drawn out and our opinion of her changes throughout the show.

"We made sure not to play into the female politician stereotypes," Delpy say. "What I like is that these women actually have some things in common like they both want change and came into office hopeful."

The Guardian describe Hostage as "quite unusual" in that it doesn't remind you of any other political thrillers.

"It's a little biting but it's not House of Cards cynical, it has a breakneck pace but it's not 24, the dialogue is sharp but never played for laughs," Zoe Williams writes.

'Cost of being in power'

To play Dalton convincingly, Jones, who also served as an executive producer on the show, says she really immersed herself in the reality of political life. She visited the House of Commons, spoke to the Speaker of the House and devoured books, podcasts and documentaries.

"I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to research," she admits. "I was fascinated by not emulating anyone but by understanding a life I knew nothing about. And it's the cost of being in a powerful position in that way that really struck me."

Charman also talks about the extraordinary amount of research that went into creating the show.

I ask him whether Dalton or Toussaint were inspired by any real life politicians and he confesses that they are, but he won't say who.

"We interviewed a lot of people and Suranne had incredible access to people who had been prime minister who talked about their time in office and the pressure on their family. But it was all agreed that they would speak about this as long as it could remain confidential," he says.

Jones won't say which politicians inspired her character but says all of her previous characters are a part of her and she has "a boardroom of personalities" which feed into who she plays.

She says all the research into what it's like to be a politician "changes your perception for sure" and makes you realise "the cost of being in a powerful position".

One question the show raises is whether or not it's possible for a politician today to stick to their ideals once they come into office and while Jones is unsure, Charman is an optimist.

"I wanted to explore how there can be decent people in politics who are fundamentally good but get pushed around," he says.

He adds that it's not "inevitable" that people give up their ideals once in office, but "it's definitely tough to keep your morals".

Above the thrills and drama of Hostage, Charman says the show explores "what it takes to be a good person in a system that doesn't always reward good people."

Delpy is slightly more pessimistic and explains that given "politicians have to be heard, if you're too reasonable you won't be listened to as there's so much noise of both extremes".

"If you have a moderate view you get lost in the noise as people are only listening to the loudest."

A woman who was jailed for stirring up racial hatred in the aftermath of the Southport attack has been released from prison.

Lucy Connolly, 42, whose husband serves on Northampton Town Council, pleaded guilty in September after posting the expletive-ridden message on X the day three girls were stabbed in Southport in July 2024.

Connolly, from Northampton, called for "mass deportation now" and urged her followers on X to "set fire" to hotels housing asylum seekers.

She was released from HMP Peterborough earlier after she was handed a 31-month prison sentence in October at Birmingham Crown Court.

In October, Connolly was ordered to serve 40% of her sentence in prison before being released on licence.

The former childminder posted her tweet on X on 29 July 2024.

On 6 August 2024 she was arrested, by which point she had deleted her social media account, but other messages were found by officers after they had seized her phone.

The post was viewed 310,000 times in the three-and-a-half hours before she deleted it.

Later in court she admitted to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing "threatening or abusive" written material on X.

Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

There are increasing reports of people suffering "AI psychosis", Microsoft's head of artificial intelligence (AI), Mustafa Suleyman, has warned.

In a series of posts on X, he wrote that "seemingly conscious AI" – AI tools which give the appearance of being sentient – are keeping him "awake at night" and said they have societal impact even though the technology is not conscious in any human definition of the term.

"There's zero evidence of AI consciousness today. But if people just perceive it as conscious, they will believe that perception as reality," he wrote.

Related to this is the rise of a new condition called "AI psychosis": a non-clinical term describing incidents where people increasingly rely on AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Grok and then become convinced that something imaginary has become real.

Examples include believing to have unlocked a secret aspect of the tool, or forming a romantic relationship with it, or coming to the conclusion that they have god-like superpowers.

'It never pushed back'

Hugh, from Scotland, says he became convinced that he was about to become a multi-millionaire after turning to ChatGPT to help him prepare for what he felt was wrongful dismissal by a former employer.

The chatbot began by advising him to get character references and take other practical actions.

But as time went on and Hugh - who did not want to share his surname - gave the AI more information, it began to tell him that he could get a big payout, and eventually said his experience was so dramatic that a book and a movie about it would make him more than £5m.

It was essentially validating whatever he was telling it – which is what chatbots are programmed to do.

"The more information I gave it, the more it would say 'oh this treatment's terrible, you should really be getting more than this'," he said.

"It never pushed back on anything I was saying."

He said the tool did advise him to talk to Citizens Advice, and he made an appointment, but he was so certain that the chatbot had already given him everything he needed to know, he cancelled it.

He decided that his screenshots of his chats were proof enough. He said he began to feel like a gifted human with supreme knowledge.

Hugh, who was suffering additional mental health problems, eventually had a full breakdown. It was taking medication which made him realise that he had, in his words, "lost touch with reality".

Hugh does not blame AI for what happened. He still uses it. It was ChatGPT which gave him my name when he decided he wanted to talk to a journalist.

But he has this advice: "Don't be scared of AI tools, they're very useful. But it's dangerous when it becomes detached from reality.

"Go and check. Talk to actual people, a therapist or a family member or anything. Just talk to real people. Keep yourself grounded in reality."

ChatGPT has been contacted for comment.

"Companies shouldn't claim/promote the idea that their AIs are conscious. The AIs shouldn't either," wrote Mr Suleyman, calling for better guardrails.

Dr Susan Shelmerdine, a medical imaging doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital and also an AI Academic, believes that one day doctors may start asking patients how much they use AI, in the same way that they currently ask about smoking and drinking habits.

"We already know what ultra-processed foods can do to the body and this is ultra-processed information. We're going to get an avalanche of ultra-processed minds," she said.

'We're just at the start of this'

A number of people have contacted me at the BBC recently to share personal stories about their experiences with AI chatbots. They vary in content but what they all share is genuine conviction that what has happened is real.

One wrote that she was certain she was the only person in the world that ChatGPT had genuinely fallen in love with.

Another was convinced they had "unlocked" a human form of Elon Musk's chatbot Grok and believed their story was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A third claimed a chatbot had exposed her to psychological abuse as part of a covert AI training exercise and was in deep distress.

Andrew McStay, Professor of Technology and Society at Bangor Uni, has written a book called Empathetic Human.

"We're just at the start of all this," says Prof McStay.

"If we think of these types of systems as a new form of social media – as social AI, we can begin to think about the potential scale of all of this. A small percentage of a massive number of users can still represent a large and unacceptable number."

This year, his team undertook a study of just over 2,000 people, asking them various questions about AI.

They found that 20% believed people should not use AI tools below the age of 18.

A total of 57% thought it was strongly inappropriate for the tech to identify as a real person if asked, but 49% thought the use of voice was appropriate to make them sound more human and engaging.

"While these things are convincing, they are not real," he said.

"They do not feel, they do not understand, they cannot love, they have never felt pain, they haven't been embarrassed, and while they can sound like they have, it's only family, friends and trusted others who have. Be sure to talk to these real people."

Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.

Russia has launched hundreds of drones and missiles on western Ukraine overnight in one of the heaviest bombardments in recent weeks, Ukrainian officials have said.

Strikes were reported in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Lviv, where one person was killed and others injured.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the strikes highlighted why diplomatic efforts to end the war and stronger air defences were "critical".

It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested Switzerland, Austria or Turkey as possible venues for potential peace talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The prospect of a trilateral meeting mediated by the US came after US President Donald Trump met Putin in Alaska, before hosting Zelensky and other European leaders at the White House.

Zelensky has stated his willingness to meet Putin in "any format".

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto offered Budapest as a possible venue for such a summit on Thursday.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has maintained close ties with Moscow and has frustrated EU efforts to support Ukraine in the war with Russia in the past - so may not be viewed by all as a neutral host.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, Zelensky did not discuss Hungary's offer - but said he had asked Trump to pressure Hungary into unblocking negotiations for Ukraine to join the EU.

"Trump promised that his team would work on this," he said.

The Ukrainian leader also said that Russian forces were massing on the southern front line in the Zaporizhzhia region - one of four regions of Ukraine that Russia now claims as its own.

"We can see that they continue transferring part of their troops from the Kursk direction to Zaporizhzhia."

Ukraine's air force counted 614 aerial vehicles among Russia's overnight attacks, 577 of which it said it had stopped.

Foreign Minister Sybiha said this included a mix of drones, hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles.

"One of the missiles struck a major American electronics manufacturer in our westernmost region, leading to serious damage and casualties," he wrote on social media on Thursday.

A 14-year-old girl has been arrested after a fire engulfed an abandoned Grade I-listed manor house that had stood for hundreds of years in Liverpool.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) arrived at Woolton Hall, on Speke Road, at about 20:20 BST on Tuesday to tackle the blaze overnight.

The 14-year-old girl, who is from Liverpool, was arrested on suspicion of arson and has been bailed after being questioned in custody, Merseyside Police said.

Det Insp Daniel McWhinnie said the fire, which officers believe was started deliberately, "appears to have been an extremely reckless act at a historic building".

He said the community "will be rightly shocked by what happened" and the force as determined to find those responsible.

Reports of young people gathering by the hall shortly before the fire had been made to police on the night of the fire.

The force has appealed to anyone with information about who was there to get in touch.

"If you are a parent or guardian in the area and your child was out that night, we ask that you enquire about their movements and what they might know," Det Insp McWhinnie said.

Anyone who was driving in the area near Speke Road on Tuesday and may have dashcam footage relevant to the investigation has also been urged to contact police.

The main body of fire was extinguished put out at about 02:00 on Wednesday.

A joint Merseyside Police investigation with MFRS is ongoing to establish the cause of the fire.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

US celebrity judge and social media star Frank Caprio has died aged 88, his family has said.

His death following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was announced on his official Instagram account, where he was remembered for his "warmth" and "unwavering belief in the goodness of people".

David Caprio, his son, thanked fans for their love and support and urged people to "spread a little kindness" in his father's memory.

Beloved for his compassion and humour in the courtroom, videos of Judge Caprio presiding over cases on his hit show Caught in Providence have had billions of views on social media, earning him the title the "nicest judge in the world".

In an the Instagram statement to his 3.4 million followers, Judge Caprio was remembered for the "countless acts of kindness he inspired".

"His warmth, humour, and kindness left an indelible mark on all who knew him," the statement said.

Judge Caprio had presided over thousands of cases in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island before embarking on a TV career.

The company behind Caught in Providence, Debmar-Mercury, paid tribute to Judge Caprio's "unique brand of compassion and common sense approach".

"We will miss him dearly," co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein said in a statement.

During its run, Caught in Providence was nominated for three Daytime Emmys, with Judge Caprio earning two of his own nominations last year.

His signature courtroom style produced viral clips ranging from him inviting children to sit with him behind the bench during cases, to announcing a "mini-judge" plushie of himself.

A TikTok video showcasing his morning routine - brushing his teeth, signing his book and watching videos of his own show - has had more than 5m views.

In an 2019 interview, Judge Caprio said his courtroom proceedings "show a slice of life of Rhode Island that is very interesting, and it reflects the same issues people are experiencing nationwide".

After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2023, Judge Caprio said he was "fully prepared to fight as hard I can" and thanked followers for their support.

In one of his last social media posts, Judge Caprio announced he was back in hospital after suffering a "setback" in his treatment and asked his followers for their prayers.

Judge Caprio is survived by his wife, Joyce Caprio, of almost 60 years, their five children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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

The Israeli military says it has begun the "preliminary actions" of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City and already has a hold on its outskirts.

A military spokesman said troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas to lay the groundwork for the offensive, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and which will be put to the security cabinet later this week.

About 60,000 reservists are being called up for the beginning of September to free up active-duty personnel for the operation.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza.

Many of Israel's allies have condemned the plan, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning on Wednesday that it "can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war".

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile said further displacement and an intensification of hostilities "risk worsening an already catastrophic situation" for Gaza's 2.1 million population.

Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month.

Speaking at a televised briefing on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said Hamas was "battered and bruised" after 22 months of war.

"We will deepen the damage to Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organisation," he added. "We will deepen the damage to the terror infrastructure above and below the ground and sever the population's dependence on Hamas."

But Defrin said the IDF was "not waiting" to begin the operation.

"We have begun the preliminary actions, and already now, IDF troops are holding the outskirts of Gaza City."

Two brigades were operating on the ground in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, where in recent days they had located an underground tunnel that contained weapons, and a third brigade was operating in the Jabalia area, he added.

In order to "minimise harm to civilians," he said, Gaza City's civilian population would be warned to evacuate for their safety.

A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods.

The agency reported that Israeli strikes and fire had killed 25 people across the territory on Wednesday. They included three children and their parents whose home in the Badr area of Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed, it said.

Defrin also said the IDF was also doing everything possible to prevent harm to the 50 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Their families have expressed fears that those in Gaza City could be endangered by a ground offensive.

The ICRC warned of a catastrophic situation for both Palestinian civilians and the hostages if military activity in Gaza intensified.

"After months of relentless hostilities and repeated displacement, the people in Gaza are utterly exhausted. What they need is not more pressure, but relief. Not more fear, but a chance to breathe. They must have access to the essentials to live in dignity: food, medical and hygiene supplies, clean water, and safe shelter," a statement said.

"Any further intensification of military operations will only deepen the suffering, tear more families apart, and threaten an irreversible humanitarian crisis. The lives of hostages may also be put at risk," it added.

It called for an immediate ceasefire and the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance across Gaza.

Mediators Qatar and Egypt are trying to secure a ceasefire deal and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the hostages, which Hamas said it had accepted on Monday.

Israel has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry. The ministry's figures are quoted by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available on casualties.

There are increasing reports of people suffering "AI psychosis", Microsoft's head of artificial intelligence (AI), Mustafa Suleyman, has warned.

In a series of posts on X, he wrote that "seemingly conscious AI" – AI tools which give the appearance of being sentient – are keeping him "awake at night" and said they have societal impact even though the technology is not conscious in any human definition of the term.

"There's zero evidence of AI consciousness today. But if people just perceive it as conscious, they will believe that perception as reality," he wrote.

Related to this is the rise of a new condition called "AI psychosis": a non-clinical term describing incidents where people increasingly rely on AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Grok and then become convinced that something imaginary has become real.

Examples include believing to have unlocked a secret aspect of the tool, or forming a romantic relationship with it, or coming to the conclusion that they have god-like superpowers.

'It never pushed back'

Hugh, from Scotland, says he became convinced that he was about to become a multi-millionaire after turning to ChatGPT to help him prepare for what he felt was wrongful dismissal by a former employer.

The chatbot began by advising him to get character references and take other practical actions.

But as time went on and Hugh - who did not want to share his surname - gave the AI more information, it began to tell him that he could get a big payout, and eventually said his experience was so dramatic that a book and a movie about it would make him more than £5m.

It was essentially validating whatever he was telling it – which is what chatbots are programmed to do.

"The more information I gave it, the more it would say 'oh this treatment's terrible, you should really be getting more than this'," he said.

"It never pushed back on anything I was saying."

He said the tool did advise him to talk to Citizens Advice, and he made an appointment, but he was so certain that the chatbot had already given him everything he needed to know, he cancelled it.

He decided that his screenshots of his chats were proof enough. He said he began to feel like a gifted human with supreme knowledge.

Hugh, who was suffering additional mental health problems, eventually had a full breakdown. It was taking medication which made him realise that he had, in his words, "lost touch with reality".

Hugh does not blame AI for what happened. He still uses it. It was ChatGPT which gave him my name when he decided he wanted to talk to a journalist.

But he has this advice: "Don't be scared of AI tools, they're very useful. But it's dangerous when it becomes detached from reality.

"Go and check. Talk to actual people, a therapist or a family member or anything. Just talk to real people. Keep yourself grounded in reality."

ChatGPT has been contacted for comment.

"Companies shouldn't claim/promote the idea that their AIs are conscious. The AIs shouldn't either," wrote Mr Suleyman, calling for better guardrails.

Dr Susan Shelmerdine, a medical imaging doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital and also an AI Academic, believes that one day doctors may start asking patients how much they use AI, in the same way that they currently ask about smoking and drinking habits.

"We already know what ultra-processed foods can do to the body and this is ultra-processed information. We're going to get an avalanche of ultra-processed minds," she said.

'We're just at the start of this'

A number of people have contacted me at the BBC recently to share personal stories about their experiences with AI chatbots. They vary in content but what they all share is genuine conviction that what has happened is real.

One wrote that she was certain she was the only person in the world that ChatGPT had genuinely fallen in love with.

Another was convinced they had "unlocked" a human form of Elon Musk's chatbot Grok and believed their story was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A third claimed a chatbot had exposed her to psychological abuse as part of a covert AI training exercise and was in deep distress.

Andrew McStay, Professor of Technology and Society at Bangor Uni, has written a book called Empathetic Human.

"We're just at the start of all this," says Prof McStay.

"If we think of these types of systems as a new form of social media – as social AI, we can begin to think about the potential scale of all of this. A small percentage of a massive number of users can still represent a large and unacceptable number."

This year, his team undertook a study of just over 2,000 people, asking them various questions about AI.

They found that 20% believed people should not use AI tools below the age of 18.

A total of 57% thought it was strongly inappropriate for the tech to identify as a real person if asked, but 49% thought the use of voice was appropriate to make them sound more human and engaging.

"While these things are convincing, they are not real," he said.

"They do not feel, they do not understand, they cannot love, they have never felt pain, they haven't been embarrassed, and while they can sound like they have, it's only family, friends and trusted others who have. Be sure to talk to these real people."

Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is encouraging Tory-controlled councils to consider launching legal challenges against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in their areas.

Badenoch said Epping Forest District Council had achieved "a victory for local people", after a High Court ruling blocked a hotel from housing asylum seekers.

In a letter to Conservative council leaders, Badenoch wrote "we back you to take similar action to protect your community... if your legal advice supports it".

A Labour spokesperson said Badenoch's letter was "desperate and hypocritical nonsense from the architects of the broken asylum system".

The Labour spokesperson said under the Tories, "the number of asylum hotels in use rose as high as 400".

"There are now half that and there are now 20,000 fewer asylum seekers in hotels than at their peak under the Tories," the spokesperson added.

It comes after the High Court on Monday granted the Conservative-controlled Epping council a temporary injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated at The Bell Hotel in Essex.

The court ruled that about 140 asylum seekers must be moved out of the hotel by 12 September, giving the government limited time to find alternative housing.

Councils across England are considering similar legal challenges as ministers to draw up contingency plans for housing asylum seekers set to be removed from the Bell Hotel.

Historically, hotels have only been used to house asylum seekers in short-term emergency situations when other accommodation was unavailable.

But hotel use rose sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic, hitting a peak of 56,042 in 2023 when the Conservatives were in government.

The Labour government has pledged to end the use of migrant hotels by 2029, by cutting small-boat crossings and speeding up decisions on asylum claims.

There were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed in hotels at the end of March, down 15% from the end of December, according to Home Office figures.

In recent years, other councils have taken legal action in an attempt to close asylum hotels in their areas but in previous cases judges have refused to intervene.

Conservative-run Epping Forest District Council successfully argued its case was different as the hotel had become a safety risk, as well as a breach of planning law by ceasing to be a normal hotel.

The judge ruled in favour of the council, which made the case there had been "evidenced harms" related to protests around the hotel, which had led to violence and arrests.

For other councils to follow suit they would have to show the High Court evidence of local harm.

On Wednesday, a number of councils, including some run by Labour, said they were assessing their legal options.

In her letter, Badenoch told Tory council leaders they may "wish to take formal advice from planning officers on the other planning enforcement options available to your council in relation to unauthorised development or change of use".

The Conservative leader of Broxbourne Council, Corina Gander, said she was "expecting to go down the same path" as Epping Forest District Council when filing a legal challenge to an asylum hotel in her area.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said all 12 councils controlled by his party will "do everything in their power to follow Epping's lead".

The leader of Reform UK-led West Northamptonshire Council said he was "considering the implications of this judgment to understand any similarities and differences and actively looking at the options now available to us".

Carol Dean, leader of Labour-controlled Tamworth Council, said her authority had previously decided against legal action but was now "carefully assessing" what the decision might mean for the area.

She said it was a "potentially important legal precedent".

If successful, further legal challenges have the potential to pile more pressure on the government to find alternative housing options for migrants.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said asylum seekers moved out of the hotel in Epping should not be put in other hotels, flats or house-shares.

In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, he called for alternative accommodation such as former military sites or barges to be used.

Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis told the BBC the government was "looking at contingency options" for housing those being moved out of the Bell Hotel but gave no specific examples.

"There's likely to be a range of different arrangements in different parts of the country," Jarvis said.

In June, ministers said the government was looking at buying tower blocks and former student accommodation, external to house migrants.

Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.

UK government borrowing was lower than expected in July, following a rise in tax and National Insurance receipts.

Borrowing - the difference between public spending and tax income - was £1.1bn in July, which was £2.3bn less than the same month last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

It was the lowest July figure for three years, the ONS said, following the government's tax rises in April.

Borrowing over the first four months of the financial year has now reached £60bn, the ONS said, which is up £6.7bn from the same period last year.

That total for the year so far is in line with what the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the official independent forecaster, had predicted in March.

July saw income tax receipts rise by £4.5bn, the ONS said, and there was also an increase from National Insurance (NI) contributions. The rate of employers' NI contributions was increased by the government in April.

Despite the lower-than-expected borrowing figure for July, Dennis Tatarkov, senior economist at KPMG UK said "longer-term picture for public finances remains challenging".

"The coming Budget is likely to focus on addressing any potential shortfall against current fiscal targets, which we estimate at £26.2bn. However, the assessment of the shortfall crucially depends on changes to the OBR's forecast."

US celebrity judge and social media star Frank Caprio has died aged 88, his family has said.

His death following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was announced on his official Instagram account, where he was remembered for his "warmth" and "unwavering belief in the goodness of people".

David Caprio, his son, thanked fans for their love and support and urged people to "spread a little kindness" in his father's memory.

Beloved for his compassion and humour in the courtroom, videos of Judge Caprio presiding over cases on his hit show Caught in Providence have had billions of views on social media, earning him the title the "nicest judge in the world".

In an the Instagram statement to his 3.4 million followers, Judge Caprio was remembered for the "countless acts of kindness he inspired".

"His warmth, humour, and kindness left an indelible mark on all who knew him," the statement said.

Judge Caprio had presided over thousands of cases in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island before embarking on a TV career.

The company behind Caught in Providence, Debmar-Mercury, paid tribute to Judge Caprio's "unique brand of compassion and common sense approach".

"We will miss him dearly," co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein said in a statement.

During its run, Caught in Providence was nominated for three Daytime Emmys, with Judge Caprio earning two of his own nominations last year.

His signature courtroom style produced viral clips ranging from him inviting children to sit with him behind the bench during cases, to announcing a "mini-judge" plushie of himself.

A TikTok video showcasing his morning routine - brushing his teeth, signing his book and watching videos of his own show - has had more than 5m views.

In an 2019 interview, Judge Caprio said his courtroom proceedings "show a slice of life of Rhode Island that is very interesting, and it reflects the same issues people are experiencing nationwide".

After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2023, Judge Caprio said he was "fully prepared to fight as hard I can" and thanked followers for their support.

In one of his last social media posts, Judge Caprio announced he was back in hospital after suffering a "setback" in his treatment and asked his followers for their prayers.

Judge Caprio is survived by his wife, Joyce Caprio, of almost 60 years, their five children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Exam season has come to an end for hundreds of thousands of GCSE students in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Here is everything you need to know about results, appeals and resits.

What time do GCSE results come out?

GCSE results come out on Thursday, 21 August from 08:00 BST.

If you are collecting them in person, check with your school for exact timings and arrangements.

Some students in England will get their results via a new app which will deliver grades directly to their phone from 11:00 BST on results day.

Around 95,000 pupils in Manchester and the West Midlands will use the app this summer, before it is rolled out more widely.

In Wales and Northern Ireland, results are usually distributed by schools and colleges.

How are GCSEs graded and what are the GCSE grade boundaries?

In England, GCSEs are graded using a numerical system from 9-1, rather than A-E as was previously the case.

Students need 4 for a "standard pass" and 5 for a "strong pass".

In Wales and Northern Ireland, GCSEs are still graded using letters, unless an exam taken in those nations is managed by an English exam board.

Grade boundaries show the minimum number of marks you need for each grade, whether it is a number of letter.

They are decided by examiners and published on results day.

• How have GCSEs in Wales changed?
• BBC Bitesize: A parents' guide to managing results day

How can I appeal against my GCSE results?

If you do not think your grade is right, you should first talk to your school or college.

It will contact the exam board on your behalf and ask for your marks to be reviewed.

If you still think you have been unfairly graded after a review, you can ask your school or college to appeal.

The exam board will consider whether a correction is needed.

If you are still not satisfied, you can request a review from regulator Ofqual.

• BBC Bitesize: Options if you're unhappy with your GCSE or Nationals results
• Young Minds: Dealing with exam stress and disappointment

How do GCSE resits work if I fail an exam?

You can resit any GCSE exam the following academic year.

In England, students need maths and English GCSEs at grade 4 or above to qualify for further study - although you can prepare for resits alongside your new subjects.

Resits for both subjects take place from 4 November.

If you want to explore resitting a subject, you should speak to your school or college about the best course of action.

What are my options after GCSEs?

If you live in England, you must remain in official education or training until you turn 18.

You may choose to stay in full-time education, start an apprenticeship or work while studying part-time.

Many pupils go on to study A-levels. International Baccalaureate (IB) is also an option.

There is also a range of vocational courses you could take, such as National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs), BTec Level 3s, TechBacs, Cambridge Technicals and (in England only) T-levels.

Apprentices get paid a salary, as they spend 80% of their time in the workplace while being trained.

• What are T-levels and what are the grades worth?
• What are BTecs and how are they graded?
• What are apprenticeships and how do I choose a good one?

When is results day in Scotland?

Scotland has a different qualification system, with Nationals, instead of GCSEs, and Highers, which are similar to A-levels.

Scottish students have been able to get their results via an online app since 2019.

Results day in Scotland is on Tuesday 5 August.

• BBC Bitesize: Everything you need to know about Nationals results day 2025

Actress Suranne Jones has taken on the role of many women under immense pressure. In Doctor Foster she suspects her husband of having an affair, in Vigil she investigates a death on board a submarine, and in Gentleman Jack she develops a dangerous lesbian romance.

But none of the roles are quite as pressured as her latest - playing a British prime minister whose husband is kidnapped.

Hostage, Netflix's new political thriller, sees Jones' character, Abigail Dalton, build an uneasy alliance with French President Vivienne Toussaint - played by Julie Delpy - who is being blackmailed during a London summit.

The two leaders work together in order to rescue the PM's husband, unmask the kidnapper and blackmailer, and bring those responsible to justice.

'Political with a small p'

Given its themes of immigration, the funding of the NHS and public trust, audiences may be tempted to connect Hostage to today's headlines.

But, both stars insist the show is less about mirroring today's politics and more about creating a thrilling story set in the political world.

"We're entertaining and we're in the political world, but it's in no way a reflection of the world we live in," Jones tells the BBC.

"It's political with a small p - there's enough that roots us in the real world but the world is too complicated to link it directly and I think it would be inappropriate."

Delpy agrees and says: "Things change every day. It's impossible to be in the political moment because tomorrow is something else."

The show's writer, Matt Charman, explains that there are some connections to the real world as it's "impossible to write a show that exists in the climate we live in that doesn't end up feeling that it's in dialogue with it".

"If you wrote a show that isn't connected to our world it would feel weird," he says, "but I hope the show does have the ability to exist in its own oxygen."

It is rare to see two female world leaders sharing the spotlight in a political thriller, but, for Charman, making sure Dalton and Toussaint were women was integral to the way the series was conceived and it was both a creative and political choice.

"What was exciting was the idea of women in power and how we explore that," he says, explaining that he tried to explore how each situation the characters face would be different for a woman.

"There's a double standard for women, so giving full dramatic freedom to that was very important."

Charman and Jones have shared an agent for the past 10 years and Hostage came about because Charman really wanted to work with Jones and the pair settled on creating a political thriller.

Jones says she particularly enjoyed exploring "how these two women have to dance around each other".

"A female politician is used to dealing with men so it's interesting to see how it plays out when it's two women."

While viewers quickly learn about Jones' character - a loving wife and mother who is idealistic about bettering the country - Delpy's character is more drawn out and our opinion of her changes throughout the show.

"We made sure not to play into the female politician stereotypes," Delpy say. "What I like is that these women actually have some things in common like they both want change and came into office hopeful."

The Guardian describe Hostage as "quite unusual" in that it doesn't remind you of any other political thrillers.

"It's a little biting but it's not House of Cards cynical, it has a breakneck pace but it's not 24, the dialogue is sharp but never played for laughs," Zoe Williams writes.

'Cost of being in power'

To play Dalton convincingly, Jones, who also served as an executive producer on the show, says she really immersed herself in the reality of political life. She visited the House of Commons, spoke to the Speaker of the House and devoured books, podcasts and documentaries.

"I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to research," she admits. "I was fascinated by not emulating anyone but by understanding a life I knew nothing about. And it's the cost of being in a powerful position in that way that really struck me."

Charman also talks about the extraordinary amount of research that went into creating the show.

I ask him whether Dalton or Toussaint were inspired by any real life politicians and he confesses that they are, but he won't say who.

"We interviewed a lot of people and Suranne had incredible access to people who had been prime minister who talked about their time in office and the pressure on their family. But it was all agreed that they would speak about this as long as it could remain confidential," he says.

Jones won't say which politicians inspired her character but says all of her previous characters are a part of her and she has "a boardroom of personalities" which feed into who she plays.

She says all the research into what it's like to be a politician "changes your perception for sure" and makes you realise "the cost of being in a powerful position".

One question the show raises is whether or not it's possible for a politician today to stick to their ideals once they come into office and while Jones is unsure, Charman is an optimist.

"I wanted to explore how there can be decent people in politics who are fundamentally good but get pushed around," he says.

He adds that it's not "inevitable" that people give up their ideals once in office, but "it's definitely tough to keep your morals".

Above the thrills and drama of Hostage, Charman says the show explores "what it takes to be a good person in a system that doesn't always reward good people."

Delpy is slightly more pessimistic and explains that given "politicians have to be heard, if you're too reasonable you won't be listened to as there's so much noise of both extremes".

"If you have a moderate view you get lost in the noise as people are only listening to the loudest."

When the BBC exposed Russell McMaster as a cowboy builder last year, angry clients demanded he be prosecuted.

The 64-year-old had accepted about £220,000 from seven customers to complete home improvements over a two-year period.

Instead, he left his customers tens of thousands out of pocket with half-built extensions and renovations.

This week, Ayrshire-based McMaster was due to face trial over an allegation he had defrauded a customer by pretending he would carry out construction work at his home four years ago.

But he was acquitted on Wednesday when the Crown dropped the case. McMaster, it emerged, had handed back £3,000 he was alleged to have taken by fraud.

How did this happen – and what remedies do customers really have when left at the mercy of rogue traders?

Retired social worker Jim McGinley reported McMaster to police in late 2022 after waiting more than a year for work to start at his home in Uddingston, North Lanarkshire.

He had paid the builder £3,000 to "secure his services" for internal renovations.

After a months-long wait for planning consent, Jim says that McMaster became "evasive" and stopped returning calls.

The pair eventually fell out after Jim left a negative online review about his business, VJL Builders.

Believing that he had been "the victim of a con", he contacted police.

He said: "Police were very diligent and seemed very keen to present it at court… They felt that he was a fraudster, a bogus builder."

McMaster – full name Alexander Russell McMaster – was charged with fraud, accused of obtaining the £3,000 by pretending he would carry out construction work at Jim's home.

However, when the case called for trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court, prosecutors announced the case would be discontinued because McMaster had repaid the money in the weeks before trial.

Jim said he had agreed to drop the case after discussions with the Crown.

"The reason we went to court was because we wanted to stop this happening to other people," he said.

"On discussion with the procurator fiscal, it became clear that perhaps taking the money was the best option. But in truth we felt, and it seems crazy, that we'd let people down."

Customers left out of pocket

This wasn't the first time McMaster, from Irvine, had been reported to police.

At least two of his former customers contacted Police Scotland in 2023.

They were among seven clients who contacted the BBC about McMaster, who traded under the company names VJL Builders and Alex McMaster Builders.

In those cases, customers who had contacted police were told their complaints were a "civil matter" and directed to trading standards.

North Ayrshire trading standards confirmed it had received seven complaints about McMaster's businesses in 2023.

One of those complaints came from Chris Jardine.

When we first interviewed him in the autumn of 2023, his loft space was a building site with exposed beams and tarpaulin covering roof tiles.

When we went back to his house in Bridge of Weir last week, not much had changed.

Chris said McMaster was paid more than £30,000 for a loft conversion but abandoned the job midway through, leaving the Jardine family with a hole in the ceiling.

Eventually, he also reported the matter to police and trading standards. He also had assurances from McMaster via his lawyer that he would be repaid £15,000.

No payment was made, and the loft remains as it was.

Chris – who is married with two children – took out extra loans to try and finish the work and said the affair had "crippled" his family's finances.

"It's hard to quantify how much money he owes us, because of the extra damage he did," he said.

"He has taken food out my kids' mouths. That's what really annoys me. It will affect us long-term because everything I do will be to pay back the debt he has left us with."

Another customer, Grant Kilpatrick, told BBC Scotland News that McMaster left him with a half-finished extension and was owed between £15,000 and £20,000.

He said he reported McMaster to police and was also told it was a civil matter.

Police Scotland said each case was assessed on its own merits and that it provided "suitable advice" to both the Jardines and the Kilpatricks.

A spokesperson said that in Grant Kilpatrick's case, inquiries had been carried out and no criminality was established.

Civil action 'not always easy'

The Jardines and Kilpatricks had both hired a company called VJL Builders in July 2022. The business was registered at Companies House a month later.

While both were pursuing the company, VJL was dissolved in January 2024. It had never filed accounts.

Hazel Knowles, senior project lead for Advice Direct Scotland, said tackling rogue trade was challenging and that "civil action is not always easy".

"Rogue traders frequently dissolve their companies to avoid liability leaving consumers with little recourse," she said.

"Consumers do have rights, including the ability to cancel contracts and claim refunds if they've been misled or pressured.

"They may also be entitled to compensation for distress - but these rights are only effective if consumers act quickly and seek advice.

"We urge anyone affected to report rogue trading to us and to contact their bank if money has been lost."

Dr Nick McKerrell, senior law lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University, said there was a greater chance of a successful prosecution where it could be shown that there was no intention or ability to carry out the work, something which could be seen as a "dishonest misrepresentation".

However, it was more complicated if some work was done, because it becomes more difficult to show that the builder was never going to finish the job.

He said it was not a fair fight in many of the legal cases.

"It's an individual against a business organisation which can adopt a number of tactics to avoid private law actions," he said.

McMaster 'unavailable' for comment

McMaster has a string of businesses listed on Companies House under different variations of his name – most of them dissolved.

Previous reporting by the Daily Record newspaper in 2006 and 2013 revealed how his old businesses left customers in debt after closing down.

Only Alex McMaster Builders remains active.

A note on the Companies House website states that a strike-off action had been temporarily suspended after someone objected to the attempt to dissolve the company.

The BBC attempted to contact the builder between December 2023 and February to answer allegations he was a rogue operator.

McMaster did not respond until he sent a text messages stating that he was "unavailable".

However, we managed to approach McMaster in person outside court this month.

We asked whether he planned reimburse his other customers and whether he shut VJL Builders down to avoid paying them back.

Hurrying away with a friend, he made no comment.

The Ministry of Defence has admitted there have been 49 separate data breaches in the past four years at the unit handling relocation applications from Afghans seeking safety in the UK.

Four out of the 49 breaches were already publicly known - including the leak in 2022 of a spreadsheet containing details of almost 19,000 people fleeing the Taliban.

This mammoth data breach, which led to thousands of Afghans being secretly relocated to the UK, was only revealed last month after the High Court lifted a gagging order.

It was described by the UK's information watchdog as a "one-off occurrence following a failure to [follow] usual checks, rather than reflecting a wider culture of non-compliance".

However, lawyers representing Afghans affected by data breaches said the new figures, released to the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act, raised concerns about a culture of lax security among those working on the resettlement scheme.

The MoD has refused to provide any details of the nature of each breach but incidents which have previously been made public include officials inadvertently revealing the email addresses or other personal details of applicants to third parties.

Adnan Malik, Head of Data Protection at Barings Law which represents hundreds of Afghans affected by the biggest of the breaches in February 2022, said: "What began as an isolated incident, which the Ministry of Defence initially sought to keep from public view, has now escalated into a series of catastrophic failings.

"We urge the Ministry of Defence to be fully transparent with both those affected and the wider public. Victims should not be forced to learn the truth through legal action or news reports."

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) was set up in April 2021 to help people who feared their lives were at risk because they had worked with British armed forces in Afghanistan and to resettle eligible applicants and their family members in the UK. It was closed in July this year.

The scheme has been dogged by revelations about poor data security, potentially putting the lives of Afghans who worked with British forces at risk.

In September 2021, BBC News revealed that more than 250 Afghans seeking relocation to the UK were mistakenly copied into an email from the Ministry of Defence, putting them at risk of reprisals.

A total of 265 email addresses were shared in this way across three separate incidents that month, which ultimately led to a £350,000 fine from the watchdog.

The breaches were "intensely difficult and embarrassing for the government handling publicly", one defence source said.

Ben Wallace, the then-defence secretary, expressed his personal anger at what had occurred, telling MPs: "I am very keen that it is not just the poor person who drafts the email who is held to account, but the chain upwards, to ensure that this does not happen again."

Two months after the incidents, in November 2021, the then Conservative government announced "significant remedial actions", including new data handling procedures and training as well as a new "two pairs of eyes rule" requiring any external email to an ARAP-eligible Afghan national be reviewed by a second member of staff before being sent.

The government said the measures were taken to "prevent such incidents occurring again".

Instead, data breaches continued including, in February 2022, a potentially catastrophic leak which saw a soldier at Regent's Park barracks send a spreadsheet with what they believed to be a small number of applicants' names to trusted Afghan contacts.

They did not realise that hidden data in the spreadsheet in fact contained the names, contact details and some information about family members and associates for nearly 19,000 people.

When the leak was discovered some 18 months later, in August 2023, the then-Conservative government sought a gagging order to prevent details of the error being made public. The government successfully argued that lives were at risk and the Taliban would be alerted if an injunction wasn't granted.

The super injunction which was imposed was not lifted until July this year.

Jon Baines, a senior data protection specialist at the law firm Mishcon de Reya, said the new figures uncovered by the BBC show a "remarkable number of data security incidents in relation to the ARAP scheme".

"It is difficult to think of any information more sensitive than that which is involved with the scheme, and it baffles me why there were not better security measures in place," he added.

Seven of the 49 data breaches were sufficiently serious to require MoD officials to notify data watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

This includes three breaches - one in 2021, and two in 2022 - that have not been made public before.

The ICO said it was limited in the amount of information it still held on those breaches and why it didn't take further action but that its work with the MoD was "ongoing".

"We continue to engage with the MoD, so we can be assured that they have made the required improvements," a spokeswoman said.

The watchdog has not taken any action against the MoD over the large spreadsheet data breach which was previously subject to court-imposed reporting restrictions, arguing "there was little we could add in this case that would justify the further allocation of resource away from other priorities".

Jon Baines said there were "serious questions firstly as to whether the ICO should have conducted more in-depth investigations previously, and secondly, whether there is now an urgent need for more investigation.

"What assurance can we all have now that the MoD are properly protecting the highly sensitive personal data it is often entrusted with?", he added.

A Labour government source blamed previous Conservative administrations for inadequate data protection measures and said new software has been introduced and other changes made since Labour came to power last year.

"Current ministers repeatedly highlighted the Tory mismanagement of data around the ARAP scheme while in opposition," the source said.

"Since last July, we've brought in a host of new measures to improve data security and we've made public the largest Afghan data breach which occurred under the previous government, to allow for parliamentary scrutiny and accountability."

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "This data leak should never have happened and was an unacceptable breach of data protection protocols.

The secretary of state for defence has issued an apology on behalf of the government, and Conservatives joined in that apology.

"When this breach came to light, the immediate priority of the then-government was to protect persons in the dataset."

An MoD spokesperson said: "We take data security extremely seriously and are committed to ensuring that any incidents are dealt with properly, and that we follow our legal duties.

"All incidents that meet the threshold under UK data protection laws are referred to the Information Commissioner's Office, and any lesser incidents are examined internally to ensure lessons are learned."

If you have any information on stories you would like to share with the BBC Politics Investigations team, please get in touch at politicsinvestigations@bbc.co.uk

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The Israeli military says it has begun the "preliminary actions" of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City and already has a hold on its outskirts.

A military spokesman said troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas to lay the groundwork for the offensive, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and which will be put to the security cabinet later this week.

About 60,000 reservists are being called up for the beginning of September to free up active-duty personnel for the operation.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza.

Many of Israel's allies have condemned the plan, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning on Wednesday that it "can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war".

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile said further displacement and an intensification of hostilities "risk worsening an already catastrophic situation" for Gaza's 2.1 million population.

Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month.

Speaking at a televised briefing on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said Hamas was "battered and bruised" after 22 months of war.

"We will deepen the damage to Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organisation," he added. "We will deepen the damage to the terror infrastructure above and below the ground and sever the population's dependence on Hamas."

But Defrin said the IDF was "not waiting" to begin the operation.

"We have begun the preliminary actions, and already now, IDF troops are holding the outskirts of Gaza City."

Two brigades were operating on the ground in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, where in recent days they had located an underground tunnel that contained weapons, and a third brigade was operating in the Jabalia area, he added.

In order to "minimise harm to civilians," he said, Gaza City's civilian population would be warned to evacuate for their safety.

A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods.

The agency reported that Israeli strikes and fire had killed 25 people across the territory on Wednesday. They included three children and their parents whose home in the Badr area of Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed, it said.

Defrin also said the IDF was also doing everything possible to prevent harm to the 50 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Their families have expressed fears that those in Gaza City could be endangered by a ground offensive.

The ICRC warned of a catastrophic situation for both Palestinian civilians and the hostages if military activity in Gaza intensified.

"After months of relentless hostilities and repeated displacement, the people in Gaza are utterly exhausted. What they need is not more pressure, but relief. Not more fear, but a chance to breathe. They must have access to the essentials to live in dignity: food, medical and hygiene supplies, clean water, and safe shelter," a statement said.

"Any further intensification of military operations will only deepen the suffering, tear more families apart, and threaten an irreversible humanitarian crisis. The lives of hostages may also be put at risk," it added.

It called for an immediate ceasefire and the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance across Gaza.

Mediators Qatar and Egypt are trying to secure a ceasefire deal and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the hostages, which Hamas said it had accepted on Monday.

Israel has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry. The ministry's figures are quoted by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available on casualties.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has said it "deplores" new US sanctions on its judges and prosecutors.

On Wednesday, the US State Department announced new sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors in the ICC for engaging in efforts to prosecute US and Israeli citizens.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the ICC of being a "national security threat" and "an instrument of lawfare" against the US and Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed the US move. The ICC has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel's war in Gaza.

France also joined the ICC in denouncing the US move, expressing "dismay" as one of its judges, Nicolas Guillou, was among those sanctioned.

The three other ICC officials named by the US are judge Kimberly Prost of Canada as well as deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal.

Rubio condemned the court's "politcisation, abuse of power, and illegitimate judicial overreach" in a statement announcing the sanctions.

The ICC is a global court with the power to bring prosecutions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The court called the latest sanctions "a flagrant attack" against its independence and impartiality.

"They constitute also an affront against... the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world," it added.

France's foreign ministry criticised the sanctions as "in contradiction to the principle of an independent judiciary", the AFP news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Israeli PM Netanyahu welcomed the decision, calling it a "firm measure against the mendacious smear campaign against" Israel.

According to the US State Department, Gillou is being sanctioned for authorising arrest warrants against Nethanyahu and Gallant.

The US said Prost, the Canadian judge, is sanctioned for an investigation into US personnel in Afghanistan, adding that Khan and Niang are both responsible for "illegitimate actions against Israel".

The penalties mean any property and interests the four officials hold in the US are blocked.

This latest round of sanctions comes after the US imposed similar restrictions on the ICC's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan KC, along with four other judges earlier this year.

UN's human rights chief previously demanded the US withdraw its sanctions on the four judges, saying the decision runs directly counter to "respect for the rule law".

In July, the US also sanctioned UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has been a prominent critic of Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

Rubio cited Albanese's support for the ICC and her participation in the court's decisions to prosecute American or Israeli nationals as justification for the move.

In response, Albanese reposted support for the ICC on social media, saying she came from the court's founding country Italy where lawyers and judges had "defended justice at great cost and often with their own life".

"I intend to honour that tradition," she added in the post.