Gaza City and its surrounding area is now experiencing famine, a UN-backed body of food security experts has confirmed.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which is used by governments and international bodies to identify hunger levels around the world, has raised its classification to Phase 5 - the highest and most severe.

It says that over half a million people across the Gaza Strip are facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".

Israel said the IPC report was based on "Hamas lies". It continues to restrict the amount of aid entering Gaza and has previously denied there is starvation in the territory.

This denial is in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, and multiple UN bodies have said.

The IPC report describes the famine as "entirely man-made" and says that an "immediate, at-scale response" is needed or there will be an "unacceptable escalation" in famine-related deaths.

It predicts that between mid-August and the end of September, famine will expand across the strip to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

During this period, almost a third of the population - nearly 641,000 people - are expected to face "catastrophic conditions" in IPC Phase 5, while the number of people to face "emergency" conditions in IPC Phase 4 will likely increase to 1.14 million - or 58% of the population.

The report also projects that up to June 2026, malnutrition will "threaten" the lives of 132,000 children aged under five.

Since the start of the war, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has reported that 271 people have died of "famine and malnutrition" - including 112 children.

The IPC cannot officially declare famine - that is usually done by governments or the United Nations.

In response to the report, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory "because of systematic obstruction by Israel".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: 'famine'."

He described it as "not a mystery," but rather "a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself".

He added that Israel has "unequivocal obligations under international law - including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population".

Phillipe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), said: "This is starvation by design & man-made by the Government of Israel".

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk described the famine as "the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government", which has "unlawfully restricted" the entry of aid.

In recent months, Israel has come under widespread international condemnation for the aid situation in the Gaza Strip.

Last month, after weeks of mounting pressure, the Israeli military said it had airdropped humanitarian aid into Gaza - a move that was criticised at the time by aid agencies as a "grotesque distraction".

Other aid drops have since taken place - but warnings have been issued about their safety, with reports that civilians were hit and killed by the falling pallets.

Earlier this week, BBC Verify found 10 separate occasions where aid was dropped into an area that the Israeli military has explicitly warned people not to enter.

In addition to airdrops, Israel said it would designate humanitarian corridors for UN convoys. However, on Tuesday the UN warned that the "trickle of aid" entering Gaza was insufficient to "avert widespread starvation".

Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of aid, says roughly 300 aid trucks are entering daily, but the UN says 600 trucks of supplies a day are needed.

The IPC report comes as Israel prepares to launch a new military offensive aimed at occupying Gaza City.

Israel's 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 Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; and the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed.

Famine is taking place in Gaza - just a short drive away from hundreds of trucks of aid sitting idly outside its borders.

How did we get here?

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), backed by the United Nations, is the world's leading hunger monitor.

Its assessment that half a million people – a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are suffering from famine is shocking for many reasons.

Primary among them is the report's acknowledgement that this situation is "entirely man-made", with aid organisations today accusing Israel of the "systematic obstruction" of food entering the Gaza Strip.

• 'My youngest child doesn't know what fruit tastes like': Gaza residents on famine

The IPC report says that it has found that people living in the Gaza City area are experiencing famine conditions of "starvation, destitution, and death".

It also finds that starvation is spreading rapidly – with famine expected to be in much of the rest of Gaza in September, on current trends.

The report has reached its conclusion via three key indicators:

• Starvation: At least 1 in 5 households face an extreme shortage in their consumption of food
• Malnutrition: Roughly 1 in 3 children or more are acutely malnourished
• Mortality: At least 2 in every 10,000 people are dying daily because of outright starvation or the combination of malnutrition and disease

When two of these three "thresholds" are met, the IPC recognises that famine is taking place.

The IPC says the "mortality" indicator is not showing in the available data because of a breakdown of monitoring systems. It believes most non-traumatic deaths are not being recorded.

Based on the evidence that does exist, and expert judgement, the IPC has concluded that the "mortality" threshold for famine has been met.

The report was published as Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry recorded two new deaths from malnutrition, bringing the total number to 273 deaths, including 112 children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied starvation is taking place in Gaza and has said that where there is hunger, it is the fault of aid agencies and Hamas.

Israel has accused international aid agencies like the UN of not picking up aid waiting at Gaza's border, pointing to the hundreds of trucks sitting idle.

'Entirely man-made'

After weeks of the world seeing images of starving children, with distended stomachs and protruding bones, many will feel like the signs that a famine was imminent were a long time coming.

The ability of Palestinians to access food has been complicated throughout the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

Israel has long placed restrictions on goods entering Gaza, those restrictions increased after the beginning of the war on 7 October 2023, triggered by the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel.

However, since March 2025, the situation has deteriorated rapidly after Israel introduced a nearly three-month total blockade on goods entering Gaza.

Under significant international pressure, Israel began allowing a limited amount of goods back into Gaza in late-May.

It also introduced a new system of food distribution operated by a controversial American group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to replace the previous UN-led system of food distribution.

The GHF has four food distribution sites in militarised zones that Palestinians must walk long distances at risk, replacing the 400 distribution points in the community under the UN's system.

Finding food has become a deadly endeavour for Palestinians and they have regularly told us that they have to choose between starvation and death, referring to the near-daily shootings of people trying to get aid at GHF distribution sites.

The United Nations has recorded the killing of at least 994 Palestinians in the vicinity of GHF sites, since late May, some of the 1,760 killed trying to access aid.

The UN says the majority killed were shot by Israeli troops, something corroborated by eye-witnesses we have spoken to and medics in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly rejected the allegations.

Under this system, overseen by Israel, starvation in Gaza has expanded.

As pressure continued to grow on Israel to allow more food in, in late July it began allowing more trucks of aid into Gaza each day and introducing "tactical pauses" in fighting to allow more aid convoys to move through the territory.

More aid has entered in recent weeks and the astronomical prices of some goods in the markets reduced somewhat – though for many Palestinians, prohibitively expensive. At times the price of flour reached above $85 for a kilo, though that figure began to reduce.

The UN and aid organisations say that despite Israel loosening some of its restrictions on food getting into the Gaza Strip, it still places significant impediments and obstructions in being able to collect and distribute aid.

The organisations say what's needed is 600 trucks a day bringing goods into Gaza for people to meet their basic needs – currently no more than half of that is being allowed in.

Israel also began allowing airdrops of aid, something criticised as inefficient, dangerous, and ultimately a distraction by humanitarian organisations.

Israel's accusation that Hamas is responsible for the hunger crisis has also been criticised. Multiple reports, including an internal US government report, found there is no evidence of systematic diversion of aid by Hamas.

There is indeed widespread looting of trucks entering Gaza – but aid agencies say most of the looting is by crowds of desperate Palestinians and some organised groups trying to make a resale profit.

Ultimately, aid agencies have been repeating for months that in order to avert starvation and famine, Gaza needs to be flooded with aid entering by road and currently Israel still imposes restrictions.

Israel's response

A number of Israeli government officials have today rejected the IPC's report.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused the IPC of publishing a "tailor-made fabricated report to fit Hamas's fake campaign".

The Israeli army body called Cogat (the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), which is responsible for managing crossing into Gaza, called the IPC report a "False and Biased Report, Based on Partial Data Originating From the Hamas Terrorist Organization".

Among other criticisms, Israel says that the IPC "changed its own global standard", halving a threshold of those facing famine from 30% to 15% as well as "totally ignoring its second criterion of death rate".

The IPC rejected the accusations and said that it has used long-established standards that have been used previously in similar situations.

Israel's accusation that the IPC has used "Hamas data" appears to reference that some of the reporting about malnutrition in Gaza comes from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health there.

However, the ministry's data on deaths and injuries has widely been seen as reliable throughout the war.

Responses to the report from UN agencies and international leaders has been strong.

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Israel, as the occupying power, "has unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population. We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity".

The UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said the famine was the direct result of Israel's "systematic obstruction" of aid entering Gaza.

Meanwhile the UK's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "The Israeli government's refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is a moral outrage."

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said it was "a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of wilful killing".

Gaza City Invasion

Israel has this week authorised the call-up of tens of thousands of reservist troops to conduct its controversial invasion and occupation of Gaza City, the area where the IPC has declared famine is taking place.

Netanyahu says a takeover is the best option to defeat Hamas, end the war and to return the Israeli hostages from Gaza.

The invasion would forcibly displace an estimated one million Palestinians living in Gaza City and the areas around it. Israel has already told medics and aid agencies to make preparations to make plans to evacuate the area.

A joint statement from a number of UN organisations including Unicef, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization expressed alarm about the planned offensive, saying "it would have further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist.

"Many people – especially sick and malnourished children, older people and people with disabilities – may be unable to evacuate."

Multiple people have died after a tour bus crashed on the New York State Thruway in western New York, according to New York State Police.

Police said the group was returning from Niagara Falls on the US-Canada border to New York City when witnesses saw the vehicle lose control and turn over. Most of the victims are from India, China and the Philippines, according to police.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said local officials "are working to rescue and provide assistance to everyone involved".

Ambulances and medical helicopters were sent to the crash site, near the town of Pembroke, 30 miles (48km) east of the city of Buffalo.

"As we're progressing through this, we're losing more people unfortunately," the trooper told reporters, adding: "Most people on the bus did not have a seatbelt on."

Some victims were thrown from the vehicle when it crashed, the trooper added.

Several people are still believed to be trapped inside the wreckage.

Translators are being brought to the scene to assist in the investigation.

The crash took place approximately 40 miles from Niagara Falls, a major tourist destination on the US-Canada border.

According to police, there were 52 people on board at the time of the crash.

The bus was heading eastbound and lost control, veering into the median and then into a ditch, according police.

Officials said that "multiple people are dead" and that there are "multiple entrapments, and multiple injuries". Authorities have yet to release the total number of fatalities.

Multiple children were on board at the time of the crash, police say.

At least 21 patients have been admitted to local hospitals.

One witness told The Buffalo News that he saw a bus laying on its side and items strewn on the roadway following the crash.

"There was glass all over the road and people's stuff all over the road," said Powell Stephens, who drove past the crash site.

"Windows were all shattered. Everyone seemed conscious and OK, but I only saw the scene for about 15 seconds."

ConnectLife, an organisation that provides blood to hospitals in the region, has issued an emergency appeal for blood donations.

"Our community is facing a crisis," said spokeswoman Sarah Diina.

"This is one of those moments when your action can directly save lives," said Diina. "Please donate. If you can't, help us by spreading the word."

Authorities are requesting drivers with dashcam footage of the crash to come forward to aid in their investigation.

When Chappell Roan toured the UK last autumn, she was playing small, club-level shows.

On Friday, she headlined the Reading Festival, taking no prisoners with a dazzling, jubilant set that capped her incredible rise to fame over the past 18 months.

Backed by a gothic fairytale castle and a powerful all-female band, she added a crunchy rock edge to hits like Hot To Go and Casual, bringing her debut album to stadium-sized life.

"Thank you for loving me and standing with me," she told the 90,000-strong audience. "This is a dream come true, seriously."

Roan was booked for Reading after emerging as the biggest break-out star of 2024, but her journey to success has been anything but smooth.

She spent years honing her style and fighting sceptical record labels before her campy, singalong anthems found their intended audience.

Her first (and so far only) album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess was a slow-burning hit that chronicled the singer's search for identity: Leaving small-town Missouri for California, ditching the "hyper mega bummer boys" she'd dated in her teens and embracing queer love.

The songs were tightly written, embracing everything from country to 80s synth pop, but it was the lyrics – full of solitary yearning and thwarted romance - that really connected.

At Reading, devoted fans screamed every word, frequently threatening to drown out Roan's own vocals, powerful though they were.

"You'd be forgiven for thinking it's the world's biggest hen party," said Radio 1's Jack Saunders, surveying the multitude of pink cowboy hats in the audience.

Roan emerged on stage shortly after 7pm in an ornate crimson outfit, topped with black "bat wing" fascinator that fans immediately dubbed "Chappell Crow-an".

Skipping across the stage, she opened with three of her most upbeat songs – Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl, Femininomenon and After Midnight – only pausing to shed layers of her elaborate costume.

Over the next 90 minutes, she played practically every song she's released, including the early release Love Me Anyway and this year's standalone tracks The Giver and Subway.

Normally, the reliance on album tracks and deep cuts would be a bad sign for a festival headliner – but Roan wasn't stretching out thin material.

Somehow, nearly every song from Midwest Princess has become a modern anthem, elevating the album to the status of classics like Thriller, Rumours and Back To Black.

Highlights included Hot To Go, with its viral YMCA-style dance routine; and the snarky comeuppance anthem My Kink Is Karma, which Roan dedicated "to my ex who is in the crowd tonight".

But it was ballads like Casual, Coffee and Picture You that really showcased the star's voice – all country twang and breathy vocal flips, that puts her on a higher plane than her pop contemporaries.

The constrictions of the festival slot meant sadly there was no room for Roan's trademark banter.

A highlight of her current tour has frequently come during The Giver – where she pauses the song to read out messages from audience members about their hopeless exes. (Last week in Oslo, she got fans to boo a man called Daniel, who had cheated on his partner "twice in the same Burger King parking lot".)

Sadly, there was no repeat at Reading, but the singer's charisma and stage presence were never in doubt.

As the sun set over Little John's Farm, she strode to edge of the catwalk for her breakout single, Good Luck Babe, silhouetted by spotlights and looking every inch like a superstar.

She sealed the deal with Pink Pony Club, blowing kisses and high-kicking her way across the stage, as fireworks rained down on her and fans happily lost their minds.

From the first note to the final bow, it was a perfect pop set.

Roan will do it all over again in Leeds on Saturday night, before two headline shows at Edinburgh's Royal Showground next week.

And then? With her summer festival run over, Roan has a handful of dates in Ireland and the USA before she faces the unenviable task of following up the femininomenal success of her debut.

Speaking to Apple Music's Zane Lowe earlier this month, she said that task could take as long as five years.

"The second project doesn't exist yet," she said. "There is no album. There is no collection of songs."

"I want to write music whenever I feel settled. I haven't felt settled," she continued. "It's been a very unsettling year and a half, and I think once I really feel calm in a new house and have a routine... Then I can think about writing a song."

Let's hope she gets that rest soon – because we need her back as soon as possible.

Chappell Roan's Reading Festival setlist

• Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl
• Femininomenon
• After Midnight
• Naked in Manhattan
• Guilty Pleasure
• Casual
• The Subway
• Hot To Go!
• Barracuda (Heart cover)
• Picture You
• Love Me Anyway
• The Giver
• Red Wine Supernova
• Coffee
• Good Luck, Babe!
• My Kink Is Karma
• Pink Pony Club

Serena Williams, one of the most successful athletes of all time, has spoken out about using weight loss drugs - she says, to lift the "stigma" around using such medication.

Will her outspoken comments instil a new sense of confidence in those using the drugs? And could her honesty quieten the critics?

The 43-year-old tennis star, who broke records and won 23 grand slam titles through her career, was the embodiment of fitness and athletic prowess. But, after having kids, even she, like so many of us, has admitted to struggling to shift those extra pounds.

In the end, Williams told the Today Show in the US, that she had to look at her extra weight as "an opponent". Despite "training five hours a day" and "running, walking, biking, stair climbing," she couldn't pulverise this adversary like she did to her opponents on the tennis court - so in the end, she says, she had no other choice but to "try something different".

Many of her friends were using GLP-1 - the group of medications which help with weight loss, so she decided to try it.

Williams is adamant that the medication route - she won't say which brand she is taking - wasn't easy, and certainly not a shortcut to her losing 31lb (14kg) over the past eight months.

There is scepticism about the timing of the tennis star's recent transparency - she has just become a spokesperson for Ro, a company which sells GLP-1 brands like Wegovy and Zepbound (known as Mounjaro in the UK) through its weight-loss programme, and her husband is also an investor.

Despite this and the potential side effects of taking the medication, her honesty will hit a nerve for many - she says she is speaking out to take away the shame that so many women feel when it comes to using drugs to help them lose weight.

Caleb Luna, assistant professor of feminist studies at the University of California, says having someone like Serena Williams speaking out is "a breakthrough".

They say it helps silence the critics of how "weight loss is achieved" who say that "people are taking the easy way out" by using weight loss drugs.

"It gets rid of the stereotype that these drugs are for fat people who are being lazy and incompetent.

"In that respect it's maybe a good thing."

But Caleb also says the revelation about her need to resort to using GLP-1 medication is slightly "terrifying" and makes them feel "a little bit sad". They worry that all it does is belittle hard work and dedication, instead, focussing on appearance and the pressure to look a certain way.

"She has achieved things that so few people, in our time and throughout history have achieved.

"But now it just shows how all those accomplishments can be undermined by body size.

"Scarily, weight loss seems to outshine all those record-breaking achievements."

'Healthy weight'

Williams' weight and her looks have been scrutinised throughout her life. The burden, the pressure to fit in with society's expectations does not diminish no matter how much sporting success an athlete has in their career.

And while she may be the most high profile sports star who openly uses weight loss medication, there are many others in the public eye who have spoken out.

Oprah Winfrey says she uses GLP-1 as a tool, along with exercise and healthy eating, to stop herself "yo-yoing" with her weight.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg says she lost the weight of "two people" after taking the drug, and singer Kelly Clarkson, who says she was "chased" by her "doctor for two years" before she agreed to take it, are among the dozens of stars who have been open about taking the medication.

Williams left the world of tennis behind back in 2022, when she played the final match of her career in the US Open, but she is still a powerhouse of strength and has wanted to reach what she describes as her "healthy weight" since the birth of her second child, Adina.

In her interview with the Today Show, says she felt like her "body was missing something" and she wasn't able to get down to what she felt comfortable with - despite intense training.

Dr Claire Madigan, a senior research associate in behavioural medicine at the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, says elite athletes can find it hard to lose weight.

"They are used to consuming a lot of calories and when they leave the sport they can find it difficult - it needs a change in behaviour."

Dr Madigan said it was good to see that Williams mentioned her weight loss was not just down to the drug - "she did have to focus on the diet and physical activity".

She added: "It's great she is talking about how difficult it is to lose weight after having a baby."

But she wonders if Williams's message might be lost and even demotivate some women. "The drugs are quite expensive and the average person may think here is an elite athlete, she's got access to the gym, she's got time, she has a nutritionist… and she's had to use GLP-1s".

Dr Madigan also expressed concern that the potential side effects of taking the drugs - which can include gastrointestinal problems like vomiting and diarrhoea, and in rare cases, gallbladder and kidney problems - may not have been widely discussed in the publicity surrounding Williams' announcement.

Williams says she did not experience any side effects, and told Women's Health magazine that she is finally seeing the benefits of all her hard work at the gym.

"My joints are a lot better," she says, "I just had my check-up, and the doctor said everything - including my blood sugar levels - looked great."

And, even though, she's no longer breaking new ground on the tennis courts, she is still smashing her own records, with the help, she says of weight loss drugs. She's currently training for a half marathon.

"I am running farther than I ever have," she says proudly.

Additional reporting by Alex Kleiderman

A woman who was jailed for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers has said she was made to be "Sir Keir Starmer's political prisoner".

Lucy Connolly, from Northampton, was released on Thursday after serving 40% of her 31-month prison sentence.

The 42-year-old wife of a Tory councillor had called for people to "set fire" to hotels housing asylum seekers in the wake of the Southport attack in July 2024.

Number 10 declined to comment, but earlier this year Sir Keir appeared to defend the prison term in the House of Commons, saying he was "against incitement to violence".

In her first newspaper interview since her release, Connolly told the Telegraph she considered herself and "several other people" to "absolutely" be political prisoners of the prime minister.

"I, for some reason, seem to have had the most coverage, but there are people that are in equally awful situations that shouldn't be in there," she said, speaking to journalist Allison Pearson, who had campaigned for Connolly's release.

"I think with Starmer he needs to practise what he preaches.

"He's a human rights lawyer, so maybe he needs to look at what people's human rights are; what freedom of speech means; and what the laws are in this country."

On 29 July last year - the day of the Southport attack - she had posted on X that there should be "mass deportation now" and said "if that makes me racist, so be it".

Connolly's post had been deleted before she was arrested on 6 August, but it had already been viewed 310,000 times.

She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing "threatening or abusive" written material on X.

She is a former childminder whose husband is a Conservative member of Northampton Town Council.

Connolly also told the Telegraph she was "upset and angry beyond belief" after the murders in Southport, and that she knew "how that feels because I've lost a child".

"Of course,[the tweet] wasn't my finest moment and I don't, I definitely don't advocate violence or burning anything down or anything of the sort."

She said she was considering legal action against the police over a statement that was released by the Crown Prosecution Service after her sentencing, which claimed she had told police in an interview that "she did not like illegal immigrants" and "that children were not safe from them".

Her comments had been "massively twisted and used against me", she claimed.

'Volatile situation'

When questioned about the sentence at Prime Minister's Questions in May, Sir Keir said: "I am strongly in favour of free speech; we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely.

"But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe."

At Connolly's sentencing in October, Judge Melbourne Inman KC said: "When you published those words you were well aware how volatile the situation was.

"That volatility led to serious disorder where mindless violence was used."

Connolly will remain on licence until the end of her sentence.

A Northamptonshire Police spokesperson said the force was aware of comments made by Connolly after her release.

"We hope to contact Mrs Connolly in the coming days to understand the issues she has raised around Northamptonshire Police," they said.

Number 10 declined to comment.

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

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said on Friday that the federal government will take a 10% stake in Intel.

"This historic agreement strengthens US leadership in semiconductors, which will both grow our economy and help secure America's technological edge," Lutnick wrote on X in a post accompanied by a photo of himself with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.

Shares of the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker soared in after-hours trading, rising more than 5%.

President Donald Trump revealed the deal earlier on Friday during remarks in the Oval Office, calling it a "great deal for them". The BBC has reached out to Intel seeking confirmation of the agreement with the White House.

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

In the affluent Seoul neighbourhood of Daechi, Hyun Sung-joo has a dilemma.

His cafe is sometimes visited by Cagongjok, a term for mostly young South Koreans who love to study or work at cafes, but there's a limit.

He says one customer recently set up a workspace in his cafe which included two laptops and a six-port power strip to charge all their devices - for an entire day.

"I ended up blocking off the power outlets," the cafe owner of 15 years tells the BBC.

"With Daechi's high rents, it's difficult to run a cafe if someone occupies a seat all day."

The cultural phenomenon of Cagongjok is rampant in South Korea, especially in areas with large numbers of students and office workers. They dominate cafes often on a much greater scale than other Western countries like the UK, where those studying are often surrounded by others there to socialise.

And Starbucks Korea warned this month that a minority of people are going further than just laptops, such as bringing in desktop monitors, printers, partitioning off desks or leaving tables unattended for long periods.

The chain has now launched nationwide guidelines aimed at curbing "a small number of extreme cases" where elaborate setups or prolonged empty seats disrupt other customers.

Starbucks said staff would not ask customers to leave, but rather provide "guidance" when needed. It also cited previous cases of theft when customers left belongings unattended, calling the new guidelines "a step toward a more comfortable store environment".

It doesn't seem to be deterring the more moderate Cagongjok though, for whom Starbucks has been somewhat of a haven in recent years and continues to be.

On a Thursday evening in Seoul's Gangnam district, a Starbucks branch buzzes quietly with customers studying, heads down over laptops and books.

Among them is an 18-year-old student who dropped out of school and is preparing for the university entrance exam, "Suneung".

"I get here around 11am and stay until 10pm," she tells the BBC. "Sometimes I leave my things and go eat nearby."

We have seen no bulky equipment during our visits to Starbucks since the new guidelines were issued on 7 August, though we did see one man with a laptop stand, keyboard and mouse. Some customers still appear to be leaving their seats unattended for long periods, with laptops and books spread across tables.

When asked whether its new restrictions have led to visible changes, Starbucks Korea told the BBC it was "difficult to confirm".

Reactions to Starbucks' move have been mixed. Most welcome the policy as a long-overdue step toward restoring normalcy in how cafes are used.

This is particularly so among those who visit Starbucks for relaxation or conversation, who say it has become difficult to find seats because of Cagongjok, and that the hushed atmosphere often made them feel self-conscious about talking freely.

A few have criticised it as overreach, saying the chain has abandoned its previously hands-off approach.

It reflects a wider public discussion in South Korea over Cagongjok that has been brewing ever since it started taking off in 2010, coinciding with the growth of franchised coffee chains in the country. That has kept growing, with the country seeing a 48% increase in coffee shops over the past five years, according to the National Tax Service, nearing 100,000.

Some 70% of people in a recent survey of more than 2,000 Gen Z job seekers in South Korea by recruitment platform Jinhaksa Catch said they studied in cafes at least once a week.

'Two people would take up enough space for 10 customers'

Dealing with "seat hogging" and related issues is a tricky balance, and the independent cafes grappling with a similar thing have deployed a range of approaches.

While Hyun has experienced customers bringing multiple electronic devices and setting up workstations, he says extreme cases like this are rare.

"It's maybe two or three people out of a hundred," he said. "Most people are considerate. Some even order another drink if they stay long, and I'm totally fine with that."

Hyun's cafe, which locals also use as a space for conversation or private tutoring, still welcomes Cagongjok as long as they respect the shared space.

Some other cafe franchises even cater to them with power outlets, individual desks and longer stay allowances.

But other cafe owners have taken stricter steps. Kim, a café owner in Jeonju who asked the BBC to remain anonymous, introduced a "No Study Zone" policy after repeated complaints about space being monopolised.

"Two people would come in and take over space for 10. Sometimes they'd leave for meals and come back to study for seven or eight hours," he says. "We eventually put up a sign saying this is a space for conversation, not for studying."

Now his cafe allows a maximum of two hours for those using it to study or work. The rule does not apply to regular customers who are simply having coffee.

"I made the policy to prevent potential conflicts between customers," Kim says.

'Cagongjok' - here to stay?

So what's behind the trend and why do so many in South Korea feel the need to work or study in cafes rather than in libraries, shared workspaces or at home?

For some, the cafe is more than just an ambient space; it's a place to feel grounded.

Yu-jin Mo, 29, tells the BBC about her experience growing up in foster care. "Home wasn't a safe place. I lived with my father in a small container, and sometimes he'd lock the door from the outside and leave me alone inside."

Even now, as an adult, she finds it hard to be alone. "As soon as I wake up, I go to a cafe. I tried libraries and study cafes, but they felt suffocating," she says.

Later Ms Mo even ran her own cafe for a year, hoping to offer a space where people like her could feel comfortable staying and studying.

Professor Choi Ra-young of Ansan University, who has studied lifelong education for over two decades, sees Cagongjok as a cultural phenomenon shaped by South Korea's hyper-competitive society.

"This is a youth culture created by the society we've built," she tells the BBC. "Most Cagongjok are likely job seekers or students. They're under pressure - whether it's from academics, job insecurity or housing conditions with no windows and no space to study.

"In a way, these young people are victims of a system that doesn't provide enough public space for them to work or learn," she adds. "They might be seen as a nuisance, but they're also a product of social structure."

Professor Choi said it was time to create more inclusive spaces. "We need guidelines and environments that allow for cafe studying - without disturbing others - if we want to accommodate this culture realistically."

Last month, award-winning singer Emily Portman got a message from a fan praising her new album and saying "English folk music is in good hands".

That would normally be a compliment, but the Sheffield-based artist was puzzled.

So she followed a link the fan had posted and was taken to what appeared to be her latest release. "But I didn't recognise it because I hadn't released a new album," Portman says.

"I clicked through and discovered an album online everywhere - on Spotify and iTunes and all the online platforms.

"It was called Orca, and it was music that was evidently AI-generated, but it had been cleverly trained, I think, on me."

The 10 tracks had names such as Sprig of Thyme and Silent Hearth - which were "uncannily close" to titles she might choose. It was something that Portman, who won a BBC Folk Award in 2013, found "really creepy".

When she clicked to listen, the voice - supposedly hers - was a bit off but sang in "a folk style probably closest to mine that AI could produce", she says. The instrumentation was also eerily similar.

While AI-generated music is rife online, it's often released under fictitious names, or imitates big stars, but it doesn't normally appear on their official streaming pages.

There's now a growing trend, though, for established (but not superstar) artists to be targeted by fake albums or songs that suddenly appear on their pages on Spotify and other streaming services. Even dead musicians have had AI-generated "new" material added to their catalogues.

Portman doesn't know who put the album up under her name or why. She was falsely credited as performer, writer and copyright holder. The producer listed in the credits was Freddie Howells - but she says that name doesn't mean anything to her, and there's no trace online of a producer or musician of that name.

As for the music itself, while it was enough to convince some fans, the lack of actual human creative input made it sound "vacuous and pristine", she says.

"I'll never be able to sing that perfectly in tune. And that's not the point. I don't want to. I'm human."

A few days later, another album popped up on Portman's streaming pages. This time, less effort had been made to emulate her. It was "20 tracks of instrumental drivel", she says. "Just AI slop."

She filed copyright complaints to get the albums taken down, and says the episode has redoubled her "belief in the importance of real creativity, and how it moves people".

"I hope that the AI music didn't do that for people," she continues. "Although I did get an email from somebody saying, 'Where's Orca? That's been on repeat.' So people have been hoodwinked by it."

Whoever posted the albums online will receive any royalties, but no song on Orca had more than 2,000 plays on Spotify - so the revenue wouldn't have exceeded $6 (£4.40) per track.

According to music industry analysts Luminate, about 99,000 songs are uploaded to streaming services every day, usually via dozens of distribution services, which ask the uploader to submit the artist's details.

If that information is incorrect, and a song wrongly gets listed under an existing artist's name, it's down to them or their label to complain and get it removed.

Portman says some platforms were quick to remove Orca from their platforms, but Spotify took three weeks, and she still hasn't regained control of her Spotify artist profile.

In a statement, Spotify said: "These albums were incorrectly added to the wrong profile of a different artist by the same name, and were removed once flagged."

Portman questions that. Although there is another singer of the same name on Spotify, the albums didn't sound like her and haven't since been added to her profile.

She says the "distressing" experience feels like "the start of something pretty dystopian" - and also highlights a lack of legal safeguards for artists.

She suspects independent artists are being targeted because star names have more protection and more power to get fraudulent releases removed swiftly.

'Signature of our soul'

Like Portman, New York-based musician, producer and songwriter Josh Kaufman, who played on Taylor Swift's Folklore album, was alerted to fake new material by his listeners.

"I just started getting messages from fans and friends about some new music I just released, and how much of a shift it was [stylistically]," he says.

"I think most people were hip to the fact that it was somebody else just using my artist profile as a way to release some strange music that clearly was computer generated."

In Kaufman's case, his identity had been used to release a track called Someone Who's Love Me, which sounded like "a Casio keyboard demo with broken English lyrics".

"It was embarrassing and then just kind of confusing," he adds. "This [music] is the thing that we do, right? This is the signature of our soul, and that someone else can walk in there and just have access like that..."

He's one of a number of Americana and folk-rock artists who have had fake tracks posted using their names in recent weeks - apparently all from the same source.

Others include Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, J Tillman (now known as Father John Misty), Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine), Teddy Thompson and Jakob Dylan.

All the releases used the same style of AI artwork and were credited to three record labels, two with apparently Indonesian names. Many listed the same name as a songwriter - Zyan Maliq Mahardika.

That name has also been credited on other songs mimicking real US Christian musicians and metalcore bands.

Spotify said it had flagged the issue with the distributor and removed these tracks as they "violated our policy against impersonating another person or brand."

It added it would "remove any distributor who repeatedly allows this type of content on our platform".

Kaufman made a playlist of all the tracks he could find and gave it a derogatory name. "It's more fun to laugh about it than to feel bad about it," he says. "But it is disconcerting that this can happen."

And it was strange to him, as a musician and producer who generally goes "under the radar", to be targeted. "Why not go for someone big?" he asks. "If you're trying to accumulate royalties of some kind."

Where any royalties may have gone, he has no idea. "I don't even know what the enemy is, to be honest," he says. "Is it a computer? Is it a person sitting somewhere developing this music to just mess with someone?"

One thing is for sure - he wants companies such as Spotify to be more proactive about preventing fraudulent music appearing on their platforms.

Tatiana Cirisano from media and technology analysis company Midia Research says AI is "making it easier for fraudsters" to fool listeners, who are also more "passive" in the algorithmic age.

She thinks bad actors posing as real-life artists are hoping their fraudulent tracks will "rack up enough streams" – hundreds of thousands - to earn them a nice payday.

"I would think that the AI fakes are targeting lesser-known artists in the hopes that their schemes fly under the radar, compared to if they were to target a superstar who could immediately get Spotify on the line," she notes.

But streaming services and distributors are "working hard" and getting better at spotting it, she stresses, "ironically, also by using AI and machine learning!

"I think it's clear to everyone that every stakeholder must do their part," she says. "But it's complicated."

Three chords and the mistruth

When a new song appeared last month on US country singer Blaze Foley's verified artist page, it came as a big surprise to Craig McDonald, owner of Foley's record label - not least because Foley died in 1989.

The "AI schlock", as McDonald puts it, was evidently not in Foley's "Texas singer-songwriter from the heart" style.

"Blaze had a songwriting talent but along with that talent, a total authenticity," he says. "As they say, three chords and the truth. And this clearly wasn't it."

McDonald, who runs Lost Art Records, is concerned AI dupes could damage the credibility of artists like Foley, especially for people who don't know their sound.

What would Foley have made of all this? "Blaze might have liked it because the photo that accompanied it really slimmed him down, it took off about 30lb and also gave him a modern haircut," McDonald laughs.

"But he would also say, 'I want that 10% of a penny that Spotify is collecting. Send that my way'."

Considering how the streaming era has already made a big dent in many artists' incomes, Emily Portman says this affair has felt like a "very low blow".

As well as attempting to tackle her faceless AI impostor, she is now recording her first (real) solo album for 10 years - which, unlike AI, takes time, money and deep personal creativity. She says it will cost at least £10,000 to make, to pay the people who play on, produce, release and promote it.

But the result, she enthuses, will be something genuine and human.

"I'm really looking forward to bringing some real music into the world!"

Gaza City and its surrounding area is now experiencing famine, a UN-backed body of food security experts has confirmed.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which is used by governments and international bodies to identify hunger levels around the world, has raised its classification to Phase 5 - the highest and most severe.

It says that over half a million people across the Gaza Strip are facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".

Israel said the IPC report was based on "Hamas lies". It continues to restrict the amount of aid entering Gaza and has previously denied there is starvation in the territory.

This denial is in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, and multiple UN bodies have said.

The IPC report describes the famine as "entirely man-made" and says that an "immediate, at-scale response" is needed or there will be an "unacceptable escalation" in famine-related deaths.

It predicts that between mid-August and the end of September, famine will expand across the strip to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

During this period, almost a third of the population - nearly 641,000 people - are expected to face "catastrophic conditions" in IPC Phase 5, while the number of people to face "emergency" conditions in IPC Phase 4 will likely increase to 1.14 million - or 58% of the population.

The report also projects that up to June 2026, malnutrition will "threaten" the lives of 132,000 children aged under five.

Since the start of the war, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has reported that 271 people have died of "famine and malnutrition" - including 112 children.

The IPC cannot officially declare famine - that is usually done by governments or the United Nations.

In response to the report, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory "because of systematic obstruction by Israel".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: 'famine'."

He described it as "not a mystery," but rather "a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself".

He added that Israel has "unequivocal obligations under international law - including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population".

Phillipe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), said: "This is starvation by design & man-made by the Government of Israel".

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk described the famine as "the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government", which has "unlawfully restricted" the entry of aid.

In recent months, Israel has come under widespread international condemnation for the aid situation in the Gaza Strip.

Last month, after weeks of mounting pressure, the Israeli military said it had airdropped humanitarian aid into Gaza - a move that was criticised at the time by aid agencies as a "grotesque distraction".

Other aid drops have since taken place - but warnings have been issued about their safety, with reports that civilians were hit and killed by the falling pallets.

Earlier this week, BBC Verify found 10 separate occasions where aid was dropped into an area that the Israeli military has explicitly warned people not to enter.

In addition to airdrops, Israel said it would designate humanitarian corridors for UN convoys. However, on Tuesday the UN warned that the "trickle of aid" entering Gaza was insufficient to "avert widespread starvation".

Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of aid, says roughly 300 aid trucks are entering daily, but the UN says 600 trucks of supplies a day are needed.

The IPC report comes as Israel prepares to launch a new military offensive aimed at occupying Gaza City.

Israel's 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 Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; and the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed.