Israeli forces have stepped up their assault on Gaza City with a wave of heavy air strikes, marking a sharp escalation from previous military operations.

Unlike earlier phases of the war, the current offensive has relied heavily on aerial bombardments, with entire apartment blocks and large concrete structures reduced to rubble.

The intensification of strikes in recent days has triggered a surge in civilian displacement.

Israel has warned all residents of Gaza City to leave immediately in anticipation of a huge ground offensive.

On Sunday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said about 250,000 people had left the city and moved south. It also said it had destroyed a high-rise building that it said had been used "to advance and execute terrorist attacks" against its troops.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the city is Hamas's last major stronghold. But the plan to occupy Gaza City has brought international criticism.

The UN has warned an intensification of the offensive on an area where a famine has already been declared will push civilians into an "even deeper catastrophe". Gaza City is the largest urban centre in the territory and a historic heart of Palestinian political and social life.

Residents say the Israeli military has been targeting schools and makeshift shelters, often issuing warnings only moments before bombardments.

Many families have been forced to flee in darkness toward western Gaza.

"We escaped certain death, my husband, our three children and I," said Saly Tafeesh, a mother sheltering in the city. "My brother died in my arms after being shot by a quadcopter drone. We ran in the dark to the west of Gaza."

The Israeli military has told residents to evacuate to the south of the territory - but many families say they cannot afford the journey, which costs up to $1,100 (£800). Hamas, meanwhile, has intensified its calls for residents to stay put and resist leaving the city.

Rubein Khaled, a father-of-nine preparing to move south, expressed frustration.

"The Hamas preacher at Friday prayers accused anyone leaving Gaza City of being a coward running from the battlefield," he said.

"But why doesn't he tell Hamas leaders to surrender and release the Israeli hostages so this war can stop? We don't want to leave either, but we have no choice."

Israeli forces have not yet reached some eastern neighbourhoods that have remained largely intact since earlier raids in January, but the current campaign suggests they may now be seeking to dismantle entire districts.

Meanwhile, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman strongly criticised Israel's prime minister in an interview with the BBC following this week's Israeli strike on Hamas officials in the Qatari capital Doha.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told the BBC that the international community had "to deal with a Netanyahu problem".

"He is not somebody who is listening to anybody right now, who is listening to any reason, and we have to collectively stop him in his tracks," the official said.

He argued the strike in Doha showed the Israeli leader "never intended to sign any peace deal" to end the war in Gaza and instead "believes he can re-shape the Middle East in his own image".

Five of the group's members and a Qatari security officer were killed in Tuesday's strike - though the Palestinian armed group claimed no senior leaders had been killed. Hamas members had been in Doha to discuss the latest US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel has faced widespread condemnation, including at the UN Security Council. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel targeted the "terrorist masterminds" behind the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani earlier said that Qatar did not get advance warning of the strike, only receiving a call from a US official 10 minutes after the attack had started.

On Friday, al-Thani had dinner with US President Donald Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff in New York, having earlier met Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House.

Rubio is travelling to Israel this weekend in a show of solidarity with Israel ahead of a UN meeting later this month at which France and the UK are expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

On Sunday, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 47 people killed by the Israeli military had arrived at its hospitals over the previous day.

Since UN-backed global food security experts confirmed a famine in Gaza City on 22 August, the ministry has reported that at least 142 people have died from starvation and malnutrition across the territory. Israel has said it is expanding its efforts to facilitate aid deliveries and has disputed the health ministry's figures on malnutrition-related deaths.

The Israeli military launched its 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 64,803 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

Nepal's major political parties have demanded the country's President Ram Chandra Poudel reinstates the parliament he dissolved following deadly anti-corruption protests.

In a statement, eight parties - including the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Maoist Centre - said the president acted unconstitutionally.

Poudel dissolved the House of Representatives on Friday upon the recommendation of newly-appointed interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki - it was also a key demand from the protest movement.

More than 50 people were killed in clashes with riot police during this week's mass protests sparked by a ban on social media platforms. Karki was appointed after a deal was reached with protest leaders.

The ban was lifted on Monday - but by then the protests had swelled into a mass movement. Angry crowds set fire to parliament and government buildings in the capital Kathmandu on Tuesday, forcing then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign.

Saturday's statement demanding the reinstatement of the parliament was signed by the chief whips of the eight political parties.

They argued the step taken by the president was unconstitutional and against the precedents set by Nepal's judiciary.

The dissolution of the parliament was a major demand by student leaders from the so-called "Gen Z" protest movement.

But the eight parties say the protesters' demands - including new elections announced for 5 March next year - should be addressed through an institution voted by the people.

President Poudel is yet to publicly respond to the political parties' statement.

Karki, a 73-year-old former Supreme Court chief justice and the first woman to lead the impoverished Himalayan nation, was sworn in during a brief ceremony in the capital Kathmandu.

She is expected to appoint ministers to her cabinet within a few days.

She is widely regarded as having a clean image, and her leadership of the interim government is being supported by student leaders from the "Gen Z" movement.

But her cabinet will face multiple challenges, including restoring law and order, reconstructing parliament and the other key buildings that were attacked, reassuring the Gen Z protesters who want change - and others in Nepal who are fearful its young democracy and constitutional order could be derailed.

Another key task will be to bring those responsible for violence to justice.

Nepal is gradually returning back to normalcy after the worst unrest in decades.

Nepal's soldiers - who had been deployed to patrol the streets of Kathmandu - returned to their bases after Karki took the oath of office.

The protests were triggered by the government's decision last week to ban 26 social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook - but they soon widened to embody much deeper discontent with Nepal's political elite.

In the weeks before the ban, a "nepo kid" campaign - spotlighting the lavish lifestyles of politicians' children and allegations of corruption - had taken off on social media.

And while the social media ban was hastily lifted on Monday night, the protests had by that stage gained unstoppable momentum.

Thousands have gathered in central London for a march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, with a counter protest by anti-racism campaigners also taking place.

Some 1,000 officers have been assigned to the demonstrations, the Metropolitan Police said, with barriers in place to create a "sterile area" between the two groups.

"Today London stands tall in defence of one of our most vital rights – free speech," Robinson wrote on X.

The streets were a sea of union jacks, St George's crosses, Scottish saltires and Welsh flags as large crowds of protesters amassed near Waterloo Bridge ahead of the 'Unite the Kingdom' march towards Whitehall.

The Met said it had borrowed 500 officers from other forces for the day, with police vans from Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Devon and Cornwall.

There were a mix of slogans on the flags including 'Stop the Boats', 'Send them Home' and 'Unite the Kingdom,' and anti-transgender activists are among the crowds.

One man carried a large wooden cross with 'RIP Charlie Kirk' written on it - the right-wing US activist shot dead on Wednesday while speaking at a university.

The rally is set to include speeches from US President Donald Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon and presenter Katie Hopkins.

Elsewhere, around 500 people gathered near Russell Square for the 'March Against Fascism' counter protest organised by Stand up to Racism (SUTR).

Demonstrators held placards reading 'Women Against the Far Right,' 'Oppose Tommy Robinson,' and 'Refugees Welcome'.

The group will also march toward Parliament Square - only a few hundred metres from the Unite the Kingdom rally. Speeches are expected by MPs Diane Abbott and Zarah Sultana.

Ahead of the march, the Met confirmed it would not be using live facial recognition - which captures people's faces in real-time CCTV cameras - in its policing of the Unite the Kingdom march.

It also said there were "particular concerns" among some in London's Muslim communities ahead of Robinson's protest, citing a "record of anti-Muslim rhetoric and incidents of offensive chanting by a minority at previous marches".

Cdr Clair Haynes urged Muslim Londoners not to change their plans or avoid central London, but to approach a police officer should they feel concerned while out in public.

She said: "Officers will take a firm line on behaviour that is discriminatory or that crosses the line from protest into hate crime."

She added that police would act "without fear or favour" and asked demonstrators to "be considerate of the communities they are passing through".

"What a week. What a mess." A senior Labour MP is not the only one in disbelief at the latest - you couldn't make it up - mishap for this government.

How Downing Street handled revelations about Lord Mandelson's friendship with the wealthy paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was the first test of the new senior team in No 10.

The uncharitable view is they flunked it by not acting quickly enough – putting the prime minister's face on the calamity by sending him into the bearpit of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) with a staunch defence of his man in Washington.

They knew there were new allegations about his relationship with Epstein. The direction of travel seemed set - and Mandelson would likely have to go.

The even more uncomfortable factor is that last week the prime minister defended another colleague, Angela Rayner, when - you guessed it - the direction of travel in Westminster seemed set, and she would likely have to go.

It's undermined the prime minister's own authority and blown the chance of a quick autumn reset for Labour, when the party was desperately trying to turn the page.

The more generous argument made by Sir Keir's allies - he's been let down by two different people in two different ways, and has had to front up to clean up their different messes.

"Keir is frustrated and a bit angry because he is having to deal with the conduct of others, rather than show what he is trying to do," one source says.

Another says: "He hired someone who didn't tell him the full truth."

No 10 doesn't imagine that the damage of the last fortnight of farce is limited to those who have departed government.

And as they absorb the scale of the embarrassment over Mandelson's friendship with Epstein, new details over who knew what - and when - are emerging all the time.

Westminster sources have suggested the prime minister himself had raised questions about Mandelson's links with Epstein during an initial vetting process carried out by the Cabinet Office before he was given the job.

But then he was checked out again by the Foreign Office once he'd been appointed.

So where did it all begin?

Even before Labour won the election in 2024 there had been a desire in Sir Keir's circle to look beyond the traditional diplomatic appointment for their ambassador to the White House, one of the government's plum jobs.

They had noted how the former Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was sent to DC and determined that a politician could be the right choice.

With his experience as a trade commissioner, an impressive spider's web of contacts, and respected political nous, Mandelson was soon determined to be an excellent potential fit.

Sir Keir's powerful chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, believed there were only two qualified candidates for the role, and was enthusiastic about Mandelson.

Before the final decision was made last autumn, the Cabinet Office was asked, as it would be for any such candidate, to consider whether he was fit to be offered the job.

Already at that stage it was no secret Mandelson had been friends with Epstein, so it was obvious those links would need to be considered.

I'm told a file on Mandelson from the Cabinet Office's Propriety and Ethics Team (PET), whose job it is to know where the bodies are buried in Whitehall, was presented to the prime minister that included information about his relationship with the disgraced millionaire.

On reading this file, Sir Keir had three questions he wanted to clarify with the peer, a No 10 source tells me: Why had he continued his friendship with Epstein after he was first convicted and not broken contact with him?

Why had he stayed at one of Epstein's houses when the financier was in jail?

And was he a "founding citizen" of an ocean conservation charity that Epstein had backed?

That trio of questions was put to Mandelson in an email from Sir Keir's chief of staff McSweeney on his behalf.

The peer, I'm told, replied to those questions in an email in which Downing Street sources now say he was "economical with the truth".

It's understood Mandelson believes that he was truthful and frank about his association with Epstein, and told No 10 that he had not stayed in Epstein's Manhattan apartment in 2009 while Epstein was in prison. Another source confirmed that he told Downing Street he had not stayed there.

Court documents revealed in 2023 Epstein told his private banker that Mandelson would be staying at the property. Mandelson has never explicitly denied or confirmed he did, although it has been reported that he had no recollection of doing so.

It's worth noting that none of those issues - the possible house stay, the charity, or the continued friendship - were discovered during the vetting process. They had been reported in previous years.

But the guarantees relayed to the prime minister by Mandelson were considered sufficient to be worth the gamble of giving him the job.

Once the appointment was then made, sources suggest the "developed vetting" process then kicked in, under the auspices of the Foreign Office.

The normal process for government appointments is dependent on the job being given and the sensitivity of the material and information to be handled.

But there is scarcely a job with a higher level of trust required than the White House ambassador, given the two countries' links on security, defence, trade and intelligence.

I'm told nothing was flagged to No 10 as a result of the DV process, which would have involved an in-person interview which in this case, "ought to have been completely forensic, but they must have used the wrong lens," according to another senior figure.

Unlike the PET file, Downing Street would not receive the results of such a process as a matter of course, even in an extremely high-profile appointment. The DV process is a standalone routine.

And Downing Street sources insist that they weren't made aware of any problems, so everything went ahead.

The upshot? Even though there were two different processes checking out Mandelson's background, which publicly was known to include dealings with a notorious wealthy sex offender, neither appear to have turned up anything major - nor the now notorious emails which investigative reporters were able to locate recently.

One Whitehall insider told me it was "staggering - either they skipped the process of any basic due diligence, or they did that process and missed the obvious questions".

"No one involved in making the appointment cared enough to check whether all the risk had been identified in appointing a man who had twice previously had to resign over his judgement. Careless doesn't cover it."

The government has repeatedly said this week that part of the problem was the messages between Mandelson and Epstein were from a defunct email address.

Yet a senior Whitehall figure tells me it would have been possible to locate those messages had more questions been asked, and forensic background digging been done.

Neither Downing Street nor the Cabinet Office wanted to comment. The BBC approached the Foreign Office which has not responded.

Until this week, it seemed No 10's calculated risk of appointing Mandelson was paying off.

Not just because US President Donald Trump appeared to enjoy his company, praising his "beautiful accent" on camera recently in the Oval Office, but also because the UK had got its trade deal.

The state visit was all about to unfold in its pomp and glory. Sir Keir appeared, unlike many other global leaders, to have managed to build a warm and functional relationship with the most powerful man in the western world.

All of that, at least partly down to the smooth talking and politicking of the ambassador.

What he and No 10 were enjoying as a successful tenure was to be suddenly disrupted when the peer featured in what's known as the Epstein "birthday book". It features a cosy message - Mandelson branding Epstein his "best pal", and a photograph of the two in which Mandelson is wearing a bathrobe.

And what was to prove more serious, reporters at the news agency Bloomberg managed to get hold of a cache of Epstein's emails, which included his communications with Mandelson over months and years.

In an attempt to get ahead of the story, Mandelson predicted that a whole slew of contact between the two was about to emerge into public view - and he described the revelations to The Sun as "very embarrassing". This sent alarm bells clanging back in Whitehall.

He hadn't shared the contents of the emails with Downing Street and had been "dismissive, claiming there was nothing new" in the stories emerging about his friendship with Epstein earlier in the week, sources suggest.

But, by late on Tuesday, the government was aware that more damaging allegations were coming, and contacted the peer to ask what was going on.

On Wednesday morning, Mandelson's prediction of there being more to come was first reported, just as, in the normal routine, No 10 was planning the day and preparing the prime minister for his weekly PMQs bout in the Commons.

At noon, before government had heard back from Lord Mandelson, the prime minister gave a staunch public defence of him in a move that now looks foolhardy.

But when Mandelson did reply after PMQ's, the government didn't think his answers were good enough.

The prime minister's chief of staff McSweeney was called out of a meeting in a secure room in Whitehall where mobile communications are forbidden.

Sources suggest the decision was made soon after to ask Mandelson to resign.

He refused, trying to "brazen it out" - sources suggest he kept "telling everyone it would be fine".

On Wednesday No 10 was also trying to weigh up the impact of losing the ambassador on the crucial state visit of the US president, just days away, and also what the legal ramifications would be of forcing Mandelson out.

But later on Wednesday night, the full extent of those emails were published by Bloomberg, and the prime minister read the exchanges in all their gory glory.

"Keir was furious," I'm told, and on Thursday morning, he made the formal decision with the foreign secretary that if Labour's veteran fixer wouldn't go on his own accord, he'd be sacked.

So what happens now?

On Friday the prime minister was working at his country retreat, Chequers, mulling over his conference speech for which Sir Keir has "picked up the pen", in a more proactive way than in times gone by, aware this is a moment when the pressure to lift the mood and show his worth is intense.

After a first year in office that disappointed many in the Labour Party, and left them in the polling doldrums, his big moment on the podium at conference was already set to be a high-wire act.

After this chaotic fortnight, it's "fortuitous we are heading to conference and we can grab the mic," one insider said.

Another senior figure told me: "I don't see problems that aren't fixable."

But when it comes to Lord Mandelson, the clamour may take some time to fade. "This isn't over – No 10 is in total denial," a party insider said.

A different prominent source told me the Mandelson mess "is just another big misstep".

Alongside Sir Keir, there is also growing disquiet about the prime minister's chief of staff McSweeney.

It's no secret he was keen to appoint Mandelson, even though he and the prime minister did have questions about his relationship with Epstein.

But sources dispute he was trying save the US ambassador from his fate this week.

It's said he agreed on Wednesday lunchtime Mandelson had to go, before travelling to Brussels for meetings, leaving him out of the country when the final call to sack him was made.

When politicians are down, powerful staffers often become a target.

Opposition politicians and critics on the inside can even appear to enjoy the hunt for someone to blame.

However, McSweeney is central to Sir Keir's leadership.

"If there's no Morgan, there's no Starmer," one senior Labour figure said, warning MPs warming up to point the finger to be careful about where it all might lead.

After a dreadful start of what should have been a shiny new political season, one cabinet minister says in sorrow: "We have made the right big strategic calls, but there is just no way that we should be in this position after a year."

But others believe all is not lost. Just as Labour slumped in popularity at breakneck speed after winning the election, senior figures suggest their fortunes could improve dramatically quickly too.

Volatility in politics can be governments' enemy, but also potentially be their friend.

Yet right now, it's hard to see where Labour can find much comfort.

There is little option but to keep going, to focus on what insiders characterise as "good announcements" coming in the next few weeks, presenting a huge opportunity for the prime minister to shift the dial and boost the party's confidence.

But one minister joked after a shocking fortnight for the government: "I keep thinking maybe it's all a very detailed dream and I'll wake up."

"But then no, this is reality, and we just have to get on with it." They certainly do.

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Israeli forces have stepped up their assault on Gaza City with a wave of heavy air strikes, marking a sharp escalation from previous military operations.

Unlike earlier phases of the war, the current offensive has relied heavily on aerial bombardments, with entire apartment blocks and large concrete structures reduced to rubble.

The intensification of strikes in recent days has triggered a surge in civilian displacement.

Israel has warned all residents of Gaza City to leave immediately in anticipation of a huge ground offensive.

On Sunday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said about 250,000 people had left the city and moved south. It also said it had destroyed a high-rise building that it said had been used "to advance and execute terrorist attacks" against its troops.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the city is Hamas's last major stronghold. But the plan to occupy Gaza City has brought international criticism.

The UN has warned an intensification of the offensive on an area where a famine has already been declared will push civilians into an "even deeper catastrophe". Gaza City is the largest urban centre in the territory and a historic heart of Palestinian political and social life.

Residents say the Israeli military has been targeting schools and makeshift shelters, often issuing warnings only moments before bombardments.

Many families have been forced to flee in darkness toward western Gaza.

"We escaped certain death, my husband, our three children and I," said Saly Tafeesh, a mother sheltering in the city. "My brother died in my arms after being shot by a quadcopter drone. We ran in the dark to the west of Gaza."

The Israeli military has told residents to evacuate to the south of the territory - but many families say they cannot afford the journey, which costs up to $1,100 (£800). Hamas, meanwhile, has intensified its calls for residents to stay put and resist leaving the city.

Rubein Khaled, a father-of-nine preparing to move south, expressed frustration.

"The Hamas preacher at Friday prayers accused anyone leaving Gaza City of being a coward running from the battlefield," he said.

"But why doesn't he tell Hamas leaders to surrender and release the Israeli hostages so this war can stop? We don't want to leave either, but we have no choice."

Israeli forces have not yet reached some eastern neighbourhoods that have remained largely intact since earlier raids in January, but the current campaign suggests they may now be seeking to dismantle entire districts.

Meanwhile, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman strongly criticised Israel's prime minister in an interview with the BBC following this week's Israeli strike on Hamas officials in the Qatari capital Doha.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told the BBC that the international community had "to deal with a Netanyahu problem".

"He is not somebody who is listening to anybody right now, who is listening to any reason, and we have to collectively stop him in his tracks," the official said.

He argued the strike in Doha showed the Israeli leader "never intended to sign any peace deal" to end the war in Gaza and instead "believes he can re-shape the Middle East in his own image".

Five of the group's members and a Qatari security officer were killed in Tuesday's strike - though the Palestinian armed group claimed no senior leaders had been killed. Hamas members had been in Doha to discuss the latest US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel has faced widespread condemnation, including at the UN Security Council. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel targeted the "terrorist masterminds" behind the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani earlier said that Qatar did not get advance warning of the strike, only receiving a call from a US official 10 minutes after the attack had started.

On Friday, al-Thani had dinner with US President Donald Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff in New York, having earlier met Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House.

Rubio is travelling to Israel this weekend in a show of solidarity with Israel ahead of a UN meeting later this month at which France and the UK are expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

On Sunday, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 47 people killed by the Israeli military had arrived at its hospitals over the previous day.

Since UN-backed global food security experts confirmed a famine in Gaza City on 22 August, the ministry has reported that at least 142 people have died from starvation and malnutrition across the territory. Israel has said it is expanding its efforts to facilitate aid deliveries and has disputed the health ministry's figures on malnutrition-related deaths.

The Israeli military launched its 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 64,803 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

Scott Sperry jotted his name down on a sign-up sheet.

The 22-year-old student at Utah Valley University had watched Charlie Kirk's videos for years and credits the conservative firebrand with being a catalyst in his own political involvement.

Now, on this Thursday afternoon, moments before his political hero was about to speak on campus, Sperry thought it was time for him to pay it forward by joining his school's chapter of Turning Point USA - the organisation Kirk co-founded in 2012 to advocate for conservatism on college campuses.

Moments after taking his front-row seat to see Kirk speak, Sperry watched in shock as a sniper bullet rang out and blood started pouring from Kirk's neck. The images, he said, he still can't shake, but he thinks the loss will only strengthen the movement Kirk inspired him to join.

"When you try to silence a voice like this, they don't go away - you only amplify it," sophomore Scott Sperry said. "There are now going to be a million Charlie Kirks, and I feel like that's the thing that we need to do."

As the immediate shock of the attack calms, some at Utah Valley University said it has been replaced with a deep sense of resolve to continue what Kirk began.

Students with various political ideologies - including those vehemently opposed to Kirk's beliefs - told the BBC they've felt a personal sense of responsibility to ensure healthy debates on college campuses continue.

With branches at more than 850 colleges, Turning Point USA - which Kirk co-founded when he was just 18 - has been credited with helping galvanise younger voters and helping Donald Trump win the White House.

Kirk, who had millions of followers online, would often tour college campuses across the country to debate issues like gender, race, gun control and immigration. His views - and his confrontational style - often drew criticism from the left and attracted protestors to his on-campus events.

At a speaking event at San Francisco State University last spring, one student called him a "rage baiter" while others accused him of using real-life students as "click-bait" - he often posted his heated arguments with liberals online, where the exchanges would go viral.

The killing has thrown Utah Valley University into the centre of America's political divide. Soon after Kirk was shot, some who disagreed with him took to social media to blame Kirk, who has openly supported gun ownership. On the right, pundits and politicians said that conservatives were under attack by the "radical left".

The spotlight has made some students feel the need to step into the ideological fray.

"This is the first political thing we've ever done. We're not political like this," freshman McKinley Shinkle said, while waving signs with his cousin on campus that called Kirk a hero and said they aren't afraid.

"This happening on our campus and then seeing people who are supporting the shooting - it just kind of radicalised us," he added, nothing they're both planning to continue political involvement. "It's changed everything."

• Young fans and critics debate Charlie Kirk's political legacy
• Who is Tyler Robinson, the suspect in custody for shooting Charlie Kirk?

Nestled in a valley surrounded by towering mountains, Utah Valley is the biggest university in the state. It sits on a hill, overlooking a crisp blue lake and a 218-feet-tall granite temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The state, which is also a conservative stronghold, has the largest concentration of Mormons in the US and religion plays a leading role in this community.

Many have expressed confusion about why Kirk was targeted here. Ben Forster, a sophomore, noted how Kirk often stopped in much more liberal-leaning areas where he could have been more of a target.

"This is now where his martyrdom was established," he said, reflecting on his school. "I mean, that is what martyrdom is: He was killed at a debate."

Despite not agreeing with Kirk's stances, Forster attended Wednesday's event in Utah to watch the spectacle and hear the varying viewpoints - something he hopes won't halt at his school and others after the attack.

"I don't care about what his opinions were," he said. "He was exercising his right in a public forum to talk and discuss - and that is a good thing."

The signs of what happened here are everywhere you look near campus.

Law enforcement blocking entrances, makeshift memorials with candles and flowers, signs in apartment windows and on roads declaring Kirk a hero after he was gunned down in front of thousands during one of his signature college campus debates.

• Kirk and Trump - from teenage activist to the heart of president's inner circle
• A 33-hour manhunt and morning show reveal: How police caught Charlie Kirk suspect

Some students told the BBC they've been leaning on one another in the aftermath - with some discussing what happens next. It's clear part of that future will include a political awakening for some on campus.

Several students made defiant posters, hanging them in their apartment windows with messages reading, "freedom" and "you can't kill the truth". A campaign-style merch display near campus is selling Trump hats and flags. All day and all night, people drive through the traffic circle entrance to campus, beeping their horns - either supporting or in opposition to Kirk.

Jeb Jacobi, a sophomore, has been involved with the school's Turning Point USA chapter for years and was volunteering at Wednesday's event - the first stop on Kirk's planned 15-site "American Comeback Tour" of college campuses.

He got involved after becoming a fan of Kirk's trademark debates on campuses.

"I just liked that he really made people think," he said. "No matter your politics, he would get so many young people involved and intrigued. He provided a path for people to get involved."

"Something like this - it's only going to really help what Charlie was doing," Jacobi added, saying he believes the number of people involved in the school's Turning Point USA chapter will balloon.

One of those new additions: Sperry.

"We're going to lead the way," he said. "We owe it to Charlie."

The first deportation flights of migrants under the UK's new returns deal with France are expected to begin next week, the BBC understands.

The 'one in, one out' pilot scheme was set up as part of a deal announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron during his state visit to the UK in July.

Dozens of migrants were detained in Dover last month under the agreement and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this week that they are are expected to be returned to France "imminently".

It is understood that formal removal directions have been issued to asylum seekers to say they will be deported to France within five days.

In return, it was agreed that the UK will accept an equal number of asylum seekers who have not tried to cross and can pass security and eligibility checks.

At the announcement in early July, Starmer said the plan was a "product of months of grown-up diplomacy" which would "deliver real results".

Critics, including the Conservatives, argue the policy would prove "unworkable and wide open to abuse".

It is also understood that MPs will get a chance to question new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on the deal during Home Office questions in Parliament on Monday.

As of 8 September, 30,164 people had crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025, up from 22,440 for the same period in 2024.

Under the new treaty, published on 4 August, France agreed to take back adults or accompanied children who make a journey to the UK by small boat, once any asylum claim is withdrawn or declared inadmissible.

Both countries have agreed to work towards making transfers with three months after small boat arrivals have entered the UK.

Former home secretary Yvette Cooper stressed the scheme starting up was a trial.

Details of how people will apply to come to the UK from France under the treaty have also been published by the government.

Successful applicants will initially be granted the right to come to the UK for three months, to "consider how to regularise their stay".

Applicants will apply online – but have to submit proof to the Home Office they are applying from within France.

The UK has agreed to pay the transportation costs both of those migrants it sends to France, and those it accepts back in return.

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• Record number of lone children on small boats

The policy is part of a number of measures unveiled by the Labour government in an attempt to tackle the small boats crossings from France.

In July, it announced that 25 people including gang leaders and small boat suppliers had had their assets frozen and been banned from travelling to the UK.

An extra 300 National Crime Agency officers will target the people-smugglers arranging the crossings, and a new Border Security Command body will work closely with the Home office, police, immigration enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The UK is also paying France almost £500m over three years - as agreed by the previous Conservative government - to fund extra officers on the French coast.

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The Metropolitan Police has suspended nine officers and referred itself to the watchdog following a BBC investigation into Charing Cross station.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was investigating the behaviour of 11 individuals based at the central London station.

The accusations, which feature in a forthcoming BBC Panorama documentary, include excessive use of force, discriminatory and misogynistic comments, and failing to report or challenge inappropriate behaviour, the police watchdog said.

The officers range in rank from police constable to sergeant.

The allegations - which relate to the conduct of nine Met officers, a former Met officer and a serving designated detention officer - are said to have taken place both on and off duty between August 2024 and January 2025.

The IOPC said it had received a referral from another force relating to the conduct of a former Met officer who was previously based at Charing Cross and has since transferred.

The IOPC in 2022 found "disgraceful" behaviour in the ranks at the same police station, including a homophobic, racist and misogynistic Whatsapp group.