Iceland has joined Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands in saying it will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest.

All five countries have withdrawn after Israel's participation in the competition was officially confirmed last week.

"Participation of Israeli national broadcaster, KAN, in the contest has created disunity among both members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the general public," Icelandic broadcaster RÚV said in a statement.

Iceland had previously indicated it intended to skip the 2026 contest, but wanted to wait until the issue could be discussed by its board of directors on Wednesday.

A federal judge in New York has ruled the US Department of Justice can publicly release grand jury records from Jeffrey Epstein's 2019 sex trafficking case.

US District Judge Richard Berman's ruling reverses his previous decision to keep the material sealed. He cited a new law passed by Congress requiring the justice department to release files about Epstein by the end of next week.

Esptein was charged with sex trafficking in July 2019. He died in a New York prison cell a month later while awaiting trail.

The latest ruling comes a day after another judge made a similar ruling in the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 for her role in facilitating Epstein's abuse.

In his ruling, Judge Berman said the victims have the right to "have their identity and privacy protected", adding that their "safety and privacy are paramount".

The Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law by US President Donald Trump last month. It requires the justice department to release investigative material related to Epstein by 19 December, including unclassified records, documents and communications.

The law also allows the department to withhold files that involve active criminal investigations or raise privacy concerns.

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles and ordered the troops be returned to the state governor's control.

In June, Trump sent thousands of National Guard troops to the California city in the wake of protests over his administration ramping up immigration raids in Los Angeles.

US District Judge Charles Breyer said the Trump administration had not proven that that the city's protests against immigration justified taking federal control of the state's National Guard.

The Trump administration still has control over 300 troops in Los Angeles six months after they were federalised, Judge Breyer said.

Breyer also denied the Trump administration's argument that the courts should not weigh in on a president taking control of state National Guard troops during an emergency.

"The Founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances," Judge Breyer wrote in his ruling. "Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one."

Judge Breyer said his order would not go into effect until 15 December, giving the Trump administration time to make its expected appeal to a higher court.

The BBC has contacted the White House requesting comment.

This year, Trump has sent National Guard troops to several cities, including Portland, Oregon, and Washington DC, where the deployments have also been contested in courts and. in some cases, blocked by judges.

California Governor Gavin Newsom sued soon after Trump first deployed thousands of troops in June, but a court of appeals sided with the administration, saying the protests in Los Angeles justified Trump's federalisation of the National Guard.

Newsom filed a new legal challenge in November, arguing the protests in the city had largely subsided and therefore the troops were no longer necessary.

In a hearing in the case on Friday, lawyers for the Trump administration said the troops should stay in LA because federal immigration agents there were still being targeted.

But Judge Breyer seemed to question the need for troops to remain in the city months later.

"I think experience teaches us that crises come and crises go," he said, according to the Associated Press.

In his ruling, Judge Breyer said the Trump administration was "effectively creating a national police force made up of state troops" by sending California's National Guard troops to other states as well.

Judge Breyer previously ruled that the way Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles this summer was illegal.

All 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and several territories have their own contingent of National Guard troops.

President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard to several US cities has drawn a round of legal challenges by state and local officials.

Trump has argued that his use of the troops is necessary to quell violence in Democratic-controlled cities, crack down on crime and support his deportation initiatives.

Sophie Kinsella, the author of the bestselling Shopaholic series of novels, has died aged 55, her family have announced.

The writer, whose real name is Madeleine Sophie Wickham, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2022.

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Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has urged the prime minister to stand up to Donald Trump, describing the US president's new national security strategy as "deeply alarming".

The document, which was published last week, warns Europe faces "civilisational erasure" and says US policy should prioritise "cultivating resistance to Europe's current trajectory".

Sir Ed called on the PM to "make it clear to President Trump that any attempts to interfere with our democracy are totally unacceptable".

In response, Sir Keir Starmer avoided criticising the US President, instead saying he would always stand up for Europe's "longstanding values of freedom and democracy".

The US strategy calls for an end to mass migration and criticises European policies on the issue for "creating strife".

It also raises concerns about "censorship of free speech" and "loss of national identities and self-confidence".

"It is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies," the document states.

Trump continued to attack European leaders in an interview with Politico on Tuesday, when he branded them "weak" and said they had failed to control migration or take decisive action to end the war in Ukraine.

The strategy also adopts softer language towards Russia, blaming the EU for blocking US efforts to end the conflict and saying the US must "re-establish strategic stability with Russia".

The Kremlin has welcomed the document, calling it "largely consistent" with Moscow's vision.

Raising the US strategy during Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Ed told the House of Commons: "Quite apart from the irony of President Trump accusing others of trampling on basic principles of democracy, it repeats far-right tropes of civilisational erasure and threatens that the US government will cultivate resistance in Europe.

"No wonder Vladimir Putin has welcomed that strategy. So will the prime minister pick up the phone and make it clear to President Trump that any attempts to interfere with our democracy are totally unacceptable?"

Sir Keir replied: "On the question of Europe and President Trump's comments, what I see is a strong Europe, united behind Ukraine and united behind our longstanding values of freedom and democracy.

"And I will always stand up for those values and those freedoms."

Sir Ed hit back: "I didn't hear about standing up to President Trump."

The PM has sought to build a close relationship with Trump and the government has pointed to a deal on trade as among the positive results of this.

Meanwhile, Downing Street has defended the Labour mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, after he was branded a "disaster" and "incompetent" by Trump.

The US president's latest remarks in his long-running feud with the London mayor came during his Politico interview, where he also claimed Sir Sadiq was elected "because so many people have come in".

On Wednesday, the prime minister's press secretary told reporters Trump's comments were "wrong".

She said the mayor was "doing an excellent job in London", adding: "The prime minister is hugely proud of the mayor of London's record and proud to call him a colleague and a friend."

It comes after Downing Street was forced to deny it was failing to stand up for Sir Sadiq on Tuesday, when a No 10 spokesman declined to criticise the president's attack on the mayor.

Instead the spokesman had said: "The prime minister has a strong relationship with the US president and a strong relationship with the Mayor of London and on both is committed to working together to deliver stronger outcomes for the British people right across the country."

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A couple who had a brief encounter on a late-night train have got engaged on the same service one year later.

Steve Higgs, 56, from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, set up the surprise proposal to Payal Pandya, from Harrow, London, after a train company got on board with the plans.

He said he first met Ms Pandya, 49, on the 23:09 London Northwestern Railway (LNR) service from Euston towards Milton Keynes in November 2024.

To mark their anniversary the couple boarded the same service and Mr Higgs got down on one knee to ask Ms Pandya to marry him - and wedding plans are now moving full steam ahead.

Mr Higgs contacted LNR to plan the moment to ensure that nothing derailed it.

When the couple were on the train home from a night out in the capital, the conductor made a special announcement hinting at the forthcoming proposal, which gave Mr Higgs the cue to get down on one knee.

Mr Higgs said: "I first met Payal when I offered her my seat after I'd been out for a few drinks with friends.

"I'm always up for chatting with people when I'm travelling and so I struck up a conversation.

"I remember she mentioned she'd just been on a first date where – luckily for me - sparks had failed to fly.

"Although we were only speaking for 20 minutes or so, I knew I wanted to see her again."

Ms Pandya said by the time she had got off the train last year, her fiancé had found her dating profile and sent her a message.

"We set up our first date not too long after and the rest is history," she said.

"We always joke that the 23:09 LNR service marks our 'encounter-versary' – the moment we first met.

"I can't believe Steve asked me to marry him on that same service and managed to get the conductor involved without me knowing!"

The couple said they hope to get married next year.

Jonny Wiseman, LNR's customer experience director, said: "When Steve got in touch with our customer relations team, we knew we had to help with his request for a special announcement.

"Their story is a brilliant example of the way the railway can connect people, not just to where they need to go, but to the people they're travelling with too."

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