India's aviation regulator has ordered the country's airlines to inspect fuel control switches in Boeing aeroplanes, after their reported involvement in a fatal Air India crash that killed 260 people in June.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the order follows Indian and international airlines already starting to carry out their own checks.

It comes after the US Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday that the fuel control switches in Boeing aeroplanes are safe.

The safety of the switches has become a key point of concern after a preliminary report on the disaster found fuel to the engines of the plane involved cut off moments after take-off.

The disaster involving London-bound Flight 171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was one of the worst aviation incidents globally in almost a decade.

Since the publication of the preliminary report on Saturday a number of different stakeholders, both in India and internationally have taken action and issued statements in response to it.

In its order, India's aviation regulator has asked for checks to be carried out by 21 July, noting that "strict adherence to the timeline is essential to ensure continued airworthiness and safety of operations".

The checks being requested are in line with a 2018 advisory by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US's aviation authority, which was referenced in the preliminary report.

The 2018 advisory urged - but did not mandate - operators of Boeing models to inspect the locking feature of the fuel cut-off switches to ensure they could not be moved by accident.

Air India had not carried out those inspections because they were not mandatory, the AAIB said in its preliminary investigation.

The DGCA has now ordered airlines to carry out the checks and report back.

In its response to the report, the FAA said the 2018 advisory was "was based on reports that the fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged" - but added that it does not believe this makes the planes unsafe.

• Boeing fuel switches safe, regulator says after Air India crash

Separately on Monday, a group representing Indian airline pilots defended the flight's crew.

The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association said staff on board had "acted in line with their training and responsibilities under challenging conditions and the pilots shouldn't be vilified based on conjecture".

The preliminary report, published by the India Aircraft Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) on Saturday, said the switches on Flight 171 controlling fuel flow to the jet's engines had been moved from "run" to the "cut-off" position, hampering the thrust of the plane.

In recovered cockpit voice recordings, the report said one of the pilots can be heard asking "why did you cut off?" - to which the other pilot replied he "did not do so".

The preliminary report states its role is "not to apportion blame or liability".

Also on Monday, the Reuters news agency reported that South Korea was waiting to order all airlines in the country which operate Boeing jets to examine fuel switches.

At least 30 people have been killed in armed clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias in southern Syria, the country's interior ministry says.

The violence erupted in the predominantly Druze city in the province of Suweida on Sunday, two days after a Druze merchant was reportedly abducted on the highway to Damascus.

The interior ministry called the situation "a dangerous escalation" and said security forces were being deployed to try to restore calm.

It is the latest outbreak of deadly sectarian violence in the country since Islamist-led rebel forces overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Syria's many minority communities - including the Druze, whose religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs - have expressed concerns over the new authorities' pledges to protect them.

Sunday's clashes between Bedouin tribesmen and Druze militias began in the al-Maqwas neighbourhood of Suweida city.

The area, which is inhabited by Bedouin, was reportedly encircled and later seized by armed Druze fighters.

The fighting soon spread into other parts of Suweida province, with tribesmen reportedly launching attacks on Druze towns and villages on the city's western and northern outskirts.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, said the towns of Sumay and Mazraah were shelled, and that residents of the village of Tayrah fled after armed men entered the outskirts and set fire to several homes.

It reported that 37 people were killed - 27 Druze, including two children, and 10 Bedouin.

The interior ministry said: "This dangerous escalation comes in light of the absence of relevant official institutions, leading to worsening chaos, a collapse of the security situation, and the local community's inability to contain the crisis despite repeated calls for calm."

It added that interior ministry forces, in co-ordination with the defence ministry, would "begin direct intervention in the area to end the conflict and impose order".

The governor of Suweida, Mustapha al-Bakur, called on his constituents to "exercise self-restraint and respond to national calls for reform".

Several Syrian Druze spiritual leaders also appealed for calm.

On Sunday night, local activist-run news outlet Suwayda 24 said that mediation between Bedouin and Druze leaders aimed at de-escalating tensions had resulted in the release of people kidnapped by both sides during the clashes.

However, on Monday morning it reported that fighting had erupted in the western countryside of Suweida after drones attacked villages at the same time as government forces deployed in nearby areas of eastern Deraa province.

At the start of May, more than 130 people were reportedly killed in clashes between Druze gunmen, security forces and allied Sunni Islamist fighters in two suburbs of the capital Damascus and Suweida province.

In the wake of that fighting, the government reached an agreement with Druze militias to hire local security forces in Suweida province from their ranks.

Production has begun on the new TV adaptation of Harry Potter, as the first picture of the lead actor in costume was released.

JK Rowling's series of novels has already been made into a film, but HBO is now producing a TV series which is expected to take 10 years to complete.

Producers released the first picture of Dominic McLaughlin in costume as Harry Potter on Monday and confirmed several new cast members.

Rory Wilmot hast been cast as Neville Longbottom, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch, and Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander.

They join stars such as John Lithgow, who will play Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Hagrid, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape.

The three child actors who will play Harry, Ron and Hermione were announced in May.

The programme will be filmed at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire, which is where the eight Harry Potter movies were also shot.

HBO has previously said the series would be "a faithful adaptation of the iconic books".

The TV series will have more breathing space to explore the plot lines from the books without the time constraints of the film.

Producers also announced new production staff, several of whom have previously worked on The Crown such as director of photography Adriano Goldman and hair and makeup designer Cate Hall.

The first series will launch in 2027.

A Lesotho MP is facing criminal charges after he accused the country's monarch and government of signing over control of Lesotho to its much larger neighbour, South Africa.

Dr Tshepo Lipholo also faces charges of "violating the dignity and reputation" of the royal family by declaring himself the chief ruler of the landlocked country.

He reportedly appeared in court on Monday to apply for bail but this was postponed to a later date this month.

The opposition MP has previously called for parts of South Africa to be declared "Lesotho's territory" and wants them returned to Lesotho's control,

Among them is the Free State, one of the three South African provinces that share a border with the small southern African nation. Dr Lipholo is also laying claim to parts of the Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

The people of Lesotho, called Basotho, lived in these areas until the 19th Century, when they were seized by Afrikaners - white South Africans. Many still live there, especially the Free State.

• Lesotho MP demands huge parts of South Africa
• Who benefits from Lesotho's 'white gold'?

In the charge sheet, which the BBC has seen, the state accuses the lawmaker of "uttering seditious words" and "inciting public violence" by saying King Letsie III and the government had "signed [over] Lesotho to become the 10th South African province".

These remarks were allegedly made between April and June 2025 on various social media platforms and radio interviews, according to the state.

He is also accused of declaring himself the paramount chief of Basutoland, the country's colonial name, despite the king's presence.

A retired army official, Major General Samuel Makoro, was also arrested on Friday for allegedly supporting Mr Lipholo and providing him with sensitive information.

Dr Lipholo is the leader of the Basotho Covenant Movement (BCM), which has a single seat in parliament.

His motion, which was previously debated in Lesotho's parliament, is based on a 1962 United Nations resolution that recognised the right to self-determination and independence for the people of Basutoland.

The view from South African officials is that the motion to reclaim territories some Basotho view as their own does not stand a chance of happening, because it does not enjoy the support of the majority in Lesotho.

One of the key stumbling blocks is the 1964 Cairo Declaration of the Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union, whereby African leaders agreed to recognise the existing borders of their newly independent countries, even if they were drawn up by colonial powers with little regard to where different ethnic groups lived, to avoid stirring up conflict across the continent.

South Africa's foreign affairs ministry reaffirmed this view in response to a question in parliament earlier this year.

Dr Lipholo has previously told Lesotho media that he also hopes to have the motion discussed in the British Parliament "since it was the UK that gave Lesotho its independence in 1966, without correcting the borders seized by the Afrikaners".

According to a source, his legal team was given until 25 July 2025 to argue for bail. He remains in policy custody.

Additional reporting by Pumza Fihlani

More BBC stories on Lesotho:

• Nine things about Lesotho - the country 'nobody has ever heard of'
• How jeans and diamonds pushed Lesotho to the top of Trump's tariffs list
• The small African country with the world's highest suicide rate

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

The body of Nigeria's former President Muhammadu Buhari, who died aged 82 in a London clinic on Sunday is being flown home to be buried in his hometown in Katsina state.

Katsina state governor Dikko Radda, who is in the British capital with Buhari's family, said he would be buried later on Monday in Daura town, 50 miles (80km) from Katsina city.

Nigeria's Vice-President Kashim Shettima is also in London and will accompany Buhari's remains back to Nigeria.

"I just left his family at the hospital where he died and the decision is that his remains will be taken to Daura for burial, the plan is to leave in the morning," Radda told DW Hausa.

The vice-president also confirmed Daura to be Buhari’s final resting place in a post on social media after arriving in London.

He said that Buhari had died after a brief illness without revealing any further details, however he had suffered from ill-health for many years.

Even though he's a former president, there will not be a state funeral. In line with Islamic teachings Buhari will be buried as quickly as possible in a simple ceremony, Islamic cleric Abdullahi Garangamawa told the BBC.

"The only thing that should stop Buhari's corpse from being buried today [Monday] is if his body arrives [in] Daura in the night because Islam frowns at night burials. In that case, Tuesday morning will be fine," the cleric added.

Tributes have continued to pour in for the late army general who was one of only two people to have led Nigeria twice (both as military and civilian president) in its post-independence history.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan, defeated by Buhari in the 2015 election, described the late leader as someone who "was selfless in his commitment to his duty and served the country with character and a deep sense of patriotism".

Former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, overthrown by Buhari in a 1985 coup, also showered praises on the octogenarian.

"He is a man who, even in retirement, remained a moral compass to many, and an example of modesty in public life,” Babangida noted.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is expected to attend the funeral prayer in Daura, has declared a seven-day national mourning period in honour of his predecessor.

In an official condolence statement released on Sunday evening, Tinubu said the nation would pay its final respects to the former leader with dignity and honour, starting with the lowering of all national flags to half-mast across the country from Sunday.

More BBC stories on Nigeria:

• Former Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari dies aged 82
• Big shake-up in Nigerian politics as heavyweights join forces
• Nigeria's major tax overhaul explained

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

A gale-force storm hit north-eastern Alaska last winter. Residents of Kotzebue, a town of about 3,000, are used to polar conditions, so Desiree Hagan still had to get to work.

"The snow was so intense you could not see in front of you," Ms Hagan remembers. "I was walking backwards to work."

Ms Hagan is a reporter at a public radio station, KOTZ, which airs across Kotzebue and its 12 surrounding villages.

She also happens to be the only US journalist stationed inside the Arctic Circle, so as the storm intensified, she had to get on the air.

"It's go time, I have to report on this," recalls Ms Hagan. "We have to make sure we know where people can go. Oh, the electric is out. Okay, now the airport is flooded."

"Winter is not a joke here, it is life and death," she tells the BBC. "As a reporter I try not to make emotional statements like, if I wasn't here, people could die, but that is a reality."

On the other side of the country in Washington DC, however, a historic vote could bring federal support for KOTZ to an end.

The Senate must decide by the end of the week whether to claw back $1.1bn (£800m) from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the body that distributes federal funding to public radio and television stations.

While the public media cuts are part of a broad spending package, which includes requests to rescind $8.3bn from the United States Agency for International Development and other foreign aid programmes, they are especially dear to President Donald Trump, who frequently accuses media of bias.

The president has now threatened to pull his support from any Republican senator who does not support the cuts.

"It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together," Trump posted on Truth Social Thursday night.

Executives at National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) reject accusations of bias and say they abide by all journalistic standards.

Republican voters, however, are about three times less likely than Democrats to consume or trust news coverage from either outlet, according to the Pew Research Center.

While the cuts will affect national broadcasters like NPR and PBS, more than 70% of federal funding goes to local media stations and about 45% of the stations that received funding in 2023 are in rural areas.

For half of those rural stations, federal grants made up a quarter or more of their revenue. At KOTZ in Kotzebue, public funding constitutes 41% of its income.

The impacts of the cuts on rural constituents have made some senators balk.

"By no means is it assured of being passed in the Senate, where many of the Republican senators represent rural states that really do benefit from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting," Democratic congressman Dan Goldman, co-chair of the Public Broadcasting Caucus, told the BBC World Service's Weekend programme.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has said she opposes the cuts to public media stations, warning that "what may seem like a frivolous expense to some has proven to be an invaluable resource that saves lives in Alaska".

"Almost to a number, they're saying that they will go under if public broadcasting funds are no longer available to them," Murkowski told a Senate hearing last month.

Other Republican senators, including Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have expressed concern about cuts to foreign aid programmes.

Cutting federal funding for public broadcasting has been an ambition of Republican administrations for decades and was regularly raised by President Trump during his first term.

"It is unfair to ask conservative Americans to pay for a service that mocks them, that has nothing but a derisive attitude towards them," says Mike Gonzalez, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Last year, a senior NPR editor resigned after accusing the outlet of favouring left-wing voices.

Gonzalez wrote a chapter in the Project 2025 policy blueprint calling for an end to all federal funding for public media.

"If there is a demand for local news, the market will meet it," Mr Gonzalez says. "The idea that the taxpayer is the only surviving business model, I don't think that is the case."

According to Northwestern University, the number of counties in the US without a local news source has risen to 206, with 1,561 counties having just one source.

Almost 55 million Americans now live in these news deserts, three-quarters of which are predominantly rural.

Rural America strongly backed Donald Trump in November's election, leading some to claim that the president's own voters could be hardest hit by cuts to public media.

Travis Bubenik is the news director at Marfa Public Radio in rural west Texas. Nearly every county where the station airs overwhelmingly voted Republican in the last election.

Where there is anger about public media, Mr Bubenik says it is directed at the national outlets.

"All I know is that in my experience here at this local station doing local news, people talk to me, they like what we're doing, they understand that we are local, that we live here and that we care about the region," he says.

More than a third of the funding for Marfa Public Radio comes from the federal grants that are now under threat.

"It's scary," admits Mr Bubenik. "In the not too distant future this station might be either off the air or just not able to do the same quantity and quality of local news."

The bill has to pass the Senate before 18 July and any changes must be approved by the House before it can make its way onto Trump's desk. If four Republicans decide not to vote for the bill, it won't move forward.

Watching an iceberg float by her office window in Kotzebue, Desiree Hagan is hoping enough senators will cross the aisle. She tries not to think about the alternative.

"Even when there's a few moments of dead air here, people think, 'What's wrong?" laughs Ms Hagan.

Around 90% of her audience is Inupiat, an Alaska Native community. Much of the programming is delivered by Elders in the Inupiat language.

"The station is so interwoven into the community," Ms Hagan says. "These cuts would have ripple effects across every aspect of society."

"It would be devastating," she adds.

A couple who went on the run with their newborn daughter have been found guilty of her manslaughter by gross negligence.

Constance Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, were convicted on Monday following a lengthy and chaotic retrial at the Old Bailey, which the judge accused them of trying to "sabotage" and "derail".

It comes more than two years after the decomposed body of their baby, Victoria, had been discovered in a shopping bag in Brighton.

An earlier trial at the same court found them guilty of concealing the birth of a child, perverting the course of justice by not reporting her death, and of child cruelty - the latter of which could not be reported until now.

To now have been found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence means that the jury found that the couple's behaviour had been so exceptionally bad and fell below the standard of reasonably competent parents.

The prosecution had argued during their retrial that Marten and Gordon had made a conscious decision to not keep Victoria safe, and that it was clear their actions had been deliberate.

Central to the prosecution's case was that Victoria had died from hypothermia or by being smothered while co-sleeping in a small, thin tent in cold, damp and windy conditions in January 2023.

It is thought that the couple went on the run to avoid the authorities and keep Victoria, their fifth child together, with their four other children having being been previously taken into care.

Marten and Gordon both refused to stand as the jury delivered its unanimous verdict on Monday. Marten shook her head and sighed, while Gordon sat with his eyes closed and his head resting back on the wall.

Gordon also told the judge following the verdicts that he planned to "win on appeal" and described it as an "unfair trial".

Speaking afterwards, chief prosecutor Jaswant Narwal said the defendants had shown "little remorse for their actions" and had used "different antics to frustrate and delay court proceedings".

"I hope these convictions provide a sense of justice and comfort to all those affected by this tragic case."

Samantha Yellend, London's senior crown prosecutor, said it was "shocking" that the couple would expose their child to "such obvious risks" and that their "reckless actions were driven by a selfish desire to keep their baby no matter the cost".

In the retrial, the jury also heard that Gordon had been convicted of rape in Florida in 1989 when he was aged 14.

For legal reasons, this conviction - for which he was sentenced to 40 years in prison and deported back to the UK after serving 20 years - was not made known during the first trial.

The couple became the subjects of a police manhunt in 2023 when officers found evidence of a recent birth in a burnt-out car near Bolton.

They were found on 27 February 2023 and Victoria was discovered dead two days later in an allotment shed in the Hollingbury area of Brighton.

She had died in a tent in the South Downs in January that year.

Det Supt Lewis Basford, who led the search for them, said Victoria's death was "completely avoidable" and that the couple had many opportunities to "do the right thing and... ask for help".

"We have waited more than two years to secure justice for baby Victoria and I am pleased we have now been able to get that for her - despite her parents trying to disrupt and derail not one, but two trials," he said.

He added that as a father himself, he found it "hard to comprehend how, instead of providing the warmth and care their child needed" Marten and Gordon "chose to live outside during freezing conditions to avoid the authorities".

The couple are expected to be sentenced in September.

Four people who died when a small plane crashed at London Southend Airport are believed to be foreign nationals, police have confirmed.

The airport has been closed since emergency services were called to the incident involving a Beech B200 Super King shortly before 16:00 BST on Sunday.

Witnesses described a "fireball" type explosion soon after the Netherlands-bound light aircraft had taken off.

All four people were killed in the crash - two pilots and two passengers - and Essex Police said in a press conference on Monday it believed they were foreign nationals.

The names of the four who died have not been released but officers are now working to confirm their identities.

Ch Supt Morgan Cronin said the victims would be "treated with the utmost respect and dignity".

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has put in place a significant air exclusion zone surrounding the crash site.

All flights to and from the airport on Monday have been rerouted, with passengers advised to check with their airline for advice.

The Beech B200 Super King Air plane was operated by Zeusch Aviation, based at Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands, which has confirmed it is "actively supporting the authorities with the investigation".

The plane had flown from the Greek capital Athens to Pula in Croatia on Sunday before heading to Southend. It was due to return to Lelystad on Sunday evening.

Detectives and forensic teams are working in parallel with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), the Royal Air Force, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and London Southend Airport to work out what happened.

Speaking at the press conference, Lisa Fitzsimons, a senior inspector at the AAIB, said it was "too early to speculate on what caused this tragic accident".

"If there are safety lessons that can be learned, we will make recommendations that will aim to prevent a similar accident occurring," she said.

Eight of its inspectors are now at the crash site.

A London Southend Airport spokesperson said: "Our thoughts are with those affected by [Sunday's] events and all passengers impacted by this disruption.

"We will restart flight operations as soon as possible and will continue to update the public on developments."

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

Production has begun on the new TV adaptation of Harry Potter, as the first picture of the lead actor in costume was released.

JK Rowling's series of novels has already been made into a film, but HBO is now producing a TV series which is expected to take 10 years to complete.

Producers released the first picture of Dominic McLaughlin in costume as Harry Potter on Monday and confirmed several new cast members.

Rory Wilmot hast been cast as Neville Longbottom, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch, and Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander.

They join stars such as John Lithgow, who will play Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Hagrid, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape.

The three child actors who will play Harry, Ron and Hermione were announced in May.

The programme will be filmed at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire, which is where the eight Harry Potter movies were also shot.

HBO has previously said the series would be "a faithful adaptation of the iconic books".

The TV series will have more breathing space to explore the plot lines from the books without the time constraints of the film.

Producers also announced new production staff, several of whom have previously worked on The Crown such as director of photography Adriano Goldman and hair and makeup designer Cate Hall.

The first series will launch in 2027.

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