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Trump Border Czar Tom Homan: ‘There Will Be No Amnesty’

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, is a longtime immigration law enforcement official now tasked with helping implement the administration’s massive deportation campaign.

In a wide-ranging interview with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns, Homan explains what will be done with the $170 billion recently passed by Congress to help the effort, defends the tactics of ICE agents, and has a message for those who say undocumented farmworkers should be spared.

“People who say ‘don't arrest workers,’ they don't understand the whole ugly underbelly of illegal immigration the way I do,” he tells Burns.

Plus, on the one year anniversary of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, PA, journalist Salena Zito shares her first-hand account as described in her new book, “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland.”

Listen and subscribe to The Conversation with Dasha Burns on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Trump Border Czar Tom Homan: ‘There Will Be No Amnesty’ | The Conversation

Modi Wants More Indians to Speak Hindi. Some States Are Shouting ‘No.’

States worry that the imposition of Hindi, the main language of northern India, would wipe out their cultural heritage.

© Indranil Mukherjee/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Raj Thackeray, left, and Uddhav Thackeray at a recent rally in Mumbai. They are cousins and both politicians in Maharashtra. Though they had a falling-out years ago and started rival parties, the effort to require primary schools in Maharashtra to teach Hindi has reunited them in opposition to the plan.

Gaza hospital says 24 people killed near aid site as witnesses blame IDF

Reuters Image shows Palestinians seeking aid near an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, on 27 May 2025Reuters
Palestinians seeking food and other supplies near an aid distribution site in May

The Nasser hospital in southern Gaza has said 24 people have been killed near an aid distribution site.

Palestinians who were present at the site said Israeli troops opened fire as people were trying to access food on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said there were "no known injured individuals" from IDF fire near the site.

Separately, an Israeli military official said warning shots were fired to disperse people who the IDF believed were a threat.

The claims by both sides have not been independently verified. Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza.

Footage seen by the BBC later on Saturday showed what appeared to be a number of body bags at Nasser hospital's courtyard surrounded by nurses and people in blood-stained clothes.

In another video, a man said people were waiting to get aid when they came under targeted fire for five minutes. A paramedic accused Israeli troops of killing in cold blood.

The videos have not been verified by the BBC.

Reuters said it had spoken to witnesses who described people being shot in the head and torso. The news agency also reported seeing bodies wrapped in white shrouds at Nasser hospital.

There have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food in Gaza.

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in March, and later resumed its military offensive against Hamas, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the Palestinian armed group to release Israeli hostages.

Although the blockade was partially eased in late May, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, there are still severe shortages of food, as well as medicine and fuel.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, says there are thousands of malnourished children across the territory, with more cases detected every day.

In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid.

On Friday, the UN human rights office said that it had so far recorded 798 aid-related killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF's sites, which are operated by US private security contractors and located inside military zones in southern and central Gaza.

The other 183 killings were recorded near UN and other aid convoys.

The Israeli military said it recognised there had been incidents in which civilians had been harmed and that it was working to minimise "possible friction between the population and the [Israeli] forces as much as possible".

The GHF accused the UN of using "false and misleading" statistics from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Earlier this month, a former security contractor for the GHF told the BBC he witnessed colleagues opening fire several times on hungry Palestinians who had posed no threat. The GHF said the allegations were categorically false.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,823 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

North Korea reaffirms support for Russia's war in Ukraine

Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Wonsan, North KoreaReuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Wonsan, North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered Moscow his "unconditional support" on the war in Ukraine, according to Pyongyang state media reports.

In talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in North Korea, Kim said that Pyongyang stood by "all the measures taken by the Russian leadership" to tackle the "root cause of the Ukrainian crisis".

Western officials believe Pyongyang has sent an estimated 11,000 troops to Russia over the last year to fight against Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

According to North Korean state media KCNA news agency, Kim and Lavrov met on Saturday in "an atmosphere full of warm comradely trust".

The North Korean leader also expressed a "firm belief that the Russian army and people would surely win victory in accomplishing the sacred cause of defending the dignity and basic interests of the country".

On Telegram, Russia's foreign ministry posted a video showing the two men shaking hands and greeting each other with a hug.

Lavrov also met with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui and thanked the "heroic" North Korean soldiers deployed to aid Russia, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

North Korea's renewed military support for Russia comes as US President Donald Trump has resumed military supplies to Ukraine, after a brief hiatus.

Trump told NBC News on Thursday that he had made a deal with Nato for the US to send Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine via the alliance, after a surge of Russian aerial attacks.

Pyongyang first publicly acknowledged sending troops to Russia in April, months after Ukraine and the West revealed the large-scale troop movement from North Korea to the Russian-Ukrainian frontline.

Kim signed an accord with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in June last year, agreeing to support each other if either country was dealing with "aggression".

Apart from soldiers, North Korea also promised to send thousands of workers to help rebuild Russia's war-torn Kursk region, Moscow's security chief said last month.

Judge bars Trump administration from 'indiscriminately' detaining immigrants

Getty Images A protester stands across from immigration authorities dressed in military-SWAT uniforms. Some are holding long guns and all have on gas masks. Getty Images

A federal California judge has ordered the Trump administration to stop "indiscriminately" detaining people thought to be in the US illegally.

The decision came down in a temporary restraining order issued against the government on Friday, which also bars immigration officials from denying individuals access to lawyers.

The case was brought in a lawsuit filed by three immigrants, arrested at a Pasadena bus stop while looking for work, and two US citizens who were held, one of whom had reportedly shown an ID.

The Department of Homeland Security responded to the judge's order in a social media post, accusing her of "undermining the will of the American people".

US District Judge Maame Frimpong's emergency orders are a temporary measure while the lawsuit continues.

In her order, Judge Frimpong said there was a "mountain of evidence" to support that officials have been performing "roving patrols", defined as "indiscriminately rounding up individuals without reasonable suspicion". This would violate the US Constitution, she said.

The government cannot base its immigration arrests "solely" on factors including "race or ethnicity", "speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent", or "presence at a particular location" such as a bus stop or car wash, Judge Frimpong said.

Judge Frimpong's decision comes as the Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to crackdown on illegal immigration, particularly in California, a Democratic stronghold that has long held the ire of President Donald Trump.

Raids in Los Angeles, in particular, were met with widespread protests over immigration enforcement in the region.

An immigration raid at a marijuana farm in California on Thursday led to violent protests and the arrests of more than 200 people, including 10 minors.

Some farm workers were critically injured during the "chaotic" Ventura County raids, the United Farm Workers said in a statement.

Human rights advocates have accused the government of illegal discrimination and denying people their Constitutional rights.

"No matter the color of their skin, what language they speak, or where they work, everyone is guaranteed constitutional rights to protect them from unlawful stops," Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, said in a statement.

The government, however, says it is prioritising violent criminals as ICE tries to meet a daily quota of 3,000 daily arrests, part of Trump's stated goal to launch the "largest deportation" campaign in US history.

"America's brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists—truly the worst of the worst from Golden State communities," Homeland Security wrote on X, in response to the judge's order.

BBC gains rare access to the Congolese mine powering mobile phones

Hassan Lali / BBC Two miners with their backs to the camera bend over as they dig in a pit at Rubaya mine in eastern DR Congo. The one in the left wears a red tank top and his colleague on the right wears a yellow sports shirt with numbers printed on the back. In the background the metal spade of another miner can be seen.Hassan Lali / BBC
More than 10,000 people work at the Rubaya mine digging up coltan ore

M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo recently allowed the BBC to visit a huge mining site under their control which is vital to the production of the world's mobile phones - and over its vast expanse not one person was idle.

Thousands of miners dotted the landscape covered with pits and tunnels.

Some were deep underground digging up ore with shovels, others then hoisted sacks of the extracted rock containing coltan, which is used to make many electronic devices, on to their shoulders. They then took it to assembly points where others washed and filtered it with spades and by hand.

"We usually have more than 10,000 or more people working here daily," Patrice Musafiri, who has supervised the Rubaya mining site since the rebels took control of it in April last year, told the BBC.

It is tricky terrain to navigate - our team needed the aid of walking sticks, as well as Mr Musafiri's guidance, to stop us falling - yet for most of the men it is the only life they have known. It may be onerous and dangerous, but it allows them to make a small living.

"When we are deep in the mines, temperatures are very high - digging the mineral is also very hard... plus there can be other harmful gases," mineworker Peter Osiasi told the BBC.

"Sometimes cold air is pumped inside so that we can continue working," he said.

But the young man said he was grateful that since he began mining five years ago, he has been able to save a little money for a dowry and is now married with children.

"My life has really changed. Mining has really helped me."

The swathe of golden scarred earth they mine is found in the sprawling, lush Masisi Hills of North Kivu province - around 60km (37 miles) north-west of the city of Goma - and holds 15% of the world's coltan supply and half of the DR Congo's total deposits.

Little wonder that global investors have their eyes on this area.

It has provided immense wealth over the years to the various armed groups that have overseen it at different times, including the army.

Hassan Lali / BBC Overhead shot of mining activities at Rubaya mine where the terrain is hilly - slightly terraced. The bare earth is a light brown, some of it has a darker more orange shade. Many groups of miners can be seen from a distance cleaning ore. One corrugated metal shack can be seen. In the distance are green fields.Hassan Lali / BBC
The Rubaya mine supervisor said no armed men were allowed at the vast site

We arrived at the mine, which is around 10km outside Rubaya town, several days after a ceasefire deal was signed in Washington by DR Congo and Rwanda as part of the peace process aimed at ending three decades of instability in the region.

The roots of the insecurity in the east of DR Congo are notoriously complicated.

There is an ethnic dimension, with many rebel groups operating here - including an ethnic Hutu militia linked to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which Kigali believes has Congolese backing.

In Washington both sides committed on 27 June to disarm and disengage their alleged proxies (despite denying having any).

The M23 was not party to the deal. Mainly led by ethnic Tutsis, it controls large parts of eastern DR Congo - and since January has taken control of Goma, the city of Bukavu and two airports. Rwanda has been accused by many — including the UN — of backing the M23. However, the authorities there deny sending military or financial aid.

The US's involvement in the process seems to hinge on getting access to DR Congo's mineral resources - though nothing has so far been specified.

"We're getting for the United States, a lot of the mineral rights from the [DR] Congo," said US President Donald Trump ahead of the signing.

Hassan Lali / BBC Muddy workers are seen on a slope at Rubaya mine in DR Congo. One in green wellingtons, black jeans and T-shirt looks at the camera, another in a similar outfit is seen from the back as he walks with a sack on his shoulders. A group of women are seen a little further down the slope near some big basins and jerry cans.Hassan Lali / BBC
Some women work at Rubaya mine site selling food and water to the miners

During our brief visit - we were allowed access for around 45 minutes - there was no hint that the chain of command was about to change.

The supervisor, appointed by the M23, was keen to explain how the set-up at Rubaya had been reorganised over the last year and how the rebel group had brought security to allow miners to work without fear - specifying that no armed men were allowed on the site.

"We have already solved so many issues," Mr Musafiri said.

"Presently we have a mining department that regulates and monitors safety issues and also resolves internal disputes within the mines. If a tunnel becomes dangerous, people are told to leave to avoid accidents.

"People from different groups come here to mine daily and others to buy the minerals and now we have a huge market in Goma where they can resell what they buy here."

Hassan Lali / BBC A group of five miners, wearing wellingtons, work at station cleaning the rocks brought up to the surface. They are standing next to a pool of orange, brown water used in the process. Behind them can be seen the Masisi Hill.Hassan Lali / BBC
The coltan ore must be washed ready for the buyers who trade it on - and eventually tantalum will be extracted from this for use in electronic devices

In December, a UN experts' report detailed how the M23 makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each month from taxing coltan, much of it was sent directly to Rwanda - allegations both the M23 and Kigali deny.

Surrounded by his colleagues wearing jeans, sweaters and wellington boots, all of whom buy permits to work at the site, Mr Osiasi agreed that conditions were better.

"Business is going on very well here because we have at least some semblance of peace, but the pay is very low. We are paid very little money," the miner said.

Trump's second term coincided with the M23's seizure of much of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and the humiliating retreat of the Congolese army.

Political analyst Akramm Tumsifu says DR Congo decided to use its rich mineral reserves as a bargaining chip to get US assistance - for months it had sought military support.

With a tentative peace process under way, the Congolese authorities' great hope, he told the BBC, was that American firms would be in a position to make "massive investments" in its mining sector, which is currently dominated by Chinese companies.

US companies are reportedly already looking to cash in on the opportunity to invest in Rubaya's mining sector.

The Rubaya supervisor told us investment would be welcomed, but only initiatives aimed at boosting the local economy - with jobs, schools and hospitals - would be allowed.

"Any foreign investor can come here, as long as they come with development for our people and increase daily wages for the miners," Mr Musafiri said.

Despite the country's colossal natural endowments, most mining communities have little infrastructure, without even accessible roads to the mines where the wealth is scooped from the ground.

Mr Tumsifu reckons the presence of American investors could also act as a "caution against fighting or a resurgence of other armed groups".

But it is not yet clear how or with whom an investor would do business given the M23 is still very much in control in the east.

A parallel mediation effort led by Qatar - which involves direct talks between the armed groups and the Congolese government - may yield more clarity in the coming months.

The M23, which is part of the broader Congo River Alliance, said the Washington-backed deal had fallen short of addressing the causes of the long conflict. It maintains it took up arms to protect the rights of the minority Tutsi group in DR Congo.

While the belligerents try and hammer out their preferred pathways to peace, local people at the Rubaya mine, like elsewhere in eastern DR Congo, only hope for a definitive end to the fighting and bloodshed which has seen hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes.

"My appeal to fellow young men and our leaders is to keep and maintain peace in our area," said Mr Osiasi.

As he prepared to go back to hours of more digging, he added: "I also appeal to the owners of the mines to increase our pay because it's very little."

Additional reporting by the BBC's Robert Kiptoo and Hassan Lali

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The mushroom killer was obsessed with true crime. Now true crime fans are obsessed with her

Watch: Australia’s mushroom murder case... in under two minutes

For years, from behind a computer screen, Erin Patterson built up a reputation in an online true crime community as a "super sleuth".

Today, she herself has become a true crime obsession.

When three people died – and another fell gravely ill - after eating toxic-mushroom-laced beef Wellingtons at her home in rural Victoria two years ago, her entire life was put under a microscope.

Journalists have descended from around the world to cover her lengthy murder trial, spectators have queued daily to nab a spot in the courtroom, and thousands of people have picked apart details of the case online.

But, despite a jury earlier this week finding her guilty on all charges, the frenzy of speculation and depth of fascination has only intensified.

"It has shades of Macbeth," criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told the BBC.

Getty Images Members of the media are seen outside the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court in Morwell on July 7Getty Images
The mushroom murder trial was the biggest case in recent history

It was in one of Australia's smallest courtrooms that its biggest trial in recent history took place.

Over 11 weeks, seven documentary-making teams cast their lens on the tiny town of Morwell. Podcasters here were a dime a dozen. Journalists vied for the six seats reserved for media inside the court each day. Even one of Australia's best-loved authors, Helen Garner, frequently dropped by the Latrobe Valley Law Courts, fuelling rumours that she is preparing to write another best-seller.

Waiting with the sea of tripods outside the building most mornings of the trial was a queue of camp chairs.

Come rain, frost or fog, court watchers – predominantly women, often rugged up in beanies and encased in sleeping bags – watched for the moment the glass doors would open.

Once inside, they would lay a line of belongings – scarves, water bottles, notepads, bags – outside the courtroom entry to reserve their spot.

A court sketch of Erin Patterson wearing a purple shirt
The Patterson trial heard from more than 50 witnesses

Tammy Egglestone commuted for more than an hour to reach Morwell most days of the trial. "I'm a bit of a true crime fanatic," she explains.

She was in court when it heard evidence that Patterson was once just like her.

Patterson had been an active member in a Facebook group focussed on the crimes of Keli Lane, a woman who was found guilty of killing her two-day-old daughter in one of Australia's most notorious cases.

In 2018, Lane became the subject of a major podcast after writing to a journalist claiming to have been wrongly convicted and begging her to investigate.

At Patterson's trial, one of her online friends Christine Hunt said she was renowned among her peers for her nimble researching and tech skills.

"She was a bit of a super sleuth," she said. "She was highly regarded in that group."

Getty Images A man taking a selfie in a Melbourne laneway in front of a mural of Erin Patterson.Getty Images
A Melbourne lane with a mural of Erin Patterson

But as her case unfolded in Morwell, Patterson was also put on trial in the court of public opinion.

She became water-cooler talk in workplaces around the country, gossip among friend groups, and the ultimate topic of debate online.

Thousands of people theorised over a motive for the crime, provided commentary on bits of evidence, and even alleged corrupt forces were behind the case – much of the discussion unfounded, almost all of it in breach of laws designed to give defendants a fair trial.

Memes filled social media feeds. On Google Maps, someone created a restaurant listing at Patterson's home address. Others shared trial bingo cards they had created for those following it closely.

Throughout the week the jury was considering their verdict, sequestered in a hotel to protect them from the maelstrom, the question everyone had was: what were they thinking?

"What are they doing in there?" one lawyer was overheard asking in a Morwell café on day four of deliberations.

Tammy Egglestone standing outside the courthouse
Ms Egglestone has spent hours commuting to see the trial evidence in person

With jury members bound by strict secrecy requirements, we will never know.

"In the US, they can interview jurors after a trial," criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told the BBC. "We can't get into the heads of jurors in Australia… so it's really hard to know what they're thinking has been and why they've come to that conclusion."

That leaves a massive vacuum for members of the public to fill with their speculation.

People like Ms Egglestone pondered: if the poisoning was intended to kill, wouldn't Patterson have planned and executed it better?

"I've come in here [as] Switzerland," Ms Egglestone clarified, calling the discourse around the case "very pitchforky".

"You know, [it's] she's guilty, she's guilty, she's guilty.

"And a lot of them are using hindsight reasoning. 'If I was in that situation, I wouldn't do this, this and this.' Well, you don't know what you would do in that situation."

But people like her were drowned out by the hordes proclaiming Patterson guilty.

Many said it was her lies that convinced them. Some claimed the evidence showed a clear lack of empathy and concern for those who died.

"What really gave her away was wearing white pants when she had 'gastro' and needed to go to hospital for it!" one person posted, referring to CCTV footage of her movements in the days after the lunch, which was played at the trial.

Watch: CCTV and audio shown to court in mushroom trial

Already, the case has inspired a television special, a silver screen drama series, a bevy of podcasts, several documentaries and a handful of books.

"It has those typical cliché things that make true crime sell," Ms Egglestone said, explaining why she and flocks of others have become obsessed with the case.

"The fact that she did take out family members... [she's] white, female, financially stable, you know. And they're all church people."

For David Peters, seemingly benign circumstances surrounding the crime – and the fact it was in his local area – drew him in: "The fact that it was a family sitting down to do something you would consider to be safe - have a meal - and then the consequences of that meal..."

Several people tell the BBC the case reminds them of the frenzy over Lindy Chamberlain's notorious trial in 1982. She was falsely convicted of murder after her infant daughter Azaria was taken from an outback campsite by a dingo.

It's no coincidence that both of those cases centre around women, criminology researcher Brandy Cochrane tells the BBC.

The world has long been fascinated by women who kill – in no small part because it contradicts their traditional "caring" gender role, they explain.

Those stereotypes also cast a shadow on Patterson's time in court.

EPA The front cover of The Australian newspaper with coverage of Erin Patterson's verdict on the front page is displayed in a newsagent in Morwell.EPA

"She's expected to act in a particular way, and she's not," says Dr Cochrane, a lecturer at Victoria University.

"It's like, 'Oh, obviously she's guilty, she's not crying the whole time' or 'Obviously she's guilty, she's lied about this'. The legal system in and of itself treats women very differently."

Away from the ghoulish spectre of the trial, there's anger – albeit dwindling – among the communities where the victims are from over the way the case has been dissected, local councillor Nathan Hersey tells the BBC.

Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson were respected and adored by many in the South Gippsland region, he says, but it feels like they've been forgotten.

"This has been an extremely high-profile case that's brought a lot of attention, often unwanted through to our local community.

"[And] some people haven't had that humanity… they've certainly lost focus that for people, there is a loss, there is grief."

Putin's friend Gergiev set to conduct as Italy breaks ban on pro-Kremlin artists

SERGEI CHIRIKOV/AFP via Getty Images Russian conductor and Mariinsky Theater Artistic Director Valery Gergiev is surrounded by classical musicians on stage in Moscow in 2018. SERGEI CHIRIKOV/AFP via Getty Images
Valery Gergiev seen conducting an orchestra at Moscow's Red Square in 2018

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has been barred from European stages ever since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A close ally of Vladimir Putin for many years, the director of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Russian state theatres has never spoken out against the war.

But a region of southern Italy has now invited Gergiev back to Europe, signalling the artist's rehabilitation even as Russia's attacks on Ukraine intensify.

Vincenzo de Luca, who runs the Campania region, insists that the concert at the Un'Estate da RE festival later this month will go ahead despite a growing swell of criticism.

"Culture… must not be influenced by politics and political logic," De Luca said in a livestream on Friday. "We do not ask these men to answer for the choices made by politicians."

The 76-year-old local leader has previously called Europe's broad veto on pro-Putin artists "a moment of stupidity – a moment of madness" at the start of the war and announced that he was "proud" to welcome Gergiev to town.

Getty Images Two men in dark suits stand against a backdrop of a Russian white-blue-and-red tricolor flag, as the man on the right puts his hands on the other man's jacketGetty Images
Russia's President Putin (R) pins a medal on conductor Gergiev (L) at the Kremlin in 2016

But Pina Picierno, a vice-president of the European Parliament, has told the BBC that allowing Gergiev's return is "absolutely unacceptable".

She calls the star conductor a "cultural mouthpiece for Putin and his crimes".

Ukrainian human rights activist and Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk said the invitation by the regional government was "hypocrisy", rather than neutrality.

Russian opposition activists have also condemned the director's sudden return. The Anti-Corruption Foundation, of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, wants his concert cancelled and is calling on Italy's interior ministry to ban Gergiev's entry to the country.

GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP Russian conductor Valery Gergiev performs on stage with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP
Valery Gergiev has been shunned by European orchestras since the full-scale war began

Before Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, the virtuoso Gergiev was a regular visitor to stages in Italy and across Europe, despite his closeness to Putin.

His long and illustrious career includes stints at the London Symphony Orchestra and Munich Philharmonic.

But the invitations to Europe stopped abruptly on 24 February 2022.

Hours before the first Russian missiles were launched at Ukraine, Gergiev was on stage at Milan's La Scala opera house. Urged then by the city's mayor to speak out against the war, Gergiev chose silence.

He was promptly dropped from the bill.

Abandoned by his manager, despite calling Gergiev "the greatest conductor alive", he was then fired as chief conductor in Munich and removed from concert schedules across the continent.

That's why the invitation from Italy is so controversial.

Pina Picierno, who is from the Campania region herself, says her call to stop the event is not Russophobic.

"There is no shortage of brilliant Russian artists who choose to disassociate themselves from Putin's criminal policies," she told the BBC.

The European MP, who says she has received threats for her work exposing Russia's hybrid warfare, warns that allowing Gergiev to perform would be both wrong and dangerous.

"This is not about censorship. Gergiev is part of a deliberate Kremlin strategy. He is one of their cultural envoys to soften Western public opinion. This is part of their war."

Pasquale Gargano/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images Italy's prime minister stands in the middle wearing a grey jacket and white blouse, while Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska stands to her left in a green coatPasquale Gargano/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (centre) welcomed Ukraine's president and first lady to a conference in Rome last week

The cultural controversy erupted in a week when Italy was hosting heads of state from all over Europe to reaffirm their support for Ukraine and discuss how to rebuild the country once the war is over.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been a strong and consistent critic of Vladimir Putin from the start. But her culture ministry is one of the backers of Un'Estate da RE, which has invited Gergiev.

A senior MP from Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, Alfredo Antoniozzi, has described Gergiev as "simply a great artist".

"If Russians have to pay for the mistakes of their president, then we are committing a kind of cultural genocide," he argued.

Last month, Canada formally barred Gergiev from entry and declared it would freeze any assets.

But the European Union has shied away from formal sanctions against the conductor, who has avoided voicing open support for the war.

Gergiev has been a vocal supporter of Putin since the 1990s, later campaigning for his re-election and backing Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.

He was handed management of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, in addition to the Mariinsky Theatre, taking over from a director who signed an open letter against Russia's war.

Gergiev is a state employee, but in 2022 an investigation by Alexei Navalny's team uncovered properties in several Italian cities that they say he never declared.

They also alleged he used donations to a charitable fund to pay for his own lavish lifestyle.

The activists argued that was Gergiev's reward for his public loyalty to Putin.

The BBC has so far been unable to reach the conductor for comment.

A spokeswoman for the European Commission, Eva Hrncirova, has clarified that the Un'Estate da RE festival is not receiving EU cash: it is financed by Italy's own "cohesion funds".

But she added that the commission urged European stages not to give space "to artists who support the war of aggression in Ukraine".

In Campania, the artistic director who crafted this year's festival programme declined to comment. A spokesman was confident Gergiev's performance would go ahead, though – despite the controversy.

"Yes," he assured the BBC. "For sure."

Additional reporting from Rome by Davide Ghiglione.

Health secretary and BMA to meet in bid to avoid strikes

Getty Images A junior doctor holds a placard that says "Pay restoration for doctors" during a rally in London in June last year. They are holding up one arm and wearing an orange British Medical Association hat and sunglasses, while their body is largely obscured by their sign. Behind them other protesters, a police officer and pedestrians are standing around.Getty Images
Resident doctors took part in 11 separate strikes during 2023 and 2024

Talks between Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association (BMA) will take place next week in a bid to avert strike action in England's NHS, the BBC understands.

Resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, announced earlier this week that they will walk out for five consecutive days from 25 July until 30 July over a dispute about pay with the government.

The BMA said strikes would only be called off if next week's talks produce an offer it can put to its members.

The government has insisted it cannot improve its offer of a 5.4% increase for this year.

Resident doctors were awarded a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year - which will go into pay packets from August - following a 22% increase over the previous two years.

But they are arguing that pay in real terms is still around 20% lower than it was in 2008 and have called for the government to set out a pathway to restoring its value.

They believe that this year's 5.4% increase doesn't take them far enough down that path.

Health department sources have told the BBC the health secretary is sympathetic to improving working conditions for resident doctors, but he won't budge on salaries.

After the BMA's strike announcement, Streeting called the strike "unnecessary and unreasonable", adding: "The NHS is hanging by a thread - why on earth are they threatening to pull it?"

He said the government was "ready and willing" to work with the BMA, but any further strike action would be a disaster for patients and push back the progress made in reducing waiting lists in England.

BMA resident doctor committee co-chairs, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said on Wednesday they had been left with "no choice" but to strike without a "credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay".

Lord Robert Winston, a professor and TV doctor who was a pioneer of IVF treatment, resigned from the BMA on Friday over the planned strikes.

In an interview with The Times, he urged against strike action and said it could damage people's trust in the profession.

Resident doctors took part in 11 separate strikes during 2023 and 2024.

In order to end the previous strikes last year the incoming Labour government awarded a backdated increase worth 22% over two years.

The action in England will not affect resident doctors in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, who negotiate directly with their devolved governments on pay.

Resident doctors' basic salaries in England range from £37,000 to £70,000 a year for a 40-hour week, depending on experience, with extra payments for working nightshifts and weekends.

That does not include the latest 5.4% average pay award for this year which will start to be paid into wage packets from August.

Drake's still relevant - as his famous friends will tell you

Getty Images Drake holding a microphone standGetty Images
Drake has already played to 100,000 fans across two nights at London's Wireless Festival

Drake has certainly had a difficult couple of months, with the most notable moment being when fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar used his Super Bowl halftime show as an opportunity to call the Canadian a paedophile - something Drake's lawyers are now suing Lamar's record label over.

Social media would have you believe that Drake came off worse from the pair's constant sparring, that he was no longer culturally relevant and had been deserted by his friends in the music industry.

So what better way to dispel those views than by headlining three nights of London's biggest festival - performing to more than 150,000 people in the process?

The Toronto rapper has just finished night two at Wireless, which featured so many special guests that there was barely a moment to breathe throughout the set, let alone sneak off for a drink or toilet break.

Getty Images Lauryn Hill performing in a blue jacket during Drake's setGetty Images
Lauryn Hill was a surprise special guest on Friday night, collaborating on Nice For What with Drake

Each night of the festival has centred around a different era of the 38-year-old's extensive back catalogue, with Friday delving into his R&B roots, Saturday dedicated to UK rap and grime and Sunday set to explore his forays into global genres such as dancehall, reggaeton and Latin pop.

The two hour sets left plenty of room for collaborators - with Lauryn Hill, Bryson Tiller, Central Cee and Dave getting the biggest cheers of the weekend.

Both nights have also proved that if Drake needs a new place to call home, London would welcome him with open arms.

The festival reached sweltering levels of heat on both days, but nothing could kill the spirit of the thousands of fans, whose energy rippled through the crowd.

"There's no place like home - London, England.

"You've shown me so much love over the years," he added - amassing huge cheers from the crowd.

Friday love songs

Drake's Friday performance marked the first time the Canadian had played properly to UK crowds in more than six years - so fans appeared a little deflated when he wasn't the first face they saw as the lights went down.

Instead, co-headliner PARTYNEXTDOOR started off the show, performing a medley of solo hits for around 20 minutes.

Drake then entered the stage to little fanfare, but all was forgotten quickly as he launched into some of his biggest R&B hits, including Marvin's Room, Teenage Fever and the everlastingly catchy Passionfruit.

Then barely minutes into his headline slot, the Canadian was once again on the sidelines as he introduced his first and second of many special guests.

It became evident early on that Drake knows a thing or two about creating a viral moment, first when he brought out Bobby V to perform his hit Slow Down and then Mario, who provided flawless vocals on his signature track Let Me Love You.

Getty Images Mario performs in a black leather outfitGetty Images
Mario performed his classic track Let Me Love You on Friday evening

A theme of the weekend was established early on - that Drake felt comfortable enough as a performer to allow others to take centre stage and lift up those whose talents he appreciated.

He went on to collaborate with several more artists on the night, including R&B newcomer Giveon, Kentucky singer and rapper Bryson Tiller and once again with PARTYNEXTDOOR, as the pair performed tracks from their February album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, together for the first time.

The set as a whole was completely unstructured - coming to a frantic end as Drake whizzed around the festival site on a crane platform while Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You boomed from the speakers.

As fireworks appeared from behind the stage, a mass of people headed for the exit.

But much to everyone's surprise, the night wasn't over - was Drake covering Ready or Not by the Fugees?

It turns out he wasn't and pretty much everyone was surprised when none other than Lauryn Hill's impressive vocals began to ring out across Finsbury Park.

She rattled through Ex-Factor as Finsbury Park's curfew crept ever closer, transitioning into Nice For What, the 2018 Drake song which samples said track.

It was certainly the highlight of the evening, tainted slightly by Wireless' technical team cutting the mics before Hill could sing one more song.

Getty Images Dave and Central Cee perform togetherGetty Images
Dave and Central Cee performed their chart-topping hit Sprinter on Saturday evening

Star-studded Saturday

If Friday was frenetic, Saturday's performance took the chaos factor to whole new levels.

The show can only be described as what would happen if Gen Z was put in charge of the Royal Variety Performance.

It was hard to keep up with the carousel of famous faces making their way onto the stage, each one met with more and more gasps from the crowd.

Emerging artist fakemink was the first UK rap artist to make an appearance, who was then replaced with Headie One.

The Tottenham rapper paced up and down the stage as he rapped alongside Drake on their track Only You Freestyle.

Then came drill artist K-Trap, followed by J Hus.

Drake famously brought J Hus on stage in 2019 on the day he was released from prison, which he referenced on Saturday evening as "one of my greatest moments as a performer".

The pair jammed their way through their 2023 collaboration Who Told You, which proved the perfect accompaniment to a beautiful London sunset.

As fans battled with frozen phone cameras and sore arms from all the filming, there was no respite.

Skepta - who had already performed earlier with grime collective Boy Better Know, returned to the stage for Shutdown, a rap classic that just so happens to sample an old Drake social media video.

As the cameras cut to the Canadian, he could be seen smiling and dancing on the sidelines, clearly enjoying his own personal performance from some of UK rap's titans.

"Nobody can out-rap London," he mused from side of stage.

Getty Images Skepta in a green t-shirtGetty Images
Skepta performed his hit Shutdown to the Wireless crowd

It felt impossible that each special guest could top the previous one, but then came Streatham rapper Dave, who made an exception from his music hiatus for one night only.

He performed his track with Drake - Wanna Know, who then teased that yet another guest was coming to the stage.

As Sprinter - arguably one of the biggest UK tracks of this decade began to play, audience screams reached their greatest of the weekend so far.

Central Cee made his way onto the stage, with Drake declaring him and Dave as "two of the biggest artists together at the moment".

After collaborating on Sprinter, Central Cee launched into a selection of some of his biggest hits, including Band4Band, Doja and Obsessed With You.

It would be almost impossible to imagine that anyone left this show disappointed, unless they wanted to see Drake and Drake only.

He performed just 18 of the 60 songs across the two nights on his own - a departure from his usual touring style.

As Saturday drew to a close there were even more surprises - this time from across the pond.

PARTYNEXTDOOR once again made an appearance, as did female rappers Sexxy Red and Latto.

21 Savage did too, but was then replaced rather bizarrely with singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton.

Visuals of her playing piano and singing A Thousand Miles flashed across the mega on-stage screens as friends turned to each other bewildered.

Drake then once again climbed onto his crane for another round of Whitney, further intensifying the feeling that we had somehow been transported to the sticky dance floor of a hometown nightclub at 2am.

Getty Images Drake in black and Dave in red and blueGetty Images
Drake and Dave perform together at Wireless Festival

If there's anything to take from two nights of back-to-back Drake, it's that he will certainly always receive a warm welcome when he performs in the UK.

As someone who was bitterly labelled as a "culture vulture" by a British grime artist in 2019, the Canadian certainly got the opportunity to set the record straight over the weekend.

Drake joked on Saturday that he had "made a lot of phone calls" to the UK's biggest rap and grime artists - whose willingness to support the Canadian at this time spoke volumes.

Whilst his feud with Kendrick Lamar has certainly provided more headlines than his recent music, these shows have proven that his mass appeal remains, as does his exceptional showmanship and enduring pop, rap and R&B back catalogue.

Drake performs alongside Burna Boy, Popcaan and Vybz Kartel on the final day of Wireless Festival on Sunday.

He will return to the UK in two weeks to play several arena shows with PARTYNEXTDOOR in Birmingham and Manchester.

Trump's tariffs are looming large over the UK’s last surviving steel towns

BBC Treated image of the Port Talbot steelworks. BBC

Ryan Davies worked at the Port Talbot steelworks for 33 years and from his very first day, he heard rumours that the plant was on the verge of closing.

Whispers would spread among his colleagues about new ownership and redundancies. Usually, they weren't true.

"You took it with a pinch of salt," he recalls.

It was an exhausting job. He remembers the clanging of metal and the high-pitched whining of steam, as well as the fear of gas leaks. In the summer it became "excruciatingly" hot inside the plant and his shifts lasted 12 hours.

But he also valued his job. Being a steelworker was part of his identity.

Then, a few years ago, he heard a new rumour: that Tata Steel, the plant's Indian owners, was to close its blast furnaces. This one turned out to be true.

The two furnaces were switched off in July and September last year, part of a restructure that would ultimately remove around 2,000 jobs, half of the number employed there.

PA Media A file photo dated 15 September 2023 shows Tata Steel's Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales.PA Media
Steel is integral to Port Talbot's identity - everyone there has either worked at the steelworks plant or knows someone who did

"It was the end of it all - the end of 100 years of steelmaking in Port Talbot," says Mr Davies, who took voluntary redundancy in November.

He is 51 now and unsure about his own future, and what the news means for his wife and his 19-year-old daughter. But he also worries deeply about Port Talbot.

Steel is integral to the town's identity. The bronze-coloured chimneys loom across the skyline; the first thing you see as you drive towards the town from the M4.

Steel, Mr Davies says, was "the whole reason Port Talbot was ever a successful town".

It is a similar story across the handful of other British communities that historically relied on steelmaking as a source of employment.

As well as Port Talbot, they include places like Redcar in North Yorkshire and Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.

A line chart showing UK steel production in millions of metric tonnes from 1900 to 2015. The line starts around 5 million in 1901 and gradually rises throughout the early part of the 20th century, peaking at around 28 million tonnes in 1970. After this point it starts to decline year on year, before rebounding a little in the latter part of the 1980s and 1990s. It then drops to a low of 11 million tonnes by the end of the times series.

At its peak around 1970, the UK's steel industry produced more than 26 million tonnes of steel each year and employed more than 320,000 people.

Then came the long decline. Now just four million tonnes are produced each year, with fewer than 40,000 employed.

But in the last few years, the industry has entered a particularly difficult period, thanks in part to rising energy prices. The ongoing uncertainty about tariffs on steel exports to the US is not helping.

This has frayed nerves and cost the UK steel industry orders from US companies, according to steel industry executives.

Getty Images Children play in a park in the shadow of the Tata Steel processing plant at Scunthorpe on 19 October 2015.Getty Images
The blast furnaces in Port Talbot were switched off last year

While 27.5% tariffs on cars were reduced to 10% and tariffs on aerospace products were lowered to zero, a 25% tariff on UK steel and aluminium exports to the US is still in place.

British officials say they are determined to reduce steel tariffs to zero too, and talks are ongoing. But this all adds to a sense of foreboding on the ground in steel towns.

So, what comes next if UK steel manufacturing really does near extinction? And where does that leave places like Port Talbot and Redcar that have so much of their identity bound up in their industrial history?

The 'wilderness' ghost steel towns

If you want to peer into a post-steel future, look at Redcar on the northeast coast - an area sometimes described as Britain's "rust belt", owing to the derelict industrial sites scattered across the landscape.

Teesside's steel industry emerged in the mid-19th Century and went on to employ more than 40,000 people. It has long been a point of local pride that the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built from Teesside steel.

But along with other steel towns, it suffered in the latter half of the 20th Century. Cheap imports from China created tough competition. Britain moved from a manufacturing to a service-based economy - and towns like Redcar were left behind.

In 1987, Margaret Thatcher walked with a handbag through a nearby derelict wasteland; a photograph of the "wilderness" visit became a symbol of industrial hardship.

Getty Images Margaret Thatcher walks through what remains of the Head Wrightson works in Thornaby, Middlesbrough, in September 1987.Getty Images
Margaret Thatcher visits the derelict Head Wrightson site in Middlesbrough

More recently, the steel industry has struggled under the weight of the UK's relatively high energy prices (which makes it expensive to heat a furnace).

Some analysts also say that the UK's drive towards decarbonisation is raising costs for steel producers.

In 2015, the Thai owners of Redcar's steelworks pulled the plug. Sue Jeffrey, then Labour leader of Redcar Council, remembers watching the blast furnace in action, on one of its final days in use.

"It was one of the most devastating things I've been involved in," she recalls.

About 2,000 workers lost their jobs at the site, with thousands more affected through the steel supply chain.

Local businesses were hit too; B&Bs have lost custom from the contractors no longer visiting the area.

Getty Images Hundreds of steel workers, their families and supporters attend a torch light vigil and rally to show support for the workers and contractors from SSI steel on 24 September 2015 in Redcar, England.Getty Images
Steelworkers in Redcar in 2015: About 2,000 workers lost their jobs at the site, with thousands more affected

The council set up a task force to help former steelworkers into new jobs. It saw some success.

Of the more than 2,000 steelworkers who made an initial claim for benefits when the plant closed, the vast majority had come off benefits within three years, according to a council report published in 2018.

But Ms Jeffrey argues that many could not find jobs that made use of their industrial skills.

Some became dog walkers and decorators; others, chimney sweeps. Many, she says, accepted a large cut in salary.

The same tale has been told in other steel towns; laid-off worker forced to find new jobs.

Some are delighted with the change.

After his redundancy, Ryan Davies decided to pursue his dream since boyhood: street art. He now runs a business, painting murals of ladybirds, ducks and mythical creatures.

Ryan Davies On the left a close up of Ryan Davies and on the right, a street art mural done by Ryan of a tropical fishRyan Davies
Former steelworker Ryan Davies has started a business making murals since being made redundant: "I've been far happier"

Though his income is lower, he finds it fulfilling. "I've been a far happier person since I left," he says.

"When you've got a grey wall and you paint something colourful, it makes people smile."

But not everyone is so upbeat.

Cassius Walker-Hunt, 28, opened a coffee shop in Port Talbot last year after taking redundancy from the town's steelworks, using a £7,500 loan from Tata Steel to buy professional coffee-making equipment.

"I've been working around the clock just to survive," he says today.

The fight to keep blast furnaces burning

The job security that steelmaking once offered is one reason unions argue it's imperative to keep the industry alive.

Alun Davies, national secretary at the Community Union, the largest union for steelworkers, thinks governments should step in when required to keep blast furnaces burning.

That's exactly what happened earlier this year in Scunthorpe, the last place in the UK that makes virgin steel from melting iron ore in blast furnaces.

It has lurched from crisis to crisis. The last government took control when it was on the brink of going bust and - £600million of UK taxpayer support later - sold it to Chinese company Jingye.

AFP via Getty Images Cast House operator Martin Rees changes the nozzle on a clay gun at the Tata Steel Port Talbot integrated iron and steel works in south Wales on 15 August 2023. AFP via Getty Images
An operator changes the nozzle on a clay gun at the steelworks in Port Talbot

Now it is back in government control. The government was forced to intervene after Jingye failed to order vital supplies to keep the furnaces burning.

From here, Scunthorpe's future is uncertain. Some have urged the Labour government to fully nationalise the site.

But Jonathon Carruthers-Green, an analyst at steel consultancy MEPS International, believes that ministers will be wary of that option because of the huge potential costs and complications.

Alternatively, the plant could be sold to a different foreign buyer.

But, asks Mr Carruthers-Green, "Who is going to come along and start making steel in the UK, where there's higher [energy] costs, where there's all sorts of issues around decarbonisation?"

Scunthorpe resident, Sean Robinson, told the BBC earlier this year that he fears the town will become another steel "ghost town".

A question of Trump's tariffs

Looming large over all of this is the question of what will become of Trump's tariffs and how it will impact UK steel.

The good news is that the UK was exempted from a surprise hike on those tariffs from 25 to 50% last month, and trade officials seem confident that they will also be unaffected by the new deferred date of 1 August, which is when the White House says its most swingeing tariffs on US trading partners will come into effect.

But steel companies are still frustrated that the original plan to reduce tariffs on UK steel to zero is yet to be agreed.

There are two sticking points. The first, according to steel industry sources, is that US trade negotiators are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of work to get through when negotiating with the rest of the world simultaneously.

Getty Images President Donald Trump speaks during a “Make America Wealthy Again” trade announcementGetty Images
While car and aerospace industries had tariffs cut in a UK-US trade deal, steel faces a 25% charge when exported to America

But the second, and the reason steel was not waved through alongside cars and planes, is that there are concerns in the US that the UK's largest steel maker Tata no longer makes steel from scratch.

Having closed its blast furnaces, it no longer "melts and pours" the steel but rather imports virgin steel from India to be modified in the UK, leading to some questions in the US as to whether it even counts as UK steel.

Even if and when a zero-tariff deal is done on steel, it is likely to include quotas above which tariffs will be charged, putting a ceiling on future growth in exports to the US.

Is 'romanticism' blocking sensible debate?

There is, however, a bigger, more profound question that steel towns must wrestle with. In a post-industrial age, what exactly are these places for?

And, should they try to reignite the embers of their dying steel trade - or pivot to a new industry of the future?

Some trade union leaders maintain that steel towns can, in effect, remain steel towns. With the right investment in green technologies, Mr Davies of the Community Union thinks, a new, cleaner steel industry could emerge.

"Imagine Port Talbot without any steelworkers - it's unthinkable," he says.

Getty Images Cyclist in red rides along a road with a sign for the steelworks in the foreground, and the steelworks in the backgroundGetty Images
Some believes towns like Port Talbot should now look to industries of the future

But others think that view is unrealistic. Paul Swinney, a director at the Centre for Cities think tank, argues that there is a certain romanticism in the debate around steel that blocks sensible thinking.

"I think it's wrapped up in what some people perceive as being 'good jobs,'" he says. "You did a hard day's graft, you got your hands dirty, and you felt like you'd contributed. [But that framing] just isn't helpful."

As he sees it, "there's no plausible route forward which is going to have more of these kinds of jobs. "The UK economy has changed," he argues.

Instead, he believes towns like Port Talbot and Redcar should look to industries of the future.

Industries of the future

Redcar is already taking steps in this direction. The derelict land that once housed the town's steelworks is now at the centre of an ambitious redevelopment led by the South Tees Development Corporation.

The old steelmaking structures have been flattened to make way for renewable energy and carbon capture and storage.

The managers of the Teesworks project say they have created more than 2,000 "long-term" jobs - and they hope to create 20,000 in total.

But last year, a central government review criticised "inappropriate decisions and a lack of transparency" at the corporation, and looked at why private property developers had ended up owning a large amount of the site.

Getty Images 'Save our steel' badge on a jacket with Tata steel-logo on the pocket Getty Images
Should Britain focus on 'saving our steel' - or focus on other industries such as renewable energy and carbon capture?

Tees Valley Conservative Mayor Lord Houchen, who at that point chaired the corporation, said he "welcomed" the panel's recommendations to improve transparency.

Speaking on local radio in May, he said the Teesworks project has provided "billions of pounds of investment for the region".

But Mr Swinney of Centre for Cities says we need to think bigger still. Rather than trying to recreate their industrial glory, steel towns may want to lean into white-collar, knowledge economy jobs - the sort of work that made many city centres comparatively rich.

The key is to improve transport from steel towns to cities, where office jobs tend to be located, he says.

Getty Images Terraced houses on a street with a red bus and man passing by and a Unite union mural on a wall saying 'back the workers plan for steel!'Getty Images
The key is to improve transport from steel towns to cities where office jobs are located, argues one expert

But ex-steelworker Ryan Davies laughs at the suggestion of steelworkers slipping seamlessly into office jobs.

"When you come from an environment of 33 years of steelworking, going into an office is such a radical difference," he says.

There are other challenges too: people in steel towns tend to have fewer formal qualifications - often essential for office work.

For example, about 37% of working-age adults in Port Talbot have the equivalent of one year of university education, versus a UK average of 49%.

A slow death vs hope for the future

Ultimately, the future of these towns may rest on the wider fate of the UK's steel industry. And there is some cause for optimism.

The government insists that Scunthorpe and the rest of the UK steel industry has a future, not least because of the big increase in spending on a steel-intensive defence industry.

Mr Carruthers-Green thinks that the UK's decarbonisation drive could also eventually play to steel's advantage.

With more investment in green energy, he says, there will be further demand for the sort of high-quality steel used in things like wind turbines. This, in turn, creates more energy, lowering prices for steel producers.

"The hope is we can get into this virtuous spiral," he adds.

Getty Images Landscape panorama of a steelworks with smoke in the skyGetty Images
The government insists that the UK steel industry has a future, not least because of the increase in defence spending

Gareth Stace, director general of the trade group UK Steel, is a little more cautious, however. There's a "worst case" scenario where the UK "continue[s] to make less and less and less, he argues.

As he puts it, "We don't go out of business in one bang". Instead, there's a slow death.

Yet he also believes that with some tailored policies, steel could be revived even in this scenario. In particular, he wants to see action on energy prices, as well as policies on procurement in which government departments buy more steel from the UK instead of from abroad.

"If it works," he says, "for the first time in a very, very long time, we'll actually have some hope for the future."

Additional reporting: David Macmillan

BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.

《F1》3亿美元打造老男孩飞驰梦

(本文首发于南方人物周刊)

南方人物周刊特约撰稿 吴泽源

责任编辑:杨静茹

如果要在近期选一部能值回票价的院线片,6月27日上映的《F1:狂飙飞车》当仁不让。影片由苹果影业花3亿美金打造,得到了F1(一级方程式锦标赛)赛事的官方认证和全方位支持,并由七届年度冠军车手刘易斯·汉密尔顿出任联合制片人,监督片中的技术细节。不论你是不是赛车迷,只要你对人类的自我挑战精神心怀憧憬,《F1》就能在IMAX巨幕上为你提供极致体验。

但在叙事层面,《F1》绝不是能给人带来新鲜感的电影。核心主创人员的年龄和履历几乎已经预告了这一点:制片人杰瑞·布鲁克海默,还差两个月就要过80岁生日,代表作有《壮志凌云》(1986)、《勇闯夺命岛》(1996)、《加勒比海盗》(2003);主演兼制片人布拉德·皮特,现年61岁的老型男,在片中饰演五十多岁的车手桑尼·海耶斯;配乐师汉斯·季默,67岁,近几年音乐产量略有下降,工作重心转向了全球巡演;导演约瑟夫·科辛斯基相对年轻,也51岁了。所以,如果这部《F1》的剧情走向、人物价值观和性别观念显得有些陈旧,请不必惊讶

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校对:赵立宇

欢迎分享、点赞与留言。本作品的版权为南方周末或相关著作权人所有,任何第三方未经授权,不得转载,否则即为侵权。

Absorbing Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry set for next chapter

Absorbing Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry set for next chapter

Jannik Sinner congratulates Carlos Alcaraz after their French Open finalImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are meeting for the second successive Grand Slam men's singles final

  • Published

There are a number of factors which turn an exciting rivalry into an epic, enduring duel that transcends the sport.

The core talent. The blend of personalities. The gripping encounters on the biggest stages.

The tussle between Italy's Jannik Sinner and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz - ranked one and two in the men's game - has all those components.

It also has arguably the most important ingredient: each player being pushed to a greater height by the other.

On Sunday, the pair will meet again in the Wimbledon final - where Sinner aims to win his first title and Alcaraz bids for a rare third in a row.

A renewal of their acquaintance at the All England Club comes just 35 days after Alcaraz beat Sinner in an all-time classic French Open final.

Asked about their rivalry, Alcaraz said: "I'm not going to say I'm feeling like when Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer] are playing.

"But I'm feeling like it is a different energy when we are facing each other than other players."

Sinner, 23, and 22-year-old Alcaraz have created a duopoly in the men's game over the past two seasons.

Because of his brilliance, Sinner has remained the world number one - despite serving a three-month doping ban this year in a case which rocked the sport.

The pair have gained a grip on the Grand Slam tournaments, winning the past six majors between them.

Their epic French Open battle was another demonstration of how the absorbing rivalry - which the ATP Tour has long pinned its hopes on filling the Federer-Nadal-Novak Djokovic void - could be a blockbuster for years to come.

"You cannot compare what the 'Big Three' did for 15-plus years. [Our rivalry] is not that big yet," said three-time Grand Slam champion Sinner, who is aiming for his first non-hard court major.

"This is the second consecutive Grand Slam that we are in the final and playing each other - I believe it's good for the sport.

"The more rivalries we have from now on, the better it is, because people want to see young player going against each other."

The quality, excitement and tension of the recent Roland Garros final accelerated interest in the pair.

Alcaraz fighting back from two sets down - and having saved three championship points - to win a five-setter in over five hours has whetted the appetite for Wimbledon.

The five-time major champion expects to be pushed "to the limit" again at the All England Club.

"It's going to be a great day, a great final. I'm just excited about it," he said.

"I just hope not to be five and a half hours again. But if I have to, I will."

Ice versus fire - the 21st century version

The contrasting personalities are reminiscent of another pair who created a rivalry which continues to endure almost 50 years later.

Bjorn Borg was the 'ice' compared to John McEnroe's 'fire' and there are similar characteristics in Sinner and Alcaraz.

Sinner is ice-cold during matches and little appears to faze the mild-mannered Italian - on or off court.

He was able to stay sanguine during the doping controversy and has also moved on quickly from the brutal nature of his French Open defeat.

"We keep talking about the fact that he's got really good self-awareness and puts everything into perspective," Sinner's coach Darren Cahill told BBC Sport.

"I think that's part of the reason why he's been able to do what he's been able to do here.

"I would have been heartbroken after losing a final where I had match points, but he sees the big picture really well and is why he's able to bounce back so quickly."

Alcaraz is not as combustible as the famously volatile McEnroe. But he does possess a more colourful side than Sinner.

He bellows 'Vamos' when big moments go his way in matches and also regularly shows his emotion by breaking out into beaming smiles.

The natural warmth and authenticity of the Spaniard, plus his array of stunning shot-making, makes him relatable to fans.

"He's got the X-Factor - he's a performer," American great Billie Jean King told BBC Sport.

Who's got the advantage?

Sinner has been the dominant player on the ATP Tour for the past two seasons, winning 98 of his 109 matches (90%) and lifting nine titles.

In the same timeframe, Alcaraz has won 102 of his 120 matches (85%) and claimed nine titles.

But it is the Spaniard who is dominating their head-to-head record.

The triumph on the Paris clay was his fifth straight victory over Sinner, extending his dominance to eight wins from their 12 career meetings.

"When Sinner brings his A game there is no-one that can beat him - other than Alcaraz," said seven-time major champion McEnroe, who is a BBC Sport analyst during the championships.

Jannik Sinner shakes hands with Carlos Alcaraz after their 2022 match at WimbledonImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Sinner won their only previous meeting at Wimbledon, back in 2022 when he won 6-1 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 in the last 16

"On the other hand if Alcaraz doesn't bring his A game then Sinner will win every time. So it's going to be extremely interesting."

Alcaraz has moved through the gears nicely at the All England Club and goes into the final - unlike Sinner - having suffered no injury problems over the past fortnight.

After beating Djokovic in the semi-finals, Sinner said the elbow injury he suffered in the fourth round against Grigor Dimitrov would provide "no issues" on Sunday.

"I will give a slight edge to Carlos as a favourite because of the two titles he's won here and the way he's playing and the confidence he has right now," seven-time champion Djokovic said.

"But it's just a slight advantage because Jannik is hitting the ball extremely well.

"It's going to be, again, a very close match-up like we had in Paris."

Related topics

Gaza hospital says 24 people killed near aid site as witnesses blame IDF

Reuters Image shows Palestinians seeking aid near an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, on 27 May 2025Reuters
Palestinians seeking food and other supplies near an aid distribution site in May

The Nasser hospital in southern Gaza has said 24 people have been killed near an aid distribution site.

Palestinians who were present at the site said Israeli troops opened fire as people were trying to access food on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said there were "no known injured individuals" from IDF fire near the site.

Separately, an Israeli military official said warning shots were fired to disperse people who the IDF believed were a threat.

The claims by both sides have not been independently verified. Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza.

Footage seen by the BBC later on Saturday showed what appeared to be a number of body bags at Nasser hospital's courtyard surrounded by nurses and people in blood-stained clothes.

In another video, a man said people were waiting to get aid when they came under targeted fire for five minutes. A paramedic accused Israeli troops of killing in cold blood.

The videos have not been verified by the BBC.

Reuters said it had spoken to witnesses who described people being shot in the head and torso. The news agency also reported seeing bodies wrapped in white shrouds at Nasser hospital.

There have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food in Gaza.

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in March, and later resumed its military offensive against Hamas, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the Palestinian armed group to release Israeli hostages.

Although the blockade was partially eased in late May, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, there are still severe shortages of food, as well as medicine and fuel.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, says there are thousands of malnourished children across the territory, with more cases detected every day.

In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid.

On Friday, the UN human rights office said that it had so far recorded 798 aid-related killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF's sites, which are operated by US private security contractors and located inside military zones in southern and central Gaza.

The other 183 killings were recorded near UN and other aid convoys.

The Israeli military said it recognised there had been incidents in which civilians had been harmed and that it was working to minimise "possible friction between the population and the [Israeli] forces as much as possible".

The GHF accused the UN of using "false and misleading" statistics from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Earlier this month, a former security contractor for the GHF told the BBC he witnessed colleagues opening fire several times on hungry Palestinians who had posed no threat. The GHF said the allegations were categorically false.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,823 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

796 babies and toddlers may be buried in this garden

Getty Images A general view of the former site of the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home and the memorial garden where it is believed 796 children are buried can be seen on February 21, 2024 in Tuam, Ireland. Getty Images

No burial records. No headstones. No memorials.

Nothing until 2014, when an amateur historian uncovered evidence of a mass grave, potentially in a former sewage tank, believed to contain hundreds of babies in Tuam, County Galway, in the west of Ireland.

Now, investigators have moved their diggers onto the nondescript patch of grass next to a children's playground on a housing estate in the town. An excavation, expected to last two years, will begin on Monday.

The area was once where St Mary's children's home stood, a church-run institution that housed thousands of women and children between 1925 and 1961.

Getty Images/Charles McQuillan A general view of the former site of the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home and the memorial garden where it is believed 796 children are buried can be seen on February 21, 2024 in Tuam, Ireland. From 1925 to 1961 hundreds of children died at the St Mary's Mother and Baby home, a maternity home for unmarried mothers and their children, in Tuam, County Galway.Getty Images/Charles McQuillan

Many of the women had fallen pregnant outside of marriage and were shunned by their families - and separated from their children after giving birth.

According to death records, Patrick Derrane was the first baby to die at St Mary's – in 1915, aged five months. Mary Carty, the same age, was the last in 1960.

In the 35 years between their deaths, another 794 babies and young children are known to have died there - and it is believed they are buried in what former Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Enda Kenny dubbed a "chamber of horrors".

PJ Haverty spent the first six years of his life in the place he calls a prison - but he considers himself one of the lucky ones.

"I got out of there."

Getty Images/Charles McQuillan A man in a blue polo shirt stands at a waist-high stone wall. In the background is a patch of lawn that continues until a high boundary wall. Part of the wall is covered in ivy - on another part can be seen the number 796 in large, white wooden lettering. The man in the foreground is older, bald and has his hands placed on the low wall. It is day time and the sky is clear blue. Getty Images/Charles McQuillan
PJ Haverty, pictured at the garden where investigators will begin their excavations

He remembers how the "home children", as they were known, were shunned at school.

"We had to go 10 minutes late and leave 10 minutes early, because they didn't want us talking to the other kids," PJ said.

"Even at break-time in the school, we weren't allowed to play with them – we were cordoned off.

"You were dirt from the street."

A composite long banner image with the word "Tuam" in large black letters above the words, in smaller font "Ireland's secret burial shame". On the right hand side is an image showing a set of rosary beads hanging on a gate; three people, two women and a man; and a patch of grass with a high boundary wall on which are wooden boards spelling out the number 796

Read more from the survivors, relatives and campaigners who helped reveal the secret of Tuam after a decades-long wait for the truth.

Long blue line to divide the story link from the rest of the story

The stigma stayed with PJ his whole life, even after finding a loving foster home and, in later years, tracking down his birth mother, who was separated from him when he was a one-year-old.

The home, run by the nuns of the Bon Secours Sisters, was an invisible spectre that loomed over him and many others in Tuam for decades – until amateur historian Catherine Corliss brought St Mary's dark past into the light.

Discovering the mass grave

Getty Images/Charles McQuillan An older woman sits at a kitchen table. She is holding a sheet of paper in each hand. On the table in front of her are more documents and sheets of paper. She has short brown, greying hair and is wearing a white top and a blue jacket. In the background there are kitchen cupboards and a kitchen door which has two glazed windows set into it. Getty Images/Charles McQuillan
Catherine Corliss' shocking findings about the mass grave emerged in 2014

Interested in delving into her family's past, Catherine took a local history course in 2005. Later, her interest turned to St Mary's and the "home children" who came to school separately from her and her classmates.

"When I started out, I had no idea what I was going to find."

To begin with, Catherine was surprised her innocuous inquiries were being met with blank responses or even suspicion.

"Nobody was helping, and nobody had any records," she said.

That only fed her determination to find out more about the children at the home.

A breakthrough came when she spoke to a cemetery caretaker, who brought her to the housing estate where the institution once stood.

Getty Images/Charles McQuillan Two high stone walls intersect at right angles in a garden - in the corner of the angle, sits a grotto centred on a statue of Virgin Mary. It is surrounded by flowers and shrubs. There are some candles on a shelf near the statue's feet. There are also messages underneath the statue that have been left by people and, to the right, a white board on which a message of remembrance is writtenGetty Images/Charles McQuillan
The grotto at the garden above what is believed to be the mass grave. People have left mementoes, messages and items of remembrance

At the side of a children's playground, there was a square of lawn with a grotto – a small shrine centred on a statue of Mary.

The caretaker told Catherine that two boys had been playing in that area in the mid-1970s after the home was demolished, and had come across a broken concrete slab. They pulled it up to reveal a hole.

Inside they saw bones. The caretaker said the authorities were told and the spot was covered up.

People believed the remains were from the Irish Famine in the 1840s. Before the mother-and-baby home, the institution was a famine-era workhouse where many people had died.

But that didn't add up for Catherine. She knew those people had been buried respectfully in a field half a mile away - there was a monument marking the spot.

Getty Images/Charles McQuillan A dog-eared sheet of paper lists names, date of death and age at death - it lists dozens of names from top to bottom. In the background, there are other sheets of paperGetty Images/Charles McQuillan
Catherine received a list recording hundreds of children's deaths at the St Mary's institution

Her suspicion was further raised when she compared old maps of the site. One, from 1929, labelled the area the boys found the bones as a "sewage tank". Another, from the 1970s after the home was demolished, had a handwritten note next to that area saying "burial ground".

The map did seem to indicate there was a grave at the site – and Catherine had read the sewage tank labelled on the map had become defunct in 1937 so, in theory, was empty. But who was buried there?

Catherine called the registration office for births, deaths and marriages in Galway and asked for the names of all the children who had died at the home.

A fortnight later a sceptical member of staff called to ask if she really wanted them all – Catherine expected "20 or 30" - but there were hundreds.

The full list, when Catherine received it, recorded 796 dead children.

She was utterly shocked. Her evidence was starting to indicate who was likely to be underneath that patch of grass at St Mary's.

But first, she checked burial records to see if any of those hundreds of children were buried in cemeteries in Galway or neighbouring County Mayo – and couldn't find any.

Without excavation, Catherine couldn't prove it beyond doubt. She now believed that hundreds of children had been buried in an unmarked mass grave, possibly in a disused sewage tank, at the St Mary's Home.

When her findings broke into an international news story in 2014, there was considerable hostility in her home town.

"People weren't believing me," she recalled. Many cast doubt - and scorn - that an amateur historian could uncover such an enormous scandal.

But there was a witness who had seen it with her own eyes.

Warning: The following sections contains details some readers might find distressing

Getty Images/Charles McQuillan An older woman with medium-length grey hair stands in a living room. We can see her head and shoulders. She is wearing a dark jacket and a patterned silk scarf. In the background, which is out of focus, we can see a picture hanging on the living room wall and a cabinet. Getty Images/Charles McQuillan
Mary Moriarty lived in one of the houses built at the site of the home in the 1970s

Mary Moriarty lived in one of the houses near the site of the institution in the mid-1970s. Shortly after she spoke to BBC News, she passed away, but her family have agreed to allow what she told us to be published and broadcast.

Mary recalled two women coming to her in the early 1970s saying "they saw a young fella with a skull on a stick".

Mary and her neighbours asked the child where he had found the skull. He showed them some shrubbery and Mary, who went to look, "fell in a hole".

Light streamed in from where she had fallen. That's when she saw "little bundles", wrapped in cloths that had gone black from rot and damp, and were "packed one after the other, in rows up to the ceiling".

How many?

"Hundreds," she replied.

Some time later, when Mary's second son was born in the maternity hospital in Tuam, he was brought to her by the nuns who worked there "in all these bundles of cloths" - just like those she had seen in that hole.

"That's when I copped on," Mary says, "what I had seen after I fell down that hole were babies."

Getty Images/Charles McQuillan A woman with shoulder-length blonde-grey hair looks off to the side. She is standing in front of a light-coloured wall. She is wearing an olive-coloured top.Getty Images/Charles McQuillan
Anna Corrigan discovered her mother gave birth to two boys - John and William - in the home

In 2017, Catherine's findings were confirmed - an Irish government investigation found "significant quantities of human remains" in a test excavation of the site.

The bones were not from the famine and the "age-at-death range" was from about 35 foetal weeks to two or three years.

By now, a campaign was under way for a full investigation of the site - Anna Corrigan was among those who wanted the authorities to start digging.

Until she was in her 50s, Anna believed she was an only child. But, when researching her family history in 2012, she discovered her mother had given birth to two boys in the home in 1946 and 1950, John and William.

Anna was unable to find a death certificate for William, but did find one for John – it officially registers his death at 16 months. Under cause of death it listed "congenital idiot" and "measles".

Getty Images/Charles McQuillan A close-up on an Irish death certificate. It has a table of information including name, date and place of death, sex, age and other details. The information is written in flowing cursive writing and notes that the dead person is called John, was 16 months old and lists "congenital idiot" and "measles" under cause of deathGetty Images/Charles McQuillan
The death certificate for John lists "congenital idiot" and "measles" under cause of death

An inspection report of the home in 1947 had some more details about John.

"He was born normal and healthy, almost nine pounds (4kg) in weight," Anna said. "By the time he's 13 months old, he's emaciated with a voracious appetite, and has no control over bodily functions.

"Then he's dead three months later."

An entry from the institution's book of "discharges" says William died in 1951 – she does not know where either is buried.

Anna, who set up the Tuam Babies Family Group for survivors and relatives, said the children have been given a voice.

"We all know their names. We all know they existed as human beings."

Now, the work begins to find out the full extent of what lies beneath that patch of grass in Tuam.

'Absolutely tiny'

PA A man wearing a grey jacket, light-coloured shirt and glasses looks off to the side. He has short cropped dark hair with flecks of grey. He is standing in front of survey map which is overlaid on an image of a sitePA
Daniel MacSweeney, the head of the excavation, has previously been involved in searches for missing bodies in conflict zones around the world

The excavation is expected to take about two years.

"It's a very challenging process – really a world-first," said Daniel MacSweeney, the head of the operation, who has helped find missing bodies in conflict zones such as Afghanistan.

He explained that the remains would have been mixed together and that an infant's femur - the body's largest bone - is only the size of an adult's finger.

"They're absolutely tiny," he said. "We need to recover the remains very, very carefully – to maximise the possibility of identification."

The difficulty of identifying the remains "can't be underestimated", he added.

For however long it takes, there will be people like Anna waiting for news - hoping to hear about sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts and cousins they never had the chance to meet.

Details of help and support with child bereavement are available in the UK at BBC Action Line

The mushroom killer was obsessed with true crime. Now true crime fans are obsessed with her

Watch: Australia’s mushroom murder case... in under two minutes

For years, from behind a computer screen, Erin Patterson built up a reputation in an online true crime community as a "super sleuth".

Today, she herself has become a true crime obsession.

When three people died – and another fell gravely ill - after eating toxic-mushroom-laced beef Wellingtons at her home in rural Victoria two years ago, her entire life was put under a microscope.

Journalists have descended from around the world to cover her lengthy murder trial, spectators have queued daily to nab a spot in the courtroom, and thousands of people have picked apart details of the case online.

But, despite a jury earlier this week finding her guilty on all charges, the frenzy of speculation and depth of fascination has only intensified.

"It has shades of Macbeth," criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told the BBC.

Getty Images Members of the media are seen outside the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court in Morwell on July 7Getty Images
The mushroom murder trial was the biggest case in recent history

It was in one of Australia's smallest courtrooms that its biggest trial in recent history took place.

Over 11 weeks, seven documentary-making teams cast their lens on the tiny town of Morwell. Podcasters here were a dime a dozen. Journalists vied for the six seats reserved for media inside the court each day. Even one of Australia's best-loved authors, Helen Garner, frequently dropped by the Latrobe Valley Law Courts, fuelling rumours that she is preparing to write another best-seller.

Waiting with the sea of tripods outside the building most mornings of the trial was a queue of camp chairs.

Come rain, frost or fog, court watchers – predominantly women, often rugged up in beanies and encased in sleeping bags – watched for the moment the glass doors would open.

Once inside, they would lay a line of belongings – scarves, water bottles, notepads, bags – outside the courtroom entry to reserve their spot.

A court sketch of Erin Patterson wearing a purple shirt
The Patterson trial heard from more than 50 witnesses

Tammy Egglestone commuted for more than an hour to reach Morwell most days of the trial. "I'm a bit of a true crime fanatic," she explains.

She was in court when it heard evidence that Patterson was once just like her.

Patterson had been an active member in a Facebook group focussed on the crimes of Keli Lane, a woman who was found guilty of killing her two-day-old daughter in one of Australia's most notorious cases.

In 2018, Lane became the subject of a major podcast after writing to a journalist claiming to have been wrongly convicted and begging her to investigate.

At Patterson's trial, one of her online friends Christine Hunt said she was renowned among her peers for her nimble researching and tech skills.

"She was a bit of a super sleuth," she said. "She was highly regarded in that group."

Getty Images A man taking a selfie in a Melbourne laneway in front of a mural of Erin Patterson.Getty Images
A Melbourne lane with a mural of Erin Patterson

But as her case unfolded in Morwell, Patterson was also put on trial in the court of public opinion.

She became water-cooler talk in workplaces around the country, gossip among friend groups, and the ultimate topic of debate online.

Thousands of people theorised over a motive for the crime, provided commentary on bits of evidence, and even alleged corrupt forces were behind the case – much of the discussion unfounded, almost all of it in breach of laws designed to give defendants a fair trial.

Memes filled social media feeds. On Google Maps, someone created a restaurant listing at Patterson's home address. Others shared trial bingo cards they had created for those following it closely.

Throughout the week the jury was considering their verdict, sequestered in a hotel to protect them from the maelstrom, the question everyone had was: what were they thinking?

"What are they doing in there?" one lawyer was overheard asking in a Morwell café on day four of deliberations.

Tammy Egglestone standing outside the courthouse
Ms Egglestone has spent hours commuting to see the trial evidence in person

With jury members bound by strict secrecy requirements, we will never know.

"In the US, they can interview jurors after a trial," criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told the BBC. "We can't get into the heads of jurors in Australia… so it's really hard to know what they're thinking has been and why they've come to that conclusion."

That leaves a massive vacuum for members of the public to fill with their speculation.

People like Ms Egglestone pondered: if the poisoning was intended to kill, wouldn't Patterson have planned and executed it better?

"I've come in here [as] Switzerland," Ms Egglestone clarified, calling the discourse around the case "very pitchforky".

"You know, [it's] she's guilty, she's guilty, she's guilty.

"And a lot of them are using hindsight reasoning. 'If I was in that situation, I wouldn't do this, this and this.' Well, you don't know what you would do in that situation."

But people like her were drowned out by the hordes proclaiming Patterson guilty.

Many said it was her lies that convinced them. Some claimed the evidence showed a clear lack of empathy and concern for those who died.

"What really gave her away was wearing white pants when she had 'gastro' and needed to go to hospital for it!" one person posted, referring to CCTV footage of her movements in the days after the lunch, which was played at the trial.

Watch: CCTV and audio shown to court in mushroom trial

Already, the case has inspired a television special, a silver screen drama series, a bevy of podcasts, several documentaries and a handful of books.

"It has those typical cliché things that make true crime sell," Ms Egglestone said, explaining why she and flocks of others have become obsessed with the case.

"The fact that she did take out family members... [she's] white, female, financially stable, you know. And they're all church people."

For David Peters, seemingly benign circumstances surrounding the crime – and the fact it was in his local area – drew him in: "The fact that it was a family sitting down to do something you would consider to be safe - have a meal - and then the consequences of that meal..."

Several people tell the BBC the case reminds them of the frenzy over Lindy Chamberlain's notorious trial in 1982. She was falsely convicted of murder after her infant daughter Azaria was taken from an outback campsite by a dingo.

It's no coincidence that both of those cases centre around women, criminology researcher Brandy Cochrane tells the BBC.

The world has long been fascinated by women who kill – in no small part because it contradicts their traditional "caring" gender role, they explain.

Those stereotypes also cast a shadow on Patterson's time in court.

EPA The front cover of The Australian newspaper with coverage of Erin Patterson's verdict on the front page is displayed in a newsagent in Morwell.EPA

"She's expected to act in a particular way, and she's not," says Dr Cochrane, a lecturer at Victoria University.

"It's like, 'Oh, obviously she's guilty, she's not crying the whole time' or 'Obviously she's guilty, she's lied about this'. The legal system in and of itself treats women very differently."

Away from the ghoulish spectre of the trial, there's anger – albeit dwindling – among the communities where the victims are from over the way the case has been dissected, local councillor Nathan Hersey tells the BBC.

Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson were respected and adored by many in the South Gippsland region, he says, but it feels like they've been forgotten.

"This has been an extremely high-profile case that's brought a lot of attention, often unwanted through to our local community.

"[And] some people haven't had that humanity… they've certainly lost focus that for people, there is a loss, there is grief."

The summer holiday hacks that saved us hundreds of pounds

Laura Strang Laura Strang and her husband in the water between rocks wearing flotation devicesLaura Strang
Laura Strang and Sam Gledhill book their getaways at the last minute

The cost of all-inclusive package holidays to some of the most popular destinations has soared, prompting people to get creative to save money.

BBC News has been speaking to people who have used money-saving hacks to slash the price of their summer getaways.

If there are issues you would like to see covered, you can get in touch via Your Voice, Your BBC News.

'We booked two days before'

Infographic including a close up of Laura Strang and her husband in baseball caps and the following information:
Laura Strang, 25
Travellers: Two adults
Destination: Cancun, Mexico
Cost: £2,400 for 14 days

Laura Strang, 25, from Oban, Scotland saves money by booking at the last minute.

She even booked her honeymoon just two days before they flew.

"We got married on the 21st of June and waited until the 23rd of June to book a holiday for June 25th.

"We had two weeks in Mexico because it was cheaper than two weeks in Europe."

Laura and her husband Sam Gledhill, 27, paid £1,200 each for 14 nights all-inclusive in Cancun.

"I would say we saved thousands of pounds, based on reviews," she says.

"Ten nights in Spain was coming up the same or more expensive. It's a 10-hour flight over to Mexico so it's a little bit crazy, that."

She says she and her husband have previously booked holidays within a few days of flying to Tenerife, Salou and Marrakesh and have saved money each time.

"Choosing not to go all-inclusive can save money but that depends on the country," says Laura.

"We found Mexico quite expensive when going out and about [so all-inclusive made sense], but you could probably save money in Spain by going half board."

'We travel off-peak and look for kids go free places'

Infographic including an image of Nathan, his wife and their two children and the following information: 
Nathan Hart, 33
Travellers: Two adults, two children
Destination: Ibiza 
Cost: £2,500 for 10 days

Nathan Hart and his fiancee Cassie Farrelly estimate they saved £3,300 by searching for a holiday that offered a free child's place and going outside school holidays.

They have booked a 10-day all-inclusive holiday in Spain's Balearic Islands at the end of September with their three-year-old twin daughters Alba and Luna.

The couple from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales recommend using the filter option on some of the biggest travel agency websites.

"When searching you can see which places offer one free child place, choose a range of locations and sort by lowest price," says Nathan.

"We found an exceptional hotel for £800 per person plus one free child place, so that's already an £800 saving.

"As well as that, on the booking page you can see a calendar showing the difference in price for the holiday on different dates."

Nathan says when he compared the same holiday in August it was double the price.

"That would have been completely unaffordable for us.

"I now completely understand why parents with older kids travel inside school term time and it's absolutely something we will have to consider when our girls are older."

Parents who take their children out of school for holidays during term time risk being fined, and repeat offenders could face prosecution.

'I swapped my London flat for a Spanish villa'

Infographic featuring an image of May Burrough smiling and the following information:
May Burrough, 37 
Travellers: Seven adults
Destination: Costa Brava
Cost: £85 for villa for one week

May Burrough works in central London. But her flat is too small to have lots of people to stay, so last October she invited some close friends to a five-bedroomed villa with a pool on the Costa Brava, Spain.

She estimates it would normally have cost around £3,500 to rent a house like that. But she used a home-swapping site and only paid €100 (£85) - for the cleaning fee - plus around £250 on transport.

Although she saved money on the villa, May and her friends did splash out on food and drink, such as oysters and wine from the region.

"We really had a lush time at the house because we were like, 'well, we're not paying for the accommodation!'"

Because finding someone to do a straight swap with can often be tricky, the Home Exchange site she uses allows her to earn credits by letting people stay in her one-bedroom flat, and then spend them elsewhere.

"It does take a bit of effort. I put valuables away, you have to change the bedsheets, cleaning every time. But it is fully worth it," says May.

She says the site is a bit clunky to use, but she loves what it allows her to do, for an annual fee of around £170.

Recently she booked a one-night stay in Vienne, France so she could go to a concert.

"A hotel was going to be mega-expensive. So I booked a room in someone's home and left in the morning."

'I use my credit card to get loyalty points for flights'

An infographic featuring Ebrahim Paruk in a baseball cap and a football match in the background with the following information:
Ebrahim Paruk, 35 
Travellers: One adult
Destination: Dusseldorf, Germany
Cost: £500 for four nights

Ebrahim Paruk, 35, from Nuneaton near Coventry in Warwickshire saves money on flights by saving up Virgin Atlantic credit card points.

He does his best to collect as many points as possible.

"I pay for everything I can with the card," he says, including his bills, weekly petrol, and weekly groceries.

"These are day-to-day necessities that you have to buy, so you might as well get a reward," he says.

Describing himself as "the biggest football fan you will probably ever find", he started doing it as a way of going to the major international tournaments.

The best saving he made with the points was a return flight to Düsseldorf to watch Germany v Denmark in the 2024 Euros - he saved £400 on his £800 flight.

To add to the saving, he won the match ticket and hotel accommodation in a competition, meaning the whole trip cost him a total of £500.

Now he uses the same method to save money when booking holidays for him and his wife.

'I house sit and get to see the US'

Infographic featuring Annmaree in sunglasses, smiling with flowers in the background and the following information:
Annmaree Bancroft, 46
Travellers: One adult, one child
Destination: New York and Connecticut
Cost: £1,435 for four weeks

Annmaree Bancroft is a single mum of a three-year-old and has been house sitting with him 11 times.

Their first time was looking after two dogs for a week in a house in Scarsdale outside New York City.

This year they will be going back there for a few days, this time as friends of the homeowner. Then they will stay on for three more weeks in the US, without paying for any overnight accommodation, thanks to further housesitting stints in Connecticut and Brooklyn.

The cost of the holiday will be the £1,435 she is spending on flights, plus travel between cities and spending money.

"A lot of parents think that once you have a child, you can't travel," says Annmaree.

"That is just not true. There are these alternative ways now to travel and make it affordable."

If you do choose to house sit, it is recommended that you use a reputable site. Annmaree uses the online platform Trusted Housesitters, which charges a membership fee for sitters of £99 to £199 a year.

'We're staycationing in the UK'

Infographic featuring a close up of Kayleigh Pennel-Price smiling and the following information:
Kayleigh Pennel-Price, 33
Travellers: Two adults, two children, dog
Destination: Buckinghamshire
Cost £250 for two weeks

House sitting may also be an option for those choosing not to go abroad.

Kayleigh Pennel-Price lives with her partner, two children, aged two and four months, and their golden retriever Kofi in Wiltshire.

She had looked into a family holiday through the traditional means but calculated that it would cost around £3,000 to go on a foreign holiday for a week.

Instead, the whole family is going house sitting in a small village in Buckinghamshire for two weeks.

They will be staying in a home with a sauna, swimming pool and a private woodland, to look after two Yorkshire terriers, booked through the website HouseSit Match.

"We mostly plan to just stay there," says Kayleigh, who thinks the whole trip could cost £250.

"We love both abroad and UK holidays, but we don't like to leave our dog," she says. "And with the two babies, abroad is a little harder."

Love Island seems to be having a moment this year - but why?

Getty Images Islander Helena Ford looks at her phone with a shocked expression. She has long blonde hair worn loose and wears a pale pink strappy dress with a microphone around her neck. The villa in the background is decorated with palm leaves and pinks, purples and oranges. Getty Images
While more people are tuning in for episodes, it's Love Island's socials that are really turning heads this year

Love Island is back for its 12th series - and it's not just the villa that's had an upgrade.

After falling audience figures in recent years, the number of us tuning in is returning to series eight levels - the year that delivered Love Island icons like Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, Indiyah Polack and Tasha Ghouri.

But if daily episodes are our type on paper, social media is the bombshell that's turning heads.

Figures from ITV shared with BBC Newsbeat suggest the series' growth on socials is outstripping the success it's having on TV.

Analysis by the BBC found that Love Island's official accounts had gained 1.8m followers since the start of 2025, with 1m of those on TikTok.

Ex-islander Diamanté Laiv tells BBC Newsbeat the short-form updates are much more appealing than committing to the nightly TV show.

"I'm a very busy person, so I don't really have the time to sit down every day for an hour and just watch people kiss," she says.

Getty Images Diamanté Laiva at an event. She wears a low-cut white halter-neck dress with a silver necklace. Her dark hair is tied back in a low bun and she has a glam make-up look. She smiles at the camera, her chin tilted down towards her left shoulder. Getty Images
Series 11 islander Diamanté Laiva watches clips online but hasn't committed to the full series

Diamanté, who appeared in series 11, says she's not surprised millions are keeping up to date on their phone.

"It's more popular online because everybody's online, it's easily accessible. Every 10 scrolls on TikTok is something Love Island-related, so you can't really avoid it."

She's not alone in staying away from streaming the episodes in full.

While the first episode of series 12 was watched by 2.6m people - almost double 2023's low of 1.3m - the numbers are still a long way off Love Island's 2019 heyday, when 6m of us tuned in to see Amber Gill and Greg O Shea voted most popular couple.

But that's still a fraction of the 13m following various official accounts online.

On TikTok there's been an explosion in Love Island content - with view counts for individual clips outstripping viewing figures for whole episodes.

Dramatic or funny moments from the show proper tend to perform well, but reactions, analysis, and debriefs - where content creators recap whole episodes in a few minutes - also notch up big numbers.

According to data gathered by the BBC there have been more than 87,000 TikTok uploads with a Love Island or Love Island UK hashtag so far in 2025.

For the whole of 2024, the same data suggests that figure was just below 40,000.

ITV/Shutterstock Islanders gathered around the fire pit in the Love Island villa. 13 islanders sit tightly on the white L-shape sofa, dressed smartly and holding drinks. The villa is lit with pink and blue lights. ITV/Shutterstock
Producers promised the ITV reality series would have more drama and twists than ever before

Anthony, better known as "giletslays", is one of many content creators who have been feeding that growth.

He's been making videos about the latest series for his 170,000 followers, and some of his Love Island takes have had millions of views.

Anthony says the real draw of Love Island has always been the discourse on social media.

But to take part you need to be up to date, and a nightly show can feel like too much of a long-term commitment for some.

"Sometimes if people miss a couple of episodes they feel they're too far behind to catch up," says Anthony.

Super-fan Harriet Fisher, who's been watching Love Island since series one, agrees TikTok has become the go-to place for updates.

She says the US version of the show, which has overlapped with the UK edition this year, is "popping off" on the app, and believes this has boosted interest in Love Island overall.

"The way that people are engaging with reality TV and Love Island in general is obviously changing," she says.

"It needs TikTok and social media to survive, to gain viewers.

"It shows that viewers of old can stay engaged, but also get those new viewers in."

But those new viewers are forming a very different relationship with the contestants, Diamanté warns.

ITV/Shutterstock Islanders Yasmin Pettet and Toni Laites in conversation while sitting on a sofa in the Love Island villa. Yasmin (L) has long dark hair worn loose and is dressed in a purple mini dress. She sits upright while looking at Toni, who leans back into the sofa. Toni wears a white dress with a high leg split, her brown hair tied back in a low bun. The villa is decorated with a vibrant leaf print. ITV/Shutterstock
Yasmin Pettet has become a standout islander on socials, largely due to her great posture

Traditionally, audiences have spent whole series getting to know islanders over one-hour episodes.

Even then, contestants have never been shy about blaming selective editing for making them look bad.

But on social media, with character arcs compressed into bite-sized clips, Diamanté worries fans aren't getting the full picture.

"Conversations are being pulled and tweaked so I feel like it makes it even more orchestrated," she says. "It kind of takes the reality out of the reality TV."

Grace Henry, Cosmopolitan's acting entertainment and lifestyle director, agrees that watching the show via social media fundamentally changes the experience.

"We have to be mindful that these are short clips and clips can be taken out of context," she says.

"We're never going to see the full picture of how someone is and things change very quickly in there."

But Grace thinks online notoriety could work in aspiring reality stars' favour - even if it means audiences spend less time with them.

Grace Henry A woman poses for a selfie against a white backdrop. Her hair is tied back, head turned slightly to the side. She wears a ribbed salmon pink top with a collar, open at the neck to reveal a short gold necklace with a capital G pendant.Grace Henry
Grace Henry has been reporting on the latest series of Love Island for Cosmo

She singles out Yasmin Pettet, nicknamed YasGPT online, as one islander who's been able to connect with audiences this year.

Videos of Yas giving posture lessons have been viewed more than a million times on TikTok and gained tens of thousands of likes on Instagram.

"We will still have those people and we will have a connection to them, but they will just come around differently," says Grace.

"It will be based on viral moments and whether they do something big that becomes a meme or a social media moment."

Diamanté agrees and thinks social clips might even be a better way to build a following than being popular on the series.

As well as reaching more people, she says "more brands are seeing it and that's the aim of the game".

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Putin's friend Gergiev set to conduct as Italy breaks ban on pro-Kremlin artists

SERGEI CHIRIKOV/AFP via Getty Images Russian conductor and Mariinsky Theater Artistic Director Valery Gergiev is surrounded by classical musicians on stage in Moscow in 2018. SERGEI CHIRIKOV/AFP via Getty Images
Valery Gergiev seen conducting an orchestra at Moscow's Red Square in 2018

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has been barred from European stages ever since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A close ally of Vladimir Putin for many years, the director of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Russian state theatres has never spoken out against the war.

But a region of southern Italy has now invited Gergiev back to Europe, signalling the artist's rehabilitation even as Russia's attacks on Ukraine intensify.

Vincenzo de Luca, who runs the Campania region, insists that the concert at the Un'Estate da RE festival later this month will go ahead despite a growing swell of criticism.

"Culture… must not be influenced by politics and political logic," De Luca said in a livestream on Friday. "We do not ask these men to answer for the choices made by politicians."

The 76-year-old local leader has previously called Europe's broad veto on pro-Putin artists "a moment of stupidity – a moment of madness" at the start of the war and announced that he was "proud" to welcome Gergiev to town.

Getty Images Two men in dark suits stand against a backdrop of a Russian white-blue-and-red tricolor flag, as the man on the right puts his hands on the other man's jacketGetty Images
Russia's President Putin (R) pins a medal on conductor Gergiev (L) at the Kremlin in 2016

But Pina Picierno, a vice-president of the European Parliament, has told the BBC that allowing Gergiev's return is "absolutely unacceptable".

She calls the star conductor a "cultural mouthpiece for Putin and his crimes".

Ukrainian human rights activist and Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk said the invitation by the regional government was "hypocrisy", rather than neutrality.

Russian opposition activists have also condemned the director's sudden return. The Anti-Corruption Foundation, of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, wants his concert cancelled and is calling on Italy's interior ministry to ban Gergiev's entry to the country.

GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP Russian conductor Valery Gergiev performs on stage with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP
Valery Gergiev has been shunned by European orchestras since the full-scale war began

Before Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, the virtuoso Gergiev was a regular visitor to stages in Italy and across Europe, despite his closeness to Putin.

His long and illustrious career includes stints at the London Symphony Orchestra and Munich Philharmonic.

But the invitations to Europe stopped abruptly on 24 February 2022.

Hours before the first Russian missiles were launched at Ukraine, Gergiev was on stage at Milan's La Scala opera house. Urged then by the city's mayor to speak out against the war, Gergiev chose silence.

He was promptly dropped from the bill.

Abandoned by his manager, despite calling Gergiev "the greatest conductor alive", he was then fired as chief conductor in Munich and removed from concert schedules across the continent.

That's why the invitation from Italy is so controversial.

Pina Picierno, who is from the Campania region herself, says her call to stop the event is not Russophobic.

"There is no shortage of brilliant Russian artists who choose to disassociate themselves from Putin's criminal policies," she told the BBC.

The European MP, who says she has received threats for her work exposing Russia's hybrid warfare, warns that allowing Gergiev to perform would be both wrong and dangerous.

"This is not about censorship. Gergiev is part of a deliberate Kremlin strategy. He is one of their cultural envoys to soften Western public opinion. This is part of their war."

Pasquale Gargano/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images Italy's prime minister stands in the middle wearing a grey jacket and white blouse, while Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska stands to her left in a green coatPasquale Gargano/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (centre) welcomed Ukraine's president and first lady to a conference in Rome last week

The cultural controversy erupted in a week when Italy was hosting heads of state from all over Europe to reaffirm their support for Ukraine and discuss how to rebuild the country once the war is over.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been a strong and consistent critic of Vladimir Putin from the start. But her culture ministry is one of the backers of Un'Estate da RE, which has invited Gergiev.

A senior MP from Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, Alfredo Antoniozzi, has described Gergiev as "simply a great artist".

"If Russians have to pay for the mistakes of their president, then we are committing a kind of cultural genocide," he argued.

Last month, Canada formally barred Gergiev from entry and declared it would freeze any assets.

But the European Union has shied away from formal sanctions against the conductor, who has avoided voicing open support for the war.

Gergiev has been a vocal supporter of Putin since the 1990s, later campaigning for his re-election and backing Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.

He was handed management of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, in addition to the Mariinsky Theatre, taking over from a director who signed an open letter against Russia's war.

Gergiev is a state employee, but in 2022 an investigation by Alexei Navalny's team uncovered properties in several Italian cities that they say he never declared.

They also alleged he used donations to a charitable fund to pay for his own lavish lifestyle.

The activists argued that was Gergiev's reward for his public loyalty to Putin.

The BBC has so far been unable to reach the conductor for comment.

A spokeswoman for the European Commission, Eva Hrncirova, has clarified that the Un'Estate da RE festival is not receiving EU cash: it is financed by Italy's own "cohesion funds".

But she added that the commission urged European stages not to give space "to artists who support the war of aggression in Ukraine".

In Campania, the artistic director who crafted this year's festival programme declined to comment. A spokesman was confident Gergiev's performance would go ahead, though – despite the controversy.

"Yes," he assured the BBC. "For sure."

Additional reporting from Rome by Davide Ghiglione.

Mystery of Air India crash deepens as report reveals cockpit audio

Air India plane descending moments before crash

Investigators have uncovered a chilling discovery in the preliminary investigation into the Air India Flight 171 crash which killed 260 people in June.

Just seconds after takeoff, both the 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner's fuel-control switches abruptly moved to the "cut-off" position, starving the engines of fuel and triggering total power loss. Switching to "cut-off" is a move typically done only after landing.

The cockpit voice recording captures one pilot asking the other why he "did the cut-off", to which the person replies that he didn't. The recording doesn't clarify who said what. At the time of takeoff, the co-pilot was flying the aircraft while the captain was monitoring.

The switches were returned to their normal inflight position, triggering automatic engine relight. At the time of the crash, one engine was regaining thrust while the other had relit but had not yet recovered power.

Air India Flight 171 was airborne for less than 40 seconds before crashing into a crowded neighbourhood in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, marking one of India's most baffling aviation disasters.

Investigators are probing the wreckage and cockpit recorders to understand what went wrong just after takeoff. The Air India flight climbed to 625 feet in clear weather before losing location data 50 seconds in, per Flightradar24. Saturday's 15-page report offers early insights.

The investigation - led by Indian authorities with experts from Boeing, General Electric, Air India, Indian regulators, and participants from the US and UK - raises several questions.

Investigators say the lever-lock fuel switches are designed to prevent accidental activation - they must be pulled up to unlock before flipping, a safety feature dating back to the 1950s. Built to exacting standards, they're highly reliable. Protective guard brackets further shield them from accidental bumps.

"It would be almost impossible to pull both switches with a single movement of one hand, and this makes accidental deployment unlikely," a Canada-based air accidents investigator, who wanted to remain unnamed, told the BBC.

That's what makes the Air India case stand out.

If one of the pilots was responsible for shutting down the switches, intentionally or not, it "does beg the question: why... pull the switches to the off position," Shawn Pruchnicki, a former airline accident investigator and aviation expert at Ohio State University, said.

"Was it intentional, or the result of confusion? That seems unlikely, as the pilots reported nothing unusual. In many cockpit emergencies, pilots may press the wrong buttons or make incorrect selections - but there was no indication of such a situation here, nor any discussion suggesting that the fuel switches were selected by mistake. This kind of error doesn't typically happen without some evident issue," he told the BBC.

Getty Images Two investigative officials stand at the site of Air India Boeing 787 crash site. They stand with their backs to the camera, next to the remnants of the plane amid foliage.Getty Images
Air India Flight 171 crashed into a crowded neighbourhood in Ahmedabad

Peter Goelz, a former managing director of the US's NTSB, echoed a similar sentiment: "The finding is very disturbing - that a pilot has shut off the fuel switch within seconds of flying."

"There's likely much more on the cockpit voice recorder than what's been shared. A lone remark like 'why did you cut off the switches' isn't enough," he said.

"The new details suggest someone in the cockpit shut those valves. The question is, who, and why? Both switches were turned off and then restarted within seconds. The voice recorder will reveal more: was the flying pilot trying to restart the engines, or the monitoring one?"

Investigators believe the cockpit voice recorder - with audio from pilot mics, radio calls and ambient cockpit sounds - holds the key to this puzzle.

"They haven't identified the voices yet, which is crucial. Typically, when the voice recorder is reviewed, people familiar with the pilots are present to help match voices. As of now, we still don't know which pilot turned the switches off and back on," said Mr Goelz.

In short, investigators say what's needed is clear voice identification, a full cockpit transcript with labelled speakers, and a thorough review of all communications from the moment the plane was pushed back from the gate to the time it crashed.

They also say this underscores the need for cockpit video recorders, as recommended by the NTSB. An over-the-shoulder view would show whose hand was on the cut-off switch.

Before boarding Flight 171, both pilots and crew passed breathalyser tests and were cleared fit to fly, the report says. The pilots, based in Mumbai, had arrived in Ahmedabad the day before the flight and had adequate rest.

But investigators are also zeroing in on what they describe is an interesting point in the report.

It says in December 2018, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) highlighting that some Boeing 737 fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged.

While the issue was noted, it wasn't deemed an unsafe condition requiring an Airworthiness Directive (AD) - a legally enforceable regulation to correct unsafe conditions in a product.

The same switch design is used in Boeing 787-8 aircraft, including Air India's VT-ANB which crashed. As the SAIB was advisory, Air India did not perform the recommended inspections.

Bloomberg via Getty Images An employee, right, sits with a visitor inside the cockpit of a Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner aircraft, operated by Air India Ltd., on display during the India Aviation 2014 air show held at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, India, on Thursday, March 13, 2014. The air show takes place from March 12-16. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg via Getty Images
A cockpit of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, operated by Air India at an air show in India

Mr Pruchnicki said he's wondering whether there was a problem with the fuel control switches.

"What does this [bit in the report] exactly mean? Does it mean that with a single flip, that switch could shut the engine off and cut the fuel supply? When the locking feature is disengaged, what exactly happens? Could the switch just flip itself to off and shut down the engine? If that's the case, it's a really serious issue. If not, that also needs to be explained," he said.

Others, however, aren't convinced this is a key issue.

"I haven't heard of this which appears to be a low-profile FAA issuance. Nor have I heard any complaints [about the fuel switches] from pilots - who are usually quick to speak up. It's worth examining since it's mentioned, but it may just be a distraction," said Mr Goelz.

Capt Kishore Chinta, a former investigator with India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), wonders whether the switches tripped because of a problem with the plane's electronic control unit.

"Can the fuel cut-off switches be triggered electronically by the plane's electronic control unit without movement by the pilot? If the fuel cut-off switches tripped electronically, then it's a cause for concern," he told the BBC.

The report says fuel samples from the refuelling tanks were "satisfactory". Experts had earlier suggested fuel contamination as a possible cause of the dual engine failure. Notably, no advisory has been issued for the Boeing 787 or its GE GEnx-1B engines, with mechanical failure ruled out for now pending further investigation.

It also said that the aircraft's Ram Air Turbine (RAT) had deployed - a clear sign of a major systems failure - and the landing gear was found in "down position" or not retracted.

The RAT, a small propeller that extends from the underside of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, acts as an emergency backup generator. It automatically deploys in flight when both engines lose power or if all three hydraulic systems register critically low pressure, supplying limited power to keep essential flight systems operational.

"The deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) strongly supports the conclusion that both engines had failed," Mr Pruchnicki said.

A Boeing 787 pilot explained why he thought the landing gear was not retracted.

"These days, every time I take off in a 787, I notice the landing gear retraction process closely. By the time the gear handle is pulled, we're already at about 200ft (60.9m), and the entire gear retraction process completes by around 400ft - roughly eight seconds in total, thanks to the aircraft's high-pressure hydraulic system."

The pilot believes the one flying had no time to think.

"When both engines fail and the aircraft starts going down, the reaction goes beyond just being startled - you go numb. In that moment, landing gear isn't your focus. Your mind is on one thing: the flight path. Where can I put this aircraft down safely? And in this case, there simply wasn't enough altitude to work with."

Investigators say the crew tried to recover, but it happened too fast.

"The engines were switched off and then back on. The pilots realised the engines were losing thrust - likely restarting the left one first, followed by the right," said Mr Pruchnicki.

"But the right engine didn't have enough time to spool back up, and the thrust was insufficient. Both were eventually set to "run", but with the left shut down first and the right too late to recover, it was simply too little, too late."

Trump says EU and Mexico face 30% tariff from August

BBC 'Breaking' graphicBBC

President Donald Trump has announced that the European Union and Mexico will face a 30% tariff on imports to the US from 1 August.

He warned he would impose even higher import taxes if either of the US trading partners decided to retaliate.

The announcement was made in two letters posted on Trump's Truth Social website. Similar letters were sent this week to several other countries.

The 27-member EU - America's biggest trading partner - said earlier this week it hoped to agree a deal with Washington before 1 August.

In the letter to European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Trump wrote: "We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with the European Union, and have concluded that we must move away from these long-term-large, and persistent, trade deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-tariff, policies and trade barriers."

"Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal," the letter added.

The EU has been a frequent target of Trump's criticism, and in April Washington announced levies of 20% on European goods.

In 2024, the US trade deficit with the bloc was $235.6bn (€202bn; £174bn), according to the office of the US trade representative.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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Gaza hospital says 24 people killed near aid site as witnesses blame IDF

Reuters Image shows Palestinians seeking aid near an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, on 27 May 2025Reuters
Palestinians seeking food and other supplies near an aid distribution site in May

The Nasser hospital in southern Gaza has said 24 people have been killed near an aid distribution site.

Palestinians who were present at the site said Israeli troops opened fire as people were trying to access food on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said there were "no known injured individuals" from IDF fire near the site.

Separately, an Israeli military official said warning shots were fired to disperse people who the IDF believed were a threat.

The claims by both sides have not been independently verified. Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza.

Footage seen by the BBC later on Saturday showed what appeared to be a number of body bags at Nasser hospital's courtyard surrounded by nurses and people in blood-stained clothes.

In another video, a man said people were waiting to get aid when they came under targeted fire for five minutes. A paramedic accused Israeli troops of killing in cold blood.

The videos have not been verified by the BBC.

Reuters said it had spoken to witnesses who described people being shot in the head and torso. The news agency also reported seeing bodies wrapped in white shrouds at Nasser hospital.

There have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food in Gaza.

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in March, and later resumed its military offensive against Hamas, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the Palestinian armed group to release Israeli hostages.

Although the blockade was partially eased in late May, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, there are still severe shortages of food, as well as medicine and fuel.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, says there are thousands of malnourished children across the territory, with more cases detected every day.

In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid.

On Friday, the UN human rights office said that it had so far recorded 798 aid-related killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF's sites, which are operated by US private security contractors and located inside military zones in southern and central Gaza.

The other 183 killings were recorded near UN and other aid convoys.

The Israeli military said it recognised there had been incidents in which civilians had been harmed and that it was working to minimise "possible friction between the population and the [Israeli] forces as much as possible".

The GHF accused the UN of using "false and misleading" statistics from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Earlier this month, a former security contractor for the GHF told the BBC he witnessed colleagues opening fire several times on hungry Palestinians who had posed no threat. The GHF said the allegations were categorically false.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,823 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

'They were just kids': Mother mourns sons killed in Israeli strike while waiting for aid

BBC Iman al-Nouri weeps while talking about the Israeli strike that killed two of her sons and seriously wounded anotherBBC
Two of Iman al-Nouri's five sons were killed on Thursday's Israeli strike, while a third was seriously wounded

Iman al-Nouri's youngest son, two-year-old Siraj, woke up crying from hunger on Thursday and asked to get some nutritional supplements.

Siraj's 14-year-old cousin, Sama, agreed to take him and two of his older brothers - Omar, nine, and Amir, five - to the Altayara health clinic in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

"The [medical] point was still closed, so they were sitting on the pavement when suddenly we heard the sound of the strike," Iman told a local journalist working for the BBC.

"I went to [my husband] and said: 'Your children, Hatim! They went to the point.'"

Family handout Iman al-Nouri's son, AmirFamily handout
Amir, five, was killed instantly in the Israeli strike, according to Iman

Warning: This piece contains graphic descriptions of death and violence

Iman, a 32-year-old mother of five, rushed to the scene after hearing the strike, only to find her sons and niece lying on a donkey cart that was being used to transport casualties to the hospital because there were no ambulances.

Amir and Sama were among the dead, while Omar and Siraj were seriously wounded.

"Omar still had some breath in him. They tried to revive him," Iman recalled. "Omar needed blood, and it took them an hour to get it. They gave it to him, but it was in vain."

"Why are they gone? Why? What did they do wrong?" she asked.

"They had dreams just like any other children in the world. If you gave them a small toy, they'd be so happy. They were just kids."

Family handout Iman al-Nouri's son Omar (right) and one of his elder brothersFamily handout
Nine-year-old Omar (right), pictured with his elder brother, died of his wounds in hospital

Iman said Siraj's head was bleeding and he had lost an eye – an image that she cannot now get out of her head.

"He had fractures in his skull and... according to the doctor, not just bleeding, but [a major haemorrhage] on his brain," she added. "How long can he stay like this, living on oxygen? Two are already gone. If only he could help me hold on a little longer."

Tragically, doctors have said they are unable to treat Siraj.

"Since yesterday at 07:00 until now, he's in the same condition. He's still breathing, his chest rises and falls, he still has breath in him. Save him!" she pleaded.

Family handout Iman al-Nouri's son, SirajFamily handout
Iman said doctors had told her that they were unable to treat two-year-old Siraj

A spokesperson for the US-based aid group Project Hope, which runs the Altayara clinic, told the BBC that the strike happened at around 07:15.

Women and children were waiting outside before it opened at 09:00, in order to be first in line for nutrition and other health services, Dr Mithqal Abutaha said.

CCTV footage of the Israeli air strike shows two men walking along a street, just metres away from a group of women and children. Moments later, there is an explosion next to the men and the air is filled with dust and smoke.

In a graphic video showing the aftermath of the attack, many dead and severely wounded children and adults are seen lying on the ground.

"Please get my daughter an ambulance," one woman calls out as she tends to a young girl. But for many it was too late for help."

Dr Abutaha said 16 people were killed, including 10 children and three women.

The Israeli military said it targeted a "Hamas terrorist" and that it regretted any harm to what it called "uninvolved individuals", while adding that the incident was under review.

Project Hope said the strike was "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza".

Dr Abutaha said it was "unbearable" when he found out that people were killed "where they [were] seeking their basic humanitarian and human rights".

He questioned the Israeli military's statement on the strike, including its expression of regret, saying that it "cannot bring those patients, those beneficiaries back alive".

He also said that the clinic was a UN-recognised, "deconflicted humanitarian facility", and that no military actions should have taken place nearby.

Anadolu via Getty Images Palestinians hold out pans at a charity kitchen in the al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City (11 July 2025)Anadolu via Getty Images
The UN says there are thousands of malnourished children across Gaza

Iman said her children used to go to the clinic every two or three days to get nutritional supplements because she and Hatim were not able to give them enough food.

"Their father risks his life just to bring them flour. When he goes to Netzarim [military corridor north of Deir al-Balah], my heart breaks. He goes there to bring food or flour."

"Does anyone have anything? There's no food. What else would make a child scream if he didn't want something?"

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the Palestinian armed group to release Israeli hostages.

Although the blockade was partially eased in late May, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, there are still severe shortages of food, as well as medicine and fuel.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) says there are thousands of malnourished children across the territory, with more cases detected every day.

Dr Abutaha said Project Hope had also noticed an alarming rise in cases of malnutrition among adults, which they had not observed before in Gaza.

In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US helped set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid. But since then, there have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food.

The UN human rights office said on Friday that it had so far recorded 798 such killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF's sites, which are operated by US private security contractors and located inside military zones in southern and central Gaza. The other 183 killings were recorded near UN and other aid convoys.

The Israeli military said it recognised there had been incidents in which civilians had been harmed and that it was working to minimise "possible friction between the population and the [Israeli] forces as much as possible".

The GHF accused the UN of using "false and misleading" statistics from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Iman al-Nouri (2nd right), her husband Hatim (right) and two of their sons look at photos on a mobile phone
Iman said a ceasefire "means nothing to me after my children are gone"

Dr Abutaha called on Israel to allow in enough food, medicine and fuel to meet the basic humanitarian needs of everyone in Gaza, so that "everyone could have a dignified life".

He also expressed concern that people were being given "false hope" that Israel and Hamas could soon agree a new ceasefire deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that an agreement on a 60-day truce and the release of 28 hostages could be just days away.

But Palestinian officials said on Friday night that the indirect talks in Qatar were on the brink of collapse because of significant gaps remaining on issues like Israeli troop withdrawals and Hamas's rejection of an Israeli plan to move all of Gaza's population into a camp in Rafah.

"Every day they talk about a ceasefire, but where is it?" Iman said.

"They've killed us through hunger, through gunfire, through bombs, through air strikes. We've died in every possible way."

"It's better to go to God than stay with any of them. May God give me patience."

German backpacker found after 11 nights in Australia's outback

Western Australia Police German backpacker Carolina Wilga pictured smiling in the sun while sitting on grassWestern Australia Police

A backpacker survived nearly two weeks lost in Western Australia's outback by drinking from puddles and sleeping in a cave, police have said.

Carolina Wilga, 26, from Germany, was rescued on Friday. She had suffered from exhaustion, dehydration, "extensive insect bites" and an injured foot, according to police.

Officers said she walked 24km (15 miles) away from her van in a "confused and disorientated" state after it became stuck in remote bushland.

Ms Wilga had convinced herself she was not going to be found, police said, adding that the backpacker's family was relieved and thankful.

"She spent 11 nights exposed to the elements and survived by consuming the minimal food supplies she had in her possession, and drinking water from rain and puddles," a Western Australia police statement said.

The rescue was down to "sheer luck", acting police inspector Jessica Securo said in a news conference.

Ms Wilga was spotted by a driver and airlifted to a hospital in Perth.

Tania Henley, the driver, told Australia's public broadcaster ABC that she saw Ms Wilga waving her hands by the side of the road, and she appeared to be in a "fragile state".

"Everything in this bush is very prickly. I just can't believe that she survived. She had no shoes on, she'd wrapped her foot up," Ms Henley said.

Before her rescue, Ms Wilga was last seen at a general store in the town of Beacon, Western Australia, in her van on 29 June.

Police found her abandoned van on Thursday in dense bushland north of Beacon.

Securo said it appeared Ms Wilga had lost control of the vehicle, which became mechanically unsound and bogged.

Ms Wilga has had a "good night's sleep" in hospital and is "just taking it one day at a time", Securo said.

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