“Democracy faces a perfect storm of autocratic resurgence and acute uncertainty, due to massive social and economic changes,” Kevin Casas-Zamora, the secretary-general of the thinktank, said.
“To fight back, democracies need to protect key elements of democracy, like elections and the rule of law, but also profoundly reform government so that it delivers fairness, inclusion and shared prosperity.”
The International IDEA’s survey – the Global State of Democracy Report 2025 – is published every five years and considered the most comprehensive of its kind, covering 174 countries and measuring democratic performance from 1975.
The survey found that the freedom of the press had worsened in a quarter of the countries, marking the broadest deterioration since the beginning of the dataset.
The three largest declines were seen in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso and Myanmar, all suffering historically high levels of civil conflict, poverty and political instability. The fourth-largest took place in South Korea, where the former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, repeatedly targeted critical media and his government used defamation lawsuits to silence journalists before being ousted earlier this year.
The report described greatly differing contexts for problems facing the media. In New Zealand, it said, a crisis has been marked by the shrinking of the media landscape, leaving four out of five journalists working for one of only five employers. In Palestine, it said, nearly 200 journalists have been killed since October 2023, and Israel has imposed a blockade on international press entering the Gaza Strip independently.
“Between 2024 and 2025, Al Jazeera was targeted by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which have suspended the media outlet’s operations over alleged national security concerns and tensions over its coverage of certain events,” the report notes.
Chile recorded the largest improvement in freedom of expression since the International IDEA’s last report in 2021, owing in part to landmark draft legislation aimed at enhancing the safety of journalists, as well as their families.
The thinktank highlighted some positive developments: Africa recorded a large share of the global advances in democracy, accounting for 24% of the countries making progress – most notably Botswana and South Africa. Parliamentary elections in Jordan in 2024 were praised for increased fairness and Poland saw improvements too.
But the US, though a country long regarded as a leading advocate for democracy worldwide, has significantly reduced both its diplomatic engagement and its financial support for international democracy assistance this year, the report’s authors wrote.
“These developments have contributed to a weakening of international democratisation efforts. In less than six months, US domestic political institutions have also lost much of their symbolic sheen, increasingly serving as a reference point for executive overreach and offering more encouragement to populist strongman leaders than to pro-democracy hopefuls,” they said.
In 2021, International IDEA added the US to its list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time, pointing to a “visible deterioration” that it said began in 2019.
One measure that may encourage and reinforce democracy would be wider offering of votes for people living abroad, the thinktank argues.
“Improving rights of voters living abroad can also reap democratic dividends in both home and host countries,” said Casas-Zamora.
The interim order came after a decision in June on medical care for transgender youths and as the justices prepare to hear arguments on transgender athletes.
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk has died after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University, President Donald Trump announced on social media.
"The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead," the president wrote on Truth Social. "No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie."
Kirk, a fervent supporter of Trump, was the founder of Turning Point USA, a group that seeks to spread conservative ideas to students on US campuses.
Officials say he had just begun speaking when a single gunshot rang out. Videos verified by BBC show him jolting backwards in his chair as students scatter in panic.
A spokeswoman for Utah Valley University, Ellen Treanor, said the gunfire came from the Losee Center, a building about 200 yards away.
Another spokesman, Scott Trotter, told the BBC: "A single shot rang out in the quad near the food court on the Utah Valley University Orem Campus as Mr Charlie Kirk began speaking at his planned rally."
"We can confirm that Mr Kirk was shot, but we don't know his condition," he said.
Some 30 years ago I found myself working with David Pritchard, a director who turned the late Keith Floyd into a TV star.
He had first encountered Floyd, glass in hand, chaotically running a Bristol restaurant and coaxed him into cooking on television, often, it appeared, semi-sloshed, on a trawler or a gale swept hillside or, memorably, in a field of ostriches.
Audiences loved it. More than 20 television series ran with Floyd at the helm, and one of the attractions was the obvious tension between him and his director.
It was never going to end well.
One day, while we were editing a programme, David walked in fresh from filming with Floyd. He looked pained. "We flew back on separate planes," he said.
Then he leant closer and told me he didn't have to worry: "Rick will save me."
Avalon / Contributor / Getty Images
TV once turned out stars like Fanny Craddock, Delia Smith and Keith Floyd. That conveyor belt has slowed
Rick Stein had appeared on Floyd on Fish. He was given his own cooking show and went on to host dozens more, including 40 episodes of Rick Stein's Cornwall.
Meanwhile, the light sprinkling of food shows of the early 90s went on to become a daily staple of TV schedules throughout the 2000s and 2010s.
In 2014, there was a complaint that the BBC had, in one week, broadcast 21 hours of cooking shows.
Then, seemingly just as abruptly as it all began - it was all over.
Shows known in the industry as "stand and stir" fell off a cliff this year. The number of new, half-hour shows from the BBC so far this year: zero.
Commissions for all forms of food programmes across British TV have dropped 44% in a year, according to Ampere Analysis.
Elsewhere, however, food videos are booming - only they're not made by traditional production companies. Instead, they are on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
Rick Stein had appeared on Floyd on Fish. He was later given his own cooking shows
In February, the ratings agency Nielsen reported a landmark moment: YouTube is now the most-watched service on American TVs. We're not talking about phones or laptops but TVs. The UK is not far behind.
By July, the broadcasting regulator Ofcom had published a report warning that British TV is facing a crisis. "Time," it said, "is running out to save this pillar of UK culture and way of life."
Cristina Nicolotti Squires oversees TV in the UK for Ofcom. "Unless something is done soon, this great broadcasting culture and landscape is under threat."
This is true of many types of television. Zuzana Henkova of Ampere Analysis gathers data on UK production and says there is a consistent decline in commissioning for documentaries, art and culture, historical, travel, sport and nature.
But the biggest drop over the last 12 months was for cooking.
Francesca Yorke / Contributor / Getty Images
Even some of the most popular TV cooks, like Nigella Lawson, are off the TV menu in the UK for now
Even some of the most popular TV cooks, like Nigella Lawson and Nadiya Hussain, are off the TV menu in the UK for now. The question is, why?
What is it that has made us fall out of love so spectacularly - and so suddenly - with what was once one of our favourite genres, and what is it about food influencers in particular that have eclipsed the popularity of the once-beloved "chop and chat" stalwarts?
Millions of views vs 'proper' TV
Natalia Rudin used to be a private chef but a video she shared on Instagram in January 2023 of an "antipasti-style bean dish" with olives, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes and "a sort of white wine sauce" changed everything.
"I posted it and didn't really look at my phone and then… the next day, it had over a million views," she recalls.
"It was wild," she says. She admits she hadn't even been very happy with the video: "I was a bit hungover from New Year."
Today she has 1.5 million followers as Natsnourishments and is known as "the bean queen".
Eve White
Today Natalia Rudin has 1.5 million followers as Natsnourishments
When sales of tins and bottles of beans rose 122% in Waitrose in a year, they put it down to foodie influencers, like Natalia. She no longer only posts on Instagram but on YouTube too. Some of her Instagram videos have surpassed 20 million views.
Now she's thinking about where to go next.
"I wouldn't say no to TV but… YouTube's where it's at," she says. "I like it because I have a little bit more control over it and I can decide what goes out."
Other food influencers tell a similar story.
When Ben Ebbrell was training as a chef, his school friends would text him, asking how to cook basic dishes. Now, his channel, Sorted Food, has 2.89 million subscribers and earlier this year he attended a reception at 10 Downing Street for leading YouTube creators.
"It was," he says, "a bit of a pinch-me moment."
Peter Dench / Contributor / Getty Images
'TV is kind of coming to the content creators and saying: We'd quite like your audience,' says Ben Ebbrell of Sorted Food
The figures are impressive, with 1.3 billion views - but surely, I ask, he'd prefer to make a "proper" TV programme?
He pauses. This question has clearly come up before.
"[In the past] it was very much if you want to come and play in our TV world you have to play by our rules, whereas now TV is kind of coming to the content creators and saying: 'We'd quite like your audience to come use our platform, too.'"
The legend of the cronut
The reason for all of this seems straightforward enough. For Ben Ebbrell, it comes down to the cronut.
A few years ago, he says, his channel was "inundated" with comments from people in New York about this new craze - a cross between a croissant and a donut.
So, he recalls, they found some cronut photos online, came up with a recipe, made a video and published it.
"Every newspaper was writing about it and there was only one video on YouTube of how to make it and that was ours, and we were able to be nimble only because our community steers our content."
Getty Images
Ben Ebbrell recalls when his channel was swamped with comments from New Yorkers obsessed with the cronut
This is not how TV programmes are made. It's a world of pitches, focus groups and meetings - the online video world has almost none of that.
According to Ed Sayer - a veteran producer and commissioner who writes as The TV Whisperer - food is a perfect example of TV's problem.
"Television is heavily regulated, so you have lots of compliance," he says. There will be a team checking recipes haven't been copied from a recipe book, for instance.
By contrast, he says, the "abundance" of creators on YouTube and TikTok "don't have those same compliance issues".
Lower costs, greater freedom and an explosion of creative ideas have also helped change the game. We may think of YouTube as a "creative community" - it's not. Today there are 115 million channels on it - that makes it a "creative nation".
But dig deeper and this is about far more than regulation and red tape, or even the speed to react to trends - the real challenge is cultural.
Like the arrival of rock and roll
As far back as 2008, the then-chairman of ITV, Michael Grade called services such as YouTube "parasites" who did not create TV, just lived off it. It's true, they were not making TV - they were making something revolutionary.
Videos of make-up tutorials, pranks, unboxing products - and lots of cooking. None of this was seen as competition for "professionally made" programming.
And so for years many continued to underestimate it.
In August 2013, Kevin Spacey gave a speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival. Netflix, at the time, had around 1.5 million subscribers in the UK. He was the star of House of Cards and his message was simple. TV had won.
But my other memory from that year's festival was a session led by YouTube. Fellow media journalists and I were sceptical - surely YouTube wasn't television, but a place for low-quality home videos?
In 2014, The Times wrote that industry analysts were sceptical that "low-budget, short-form videos" would ever seriously challenge television's dominance.
Fanny Cradock appeared on TV cooking shows including Kitchen Magic and Fanny's Kitchen
Even now, there's a degree of disbelief in some quarters. In a recent conversation on LinkedIn by some TV professionals, one poured scorn on young people on TikTok and YouTube for "not knowing" how to use clip-on mics.
But it's not that they don't know how to; they just don't want to.
It's a little signal to the rest of the online world that this isn't the fake world of television, this is raw and real.
Ed Sayer says younger people like this "rough and readiness" - and when they watch television, their reaction is typically: "It's so false and fake."
Why Bake Off broke the mould
Some in TV have long understood the importance of authenticity.
Take the one type of food programme that is still a prime-time attraction - the cooking competition, like Masterchef or the Great British Menu.
Masterchef remains a part of prime time, despite its well-publicised troubles leading to the departure of hosts Gregg Wallace and John Torode.
And then there's the ratings show-stopper of food TV, The Great British Bake Off.
Richard McKerrow, the co-creator of Bake Off, always believed authenticity was the key ingredient, but says it was a struggle for others to see this too.
"I pitched Bake Off for five years and they told me it'd be like watching paint dry," he says. "No one wanted it."
Love Productions/PA / Channel 4
Richard McKerrow, co-creator of Bake Off, says authenticity was always vital, though it wasn't always easy to convince others
Only when filming began did the magic reveal itself, he says. "I was going, 'Oh my God, these bakers aren't paying any attention to the camera because what they care about is what Paul [Hollywood] and Mary [Berry] think of their cake.'"
It tells you something that Bake Off was seen as a huge risk before it first broadcast in 2010, at a time when TV had rather more spending power - and the last 15 years has seen no successful rival take off. People are going elsewhere with their ideas.
Much of what's left of food TV is now funded by brands and outside agencies. On ITV, Tom Kerridge Cooks is sponsored by Marks and Spencer and features "producers who supply M&S" - so too does Cooking With the Stars.
More than 20 television series ran with Keith Floyd at the helm
Judi Love's food show is backed by Emerald Cruises, Dermot O'Leary's is part-funded by Tourism Ireland; Gary Barlow's latest is backed by Tourism Australia and Hays Travel. Anna Haugh's Big Irish Food Tour is financially supported by Tourism Ireland.
But overall, the conveyor belt that brought us Fanny Craddock, Delia Smith and Keith Floyd has stopped.
The question is, does it matter if more disappear?
Did food shows change the way Britain eats?
Some argue food shows helped change the way Britain eats - they have also taken us into homes and kitchens around the world.
Ken Hom and Ching He-Huan's travel and cooking series in 2012 was a fascinating snapshot of life in China through the lens of food.
But 13 years on, the money for such programming just isn't there.
Of course, YouTube has a wealth of travel and observational content. But there are 69,000 YouTube channels with more than a million subscribers; money and attention are spread thin.
Getty Images
Ken Hom (pictured) and Ching He-Huang's 2012 travel and cooking series offered a vivid look at life in China through its food
Jonathan Glazier, a TV executive and writer who has worked on dozens of shows including the Generation Game and Gladiators, expresses his sadness at the slow disappearance of TV's shared moments. Especially, he adds, the programmes that capture real people as they puzzle, struggle and laugh their way though life.
"That's what television is," he argues, "it's about the characters that populate this country.
"The more we lose this type of storytelling, the more we become strangers to ourselves."
However, while TV may be facing a tough challenge, our appetite for video is not dying.
Ed Sayer, for one, is hopeful. "Audiences don't care about platforms - they care about stories, authenticity, and relevance," he says. Success will come down to who understands the new landscape best.
"Ultimately," he says, "YouTube isn't winning and TV isn't winning. The audience is."
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.
CCTV captures moment of Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha
Qatari authorities say they are still searching for two missing people and identifying human remains after an Israeli strike targeted senior Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday.
Israeli media have reported that there is concern in Israeli military circles that the highly controversial attack was not successful.
The Qatari interior ministry has identified the bodies of three of the five lower-level Hamas members who the Palestinian armed group said were killed along with a Qatari security officer. Hamas has claimed the attempt to assassinate its negotiating team failed.
In an interview with CNN, Qatar's prime minister did not reveal the fate of Hamas's chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya.
"Until now... there is no official declaration," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said on Wednesday evening.
He also said Israel's action amounted to "state terror" and that he hoped Qatar's regional partners would agree a "collective response".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its strike was justified because it targeted what he called the "terrorist masterminds" of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 64,656 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza during the ensuing war, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
AFP
Qatar is a key US regional ally that is the location of a major American air base. It has hosted the Hamas political bureau since 2012, and has served along with the US and Egypt as a mediator in indirect negotiations between the group and Israel.
Tuesday afternoon's air strike in northern Doha targeted residential premises housing several members of the political bureau of Hamas as they discussed the latest US proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, according to Qatari officials.
Israeli officials initially told Israeli media that they were optimistic about the results of what they dubbed "Operation Summit of Fire".
However, reports on Wednesday reflected their growing pessimism, with the suggestion that it might not have been as successful as they had thought. Some officials were quoted as saying the Hamas leaders may have been in a different part of the building.
Hamas said on Tuesday that the "heinous crime" had killed five of its members: Khalil al-Hayya's son, Humam, the director of Hayya's office, Jihad Labad, and bodyguards Moamen Hassouna, Abdullah Abdul Wahid and Ahmed al-Mamluk.
"We confirm the enemy's failure to assassinate our brothers in the negotiating delegation," it added, without providing any evidence.
By Wednesday evening, the Qatari interior ministry said authorities had identified the bodies of Humam al-Hayya, Labad, Hassouna, and Corporal Badr al-Humaidi, a member of Qatar's Internal Security Force.
The ministry said efforts were under way by specialised teams to "identify two individuals reported missing", adding that human remains had been discovered "in various locations".
There was no mention of the whereabouts of Khalil al-Hayya, who has yet to appear in public.
Netanyahu said Israeli forces had gone after Hamas's leaders in Qatar because it was giving them "safe haven".
"I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists: you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don't, we will," he warned.
In response, Sheikh Mohammed told CNN that it was Netanyahu who "needs to be brought to justice".
"He's the one who's wanted at the [International Criminal Court]."
Last year, ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe the men bore criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The Israeli government and both men rejected the accusations.
Sheikh Mohammed also said he feared the Israeli strike had "just killed any hope" for the 48 remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
He said he had met one of the hostages' families only hours before the attack, and that they had been "counting on this [ceasefire] mediation and they have no other hope".
Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel's action could "open the door to an end of the war".
He confirmed that Israel had accepted the US ceasefire proposal and urged the people of Gaza to follow suit.
When asked if Qatar would now shut down Hamas's office, Sheikh Mohammed said his government was "reassessing everything" and having "a very detailed conversation" with the US about the way forward.
US President Donald Trump said he was "very unhappy about every aspect" of the strike.
"Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America's goals," he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. "However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal."
Trump said he had told special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform Qatar of the impending attack after being notified by the US military, but that it was "too late".
Sheikh Mohammed said the US had contacted Qatar "10 minutes after the attack".
Qatar's fellow Arab states have also expressed outrage at the Israeli strike.
On Wednesday, the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, flew to Doha to show its solidarity.
He told Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, that Israel's "criminal attack" threatened the Middle East's "security, stability, and prospects for peace", according to the UAE's WAM news agency.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, who is expected to visit Doha on Thursday, said Israel's "brutal aggression" required action.
According to Sheikh Mohammed, there are plans for a summit to be held in Qatar in the near future to discuss a regional response.
Ministers have not gone far enough in reforming Lifetime Isas (LISAs) despite being warned these products were not suitable for everyone, Treasury Committee has warned.
Ahead of the November Budget MPs also questioned whether LISAs in their current form were a good use of taxpayer money, as they are forecast to cost the government £3bn over five years.
Anyone aged under 40 can open a LISA to either help save towards retirement or buy a first home. You can put in up to £4,000 a year and the government will top it up by 25%.
In June, the committee found that LISAs were being mis-sold and did not suit everyone, and following a government response to its report MPs said ministers must go further.
"The government has taken some steps towards improving the Lifetime ISA, but I do not believe they have gone far enough. The Lifetime ISA is a confused product that requires reform," said Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the committee.
Good use of money?
LISAs were launched in 2017 under the then-Conservative government.
Since then, 6% of eligible adults have opened one, with about 1.3 million accounts still open, according to the most recent figures.
In its report, the committee said the LISA's dual purpose to help people save for both the short-term (for a first home) and long-term (for retirement) "makes it more likely consumers will choose unsuitable investment strategies".
Research by HM Revenue and Customs, based on a sample of LISA holders, found that 87% of those who had used their LISA to buy their first home said that they could have done so without one.
"Given that the LISA is forecast to cost the government £3bn over the next five years, this raises the question whether the LISA is a good use of taxpayers' money," said Dame Meg.
The government, in its response to the report, said that it kept all aspects of LISA policy under review.
The government gave some ground following the committee's description of the rules which penalise benefit claimants as "nonsensical".
Currently any savings held in a LISA can affect eligibility for universal credit or housing benefit, whereas this is not the case for other personal or workplace pension schemes.
The committee said that if that was not changed, the LISA should be "clearly labelled as an inferior product" to those who may be eligible for such benefits.
In its response, the government said it would work with work with industry and across departments to consider ways to "improve the messaging" about the implications of savings and investments on benefit entitlement.
Watch: Dazzling dancing spiders strut their stuff. What's behind their extraodinary diversity?
It's not just the dazzling colours and slick moves of Australia's dancing spiders that make them special.
There are more than 100 different species of the peacock spider, whereas most animals have only five or ten.
Researchers believe that's partly down to the spider's 'dark DNA' - a mysterious part of the animal's genetic code, and they are studying it to find out more.
They think that this dark DNA might enable it to adapt rapidly to changing environmental circumstances by developing into new species.
What the scientists find out, they say, might help to explain why there is so much variation in the natural world.
"We are interested in how the spiders evolve to become that diverse," Jonah Walker, of the Sanger Institute told BBC News.
"When you go outside you see so much variation in species of plants and animals," he said.
"Peacock spiders are at the extreme end of that. And so, by studying them, we can use that extreme case to try to understand what processes produce variation in general."
Peacock spiders are found across Australia and each one is the size of a pin head. It is so-named because of the brilliant colours males have on their abdomen, which they show off in a beguiling mating ritual.
They create a drumming sound with their feet, a spider song of sorts, and move rhythmically while displaying their dazzlingly patterned features. What is remarkable about these creatures is how varied they are in their appearance, songs and dance moves.
Mr Walker used to be scared of spiders, but he overcame his phobia because he was so drawn to the science behind the spiders and took the project on as part of his PhD research.
"When I told friends and family that I was going to study spiders in Australia I got some worried looks and I was obviously apprehensive myself. But just a few seconds of watching them dance was enough for any fears to be washed away."
Mr Walker worked with his group leader, Dr Jonana Meier and an international team to collect each and every one of the species discovered so far.
They then painstakingly categorised precise details about each one's behaviour, movement and songs. The final piece of the jigsaw was to cross-reference all this information with the DNA of each species.
Jonah Walker
The flying peacock spider: each different species has different colours and behaviours
By comparing the results of each species, they hope to find out which genes are responsible for each trait and ultimately why there are so many different types of peacock spider.
The research is a work in progress but the team already has a strong scientific lead to investigate further.
"It is early days, but one of the tantalising things we have discovered is that it may not only be the genes that are responsible for the diversity, but the bits in between, the so-called 'dark DNA', that may influence how spiders evolve," says Mr Walker.
DNA consists of a long string of molecules. Some parts of them are involved in deciding specific traits. In the case of humans they can decide height or eye colour. These sections are called genes.
But the bulk of the sections of DNA are not genes, and no one really knows what they do. The Sanger researchers think that this so-called dark DNA may be responsible for peacock spiders' diversity.
They have three times more dark DNA than humans.
Jonah Walker
Display of the golden peacock spider which has its own dance and song
But spiders, butterflies and moths are just the start of one of the most ambitious genetic projects ever undertaken. The plan is to decipher the genetic code of every single plant, animal and fungus on the planet in the next 10 years.
"Just like all plants, animals and fungus we have very similar DNA," Dr Meier told BBC News.
"By understanding the DNA of all the different organisms, we learn about the general principles of how genes work and what the function of dark DNA is, and so it also helps us find out a lot about ourselves"
Researchers have decoded the DNA of 3,000 different species so far as part of the Earth BioGenome Project.
The aim is to decode 10,000 next year and complete all 1.8 million living species in the next decade. The knowledge gained, scientists hope, will enable them to gain an unprecedented insight into how all living things evolved and the intricate interrelationships between them.
Charlie Kirk was one of the most high-profile conservative activists and media personalities in the US and a trusted ally of President Donald Trump.
Kirk, 31, who the president said died after a shooting at a Utah college on Wednesday, was known for holding open-air debates on campuses across the country.
In 2012, at the age of 18, he co-founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a student organisation that aims to spread conservative ideals at liberal-leaning US colleges.
His social media and eponymous daily podcast often shared clips of him debating with students about issues such as transgender identity, climate change, faith and family values.
The son of an architect who grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights, Kirk attended a community college near Chicago before dropping out to devote himself to political activism. He applied unsuccessfully for West Point, the elite US military academy.
Watch: Charlie Kirk's speech from 2020 and interaction with Vance last year
Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when engaging in debates with students and academics on esoteric topics such as post-modernism.
His role in TPUSA took off after President Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012.
Kirk toured the country speaking at Republican events, many popular with members of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement. TPUSA now has chapters in more than 850 colleges.
An avid public speaker, Kirk addressed the Oxford Union earlier this year, and wrote a 2020 best-seller The Maga Doctrine.
TPUSA played a key role in the get-out-the-vote effort for Trump and other Republican candidates in last year's election. The millennial was widely credited with helping to register tens of thousands of new voters and flipping Arizona for Trump.
Kirk attended Trump's inauguration in January in Washington DC, and has been a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office.
The president and his aides valued Kirk's political antenna for the grassroots of the Make America Great Again movement.
He's spoken at Republican conventions and last year Donald Trump repaid the favour by giving a big speech at a Turning Point conference in Arizona.
Earlier this year, he travelled with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr, to Greenland, as the then-incoming president was arguing that the US should own the Arctic territory.
Kirk's evangelical Christian religion and family - he married a former Miss Arizona, with whom he had two children - were front and centre in his politics, and he was seen as both the future of conservative activism and a highly polarising figure.
Perhaps the biggest tribute to his contribution to Republican politics came from Trump himself in a clip played at the beginning of Kirk's podcast.
The president says: "I want to thank Charlie, he's an incredible guy, his spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organisations ever created."
Kirk discussed numerous political and social at his events and on his podcasts, gun control is one of them.
The Sun is one of several papers leading on Prince Harry's meeting with King Charles on Wednesday. The paper reports that the pair met at Clarence House and had a "private tea" that lasted less than an hour.
"When Harry met his father again" reads the Express, picturing Prince Harry arriving at his meeting with the King yesterday. According to the paper, the meeting is their first in 19 months and has sparked "hopes of Royal reconciliation".
The Daily Star has also pictured Prince Harry en route to Clarence House, pairing it with the headline "When Harry met Charlie". The paper is quick to point out that Prince William is in Cardiff, and has not been pictured at the "55-minute tea".
"Hello papa" says the Mirror, also leading on potential reconciliation between the two royals.
Prince Harry is pictured on the front page of the Telegraph, but the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Lord Mandelson is the main story for the paper. It reports that now-US ambassador advised the late Epstein to fight for an early release from prison, after he was convicted of child sex offences in 2008. Lord Mandelson told the BBC: "I relied on assurances of his innocence that turned out later to be horrendously false."
"Starmer refuses to sack Mandelson as US envoy", says the headline in the Times, reporting that the prime minister is "resisting pressure" despite "further revelations" about the US ambassador's relationship with Epstein. The paper also reports that officials blocked the release of a secret memo from Mandelson in 2002, in which he allegedly urged then-prime minister Tony Blair to meet with Epstein.
The Daily Mail has taken a firmer stance, and says "Mandelson must be fired". The paper says there is "cross-party fury" after more emails between Lord Mandelson and Epstein were released, and reported that "even Labour MPs demanded Britain's ambassador to Washington be sacked".
"Mandelson on brink over leaked emails with Epstein" declares the i Paper, quoting an interview between the Sun's Harry Cole and the ambassador on Wednesday, which saw the Labour grandee admit it was "very embarrassing" to see "the words he wrote 20 years ago published".
News of the shooting of Trump ally Charlie Kirk at a Utah college came in too late for many of the papers, but the Guardian managed to slip a photograph of the conservative activist onto its front page. The 31-year-old was shot dead at a campus event on Wednesday. The main story for the paper is the Russian drones that crossed into Polish airspace on Wednesday morning. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that the nation is "closer to military conflict than at any time since the Second World War".
"Reckless Putin is testing West" says the Metro, also leading on what it calls the "deliberate" drone strike on Poland. The paper says the incident was the first time Russian drones have been downed over Nato territory.
The Financial Times says US drugmaker Merck has "scrapped a £1bn London research centre, in a "fresh blow" to Labour's growth drive. Merck is expected to lay off more that 100 scientific staff, and will move the research to existing sites, which are primarily in the US.
Lorraine Boyce is aged in her 80s and lives alone in Kings Norton
"It shouldn't be here. If the fire service see this they will be around to sort me out."
I'm standing next to pensioner Lorraine Boyce in the cramped hallway of her Birmingham home.
Six months of the city's all-out bin strike and the space is still being used to store a mound of recycling the council is unable to collect.
The authority is making largely regular pick-ups of general waste. But as a dispute with the Unite union continues, residents remain stuck in the middle.
"In the shed I've got a lot of small jars," explained Ms Boyce, who is in her 80s and from Kings Norton.
"In the hall I've got half a dozen bottles, cardboard, paper and a lot of plastic recycling."
Ms Boyce says she believes in recycling and refuses to put it in with general waste
The pensioner told the BBC she believed in recycling and, as a point of principle, would not put it in with general waste.
But as she lives alone without a car, she is unable to take it to the tip herself.
"[The bin strike] is bad for our reputation and our morale," she said. "I think it's depressing. People are feeling that they don't matter."
Rubbish has piled up in Carolyn's bin store after intermittent collections by refuse teams
Ms Boyce is not the only one feeling the impact six months on.
In South Yardley, Carolyn Bauer has bought a litter picker online and goes out multiple times a week to clean up her front drive.
But the bin store servicing her cul-de-sac is full of general waste.
It is only seeing intermittent collections take place because it has large containers rather than wheelie bins - great news for rats and foxes.
"We were stood out the front chatting to someone and you could smell the bins," the 52-year-old said.
"I just want it to be resolved. I don't really blame anybody, you just hope that one way or another it will be sorted out."
Neighbours Naomi and Rob live in Aston say general collections there have been sporadic, but locals are managing the problem with tip runs
Across the city in Aston, Rob Brough, 56, said his general waste collections were also sporadic, with locals managing through regular tip runs.
He and his neighbour Naomi Clooney, 50, showed me videos of an enormous pile of rubbish at their apartment complex at the height of the strike in May.
At the time, seagulls would regularly tear open bin bags, leaving a trail of rubbish for other wildlife to feast on.
Ms Clooney, who has been taking her recycling to Wales when visiting family, said she believed the situation was unacceptable when residents had faced consecutive council tax rises.
"It [has] marred the perspective of the city," she said. "I had family over from Ireland and it was really quite embarrassing."
Naomi Clooney
The bin shed in Aston has seen huge piles of waste building up during the industrial action
Bosses insist the city's bins service needs transforming through vehicle and crew changes.
"While we are disappointed the dispute has not been resolved as Unite has rejected all our offers, we are continuing to make regular waste collections as we prepare to implement the new and improved service," a spokesperson said.
'Broken promises'
But the union says it is a case of "brutal" council cuts, claiming up to 170 refuse workers face losing around £8,000 a year.
"Politicians' treatment of these workers, including lies about no one losing pay and broken promises about being able to retrain in driving roles that are now nowhere to be seen, is amongst the worst Unite has even seen," said national lead officer Onay Kasab.
The union has now vowed to extend the industrial action if a deal is not struck, possibly beyond next March.
It means the strike could rumble on for at least an entire year.
If that is the case, people in Birmingham now know exactly what to expect.
Linda McMahon said the Education Department would seek to “re-envision” the grant programs to continue supporting “underprepared or under-resourced students.”
She helped create the activist group Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, which sought to find relatives who had been killed or “disappeared” by the 1976-83 military dictatorship.
Rosa Roisinblit waged a relentless search to find her daughter, Patricia Roisinblit, who was kidnapped by military henchmen in a 1970s-era dictatorship and was never seen again.
At a heated committee session on bills exerting more federal control of Washington, the 88-year-old delegate sat quietly, reading with difficulty from a script.
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