American delivery firms UPS and FedEx have temporarily grounded part of their fleets of cargo planes after a mid-takeoff crash in Kentucky on Tuesday left at least 14 people dead.

The UPS aircraft burst into flames as it careered off the runway and collided with neighbouring business premises, triggering a huge fire which gutted several buildings and closed Louisville International Airport.

UPS said the decision to ground MD-11 models followed instructions from manufacturer Boeing, while rival delivery giant FedEx confirmed it would follow suit.

Officials are yet to determine what caused the deadly crash.

Hours before the fleet was ground, it was confirmed the death toll had risen to 14 after another body was found, with buildings caught up in the fire still being searched for possible additional victims.

"We pray for each of the victims' families and pray that no additional victims are lost," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said.

In a statement, UPS said the decision to ground 9% of its fleet was out of an "abundance of caution".

It is unclear to what extent delivery services will be impacted by the moves from UPS and Fedex.

UPS said contingency plans were in place to continue service. A statement continued: "Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our employees and the communities we serve."

The model of aircraft involved in the crash was a MD-11F triple-engine plane, which first entered service 34 years ago with Thai Airways as a passenger jet, but was transferred to UPS in 2006.

MD-11s were originally manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, before the company merged with Boeing in 1997.

According to the National Transportation and Safety Board, the left engine caught fire and detached from the wing during take off.

The aircraft was carrying 38,000 gallons (144,000 litres) of fuel as it attempted to disembark for a long flight to Hawaii, which contributed to the size of the fire which broke out after the crash.

Israel has received a coffin that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said contains the body of a hostage, Israel's military says.

Hamas's armed wing said the body had been found on Friday in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The body has been transported to Israel via the Red Cross for identification.

Before this handover, Hamas had returned all 20 living hostages and 22 out of 28 deceased hostages under the first phase of a ceasefire deal that started on 10 October. Five of the six dead hostages still in Gaza were Israelis and one was Thai.

Israel has criticised Hamas for not yet returning all the bodies. Hamas says it is hard to find them under rubble.

During the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, Israel freed 250 Palestinian prisoners in its jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

Israel has also handed over the bodies of 285 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the 19 Israeli hostages returned by Hamas, along with those of three foreign hostages - one of them Thai, one Nepalese and one Tanzanian.

The parties also agreed to an increase of aid to the Gaza Strip, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a halt to fighting, although violence has flared up as both sides accused one another of breaching the deal.

Israel launched air strikes after accusing Hamas fighters of killing two of its soldiers on 19 October and of killing another soldier on 28 October. Hamas said it was unaware of clashes in the area of the first incident and had no connection to the second attack.

Israeli military actions have killed at least 241 people since the start of the ceasefire, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage. All but one of the dead hostages still in Gaza were abducted in the attack.

At least 68,875 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, the health ministry reported.

Human rights groups in Kenya say two activists who disappeared in neighbouring Uganda five weeks ago have turned up alive and well.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo being forced into a car by masked uniformed men after a political event where they were supporting the Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine.

On Saturday, activist organisation Vocal Africa confirmed the men were safe, and being transported from Busia in Uganda to Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

"Let this moment signal an important shift towards upholding the human rights of East Africans anywhere in East African Community," the organisation wrote on its Instagram page.

Ugandan police denied the men were in their custody, but Kenyan rights groups lobbied the Ugandan authorities to free them.

In a joint statement, Vocal Africa, the Law Society of Kenya and Amnesty International thanked the Kenyan and Ugandan governments, activists, journalists, diplomats and "all active citizens who have tirelessly campaigned for this moment".

Former pop star Bobi Wine is running for the presidency in next year's elections, challenging President Yoweri Museveni, 80, who has held power since 1986.

Wine accused the Ugandan government of targeting the two Kenyans for associating with him.

Ugandan security agencies have often been accused of orchestrating the detention of opposition politicians and supporters while not in uniform. Some of those arrested have later resurfaced in court facing criminal charges.

The latest disappearances mirror past incidents involving politicians and activists across the East African region.

Last year, Njagi was picked up in Kenya by masked men during a wave of abductions believed to have been targeting government critics in the country.

He surfaced a month later, after a court ordered police to produce him. He later recounted the harrowing conditions in captivity, where he said he was often isolated and denied food.

Earlier this year, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and his Ugandan counterpart Agather Atuhaire were detained in Tanzania and held incommunicado for days before being abandoned at their respective national borders.

They later recounted being brutally mistreated, including sexual torture at the hands of the Tanzanian authorities – allegations which police dismissed as "hearsay".

Last year, another Uganda opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, mysteriously disappeared in Nairobi only to surface four days later in a military court in Uganda, where he faces treason charges.

The cases have since sparked widespread condemnation and concerns that East African governments could be collaborating to contain dissent.

You may also be interested in:

• How a Ugandan opposition leader disappeared in Kenya and ended up in military court
• 'We live in fear' - forced expulsions taint Kenya's safe haven image
• Uganda's Yoweri Museveni: How an ex-rebel has stayed in power for 35 years
• Bobi Wine: Uganda's 'ghetto president'

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

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

American delivery firms UPS and FedEx have temporarily grounded part of their fleets of cargo planes after a mid-takeoff crash in Kentucky on Tuesday left at least 14 people dead.

The UPS aircraft burst into flames as it careered off the runway and collided with neighbouring business premises, triggering a huge fire which gutted several buildings and closed Louisville International Airport.

UPS said the decision to ground MD-11 models followed instructions from manufacturer Boeing, while rival delivery giant FedEx confirmed it would follow suit.

Officials are yet to determine what caused the deadly crash.

Hours before the fleet was ground, it was confirmed the death toll had risen to 14 after another body was found, with buildings caught up in the fire still being searched for possible additional victims.

"We pray for each of the victims' families and pray that no additional victims are lost," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said.

In a statement, UPS said the decision to ground 9% of its fleet was out of an "abundance of caution".

It is unclear to what extent delivery services will be impacted by the moves from UPS and Fedex.

UPS said contingency plans were in place to continue service. A statement continued: "Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our employees and the communities we serve."

The model of aircraft involved in the crash was a MD-11F triple-engine plane, which first entered service 34 years ago with Thai Airways as a passenger jet, but was transferred to UPS in 2006.

MD-11s were originally manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, before the company merged with Boeing in 1997.

According to the National Transportation and Safety Board, the left engine caught fire and detached from the wing during take off.

The aircraft was carrying 38,000 gallons (144,000 litres) of fuel as it attempted to disembark for a long flight to Hawaii, which contributed to the size of the fire which broke out after the crash.

"For my money, the best pop groups are girl bands," says Andy McCluskey, frontman of OMD and the mastermind behind Atomic Kitten.

"Boy bands are absolutely horrible. They only sell records because lovestruck girls have their poster on the bedroom wall."

Not the most sensitive observation, perhaps, but McCluskey - speaking to BBC News in 2010 - had a point.

With a few notable exceptions (Blackstreet, Five, One Direction), boy bands coast along on good looks and syrupy ballads that promise "Girl, I know you're the one, girl."

Their female counterparts, from The Ronettes in the 1960s to TLC in the 90s and Katseye in 2025, are more experimental, with more conceptual versatility and, frankly, better songs.

Just look at the anarchic energy of The Spice Girls' Wannabe, or the seven-part pop Frankenstein that was Girls Aloud's Biology and ask yourself, "Could Westlife have pulled that off?" (Hint: Not a chance).

But, for a long time, girl bands were the underdogs, dismissed as vapid and superficial. It took 41 years for an all-female act, in the form of Little Mix, to win best group at the Brit Awards.

The BBC documentary Girlbands Forever aims to set the record straight, celebrating all that melodic brilliance while revealing the darker side of the industry.

In the first two episodes, broadcast last week, Kelle Bryan of the 90s band Eternal recalls a gruelling boot camp where the band's diet was strictly controlled; while a tearful Melanie Blatt of All Saints describes being told to have an abortion in case her pregnancy jeopardised the band (she declined).

This Saturday's final episode focuses on the ever-changing line-up of the Sugababes; illustrating how callous the industry could be.

"It didn't really bother me that Sugababes had a revolving door, because sometimes the brand can be bigger than the individual, and Sugababes were a brand," opines Darcus Beese, former head of the band's record label, Island.

Looking at the group's 2009 line-up – which featured none of the original members – he makes a scathing observation: "I don't even think they were good [enough] to be a tribute band."

Across the documentary, the same story repeats itself, of young singers with high hopes, thrust into an unforgiving industry.

"People only see the glamorous side, but we worked incredibly hard," Atomic Kitten's Kerry Katona tells BBC News.

"At one stage, all three of us was on drips. We had no control and no say."

In an unpublished interview from 2023, Girls Aloud told me a similar story of being cast adrift without an anchor.

Put together on ITV's reality show Pop Stars: The Rivals, they were left to fend for themselves, without a formal day-to-day manager for more than a year.

"It was chaos," said Nadine Coyle. "We were children and nobody was looking after us.

"The marketing team wanted us to do one thing, the live agent wanted us to do another, the TV team wanted us on breakfast TV. And there was nobody looking at the big picture and thinking, 'These girls are working 22 hours a day, seven days a week'."

Cheryl said the band were so clueless that they'd phone the head of their record label to tell him their washing machine had broken down.

"But in the end, we knew how every single part of the business worked," said Kimberley Walsh.

"It gave us a real strength of character," agreed Nicola Roberts. "We weren't afraid to say, 'No, we don't want to do this', because we had no middle man to hide behind."

'Feisty attitudes'

Other groups were less fortunate. Siobhan Donaghy was only 16 when the Sugababes' first single - the nonchalantly brilliant Overload - hit the Top 10. At the time, she had no idea how to speak up for herself.

"We were too young to know that we could make changes," she told me last year. "We didn't question anything, we just rolled with it.

"Now, if something's not working, we understand it's our business and we get everyone on the same page."

Su-Elise Nash, who was part of the R&B crossover act Mis-Teeq between 1999 and 2005, says the band's independence (they managed themselves and co-wrote all their songs) protected them from the worst of the industry.

"We were never scared to speak our mind and I think that feisty attitude steered us in the right direction," she laughs. "People knew they couldn't take the mick."

Inspired by US vocal harmony groups such as En Vogue and SWV, Mis-Teeq cleverly incorporated garage and hip-hop to their sound, with Alesha Dixon's rat-a-tat MC'ing setting them apart from more their pop rivals.

But despite achieving transatlantic success with songs including Why and Scandalous, the trio faced a constant battle with racism.

One record executive told Dixon that "black girls won't sell records in the UK", and the band found it harder than their white counterparts to secure press coverage.

"It wasn't blatantly, outrightly said that they didn't think three black girls would sell magazines, but that was the attitude of the people in power," says Nash, speaking from her home in Australia.

"Rather than being battered down by it. We just thought, 'Let's work harder to get their respect and eventually they'll come back begging for us to be on the front cover'."

In contrast to Mis-Teeq, bands such as Girls Aloud and Atomic Kitten became unwilling cover stars, in an era where tabloid newspapers wouldn't think twice about splashing pictures of drunken and distraught pop stars on their front pages.

"There was around 40 paparazzi outside my house every day," says Katona, and they weren't looking for flattering portraits.

"When I had my first baby, Molly, they printed [my photo with] a circle of shame around my stretch marks," she recalls

"It messes your head up. It made me suicidal. I didn't know how else to cope with it, so I turned to drugs.

"If I didn't have my children, I guarantee it, I would not be sat here today."

The harassment, and a string of revelations about her private life, ultimately prompted her to quit the band.

"I realised I didn't want the fame or the riches. I wanted to be a mum and a wife. Being a kid from foster home, that was all I actually craved."

The dream also came to a premature end for Su-Elise Nash. Mis-Teeq were in the middle of recording their third album when their label, Telstar, went bankrupt.

"It was a tough position to be in," she says. "They went into administration owing us a lot of money."

The band, in the middle of an exhausting six-month tour, decided to call it a day.

"In the same week, my grandmother got diagnosed with thyroid cancer and given months to live," says Nash. "So I got to spend those last six months with her, without having to go back to America, and do all those things that were in the diary,

"I don't have any regrets, because that's time I would never have got back."

The industry has matured since the girl band explosion of the early 2000s. Today, there's a wider awareness about mental health, and more efforts to mitigate the pressures facing young stars.

When Little Mix launched a TV talent show in September 2020, they insisted that the BBC provided aftercare for the contestants.

"We didn't have that, really, on the show that we came from," said Leigh-Anne Pinnock, referring to the band's experiences on The X Factor.

"It was all just go, go, go," agreed Jesy Nelson. "I personally don't feel like there was anyone who cared."

That said, girl groups still maintain shocking schedules. K-pop idols Le Sserafim recently told me they rehearse six hours every day, before fulfilling their other obligations in recording sessions, TV shows, and creating social media content.

So it's no surprise there's a bond between people who've survived the process.

"After the first episode of the documentary went out, I woke up to lovely messages from [Atomic Kitten's] Natasha Hamilton and Keisha from the Sugababes," says Su-Elise Nash.

"There's a lot of good feeling between the girls. It's not a catty, bitchy rivalry."

"And since doing the documentary, it's really resonated with me just how much work we put in and how many attitudes we changed, how many barriers we broke down.

"So when I look back, I feel proud. I feel really proud."

Since the end of August, tens of thousands of Australians have been tuning in to "Nest-flix", a high drama 24-hour reality channel that first became a hit during the Covid pandemic.

Sometimes compared to Game of Thrones, it features airborne fights, cuckolds, births, breakups and earthquakes, courtesy of its stars - the peregrine falcons who live at the top of a Melbourne skyscraper.

Currently fans are waiting for the moment when this year's chicks, which began hatching at the end of September, attempt their first flight.

They can be seen running up and down flapping their wings on the ledge – 34 storeys high – while their mother has been flying past with pigeons in her talons. "She's teasing the chicks, going 'You wanna eat? Well you gotta fly'," says Dr Victor Hurley, founder of the Victorian Peregrine Project.

The goading and deliberate reduction in food encourages them to fly and helps them lose weight, he says. "Their wings are growing and getting bigger and they get a better wing load ratio to wing load area so they can lift off easier."

The launch of 'Nest-flix'

Dr Hurley was first tipped off to the peregrine nesting site on the office building at 367 Collins Street in 1991, the year he established the Victorian Peregrine Project, a volunteer group dedicated to the preservation of the species.

But he realised the falcons were having no success because they had laid their eggs in a metal gutter, which acts as a heat sink, drawing warmth away from the nest. "Rain gutters in winter in Melbourne, that was always going to end badly," he says.

Dr Hurley recommended the building managers put in a nest box - which they agreed to do - and the following year three chicks were born. A CCTV camera was put in to observe the nest in 1993 and every year at breeding time Dr Hurley would drag his large screen TV into the foyer so that people in the building could watch.

Then in 2017 a webcam was installed and "Nest-flix" was broadcast live on YouTube. The falcons also have their own Facebook fan page with more than 50,000 members.

"It's quite a supportive corner of the internet where people just enjoy watching birds," says Kylie Humrick, who joined the group in 2017 and has since become one of its moderators. "During Covid the group just exploded because it gave people a sense of connection to the world around them."

"We hear a lot about how wildlife is struggling and it's good to see some birds that are thriving in the built environment," she adds. A favourite moment was in 2021 when the livestream captured a falcon being startled off the nest by an earthquake.

Fights and 'floaters'

Over the years the nest has been inhabited by six to seven different pairs of falcons, possibly more. The piece of central Melbourne real estate is "highly prized" by the birds, Dr Hurley says. "There's a guarantee of hot and cold running pigeons and sparrows all year round. So food's laid on for them."

This, and the fact that peregrine falcons are extremely territorial - the closest they'll nest to each other is about 1.6km - has led to some spectacular fights over the nesting site with "floaters" - peregrines who haven't paired off or established their own territory - launching raids.

In 2022, drama ensued when a male falcon (described as "wimpy" by Dr Hurley) was replaced by a younger bird halfway through the incubation period after a weeks-long battle.

The older male was almost certainly killed by the "step-father" who was "rubbish" at his new incubation duties, says Dr Hurley, although he notes that at least he didn't eat the chicks when they hatched as has been known to happen and did in fact provide them with their first feed.

"People started referring to him as the dad that stepped up," says Ms Humrick.

Then in 2023, the resident female falcon appeared to have sustained brain damage after getting "beaten up" by another female. "She retained the territory for a couple of weeks but she was standing next to the eggs all night one night in winter so she was clearly not alright," says Dr Hurley. There were no chicks that year.

Years earlier another female falcon was killed in a seven-hour fight that was so loud the building managers called Dr Hurley.

Dr Hurley emphasises that these behaviours are natural and has rejected entreaties from falcon watchers to intervene. "These things kills other birds for a living, that's their specialty and when they're taking over nests there's no prisoner abuse scandal, they just kill each other."

Peregrine falcons, which were once nearly wiped out in Australia due to the use of pesticides in agriculture, have staged a recovery since the 1980s when DDT and other chemicals were banned.

The birds - known as the fastest animals on earth, reaching speeds of up to 389km/h - are now to be found in almost every major city across the country, where tall buildings mimic the cliffs they prefer in nature.

But they still face challenges, not least their first flight, which for the chicks at 367 Collins Street is expected any day soon. The male chick is expected to fly first, possibly as early as Saturday, followed around a week later by his two sisters. Female chicks are typically 30% heavier than their brothers, so they take a little longer to develop the necessary strength to fly.

Dr Hurley hopes they all take their time as that means "they'll be stronger and more capable"; an ill-timed gust of wind could blow them into a window or they could land badly. One of last year's chicks had to spend several weeks at a rehabilitation centre after becoming trapped behind a glass balcony screen on another skyscraper.

Once they make their first kill they'll be on their own, potentially chased out of the territory altogether depending on the ruthlessness of their parents. A 60% mortality rate in the first year means it's a "tough gig" being a young peregrine falcon, Dr Hurley observes, adding that such a rate is common among predators.

"If every lion that was born survived to become an adult and breed, you'd run out of zebra and wildebeest pretty quick."

It's not clear what has happened to the earlier chicks from Collins Street despite up to 40 being banded, but they will usually travel tens of kilometres away to establish their own territories and avoid inbreeding. If they survive their second year - two thirds do not - they can begin breeding at three.

Among the Facebook watchers excitement is building ahead of the expected fledging. "Headed to Melbourne soon and binoculars already packed, hoping to spot them!" one group member posted this week. "Be still my freaked out heart," another wrote as one chick perched close to the edge of the ledge.

"It's always an exciting time in the group, viewership definitely goes up the closer we get to fledging. People look forward to seeing them go out into the world," says Ms Humrick. "We don't know what happens to them after they fledge but it's nice to see them reach that milestone."

US President Donald Trump says he will consider allowing Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban to buy Russian oil, in an exemption from sanctions aimed at helping to end the Ukraine war.

Speaking on Friday during Orban's visit to the White House, Trump said an allowance might be made because "it's very difficult for him [Orban] to get the oil and gas from other areas".

The comments come after the US effectively blacklisted two of Russia's largest oil companies last month, threatening sanctions on those that buy from them.

Following the meeting, Hungary's foreign minister wrote on X that the US had given Budapest "a full and unlimited exemption from sanctions on oil and gas".

Trump added that while Hungary faced unique logistical challenges, including access to a sea that could be used to drill oil, he was "very disturbed" by other European countries that he said continued to buy Russian commodities despite not being landlocked.

Orban, who is one of Trump's closest allies in Europe and who has long resisted EU efforts to pressure Moscow over Ukraine, has defended his energy ties with Russia, saying on Friday that pipelines are neither "ideological" nor "political", but a "physical reality" due to the lack of ports.

He has been using his country's heavy dependence on Russian oil and gas as a means to maintain his good relations with Moscow, as well as a platform upon which he hopes to win re-election next April in Hungary. He has promised "cheap Russian energy" to voters.

Trump and Orban also discussed the war in Ukraine on Friday - their first formal talks since Trump returned to power - including the possibility of holding talks with Putin.

"He [Orban] understands Putin and knows him very well... I think that Viktor feels we're going to get that war ended in the not-too-distant future", Trump said.

The Hungarian leader, meanwhile, said only their two nations truly wanted peace in Ukraine.

"All the other governments prefer to continue the war because many of them think that Ukraine can win on the front line, which is a misunderstanding of the situation."

Trump asked him: "So you would say that Ukraine cannot win that war?" To which Orban replied: "You know, a miracle can happen."

Aside from the issue of oil and gas sanctions, Hungary's export-driven car industry has been hit by Trump's tariffs on European goods, adding to an already weak economy.

Despite frequent clashes with EU leaders over migration, democracy, and the rule of law, Trump urged Europe to "respect this leader very, very strongly because he's been right on immigration."

with additional reporting by Nick Thorpe

A great leader is a huge asset for company, of course, but can anyone be worth $1 trillion?

That is the pay packet Tesla shareholders have approved for Elon Musk, as long as he meets the targets they have set over the next 10 years.

In the meantime he won't collect a salary, but will presumably throw himself into his work with renewed vigour.

He was certainly buzzing with energy as he jigged around the stage at the carmaker's Texas headquarters to rapturous applause, telling the audience that while other shareholder meetings were "snoozefests", Tesla's are "bangers".

Musk has attracted an army of critics, upset that he sided with US President Donald Trump, wielding his chainsaw at government programmes, and wading into politics overseas with explicit support for the far right.

But he has an equally large following of admirers, people who believe in his vision and don't doubt that he can achieve it.

It seems most of his shareholders are in this camp, after they backed his new remuneration package this week.

Of course shareholders signed up, says New York-based financial analyst Dan Ives. If Musk succeeds - and Ives thinks he will - he will have created trillions of dollars worth of shareholder value, ample payback for investors.

Ives sees Musk as a "modern day Albert Einstein, a Thomas Edison".

Without the stupendous pay package, he says, there was a risk that within a few years Musk would have walked away, taking his Artificial Intellgience (AI) initiatives with him.

"Tesla without Musk is like pizza without cheese," he says.

Ives does not own shares in Tesla, but analyses the company for his firm Wedbush Securities and thinks Musk's "ability to go where others are not" means he may well achieve the targets that have been set.

"There's edgy behaviour, there's haters, but a lot of people love that. And that's why he's the richest person in the world.

"Does it help sell cars in Europe? No. But does it help Tesla win the AI race? Yes."

Musk's political activities have prompted a backlash from some customers, including demonstrations outside showrooms earlier this year.

But Matt Britzman at Hargreaves Lansdown in London, who has invested in Tesla, says the impact is a drop in the ocean when it comes to Tesla's earnings.

Far from weighing on the firm's valuation, he reckons around a third of the value of Tesla can be attributed to what he calls the "Musk premium", value that wouldn't be there without him.

"It's a $1.4 trillion company, not based on the current car business. It's a $1.4 trillion business based on expectations of what it can deliver over the next three years."

And a lot of those expectations are fixed on Musk and his record of thinking big and thinking long term, he says.

The potential reward for Musk is as astronomical as his vision for space travel.

With $1 trillion you could buy 20 million Model Y Teslas, at around $50,000 each. Or you could buy yourself a $10m house every day for 250 years, and still have change for furnishing and decorating.

The conditions appear to be very testing, including delivering 20 million Tesla vehicles and one million robots. A million self-driving Robotaxi vehicles will also need to be on the roads.

Tesla's overall market value will need to rise from its current $1.4tn to $8.5tn.

These are "incredibly high milestones", says Ann Lipton, a law professor at the University of Colorado.

However, the board does have "discretion" to decide when some of them have been met, she adds.

"If intervening events prevent him from reaching the goals, the board can deem them met anyway."

So the targets may not turn out to be quite as demanding as they appear.

There is also nothing in the terms, no constraint, that prevents Musk continuing to speak out about politics or anything else.

"Even after the pay package was proposed, he didn't pull back from his political commentary," adds Prof Lipton.

"So it seems to me that this pay package, whatever the goals are, however lofty they may be, they're not going to inhibit him from involving himself in whatever matters he wants to be involved in."

That freedom could pose the biggest risk, according to Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at car sector marketing and software firm Cox Automotive.

Musk is a visionary she says, but he's also unpredictable, and it is possible that his other interests may distract him as they have before, leading him to neglect Tesla, which itself is already a smorgasbord of different businesses and challenges.

"I'm hoping that based on his experience with getting politically involved and how that really hurt some of his brand and sales that he has learned to really focus on this business.

"But that's going to be the board's responsibility," she adds, "to make sure that he stays within the guardrails, and that he does what's right for Tesla."

And if he does, well the sky is the limit, or possibly Mars, for Musk's ambition.

"People laughed when his 2018 pay package was approved," says Prof Lipton. "And he hit those milestones well ahead of schedule."

Israel has received a coffin that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said contains the body of a hostage, Israel's military says.

Hamas's armed wing said the body had been found on Friday in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The body has been transported to Israel via the Red Cross for identification.

Before this handover, Hamas had returned all 20 living hostages and 22 out of 28 deceased hostages under the first phase of a ceasefire deal that started on 10 October. Five of the six dead hostages still in Gaza were Israelis and one was Thai.

Israel has criticised Hamas for not yet returning all the bodies. Hamas says it is hard to find them under rubble.

During the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, Israel freed 250 Palestinian prisoners in its jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

Israel has also handed over the bodies of 285 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the 19 Israeli hostages returned by Hamas, along with those of three foreign hostages - one of them Thai, one Nepalese and one Tanzanian.

The parties also agreed to an increase of aid to the Gaza Strip, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a halt to fighting, although violence has flared up as both sides accused one another of breaching the deal.

Israel launched air strikes after accusing Hamas fighters of killing two of its soldiers on 19 October and of killing another soldier on 28 October. Hamas said it was unaware of clashes in the area of the first incident and had no connection to the second attack.

Israeli military actions have killed at least 241 people since the start of the ceasefire, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage. All but one of the dead hostages still in Gaza were abducted in the attack.

At least 68,875 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, the health ministry reported.

Primark has long been a staple of UK high streets, luring in shoppers with low-priced clothes, accessories and homeware.

But in its UK and Ireland stores, like-for-like sales - a key metric in the retail industry - were down 3.1% in the year to September, which it attributed to a "weak" consumer environment and fewer people buying winter clothes during last year's mild autumn.

As online stores like Shein and Vinted continue to attract young shoppers, does Primark face a fight to remain relevant - or is it just fine?

"While the UK clothing market is seeing subdued growth, Primark has significantly underperformed the overall market," says Tamara Sender-Ceron, an associate director at market-research agency Mintel, adding that it faces "increased competition".

Some shoppers point out that online marketplaces like Shein and Temu have even lower prices, a huge range of products, and - crucially - home delivery, something Primark lacks.

At Primark's biggest London store on Oxford Street, which BBC News visited this week, Serena Milius has just popped in with her 12-year-old daughter to look at pyjamas, socks and the new Stranger Things range.

Serena used to do most of her shopping at Primark - until Shein took over.

"Shein's our main thing," the 34-year-old finance manager from Tooting, south-west London, says.

She says her wardrobe is now 90% Shein, and goes to Primark for "little bits and bobs" like flipflops, candles, socks and cosmetics dupes.

Others tell the BBC they'd rather splash out on better-quality products. This includes Martha, a 23-year-old student in Leeds, who only shops at Primark for basics like T-shirts, socks, underwear and cotton buds. For other items, she turns to Weekday, Zara and independent shops.

"I like to buy more expensive items that I'm going to wear over the years," she tells the BBC as she browses clothes in a Primark store with her mum. With Primark, "it's not always a lasting item," she says.

The store was busy when the BBC visited on a late Wednesday afternoon, with mainly female shoppers browsing alone or in pairs. Some said they'd gone out of their way to visit, others popping in after finding themselves in the area.

Some say they're deterred by Primark's huge, sprawling stores which can sometimes get very busy.

"I do not enjoy shopping in a Primark," says Abbi Lily, a 24-year-old content creator from near Bournemouth. She describes the experience as "very overwhelming" and "overstimulating" and says it can be "impossible" to find things.

She used to buy most of her clothes from Primark, but feels it isn't as cheap as it used to be. "They just don't have the bargains as much anymore," she says, echoing comments some other shoppers made to the BBC.

Though Abbi sometimes shops at Shein, she's trying to become more "intentional" with her shopping and buy more second-hand items, including through Vinted and Depop.

A Primark spokesperson told BBC News that 85% of its products were £10 or under, and said it "continually benchmarks" its prices against competitors.

Shein uses AI to identify trends and launch "thousands of new styles daily", says Ms Sender-Ceron at Mintel.

According to a survey by Mintel in May, 46% of UK women aged 16 to 34 had bought fashion items from Shein in the last 12 months.

It has held pop-up shops in London and this week opened its first permanent physical shop in a department store in Paris, with long queues of people waiting to get their hands on cut-price garments.

"You can buy anything from Shein," said one shopper waiting in the French capital to visit on its opening day. "It's such a cool thing for people my age who are struggling in this economy."

Critics point to the environmental impact of fast fashion and working conditions in its factories. At the Paris launch, protestors gathered outside calling for a boycott of the brand.

Should Primark offer delivery?

With Shein specialising in delivering clothes to your door, Primark does offer click-and-collect services in its nearly 200 UK stores - but not deliveries.

Some high-street retailers have been struggling in the UK, but Primark has largely bucked the trend - it's closing a store in Dartford, Kent, next year, which reports say will be its first store closure in a decade. It also opened dedicated Primark Home stores in Belfast and Manchester.

Primark relies on its customers shopping in bulk, Mr Stevenson says. "You might be going in for one thing, but you end up buying seven things that you hadn't really thought about," he says. This doesn't happen as much with online shopping, he says.

Would Primark's sales be boosted if it did offer delivery? Mr Stevenson is sceptical, saying "it doesn't feel like they're losing out by not doing that", but that it could be an option in future.

"If you wanted to buy a couple of things from Primark for £5 each, are you going to pay 50% of that in delivery charge?" he asks. "Because buying £10 of stuff is going to cost me £5 to get it tomorrow."

Primark's spokesperson said that its online model was a "deliberate choice to streamline operations and pass the savings directly to customers".

Though Primark's like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland are down, "I absolutely don't think they're doing badly," says Mr Stevenson, the Peel Hunt analyst. Its UK and Ireland market share has grown, according to data from market-research company Kantar.

And its total sales globally in the year to September were up 1% compared to the previous year as it opened more stores in Europe and the US.

For some shoppers, Primark will always have a hold on them. "I absolutely love Primark," says Khloe Lightholder, a 34-year-old childcare worker from Essex.

She says Primark is "actually quite good quality for the price" and she visits every few months for a couple of hours, usually spending £200 or more on shoes, bags, perfume and homeware. She sets herself a monthly budget, "but every time I go to Primark that budget is out of the window".

How much of a threat Shein and other budget retailers pose is an ongoing challenge, but it doesn't feel like Primark's brown shopping bags will disappear from our high streets any time soon.

"For my money, the best pop groups are girl bands," says Andy McCluskey, frontman of OMD and the mastermind behind Atomic Kitten.

"Boy bands are absolutely horrible. They only sell records because lovestruck girls have their poster on the bedroom wall."

Not the most sensitive observation, perhaps, but McCluskey - speaking to BBC News in 2010 - had a point.

With a few notable exceptions (Blackstreet, Five, One Direction), boy bands coast along on good looks and syrupy ballads that promise "Girl, I know you're the one, girl."

Their female counterparts, from The Ronettes in the 1960s to TLC in the 90s and Katseye in 2025, are more experimental, with more conceptual versatility and, frankly, better songs.

Just look at the anarchic energy of The Spice Girls' Wannabe, or the seven-part pop Frankenstein that was Girls Aloud's Biology and ask yourself, "Could Westlife have pulled that off?" (Hint: Not a chance).

But, for a long time, girl bands were the underdogs, dismissed as vapid and superficial. It took 41 years for an all-female act, in the form of Little Mix, to win best group at the Brit Awards.

The BBC documentary Girlbands Forever aims to set the record straight, celebrating all that melodic brilliance while revealing the darker side of the industry.

In the first two episodes, broadcast last week, Kelle Bryan of the 90s band Eternal recalls a gruelling boot camp where the band's diet was strictly controlled; while a tearful Melanie Blatt of All Saints describes being told to have an abortion in case her pregnancy jeopardised the band (she declined).

This Saturday's final episode focuses on the ever-changing line-up of the Sugababes; illustrating how callous the industry could be.

"It didn't really bother me that Sugababes had a revolving door, because sometimes the brand can be bigger than the individual, and Sugababes were a brand," opines Darcus Beese, former head of the band's record label, Island.

Looking at the group's 2009 line-up – which featured none of the original members – he makes a scathing observation: "I don't even think they were good [enough] to be a tribute band."

Across the documentary, the same story repeats itself, of young singers with high hopes, thrust into an unforgiving industry.

"People only see the glamorous side, but we worked incredibly hard," Atomic Kitten's Kerry Katona tells BBC News.

"At one stage, all three of us was on drips. We had no control and no say."

In an unpublished interview from 2023, Girls Aloud told me a similar story of being cast adrift without an anchor.

Put together on ITV's reality show Pop Stars: The Rivals, they were left to fend for themselves, without a formal day-to-day manager for more than a year.

"It was chaos," said Nadine Coyle. "We were children and nobody was looking after us.

"The marketing team wanted us to do one thing, the live agent wanted us to do another, the TV team wanted us on breakfast TV. And there was nobody looking at the big picture and thinking, 'These girls are working 22 hours a day, seven days a week'."

Cheryl said the band were so clueless that they'd phone the head of their record label to tell him their washing machine had broken down.

"But in the end, we knew how every single part of the business worked," said Kimberley Walsh.

"It gave us a real strength of character," agreed Nicola Roberts. "We weren't afraid to say, 'No, we don't want to do this', because we had no middle man to hide behind."

'Feisty attitudes'

Other groups were less fortunate. Siobhan Donaghy was only 16 when the Sugababes' first single - the nonchalantly brilliant Overload - hit the Top 10. At the time, she had no idea how to speak up for herself.

"We were too young to know that we could make changes," she told me last year. "We didn't question anything, we just rolled with it.

"Now, if something's not working, we understand it's our business and we get everyone on the same page."

Su-Elise Nash, who was part of the R&B crossover act Mis-Teeq between 1999 and 2005, says the band's independence (they managed themselves and co-wrote all their songs) protected them from the worst of the industry.

"We were never scared to speak our mind and I think that feisty attitude steered us in the right direction," she laughs. "People knew they couldn't take the mick."

Inspired by US vocal harmony groups such as En Vogue and SWV, Mis-Teeq cleverly incorporated garage and hip-hop to their sound, with Alesha Dixon's rat-a-tat MC'ing setting them apart from more their pop rivals.

But despite achieving transatlantic success with songs including Why and Scandalous, the trio faced a constant battle with racism.

One record executive told Dixon that "black girls won't sell records in the UK", and the band found it harder than their white counterparts to secure press coverage.

"It wasn't blatantly, outrightly said that they didn't think three black girls would sell magazines, but that was the attitude of the people in power," says Nash, speaking from her home in Australia.

"Rather than being battered down by it. We just thought, 'Let's work harder to get their respect and eventually they'll come back begging for us to be on the front cover'."

In contrast to Mis-Teeq, bands such as Girls Aloud and Atomic Kitten became unwilling cover stars, in an era where tabloid newspapers wouldn't think twice about splashing pictures of drunken and distraught pop stars on their front pages.

"There was around 40 paparazzi outside my house every day," says Katona, and they weren't looking for flattering portraits.

"When I had my first baby, Molly, they printed [my photo with] a circle of shame around my stretch marks," she recalls

"It messes your head up. It made me suicidal. I didn't know how else to cope with it, so I turned to drugs.

"If I didn't have my children, I guarantee it, I would not be sat here today."

The harassment, and a string of revelations about her private life, ultimately prompted her to quit the band.

"I realised I didn't want the fame or the riches. I wanted to be a mum and a wife. Being a kid from foster home, that was all I actually craved."

The dream also came to a premature end for Su-Elise Nash. Mis-Teeq were in the middle of recording their third album when their label, Telstar, went bankrupt.

"It was a tough position to be in," she says. "They went into administration owing us a lot of money."

The band, in the middle of an exhausting six-month tour, decided to call it a day.

"In the same week, my grandmother got diagnosed with thyroid cancer and given months to live," says Nash. "So I got to spend those last six months with her, without having to go back to America, and do all those things that were in the diary,

"I don't have any regrets, because that's time I would never have got back."

The industry has matured since the girl band explosion of the early 2000s. Today, there's a wider awareness about mental health, and more efforts to mitigate the pressures facing young stars.

When Little Mix launched a TV talent show in September 2020, they insisted that the BBC provided aftercare for the contestants.

"We didn't have that, really, on the show that we came from," said Leigh-Anne Pinnock, referring to the band's experiences on The X Factor.

"It was all just go, go, go," agreed Jesy Nelson. "I personally don't feel like there was anyone who cared."

That said, girl groups still maintain shocking schedules. K-pop idols Le Sserafim recently told me they rehearse six hours every day, before fulfilling their other obligations in recording sessions, TV shows, and creating social media content.

So it's no surprise there's a bond between people who've survived the process.

"After the first episode of the documentary went out, I woke up to lovely messages from [Atomic Kitten's] Natasha Hamilton and Keisha from the Sugababes," says Su-Elise Nash.

"There's a lot of good feeling between the girls. It's not a catty, bitchy rivalry."

"And since doing the documentary, it's really resonated with me just how much work we put in and how many attitudes we changed, how many barriers we broke down.

"So when I look back, I feel proud. I feel really proud."

Since the end of August, tens of thousands of Australians have been tuning in to "Nest-flix", a high drama 24-hour reality channel that first became a hit during the Covid pandemic.

Sometimes compared to Game of Thrones, it features airborne fights, cuckolds, births, breakups and earthquakes, courtesy of its stars - the peregrine falcons who live at the top of a Melbourne skyscraper.

Currently fans are waiting for the moment when this year's chicks, which began hatching at the end of September, attempt their first flight.

They can be seen running up and down flapping their wings on the ledge – 34 storeys high – while their mother has been flying past with pigeons in her talons. "She's teasing the chicks, going 'You wanna eat? Well you gotta fly'," says Dr Victor Hurley, founder of the Victorian Peregrine Project.

The goading and deliberate reduction in food encourages them to fly and helps them lose weight, he says. "Their wings are growing and getting bigger and they get a better wing load ratio to wing load area so they can lift off easier."

The launch of 'Nest-flix'

Dr Hurley was first tipped off to the peregrine nesting site on the office building at 367 Collins Street in 1991, the year he established the Victorian Peregrine Project, a volunteer group dedicated to the preservation of the species.

But he realised the falcons were having no success because they had laid their eggs in a metal gutter, which acts as a heat sink, drawing warmth away from the nest. "Rain gutters in winter in Melbourne, that was always going to end badly," he says.

Dr Hurley recommended the building managers put in a nest box - which they agreed to do - and the following year three chicks were born. A CCTV camera was put in to observe the nest in 1993 and every year at breeding time Dr Hurley would drag his large screen TV into the foyer so that people in the building could watch.

Then in 2017 a webcam was installed and "Nest-flix" was broadcast live on YouTube. The falcons also have their own Facebook fan page with more than 50,000 members.

"It's quite a supportive corner of the internet where people just enjoy watching birds," says Kylie Humrick, who joined the group in 2017 and has since become one of its moderators. "During Covid the group just exploded because it gave people a sense of connection to the world around them."

"We hear a lot about how wildlife is struggling and it's good to see some birds that are thriving in the built environment," she adds. A favourite moment was in 2021 when the livestream captured a falcon being startled off the nest by an earthquake.

Fights and 'floaters'

Over the years the nest has been inhabited by six to seven different pairs of falcons, possibly more. The piece of central Melbourne real estate is "highly prized" by the birds, Dr Hurley says. "There's a guarantee of hot and cold running pigeons and sparrows all year round. So food's laid on for them."

This, and the fact that peregrine falcons are extremely territorial - the closest they'll nest to each other is about 1.6km - has led to some spectacular fights over the nesting site with "floaters" - peregrines who haven't paired off or established their own territory - launching raids.

In 2022, drama ensued when a male falcon (described as "wimpy" by Dr Hurley) was replaced by a younger bird halfway through the incubation period after a weeks-long battle.

The older male was almost certainly killed by the "step-father" who was "rubbish" at his new incubation duties, says Dr Hurley, although he notes that at least he didn't eat the chicks when they hatched as has been known to happen and did in fact provide them with their first feed.

"People started referring to him as the dad that stepped up," says Ms Humrick.

Then in 2023, the resident female falcon appeared to have sustained brain damage after getting "beaten up" by another female. "She retained the territory for a couple of weeks but she was standing next to the eggs all night one night in winter so she was clearly not alright," says Dr Hurley. There were no chicks that year.

Years earlier another female falcon was killed in a seven-hour fight that was so loud the building managers called Dr Hurley.

Dr Hurley emphasises that these behaviours are natural and has rejected entreaties from falcon watchers to intervene. "These things kills other birds for a living, that's their specialty and when they're taking over nests there's no prisoner abuse scandal, they just kill each other."

Peregrine falcons, which were once nearly wiped out in Australia due to the use of pesticides in agriculture, have staged a recovery since the 1980s when DDT and other chemicals were banned.

The birds - known as the fastest animals on earth, reaching speeds of up to 389km/h - are now to be found in almost every major city across the country, where tall buildings mimic the cliffs they prefer in nature.

But they still face challenges, not least their first flight, which for the chicks at 367 Collins Street is expected any day soon. The male chick is expected to fly first, possibly as early as Saturday, followed around a week later by his two sisters. Female chicks are typically 30% heavier than their brothers, so they take a little longer to develop the necessary strength to fly.

Dr Hurley hopes they all take their time as that means "they'll be stronger and more capable"; an ill-timed gust of wind could blow them into a window or they could land badly. One of last year's chicks had to spend several weeks at a rehabilitation centre after becoming trapped behind a glass balcony screen on another skyscraper.

Once they make their first kill they'll be on their own, potentially chased out of the territory altogether depending on the ruthlessness of their parents. A 60% mortality rate in the first year means it's a "tough gig" being a young peregrine falcon, Dr Hurley observes, adding that such a rate is common among predators.

"If every lion that was born survived to become an adult and breed, you'd run out of zebra and wildebeest pretty quick."

It's not clear what has happened to the earlier chicks from Collins Street despite up to 40 being banded, but they will usually travel tens of kilometres away to establish their own territories and avoid inbreeding. If they survive their second year - two thirds do not - they can begin breeding at three.

Among the Facebook watchers excitement is building ahead of the expected fledging. "Headed to Melbourne soon and binoculars already packed, hoping to spot them!" one group member posted this week. "Be still my freaked out heart," another wrote as one chick perched close to the edge of the ledge.

"It's always an exciting time in the group, viewership definitely goes up the closer we get to fledging. People look forward to seeing them go out into the world," says Ms Humrick. "We don't know what happens to them after they fledge but it's nice to see them reach that milestone."

US President Donald Trump says he will consider allowing Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban to buy Russian oil, in an exemption from sanctions aimed at helping to end the Ukraine war.

Speaking on Friday during Orban's visit to the White House, Trump said an allowance might be made because "it's very difficult for him [Orban] to get the oil and gas from other areas".

The comments come after the US effectively blacklisted two of Russia's largest oil companies last month, threatening sanctions on those that buy from them.

Following the meeting, Hungary's foreign minister wrote on X that the US had given Budapest "a full and unlimited exemption from sanctions on oil and gas".

Trump added that while Hungary faced unique logistical challenges, including access to a sea that could be used to drill oil, he was "very disturbed" by other European countries that he said continued to buy Russian commodities despite not being landlocked.

Orban, who is one of Trump's closest allies in Europe and who has long resisted EU efforts to pressure Moscow over Ukraine, has defended his energy ties with Russia, saying on Friday that pipelines are neither "ideological" nor "political", but a "physical reality" due to the lack of ports.

He has been using his country's heavy dependence on Russian oil and gas as a means to maintain his good relations with Moscow, as well as a platform upon which he hopes to win re-election next April in Hungary. He has promised "cheap Russian energy" to voters.

Trump and Orban also discussed the war in Ukraine on Friday - their first formal talks since Trump returned to power - including the possibility of holding talks with Putin.

"He [Orban] understands Putin and knows him very well... I think that Viktor feels we're going to get that war ended in the not-too-distant future", Trump said.

The Hungarian leader, meanwhile, said only their two nations truly wanted peace in Ukraine.

"All the other governments prefer to continue the war because many of them think that Ukraine can win on the front line, which is a misunderstanding of the situation."

Trump asked him: "So you would say that Ukraine cannot win that war?" To which Orban replied: "You know, a miracle can happen."

Aside from the issue of oil and gas sanctions, Hungary's export-driven car industry has been hit by Trump's tariffs on European goods, adding to an already weak economy.

Despite frequent clashes with EU leaders over migration, democracy, and the rule of law, Trump urged Europe to "respect this leader very, very strongly because he's been right on immigration."

with additional reporting by Nick Thorpe

Serbia's parliament has passed a law which paves the way for a controversial property development led by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner in the capital Belgrade.

His firm Affinity Partners has sought to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex on the site of the former Yugoslav Army headquarters.

The ruined building, which was bombed by Nato forces in 1999 during its intervention to stop Serbia's military campaign in Kosovo, has symbolic value to some who view it as a memorial and symbol of ongoing opposition to the military alliance.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, who has pursued close ties with Trump, backed the plans despite protests and legal challenges.

Last year, the Serbian government stripped the building of its protected status and agreed a 99-year lease with Kushner's firm, which had set out plans for a $500m (£379.9m) development.

The decision triggered demonstrations and led to an investigation into whether a Serbian official had forged documentation used during the process to change the building's status.

In a conversation with the BBC in June, Vucic defended the proposal, saying "it's important to overcome the burden from 1999".

He continued: "We are ready to build better relations with the US – I think that is terribly important for this country."

The stalled planning process came to a head on Friday when Vucic's party - which has a majority in parliament - pushed ahead with a special vote on clearing the site and won.

Opposition politicians have labelled the decision unconstitutional, including Aleksandar Jovanovic, who described it as a crime, and told the AFP news agency that the landmark would be replaced with "casinos and Jacuzzis".

Meanwhile, centre-left MP Marinika Tepicċ said the government was sacrificing the country's history "to please Trump", Politico reported.

The passage of the law has also been criticised by architectural experts, and comes after Transparency Serbia, an anti-corruption organisation, raised concerns about state-backed developments.

According to Serbian media reports pre-dating his first presidential run, Trump has previously considered building a hotel in Belgrade.

Last March, Kushner told the New York Times he was not aware of his father-in-law's reported past interest.

The decision to clear the way for the development comes as Vucic's government seeks to maintain good relations with both Washington and Moscow.

Serbia has been impacted by both Trump's tariffs and sanctions on Russian interests in the country, including on its sole oil-refinery, the majority Russian-owned Nafna Industrika Srbije (NIS).