Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named game of the year at this year's Game Awards.

The French-developed role-playing game (RPG) cleaned up in 9 of the 10 categories it was up for, with further wins in best narrative, best music and best performance.

It fended off competition from Death Stranding 2, Nintendo platformer Donkey Kong Bananza, indie games Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2, and medieval adventure Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to claim the top prize.

During the ceremony in Los Angeles, players also got their first glimpses of two new Tomb Raider games, sequel Control Resonant and a new Star Wars role-playing game.

Clair Obscur is set in a world where a supernatural being known as The Paintress prevents the population from growing past a certain age.

The game, which tells the story of a group of adventurers on a quest to destroy The Paintress, was praised for its emotional narrative and use of old-school turn-based battles.

Players were also won over by the story of developer Sandfall Interactive, formed by a group of employees who left gaming giant Ubisoft to make their dream project.

Accepting the game of the year award, director Guillaume Broche - wearing a red beret and striped t-shirt - said the year had been a "weird timeline" for the studio as he thanked his team.

He also extended thanks to the "unsung heroes" of the industry - "the people who make tutorials on YouTube on how to make a game, because we had no idea how to make one before".

Clair Obscur was the hot favourite going into the awards, and the most-nominated game in the ceremony's history with a total of 12 nods.

Its composer Lorien Testard won the award for best score and music.

It was the debut project for the musician, who was discovered after he posted a collection of homemade video game music to his SoundCloud account.

Clair Obscur also romped to victory in the best role-playing game, best independent game and best debut indie game categories.

Three of its nominations were in a single category - best performance - and actress Jennifer English claimed the prize over co-stars Charlie Cox and Ben Starr for her role as Maelle.

The actress, who has often spoken about having ADHD, dedicated the award "to every neurodivergent person watching".

Clair Obscur only missed out on two awards it was up for.

Battlefield 6 won best audio design, while open-world action RPG Wuthering Waves was a surprising winner in the fan-voted Player's Voice category.

Best Game rival Donkey Kong Bananza won the family game award, and online shooter Arc Raiders won the best multiplayer prize.

Sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong was named best action-adventure, while anime-inspired horse racing game Umamusume: Pretty Derby was named best mobile game.

Despite being referred to as the "Oscars of gaming", the Game Awards, hosted by its founder Geoff Keighley, is a mixture of traditional ceremony and trailer showcase.

Some of the games industry's biggest developers will give the first look at upcoming major titles during the show, and it's thought that this is one of the main reasons many fans tune in.

One of the night's biggest announcements was RPG Divinity from Larian Studios, the maker of 2023 game of the year Baldur's Gate 3.

The developer had teased the reveal with a mysterious statue which first appeared in the Californian desert.

A remake of the original Tomb Raider game had also been leaked, but the announcement of a second, brand new entry starring Lara Croft came as a surprise.

The cast of the new Street Fighter movie adaptation, with the exception of rapper 50 Cent, introduced its first trailer.

And fans also saw new footage from the upcoming Resident Evil 9, confirming the appearance of fan-favourite character Leon Kennedy, and PS5 shooter Saros.

The Game Awards has been criticised in the past for prioritising advertising over awards, with winning speeches being cut short and on-stage presentations being absent in some categories.

There was praise of 2024's show for going some way to address criticisms, but developers have continued to call on organiser Geoff Keighley to better acknowledge problems in the industry, such as the high number of job losses in recent years.

This year, there have been complaints about the awards abandoning its Future Class scheme - an initiative founded in 2020 to highlight "rising stars" in video games.

It was last run in 2023, when current and former members of the group signed an open letter urging the awards to address the Israel-Gaza war.

In the run-up to this year's nominations, after it was confirmed Future Class would not return, alumni accused the scheme of tokenism and not doing enough to help them build contacts.

Last year, the ceremony gave out a new game changer award to Amir Satvat, for his work to help laid-off developers find jobs.

BBC Newsbeat has approached organisers for comment.

• A full list of winners is available on The Game Awards website.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

The winner of last year's Eurovision Song Contest, Nemo, has said they are returning their trophy in protest over Israel's continued participation in the event.

The 26-year-old Swiss singer said there is a "clear conflict" between Israel's involvement in the competition and the ideals of "unity, inclusion and dignity" the contest says it stands for.

Israel's presence at Eurovision has been an increasing source of tension, because of the war in Gaza and a voting controversy during this year's event.

Five countries - Iceland, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands - have announced they will boycott next year's event because Israel has been allowed to compete.

Israel has previously called the decision to keep it in the contest a "victory" over critics who had tried to silence it and spread hatred.

Nemo became the first non-binary performer to lift the Eurovision trophy with their song The Code, which is about the path to realising they were non-binary.

After the win, Nemo told the BBC about the challenges they faced during the contest and their feeling that organisers didn't do enough to support participants who were caught up in the row over Israel's inclusion in 2024.

"I felt very alone. I really hope they have things in place for the next year," Nemo said at the time. It prompted a series of new measures to be introduced to protect the mental well-being of Eurovision's artists and staff.

In a statement posted to Instagram on Thursday, Nemo said they felt the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) decision to allow Israel to still take part in the event no longer aligned with its core values.

"Israel's continued participation, during what the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry has concluded to be a genocide, shows a clear conflict between those ideals and the decision made by the EBU," they said, referring to a report released in September.

"Even though I am immensely grateful for the community around this contest and everything this experience has taught me both as a person and artist, today I no longer feel this trophy belongs on my shelf."

Nemo also posted a video of them placing the trophy in a cardboard box, saying it will be sent back to the EBU's headquarters in Geneva.

The boycotts and protests over Israel's inclusion has been the biggest crisis Eurovision has ever seen.

This year's competition also had a voting controversy and allegations that Israel's government tried to influence the public vote.

This prompted some competition rules to be changed and tightened, after which a "large majority" of members agreed there was no need for a further vote on participation and that Eurovision 2026 could proceed as planned, the EBU has said.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog has praised the decision to allow the country to compete, calling it "an appreciated gesture of solidarity, brotherhood, and co-operation".

Addressing the boycotts, Nemo insisted that their decision to hand back the trophy was not about "individuals or artists", but rather what they believed was the use of Eurovision to "soften the image of a state accused of severe wrongdoing".

"When entire countries withdraw, it should be clear that something is deeply wrong," they added.

"If the values we celebrate on stage aren't lived off stage then even the most beautiful songs become meaningless."

The war in Gaza was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 70,370 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Next year's Eurovision is due to take place in Vienna, for what is supposed to be a celebratory 70th anniversary edition of the contest.

The BBC has contacted Eurovision for comment.

Celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright will spend five months in prison for tampering with evidence after a helicopter crash that killed his co-star and left the pilot a paraplegic.

In August, the former Netflix star was found guilty of lying to police and pressuring a hospitalised witness after the 2022 crash in the Northern Territory (NT).

On Friday, Acting Justice Alan Blow handed Wright a 10-month prison term, which will be suspended after he has served half of it. He was also fined A$5,000 ($3,300; £2,500).

Justice Blow said Wright had "shown no remorse" but was "very unlikely to reoffend in any significant way in the future."

The maximum sentence for his charges was 15 years in prison.

The jury could not agree on a verdict for a third charge that alleged Wright asked someone to "torch" evidence.

Wright's lawyers indicated previously that they planned to appeal the guilty verdicts.

The judge pointed to mitigating factors in deciding the length of his jail term, like his contribution to the community and character references that were the "most impressive I've ever seen".

The NT Supreme Court case centred around a helicopter crash in February 2022 in Arnhem Land, about 500km (310 miles) east of Darwin.

Wright's friend and Outback Wrangler co-star Chris "Willow" Wilson - suspended from the chopper in a sling during a crocodile egg harvesting trip - was killed.

The pilot Sebastian Robinson was seriously injured, suffering punctured lungs and a severe brain injury.

Wright, who was not in the helicopter, was one of the first people to arrive at the crash site.

During the month-long trial, prosecutors told the court that Wright had lied to police about how much fuel was in the helicopter's tank when it plummeted to the ground.

The evidence included secret recordings of Wright's conversations which, the prosecution said, contradicted his claims that the fuel tank was half full when asked in police interviews.

Wright was also accused of going to the hospital bedside of Mr Robinson - who had been told by doctors he may never walk again - and asking him to change flight records that showed how many hours the aircraft had flown.

Prosecutors argued this was because Wright was worried that investigators would find out he regularly changed the official flying hours of a chopper to avoid costly maintenance.

The jury delivered unanimous verdicts for both the charges.

A third charge related to Wright asking a friend to "torch" the helicopter's maintenance record.

The jury was deadlocked on the third charge and unable to return a verdict. It remains under consideration by the courts.

The case does not relate to the cause of the crash, the death of Mr Wilson and Mr Robinson's injuries.

False flight records was the norm

The trial exposed the inner workings of the NT's helicopter community with revelations that it was common practice to "pop the clock" by disconnecting a meter that records flight hours in order to delay maintenance requirements.

The prosecution argued that falsifying flight records was rampant across the industry and Wright was worried his involvement in this practice would be blamed for the crash.

Wright's defence lawyer accepted that under reporting of flight hours was "widespread throughout the NT's helicopter community," but argued Wright had not perverted the course of justice when he tried to cover up the doctored records.

During the trial, the jury heard how Wright visited Mr Robinson several times while he was in hospital.

Wright, the prosecution claimed, was there to put "the hard word" on the injured pilot, asking Mr Robinson to transfer flight hours from the crashed aircraft to another helicopter.

During cross-examination, Mr Robinson denied being a "raging cocaine junkie" after another witness - a fellow helicopter pilot - described him as a "party animal".

The court heard that a blood sample from Mr Robinson showed traces of cocaine but below the "prescribed amount for enforcement" under aviation rules, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Mr Robinson also told the court he had no memory of the crash but conceded that he "must have intentionally disconnected" Wilson's sling as it was best practice in an emergency to release the collector. Investigators concluded that Wilson died after falling 25m to the ground.

'Everyone looked at Matt as an idol'

Wright is best known globally as the star of National Geographic's Outback Wrangler and Netflix's Wild Croc Territory reality shows.

He also owns several local tourism businesses and has been a tourism ambassador for Australia.

During the trial, Mr Robinson told the court how people who worked for Wright revered him.

"Absolutely, everyone looked at Matt as an idol and if he said 'jump' they'd say 'how high'," Mr Robinson said, adding "everyone wanted to be around him, work for him".

"We were young men, we looked up to him and we wanted to do our best to make ourselves look good in front of him and do whatever he said."

Before the sentencing was handed down, prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC said Wright should serve a term of "actual immediate imprisonment" to reflect the "seriousness" of his crimes.

He described Wright's repeated visits to Mr Robinson in hospital to request records be manipulated as significantly more serious than lying about the fuel as it was "considered, planned and all directed at achieving the result of obstructing the course of justice".

Wright's lawyer David Edwardson KC requested that the judge not sentence his client based on his "celebrity status" and that Wright's estimation about the chopper's fuel level was "done to protect a mate".

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from enforcing their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations.

"We want to have one central source of approval," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.

It will give the Trump administration tools to push back on the most "onerous" state rules, said White House AI adviser David Sacks. The government will not oppose AI regulations around children's safety, he added.

The move marks a win for technology giants who have called for US-wide AI legislation as it could have a major impact on America's goal of leading the fast-developing industry.

AI company bosses have argued that state-level regulations could slow innovation and hinder the US in its race against China to dominate the industry, with firms pouring billions of dollars into the technology.

The BBC has contacted AI firms OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Anthropic for comment.

But the announcement has been met with opposition.

The state of California, which is the home to many of the world's biggest technology companies, already has its own AI regulations.

"President Trump is attempting to limit the ability of states - red states and blue states alike - to implement common sense protections for our residents," the office of California's Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

Earlier this year, California's Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill requiring the largest AI developers to lay out plans to limit risks stemming from their AI models.

States including Colorado and New York have also passed laws regulating the development of the technology.

Newsom has said the law sets a standard that US lawmakers could follow.

Other critics of Trump's executive order argue that state laws are necessary in the absence of meaningful guardrails at the federal level.

"Stripping states from enacting their own AI safeguards undermines states' basic rights to establish sufficient guardrails to protect their residents," said Julie Scelfo, from advocacy group Mothers Against Media Addiction in a statement.

The number of patients in hospital in England with influenza has risen by more than 50% in the past week, with NHS bosses warning there is no sign of "super flu" peaking yet.

In the week up to Sunday there were 2,660 flu cases a day on average in hospital – and NHS England said the numbers had continued rising this week.

NHS England said it was the equivalent of having three hospitals full of flu patients, with some reporting nearly one in 10 beds occupied by patients with the virus.

Officials said the numbers had continued rising this week with fears it may top 5,000 by the weekend. Increases are also being reported in other parts of the UK.

Super flu circulating

NHS England medical director Prof Meghana Pandit said: "This unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year – with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients."

The numbers in hospital with flu is at its highest level at this time of year since records began - although they only date back to 2021 and so do not capture the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years which were seen in 2014-15 and 2017-18.

Flu rates began rising a month earlier than normal this year driven by a mutated strain of the virus. The dominant strain is H3N2, but it has some genetic changes this year.

It means the general public has not encountered this exact version of flu before, which means there is maybe less immunity.

NHS England said the number of patients in hospital with the vomiting bug norovirus was also on the rise, with more than 350 beds occupied by people with that virus.

It comes ahead of a strike by resident doctors, the new name for junior doctors, which is due to start next week.

There are hopes it may be called off after a fresh offer from Health Secretary Wes Streeting prompted the British Medical Association to agree to poll their members to see if they were willing to call off the five-day walkout that is due to begin on Wednesday. The results of that poll will be be announced on Monday.

Daniel Elkeles, of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said: "The NHS is in the thick of a storm come early. Flu is hitting hard and other winter bugs are surging.

"Now more than ever, the NHS needs all hands on deck.

"We have to hope that BMA resident doctors will step back from next week's strike, take up the government's sensible offer and end their damaging dispute."

Buckling system

Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which takes into account levels of infection in the community as well as hospitals, shows infection rates are continuing to rise, but not as sharply as they were in the previous week.

But officials stressed it was too early to take that as a sign that flu could be peaking.

They said the virus was unpredictable and a lull could be followed by another surge.

Dr Conall Watson, an infectious diseases expert at the UKHSA, urged people who are eligible for a free flu vaccine on the NHS, which includes the over 65s, those with certain health conditions and pregnant women, to still come forward if they had not yet got one.

"There is still plenty of flu vaccine available to protect those who need it – what's running out is time to be protected ahead of Christmas.

"If you are eligible this is the last chance to get protected as we head into Christmas – so make an appointment with the NHS today."

It can take up to two weeks following vaccination to develop the fullest protection from the jab, Dr Watson added.

Dr Vicky Price, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said winter viruses were placing further strain on an "already buckling system".

She said patients were facing long waits in A&E as hospital staff were being overloaded with patients.

But she accused NHS England and the government of using it as a "convenient scapegoat" for the "predictable breakdown" in NHS capacity caused by workforce shortages.

"The situation in emergency departments has become so dire that what was once considered a critical incident is now seen as normal and routine. What is happening is not an isolated emergency, but the culmination of systemic failure."

A mother and her teenage son are facing a fourth Christmas of homelessness after building contractors, working for the freeholder at their block of flats, left their home uninhabitable.

A botched roof extension caused the ceiling to collapse at Kate Morris's top-floor flat in Ashford, Surrey. A pigeon infestation followed, leaving every room covered in bird droppings.

"It's been devastating, it's completely ruined our lives," she says.

Kate is one of more than 1,000 leaseholders who have contacted the BBC in the past year about disputes and concerns involving the leasehold system.

Another flat on the top floor was also damaged by the works. The owners, Laura and Tom, still live in the block, although they have no idea how safe it is.

They have a small child, George, and say they hate the fact their "happy smiley baby" has to live there.

Work was stopped by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a number of safety breaches. The building remains unfinished and the surrounding land is littered with debris.

Kate, Laura, Tom and another leaseholder have tried to pursue the matter in the courts, but so far, they say they have had little to show for their efforts.

Earlier this year, the leaseholders were even ordered to pay £7,000 legal costs to the businessman they blamed for the works.

'Raining inside'

In 2021, Kate had been about to sell her two-bedroom flat. It was one of six properties in a two-storey block.

Weeks before the sale went through, she received what she describes as a "forthright" letter to say the building's freehold had been sold, with planning permission to build two more flats on the existing roof - in other words, directly above the flats owned by Kate, Laura and Tom.

As the law currently stands, the freeholder of a property generally owns the building and the land beneath it, outright and forever. Leaseholders effectively buy the right to live in the property for a fixed period of time.

The system has its origins in the Middle Ages, when rich landowners granted tenants the right to work an area of land.

Kate told us she wrote back to the new freeholder, Magnitude Developments Ltd, and its owner Ameen Raza, asking for clarity about the proposed works. She did not get any answers, she says, and her buyer consequently pulled out of the sale.

Work on the roof extension began in spring 2022. There were problems with the contractors from the start, says Laura: "Every time they were on site, something happened."

Workers were "throwing things off the roof" and putting the residents at risk, she adds. "I woke up one morning, they dropped something on our bedroom ceiling, and a piece of our ceiling fell down."

Holes started to appear in Kate's ceiling too. A temporary cover was put in place, but by summer 2022, this had begun to leak.

Kate feared her home was going to collapse and warned the freeholder.

"It was raining inside the building at that point," she says.

In August 2022, her ceiling fell in.

"My furniture, TV, sentimental belongings, photos and books were just absolutely destroyed," she says.

Kate says her home insurance company wouldn't pay out because the property had not been watertight.

Legal documents suggest that, as a "goodwill gesture", Magnitude offered to repair the damage if all claims against it were waived - an offer it said the leaseholders had "unreasonably" refused.

However, the leaseholders say they turned the offer down because the building work would have been carried out by the same contractors, without proof of warranty or insurance.

Safety breaches

After the damage, most of the block's residents had to move out.

Magnitude later claimed in court that it had offered alternative accommodation while works continued, but the offer had not been taken up. Kate and Laura told us they dispute this.

Kate says she was forced to sleep on the floor at her parents' house. Tom and Laura moved in with friends in Coventry, 100 miles from Laura's place of work and the couple's home.

"My mental health plummeted," Laura says. "It was awful… it had such an impact that I just wasn't quite prepared for."

During that period, Laura became pregnant. She and Tom decided to return to their own flat even though works were still ongoing.

"We had a brand-new baby with bad lungs, and we wake up to a generator running above our heads and the absolutely stinking of petrol," says Laura.

Work on the block was halted by an HSE "prohibition notice" in March 2024.

In liquidation

There is a tribunal court system for leaseholder disputes, but the case brought by Kate, Laura and another leaseholder was heard in a civil court.

When the case started in April this year, the judge said he had received a letter informing him that the freeholder, Magnitude Developments Ltd, had commenced liquidation proceedings.

There is no suggestion that the insolvency process was in any way improper.

Court documents submitted before the hearing indicate that Magnitude sought to join its contractors to the legal action, alleging that they had failed to properly protect the structure from the elements while the works took place.

Magnitude was not represented in court, and the judge ordered it to pay more than £100,000 in damages to the leaseholders.

Since the company was in liquidation, the leaseholders tried to join Ameen Raza, its former director, to their legal complaint. Their barrister argued that although Magnitude was the legal freeholder, Mr Raza had exercised significant financial control.

A second judge in a later hearing accepted there were "serious concerns" in the case, but he denied the application to make Mr Raza personally liable.

Since the leaseholders' application had failed, he ordered them to pay Mr Raza's legal fees, amounting to £7,000.

'Anyone can buy a freehold'

Land Registry documents show that, by the time of the court case, Magnitude had already sold the building's freehold for £300,000.

It was bought in May 2024 by a company called Imperial Prime Properties Ltd, which had been in business since January that year.

Imperial Prime Properties Ltd was registered to a virtual office in central London. The BBC has not been able to find a website or phone number, and the company declined to comment in writing.

"Anybody can buy a freehold," says Katie Kendrick, founder of the National Leasehold Campaign, a group campaigning for changes to the law. "They are often sold at auctions."

The system needs overhauling, she believes, because it is too easy for freeholders to avoid being held to account if problems arise.

The leaseholders say they feel completely "powerless" and frustrated that individual directors or shareholders of freehold companies are not liable.

Tom says he feels the system has worked in favour of the former freehold company and Mr Raza personally. "He's hiding behind that corporate veil," he says.

Katie Kendrick believes "leaseholders cannot defend themselves in the same way that rich, deep-pocketed freeholders can".

The BBC has found almost £6.5m worth of property registered to Mr Raza's family. Almost £4m worth was sold in 2023 and 2024 to companies of which Ameen Raza was a director.

Public records also show Mr Raza's companies have earned at least £90,000 in the past five years from a local authority. His firms have provided accommodation to people subject to immigration control with no recourse to public funds, as well as a number of other social services.

Meanwhile, the leaseholders feel there is no protection for people like them.

"There's no-one. We're completely on our own," Kate says.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act (Lafra), which aims to "strengthen" leaseholder rights in England and Wales, was fast-tracked through Parliament before the 2024 General Election but most of its measures haven't yet come into force.

We asked Housing Secretary Steve Reed when reforms would start protecting leaseholders like Kate, Laura and Tom.

He said he recognised that leasehold had been "a running sore" for years, and the government wanted to eliminate it within the term of this parliament. He added that announcements on further legislation were likely to be published before the end of 2025.

'Angry and frustrated'

Kate and her son continue to live with her parents. She and the other leaseholders are still in litigation with the companies.

She says she is "incredibly angry and frustrated" that someone can "completely destroy someone's home and walk away".

We contacted Magnitude, Imperial Prime Properties Ltd and - via his barrister - Ameen Raza. All declined to comment.

The leaseholders' local authority, Spelthorne Borough Council, told the BBC it has removed the pigeons and carried out "pest-proofing" in the block, and said it would try to reclaim the cost from the freeholder.

However, the building is still incomplete, with gaps where windows should be, and the leaseholders are concerned the pigeons will return.

Only three out of the six flats in the block are now occupied. None of the leaseholders can sell their properties.

Laura and Tom remain, but say they feel trapped, and hate having to raise their son in a building that most people think is "derelict".

"We try and make the insides nice and liveable and colourful and exciting, but everything else is awful," says Laura.

"This is not what I want for my baby."

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro says escalating pressure from the US comes down to one thing: Washington wants to grab the South American nation's vast oil reserves.

This week the American military seized an oil tanker, which was allegedly carrying Venezuelan oil being shipped in violation of US sanctions, and threatened action against other ships.

The move followed a series of military strikes on Venezuelan boats, which the US alleges are drug-trafficking vessels. President Donald Trump has called on Maduro to leave office, accusing him of sending narcotics and murderers to the US.

So is it Venezuela's oil that Trump really wants? And would it actually be worth it?

How much oil does Venezuela have?

It is true that with an estimated 303 billion barrels, Venezuela is home to the world's largest proven oil reserves.

But the amount of oil the country actually produces today is tiny by comparison.

Output has dropped off sharply since the early 2000s, as former President Hugo Chavez and then the Maduro administration tightened control over the state-run oil company, PDVSA, leading to an exodus of more experienced staff.

Though some Western oil firms, including the US company Chevron, are still active in the country, their operations have shrunk significantly as the US has widened sanctions and targeted oil exports, aiming to curb Maduro's access to a key economic lifeline.

Sanctions - which the US first put in place in 2015 during President Barack Obama's administration over alleged human rights violations - have also left the country largely cut off from the investment and the parts it needs.

"The real challenge they've got is their infrastructure," says Callum McPherson, head of commodities at Investec.

In November, Venezuela produced an estimated 860,000 barrels per day, according to the latest oil market report from the International Energy Agency.

That is barely a third of what it was 10 years ago and accounts for less than 1% of world oil consumption.

Does Trump want Venezuela's oil?

Some in the US have made the case for intervention in Venezuela by pointing to the opportunities for American businesses to revive the oil industry.

"Venezuela, for the American oil companies, will be a field day," Florida Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar said in a recent interview on Fox Business.

"American companies can go in and fix all the oil pipes, the whole oil rigs and everything that has to do with... oil and the derivatives."

Trump might seem open to such arguments.

He campaigned on the slogan "drill, baby, drill" and has generally called for expanding oil production, which he has tied to lower prices for Americans.

But when it comes to Venezuela, the White House has said it is concerned about drug trafficking and what it sees as Maduro's illegitimacy.

Asked on Thursday whether the US campaign in the region was about drugs or oil, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was focused on "many things".

She called stopping the flow of illegal drugs to the US its "number one" priority.

Clayton Siegle, a senior fellow for energy security at the think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says he takes such pronouncements "largely at face value".

He pointed to the longstanding interest in the region of key players like Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"I just have not seen the supporting evidence that oil is at the centre of its ambitions," he says.

What interests does US have in Venezuela?

That's not to say that US companies would not be interested.

At the moment, Chevron is the only American oil producer still active in Venezuela, after receiving a licence under former President Joe Biden in 2022 to operate, despite US sanctions.

The Trump administration extended the firm another waiver this year, though it has revoked exemptions for other firms, such as Spain's Repsol, in a bid to curb the flow of funds to the Maduro regime.

Today, Chevron accounts for about a fifth of Venezuela's oil production.

Analysts say Chevron would be among those best-placed to benefit, should the US start to lift its barriers against dealing with Venezuela.

Refiners in the US, particularly those around the Gulf Coast, are also hungry for the "heavier" type of crude that Venezuela produces, which tends to be less expensive and therefore more profitable to process.

"It has been problematic for US Gulf Coast refiners in recent years that Venezuela has been under sanctions and been reducing production, because it means there's less of that heavy crude available," says Matt Smith, oil analyst at Kpler.

"Even if they weren't getting involved in the production side of things, they would be a keen buyer of it."

What are the challenges?

While any expansion of oil exports from Venezuela could help bring down prices in the US, analysts say that would take time, with its current output too limited to make a significant impact.

And restoring Venezuela's oil industry to its former glory would be a heavy lift.

According to a recent Wood Mackenzie report, improved management and some modest investments could help boost oil production in Venezuela to about two million barrels per day over the next two years.

But analysts warned it would take tens of billions of dollars - and potentially a decade - to raise output more significantly.

They also said companies could be put off by potential complications like its membership in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

Another risk is the outlook for oil demand, as it becomes relatively less important as an energy source, says David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics.

"Oil demand is not going to fall off a cliff but it is no longer growing as it was. We see it as subdued and will start falling in the late 2030s," he says.

"Anyone investing in the Venezuelan oil sector would have to think, is it worth it?"

Even if Maduro were ousted or US barriers were to lift, Mr Oxley says it is not clear how willing companies would be to commit the time and money it would take to bring Venezuela's oil back online.

"On the oil side, you'd need to see lots and lots of investment. Certainly in the billions," he says, "'Drill, baby, drill' - that's fine but private companies are only going to come in and do it if it's profitable."

Changing attitudes among boys and young men will be at the centre of the government's strategy to tackle violence against women and girls, the BBC has been told.

Next Thursday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will unveil the long-delayed plan about how to combat what ministers call a "national emergency".

It comes after the publication of the strategy has been delayed three times over the last year.

The Labour government has pledged to halve the rate of violence against women and girls over the next decade - but critics have questioned its commitment to combating the problem.

There are also likely to be concerns as to why the strategy is being published on the day Parliament breaks up for its Christmas holiday.

BBC News has been told the violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy will be built around three goals: preventing radicalisation of young men, stopping abusers, and supporting victims.

Over the coming week, the government will announce a policy blitz to tackle what government sources have called "the scourge of violence that has left the lives of women and girls shattered".

As part of the strategy, ministers will focus on prevention and tackling the root causes of radicalisation of young men in their schools, homes and online. They will work with teachers to challenge misogyny and promote healthy relationships.

Government sources say more support will be provided to parents so they can intervene early.

They say that is because violence against women and girls is happening at younger ages. Nearly 40% of teenagers in relationships are victims of abuse, according to domestic abuse charity Reducing the Risk.

Online influencers are partly blamed for fuelling this. It's been reported more than one in five young men hold a positive view of the self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate.

Over the last year alone, one in every eight women was a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking, according to Home Office figures.

The statistics also show that every day about 200 rapes are recorded by the police, and many more go unreported. Hundreds of thousands of children are estimated to be sexually abused every year.

Earlier this week, MPs on the justice committee wrote to the government complaining about the strategy being delayed.

The letter was signed by the committee's chair, Andy Slaughter MP, who said: "Repeated delays in publications sends the message that tackling VAWG is not a government priority, despite the ambition to halve VAWG within the next decade."

The strategy will have a cross-government approach including collaboration between the Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the BBC was told.

"There will also be a raft of new measures, so rapists and sex offenders have nowhere to hide. We will track down abusers, empower police forces with the tools they need to do so and put abusers on a course to stop their offending", a government source said.

But it is not yet clear what these tools will be.

'Proof in the pudding'

Hayley Johns is a survivor of domestic abuse and said the "proof will be in the pudding".

"If you're going to be saying all these words, make sure it works. We're in absolute crisis when it comes to domestic violence. The actions must match your words otherwise it's pointless.

"There needs to be proof and statistics to show this strategy is working and in a year's time there needs to be a difference otherwise it's just rubbish."

The government also wants to support victims who say failures by police and delays in court are worse than the offences themselves. More than half of rape and stalking cases collapse because victims drop out of the process.

Many victims feel intimidated in their own homes and by economic abuse and coercive controlling behaviour, including stalking.

The strategy will aim to better support them, while justice is done.

More than 800,000 Gazans are at risk from flooding, the UN says, as a powerful winter storm sweeps through the Strip.

The heavy rain has already deluged camps, and led several buildings to collapse.

A steady stream of water trickles through openings in the tent Ghadir al-Adham shares with her husband and six children in Gaza City. Her family is still displaced after the war, and waiting for reconstruction to begin.

"Here we are, living a life of humiliation," she told the BBC. "We want caravans. We want our homes rebuilt. We long for concrete to keep us warm. Every day I sit and cry for my children."

Two months into an American-imposed ceasefire, Gaza is stuck in the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan - its territory divided between the warring parties, its people still displaced and surrounded by rubble.

Sticking point

Plans for new homes - and new government - lie frozen in the next stage of Donald Trump's peace deal, as the search continues for Israel's last remaining hostage, Ran Gvili.

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has insisted Hamas must return all Israel's hostages – living and dead – before the two sides move on to the next, more difficult, stage of the peace deal.

But several searches of Gaza's rubble have so far shown no sign of him. Gvili was captured during the 7 October Hamas attacks - a police officer, recovering from a broken shoulder, who went to defend nearby kibbutz Alumim.

His parents, Talik and Itzik, were told last year he had not survived.

Their road to their home in Meitar, in southern Israel, is lined with banners paying tribute to him, the yellow flags of remembrance for Israel's hostages fluttering alongside.

"They stole our kid, they stole him," his mother Talik told me.

"They know where he is," Itzik said. "They just try to hide or keep him. They're play[ing] with us."

They believe Hamas wants to keep their son as an insurance policy against future negotiations, after returning all the other hostages, both living and dead.

In response, a Hamas official told the BBC their allegations were untrue, and that Israel was trying to avoid implementing the agreement.

But with no sign of Gvili's body, and pressure from Washington growing, his parents say they are counting on Israel's leaders not to move forward before their son is found.

"Everyone in Israel['s] government says to us, 'No, we don't move to the second level until Ran comes back.' This is their promise," Talik said.

Many in Israel believe it would be politically difficult for Netanyahu to carry out the next steps in the deal, including withdrawing Israeli forces further back towards Gaza's perimeter, if even one hostage is still missing in Gaza.

Time 'running out'

Both Israel and Hamas face difficult concessions in the next stage of the deal. For Hamas, it means handing over weapons and power. For Israel, handing over security to an international stabilisation force.

And this is also why leaders on both sides may be hesitating, says retired General Israel Ziv, a former head of Israel's military Operations Directorate.

"Israel and Hamas are sharing the same interests not to move so fast into the second stage," he told me. "Hamas doesn't want to lose control, and the Israeli side for political reasons also prefer to stay in Gaza, as nobody wants to explain to their base that they have to withdraw."

He says Trump is the only one who can force the two sides forward, and that time is running out.

"By waiting I think we might miss the opportunity because Hamas is reorganising and [its] strength is coming back," he explained. "We have to take a deep breath and go forward with that plan, because staying in the situation as it is, it's the worst-case scenario."

Disarming Hamas – in a way both sides will accept – is seen as the first major hurdle. Without that, no foreign countries are likely to commit troops to secure the Strip, and no reconstruction is likely to begin in Hamas-controlled areas.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu suggested he was sceptical that foreign nations could complete the task in place of Israel.

"Our friends in America want to try to establish an international force that will do the job," he said. "We know that there are certain tasks that this force can do. I don't want to go into detail, they can't do everything, and maybe they can't do the main thing, but we'll see."

Trump eager to move fast

Gaza is currently divided in two by the so-called yellow line, marking the limits of Israeli forces under the first stage of the ceasefire deal.

Israel's military chief of staff recently referred to it as a "new border line", sparking accusations that Israel was signalling an intention to remain there long term.

Key issues, including how to disarm Hamas, are due to be discussed at a meeting between Israel's prime minister and Donald Trump in Florida later this month.

The US president – who has already brokered a ceasefire in Gaza and pushed his peace plan through the UN Security Council – has been outspoken about his desire to move the process forward.

He told journalists this week that he would announce the membership of a newly created Board of Peace for Gaza early next year. "It will be one of the most legendary boards ever… Everybody wants to be on it," he said.

There are also widespread reports that, under pressure from Washington, Israel is beginning work to clear rubble, in preparation for a new temporary housing project in the Israeli-held area of Rafah, in the south of the Strip.

The new housing could reportedly provide shelter for tens of thousands of Gazans, on condition that they are willing to cross into Israeli-held areas, and submit to checks for any links to Hamas.

Some see it as part of a plan to draw Gazans across into Israeli-held areas, in order to isolate Hamas. A small number of people have already crossed into these areas, to camps set up by armed groups supported by Israel there.

But many Gazans – even those who want to replace Hamas – say they refuse to live under Israeli control.

It's a glimpse of an alternative future for Gaza, if this second stage of Trump's plan fails; a future where Gaza, already divided, becomes more divided still.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will unify all of its intelligence services under a single organisation, as part of its strategy to combat "escalating threats" from adversaries of the UK.

Units from the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, UK Space Command, and Permanent Joint Headquarters will join to form the Military Intelligence Services (MIS).

The reform will speed up how information is "gathered, analysed and shared" across the military, after hostile intelligence activity against the MoD rose more than 50% in the past year, the ministry said.

The launch of the MIS follows recommendations from the Strategic Defence Review, a major review of the armed forces that was published in June.

The MIS will be established alongside a new Defence Counter-Intelligence Unit, consolidating counter-intelligence professionals in one unit to "disrupt and deter hostile activity more effectively".

Their work will be supported by a new Defence Intelligence Academy, offering specialised training in key intelligence disciplines.

Defence Secretary John Healey said the overhaul will put Britain at the "leading edge of military innovation".

"This gives us sharper insights into what our adversaries might do next, so we protect our forces, safeguard critical infrastructure, and deter changing threats," he said.

Speaking at the launch event of the MIS, Alistair Carns, Minister for Armed Forces, said that the "shadow of war is knocking on Europe's door", and warned that the continent no longer faces "wars of choice", but "wars of necessity".

In an interview with the Telegraph, Carns also urged Nato nations to spend more on defence to "increase our lethality", and reduce dependence on the US.

The announcement comes a week after the publication of the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, which the MoD said made clear that foreign intelligence services are now "operating far beyond traditional espionage norms".

Russia's main military intelligence agency, the GRU, was sanctioned in its entirety by the UK government following the release of the inquiry.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the findings were "a grave reminder of the Kremlin's disregard for innocent lives".

The UK is currently committed to increase defence spending to 2.6% of GDP by 2027, which the MoD says is the largest "sustained" rise since the end of the Cold War.

Speaking in Berlin on Thursday, Nato chief Mark Rutte warned that the Kremlin could attack an allied country within the next five years.

"We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured," he said in a stark warning.

The Royal Navy this week said that it had tracked a Russian submarine through the English Channel, the latest in a series of instances of Russian naval activity in UK waters.

The government says there has been a 30% increase in Russian vessels threatening UK waters in the past two years - though Russia says the UK is the one being provocative.

A British backpacker who struck and killed a man while riding an e-scooter drunk has been jailed for four years in Australia.

Alicia Kemp, 25 - from Redditch, Worcestershire - was driving at speeds of 20 to 25km/h (12 to 15mph) when she hit 51-year-old Thanh Phan from behind on a Perth sidewalk in May.

She had been drinking with a friend all afternoon, the court heard, and had an alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

Phan, a father-of-two, hit his head on the pavement and died in hospital from a brain bleed two days later.

A friend of Kemp, who was a passenger on the scooter, was also hurt in the crash - sustaining a fractured skull and broken nose - but her injuries were not life-threatening.

Kemp, who was in Australia on a working holiday visa, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in the Perth Magistrates Court in August.

"You, Miss Kemp, are the cautionary tale," Judge Wendy Hughes said in her sentencing on Friday.

"E-scooters are not toys."

Kemp's sentence will be backdated to 1 June, and she'll be eligible for parole after serving two years of her sentence. Her driver's licence was also disqualified for two years.

More than 800,000 Gazans are at risk from flooding, the UN says, as a powerful winter storm sweeps through the Strip.

The heavy rain has already deluged camps, and led several buildings to collapse.

A steady stream of water trickles through openings in the tent Ghadir al-Adham shares with her husband and six children in Gaza City. Her family is still displaced after the war, and waiting for reconstruction to begin.

"Here we are, living a life of humiliation," she told the BBC. "We want caravans. We want our homes rebuilt. We long for concrete to keep us warm. Every day I sit and cry for my children."

Two months into an American-imposed ceasefire, Gaza is stuck in the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan - its territory divided between the warring parties, its people still displaced and surrounded by rubble.

Sticking point

Plans for new homes - and new government - lie frozen in the next stage of Donald Trump's peace deal, as the search continues for Israel's last remaining hostage, Ran Gvili.

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has insisted Hamas must return all Israel's hostages – living and dead – before the two sides move on to the next, more difficult, stage of the peace deal.

But several searches of Gaza's rubble have so far shown no sign of him. Gvili was captured during the 7 October Hamas attacks - a police officer, recovering from a broken shoulder, who went to defend nearby kibbutz Alumim.

His parents, Talik and Itzik, were told last year he had not survived.

Their road to their home in Meitar, in southern Israel, is lined with banners paying tribute to him, the yellow flags of remembrance for Israel's hostages fluttering alongside.

"They stole our kid, they stole him," his mother Talik told me.

"They know where he is," Itzik said. "They just try to hide or keep him. They're play[ing] with us."

They believe Hamas wants to keep their son as an insurance policy against future negotiations, after returning all the other hostages, both living and dead.

In response, a Hamas official told the BBC their allegations were untrue, and that Israel was trying to avoid implementing the agreement.

But with no sign of Gvili's body, and pressure from Washington growing, his parents say they are counting on Israel's leaders not to move forward before their son is found.

"Everyone in Israel['s] government says to us, 'No, we don't move to the second level until Ran comes back.' This is their promise," Talik said.

Many in Israel believe it would be politically difficult for Netanyahu to carry out the next steps in the deal, including withdrawing Israeli forces further back towards Gaza's perimeter, if even one hostage is still missing in Gaza.

Time 'running out'

Both Israel and Hamas face difficult concessions in the next stage of the deal. For Hamas, it means handing over weapons and power. For Israel, handing over security to an international stabilisation force.

And this is also why leaders on both sides may be hesitating, says retired General Israel Ziv, a former head of Israel's military Operations Directorate.

"Israel and Hamas are sharing the same interests not to move so fast into the second stage," he told me. "Hamas doesn't want to lose control, and the Israeli side for political reasons also prefer to stay in Gaza, as nobody wants to explain to their base that they have to withdraw."

He says Trump is the only one who can force the two sides forward, and that time is running out.

"By waiting I think we might miss the opportunity because Hamas is reorganising and [its] strength is coming back," he explained. "We have to take a deep breath and go forward with that plan, because staying in the situation as it is, it's the worst-case scenario."

Disarming Hamas – in a way both sides will accept – is seen as the first major hurdle. Without that, no foreign countries are likely to commit troops to secure the Strip, and no reconstruction is likely to begin in Hamas-controlled areas.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu suggested he was sceptical that foreign nations could complete the task in place of Israel.

"Our friends in America want to try to establish an international force that will do the job," he said. "We know that there are certain tasks that this force can do. I don't want to go into detail, they can't do everything, and maybe they can't do the main thing, but we'll see."

Trump eager to move fast

Gaza is currently divided in two by the so-called yellow line, marking the limits of Israeli forces under the first stage of the ceasefire deal.

Israel's military chief of staff recently referred to it as a "new border line", sparking accusations that Israel was signalling an intention to remain there long term.

Key issues, including how to disarm Hamas, are due to be discussed at a meeting between Israel's prime minister and Donald Trump in Florida later this month.

The US president – who has already brokered a ceasefire in Gaza and pushed his peace plan through the UN Security Council – has been outspoken about his desire to move the process forward.

He told journalists this week that he would announce the membership of a newly created Board of Peace for Gaza early next year. "It will be one of the most legendary boards ever… Everybody wants to be on it," he said.

There are also widespread reports that, under pressure from Washington, Israel is beginning work to clear rubble, in preparation for a new temporary housing project in the Israeli-held area of Rafah, in the south of the Strip.

The new housing could reportedly provide shelter for tens of thousands of Gazans, on condition that they are willing to cross into Israeli-held areas, and submit to checks for any links to Hamas.

Some see it as part of a plan to draw Gazans across into Israeli-held areas, in order to isolate Hamas. A small number of people have already crossed into these areas, to camps set up by armed groups supported by Israel there.

But many Gazans – even those who want to replace Hamas – say they refuse to live under Israeli control.

It's a glimpse of an alternative future for Gaza, if this second stage of Trump's plan fails; a future where Gaza, already divided, becomes more divided still.

Indiana Republicans have defied intense pressure from President Donald Trump by rejecting his demands that they pass a voting map meant to favour their party in next year's midterm elections.

In one of the most conservative states in the US, 21 Republicans in the Senate joined all 10 Democrats to torpedo the redistricting plan by a vote of 31-19. The new map passed the House last week.

If it had cleared the legislature, Republicans could have flipped the only two Democratic-held congressional seats in the state.

Trump's call for Republican state leaders to redraw maps and help the party keep its congressional majority in Washington next year has triggered gerrymandering battles nationwide.

Republican-led Texas and Democratic-led California, two of the country's largest states, have led the charge.

Other states where redistricting efforts have been initiated or passed include Utah, Ohio, New Hampshire, Missouri and Illinois.

Republican state Senator Spencer Deery said ahead of Thursday's vote: "My opposition to mid-cycle gerrymandering is not in contrast to my conservative principles, my opposition is driven by them.

"As long as I have breath, I will use my voice to resist a federal government that attempts to bully, direct, and control this state or any state. Giving the federal government more power is not conservative."

Indiana Governor Mike Braun, a Republican, said he was "very disappointed" in the outcome.

"I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers," he said on X, using a popular nickname for people from the Midwestern state.

The revolt of Indiana Republicans came after direct months of lobbying from the White House.

On Wednesday, Trump warned on his social media platform Truth Social that Republicans who did not support the initiative could risk losing their seats.

He directly addressed the Republican leader of the state Senate, Rodric Bray, calling him "the only person in the United States of America who is against Republicans picking up extra seats".

To liberals, it was a moment of celebration. Keith "Wildstyle" Paschall described the mood on Thursday as "jubilant".

"There's a lot of relief," the Indianapolis-based activist told the BBC. "People had thought that we would have to move on to a legal strategy and didn't believe we could defeat it directly at the statehouse."

The new map would have redistricted parts of Indianapolis and potentially led to the ouster of Indiana's lone black House representative, André Carson.

In the weeks before Thursday's vote, Trump hosted Indiana lawmakers at the White House to win over holdouts.

He also dispatched Vice-President JD Vance down to Indiana twice to shore up support.

Nearly a dozen Indiana Republican lawmakers have said they were targeted with death threats and swatting attacks over the planned vote.

Ultimately, this redistricting plan fell flat in another setback for Trump following a string of recent Democratic wins in off-year elections.

The defeat appears to have added to Republican concerns.

"We have a huge problem," said former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon during his podcast, The War Room.

"People have to realise that we only have a couple opportunities," he said.

"If we don't get a net 10 pickup in the redistricting wars, it's going to be enormously hard, if not impossible, to hold the House."

Texas was the first state to respond to Trump's redistricting request.

After a lower court blocked the maps for being drawn illegally based on race, the Supreme Court allowed Texas Republicans to go ahead.

The decision was a major win for Republicans, with the new maps expected to add five seats in their favour.

California's map is also expected to add five seats for Democrats.

The winner of last year's Eurovision Song Contest, Nemo, has said they are returning their trophy in protest over Israel's continued participation in the event.

The 26-year-old Swiss singer said there is a "clear conflict" between Israel's involvement in the competition and the ideals of "unity, inclusion and dignity" the contest says it stands for.

Israel's presence at Eurovision has been an increasing source of tension, because of the war in Gaza and a voting controversy during this year's event.

Five countries - Iceland, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands - have announced they will boycott next year's event because Israel has been allowed to compete.

Israel has previously called the decision to keep it in the contest a "victory" over critics who had tried to silence it and spread hatred.

Nemo became the first non-binary performer to lift the Eurovision trophy with their song The Code, which is about the path to realising they were non-binary.

After the win, Nemo told the BBC about the challenges they faced during the contest and their feeling that organisers didn't do enough to support participants who were caught up in the row over Israel's inclusion in 2024.

"I felt very alone. I really hope they have things in place for the next year," Nemo said at the time. It prompted a series of new measures to be introduced to protect the mental well-being of Eurovision's artists and staff.

In a statement posted to Instagram on Thursday, Nemo said they felt the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) decision to allow Israel to still take part in the event no longer aligned with its core values.

"Israel's continued participation, during what the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry has concluded to be a genocide, shows a clear conflict between those ideals and the decision made by the EBU," they said, referring to a report released in September.

"Even though I am immensely grateful for the community around this contest and everything this experience has taught me both as a person and artist, today I no longer feel this trophy belongs on my shelf."

Nemo also posted a video of them placing the trophy in a cardboard box, saying it will be sent back to the EBU's headquarters in Geneva.

The boycotts and protests over Israel's inclusion has been the biggest crisis Eurovision has ever seen.

This year's competition also had a voting controversy and allegations that Israel's government tried to influence the public vote.

This prompted some competition rules to be changed and tightened, after which a "large majority" of members agreed there was no need for a further vote on participation and that Eurovision 2026 could proceed as planned, the EBU has said.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog has praised the decision to allow the country to compete, calling it "an appreciated gesture of solidarity, brotherhood, and co-operation".

Addressing the boycotts, Nemo insisted that their decision to hand back the trophy was not about "individuals or artists", but rather what they believed was the use of Eurovision to "soften the image of a state accused of severe wrongdoing".

"When entire countries withdraw, it should be clear that something is deeply wrong," they added.

"If the values we celebrate on stage aren't lived off stage then even the most beautiful songs become meaningless."

The war in Gaza was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 70,370 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Next year's Eurovision is due to take place in Vienna, for what is supposed to be a celebratory 70th anniversary edition of the contest.

The BBC has contacted Eurovision for comment.