Reading view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.

When horror hits China, the first instinct is shut it down

Watch: BBC China correspondent ordered to stop filming and pushed at car attack scene

The gates outside the Zhuhai sports complex in China were closed. Inside, the stadium was in darkness, as were the grounds around it.

It was here, hours before, where dozens of people were killed when a man drove an SUV into a crowd. Many more were injured.

Only security guards appeared to be moving around behind the fence when the BBC arrived, and they had been ordered to keep an eye out for reporters.

One approached us asking: "Are you journalists?" When I asked why he wanted to know, he replied: "Oh just to understand the situation."

He and a colleague took photos of us and started making calls, watching us as they did.

Outside the gates people passed by to catch sight of the aftermath. But among them was a group of around a dozen people more interested in us.

A women started calling to the others: "Look, foreigners, foreigners."

Soon a man who was with her was aggressively interrupting our reporting, grabbing me and shouting.

The BBC's China correspondent is grabbed and pushed by a man trying to force him to leave, while reporting from the scene of the stadium
The BBC's China correspondent was grabbed and pushed by an unidentified man

Often, when sensitive stories like this unfold in China, local Communist Party officials organise groups of cadres to pretend to be outraged locals who have been given the role of targeting foreign reporters and preventing any coverage.

Invariably it doesn't stop the stories, it just makes China look bad.

After former Premier Li Keqiang died last year, crowds of these loyalists were sent to the street outside his old family home. Any journalist that arrived was surrounded and shouted at, pushed and abused.

Premier Li's death was sensitive to the party not only because it was sudden and unexpected - but also because he was the last of the old liberal wing. It signalled that the party was now completely stacked with loyalists of President Xi Jinping.

But even for much more minor incidents the same things happen.

Last month, we travelled to a shopping mall in Shanghai where a man had randomly stabbed strangers to death.

The entire location had been cleansed of any evidence within hours of this horrible event taking place. By the morning after, the mall was up and running again as normal: no police crime scene tape, no flowers for the dead.

On one level, you can understand this - many of these inexplicable assaults on the community are copycat in nature. Tuesday's attack is not an outlier, though it is shocking for its death toll.

But officials here sometimes want these bad things to simply go away as quickly as possible.

Hours after our confrontation outside the site of the Zhuhai attack, carloads of police had arrived to better manage the situation.

A crowd of residents had also gathered to light candles to remember the dead, and videos shared on social media showed lines of volunteers at hospitals offering to donate blood.

President Xi has called on officials to manage society's problems in order to prevent this type of thing happening again in the future.

But, again, China is left wondering what has driven someone to such inconceivable horror. It is impossibly difficult to find the answers to this one.

Reuters Mourners paying tribute to the victims outside the Zhuhei Sports Centre on Tuesday 12/11/24.Reuters
Mourners paying tribute to the victims outside the Zhuhei Sports Centre on Tuesday night

Lights under surfboards could deter shark attacks - study

Science Photo Library Great white shark swimming underwaterScience Photo Library

Fixing LED strip lights to the bottom of surfboards could deter attacks by great white sharks, Australian scientists say.

A study conducted in Mossel Bay, South Africa involved towing seal-shaped boards fitted with different configurations of lights behind a boat to see which attracted the most attention.

The researchers from Macquarie University in New South Wales say the lights distorted the silhouette of the their "decoys" on the ocean's surface and limited the ability of the great whites to see against the sunlight.

Lights could prove a non-invasive means of shark restraint, unlike nets or drones, they added.

Great white sharks are the species responsible for most human shark-bite fatalities, and often attack their prey from underneath, lead researcher Laura Ryan said. This means that sometimes the sharks mistake a surfer's silhouette for the outline of a seal.

Researchers say it is also important to see whether the LED lighting is effective in deterring other shark species known to attack humans, including bull sharks and tiger sharks.

Most attacks are associated with people surfing and participating in other board sports. There were 69 unprovoked shark bites in 2023, most in the US, Australia and South Africa, 10 of which were fatal, according to statistics.

The Australian study, published in the journal Current Biology, involved testing three different intensities of LED lights.

Ms Ryan said the study showed the brightest horizontal-aligned lights were less likely to be targeted.

The researchers said: "Our results reveal the importance of a dark silhouette against a lighter background in predatory behaviour in great white sharks and that altering the silhouette may form the basis of new non-invasive shark deterrent technology to protect human life."

They added it was interesting that great white sharks were less attracted to the most conspicuous lights because other studies have found some species were drawn to bright, reflective objects.

The researchers are now building prototype lighting strips to test on surfboards and kayaks.

Dozens killed in car rampage through Chinese stadium

Reuters Wounded people lie on the ground after a suspected hit-and-run attack outside a sports centre, in ZhuhaiReuters
Footage online showed several people lying on the ground

A car ploughed into a crowd outside a stadium in the Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday evening, injuring multiple people, police have said.

The 62-year-old male driver, surnamed Fan, has been arrested.

Local reports estimate that at least 20 people, many of whom were struck while exercising at Zhuhai Sports Centre, were injured and have been sent to hospital.

The incident took place despite heightened security in the city, which is also hosting a major civil and military airshow.

Most videos of the incident posted by eyewitnesses have since been scrubbed off Chinese social media, but some footage still circulating online show many people lying on the ground and being attended to by paramedics and bystanders.

Some of the victims appear to be unconscious.

An eyewitness, Mr Chen, told Chinese news magazine Caixin that at least six groups of people had gathered at the stadium for their regular walks when the incident happened.

The groups use a designated walking path that traces the stadium's perimeter.

Mr Chen said his group had just completed its third lap around the stadium when a car suddenly charged towards them at a high speed, "knocking down many people".

“It drove in a loop, and people were hurt in all areas of the running track - east, south, west, and north," another eyewitness told Caixin.

The outlet reported that many elderly people, as well as teenagers and children, were among those injured.

It is unclear whether the incident was linked to the high-profile Zhuhai Airshow, which started on Tuesday at a venue just 40km (24 miles) away from the stadium. China is showcasing its latest warplanes and attack drones at the show, and top Russian official Sergei Shoigu is expected to attend.

Several entrances and exits to the sports centre have been closed during the airshow to facilitate "control", the centre's management said on Tuesday.

China has seen a spate of violent attacks on members of the public in recent months.

In September, a man went on a stabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.

In that same month, a 10-year-old Japanese student died a day after he was stabbed near his school in southern China.

Oil and gas are a 'gift of god', says COP29 host

Reuters Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev mid-speech at COP. He wears a dark blue suit and stands in front of a United Nations flag.Reuters
Azerbaijan's president said countries should not be blamed for having oil, gas and other natural resources or bringing them to the market.

The president of COP29’s host country told the UN climate conference on Tuesday that oil and gas were a “gift of god”.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev criticised “Western fake news” about the country's emissions and said nations “should not be blamed" for having fossil fuel reserves.

The country plans to expand gas production by up to a third over the next decade.

Shortly afterwards, UN chief António Guterres told the conference that doubling down on the use of fossil fuels was "absurd".

He said the “clean energy revolution” had arrived and that no government could stop it.

Some observers had expressed concerns about the world’s largest climate conference taking place in Azerbaijan.

Its minister for ecology and natural resources - a former oil executive that spent 26 years at Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company Socar – is the conference's chairman.

There are also concerns that Azerbaijani officials are using COP29 to boost investment in the country’s national oil and gas company.

But addressing the conference on its second day, President Aliyev said Azerbaijan had been subject to "slander and blackmail" ahead of COP29.

He said it had been as if “Western fake news media”, charities and politicians were “competing in spreading disinformation...about our country”.

Aliyev said the country’s share in global gas emissions was “only 0.1%”.

"Oil, gas, wind, sun, gold, silver, copper, all...are natural resources and countries should not be blamed for having them, and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market, because the market needs them."

Oil and gas are a major cause of climate change because they release planet-warming greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide when burned for energy.

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stands at a lectern. He is wearing a dark blue suit and a red tie.EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried “doubling down on fossil fuels”

The US is also under the spotlight at the conference, following the election victory of Donald Trump - a known climate sceptic.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden's envoy John Podesta called out president-elect Trump's view that climate change was a hoax and said the US team would continue to work on the deal passed at COP28 in 2023.

He added that Washington was also working on a deal passed last year in Dubai to triple renewable power by 2030.

Addressing the conference in Baku on Tuesday, UN Secretary General Guterres decried “doubling down on fossil fuels”.

"The sound you hear is the ticking clock," he said.

"We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and time is not on our side."

He called 2024 a “masterclass in climate destruction” with disasters being “supercharged by human-made climate change”.

The UN's World Meteorological Organization previously said that 2024 is on track to be the world's warmest year on record.

Guterres said “a new finance goal” was needed, with wealthiest countries paying the most.

“They are the largest emitters, with the greatest capacities and responsibilities," he said. "Developing countries must not leave Baku empty-handed."

The Azerbaijani president's comments are unlikely to derail talks behind the scenes, which are largely about getting more cash for poorer countries to help implement their climate plans.

Developing nations are calling for richer countries to agree together on a fund that could add up to $1 trillion, using public and private money.

Leaders of most of the world's biggest polluters were not present in Baku, including Biden, France’s leader Emmanuel Macron and India’s Narendra Modi.

The environment minister for Burkino Faso, a central African country among the poorest in the world, told the BBC that more cash was essential.

Roger Baro said it would help his nation deal with the current impacts of climate change in the country, which is experiencing widespread drought, flash floods and disease outbreaks.

The disasters occurred in the Sahel region, which saw temperatures of 45C this year in a heatwave that scientists said would have been impossible to reach without climate change.

Among other world leaders to take to the stage on Tuesday was Spain's prime minister, who called for "drastic measures" after floods killed more than 200 people in the country.

Experts say that climate change contributed to the heavy rainfall that caused the floods.

"We need to undergo decarbonisation, adapt our towns and infrastructure," said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

COP29 is scheduled to last until 22 November, but there are already fears that the tricky issues on the table could make a final agreement very difficult.

Russian doctor jailed for five years over alleged Ukraine war remarks

Reuters Nadezhda Buyanova, a 68-year-old paediatrician denounced by a patient's mother for an alleged unpatriotic statement and accused of blaming Russia's armed forces for a military conflict against Ukraine, stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing in Moscow, RussiaReuters
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg looks on as Nadezhda Buyanova faces court in Moscow

Ahead of the verdict, Nadezhda Buyanova was led, handcuffed, into the courtroom and locked inside a glass and metal cage.

Through the glass, the 68-year-old paediatrician told me what she thought of her predicament.

“It’s absurd, just absurd,” the doctor said.

“I can’t get my head around what’s happening to me. Perhaps later I’ll be able to.”

The paediatrician had been reported to police by the mother of a 7-year-old boy she’d been treating.

The woman had claimed that the doctor had made negative comments about the boy’s father, a Russian soldier, who had been killed fighting in Ukraine and that the doctor had said Russian servicemen there were legitimate targets.

Ms Buyanova denies making such comments and there is no audio or video recording to prove she made them.

But back in February, she was arrested and charged with spreading false information about the Russian armed forces. After a short spell under house arrest, she was placed in pre-trial detention.

Now Ms Buyanova was in the dock and about to learn her fate.

Before the judge entered, court officials ordered camera crews out of the courtroom. Along with other journalists, we were ushered into the corridor.

Minutes later the door to the courtroom opened again.

“Five-and-a-half years!” cried one of Ms Buyanova’s supporters in the public gallery. “She’s been sent to a penal colony for five-and-a-half years!”

“The sentence is monstrously harsh,” the doctor’s lawyer, Oskar Cherdzhiyev, told me.

“We didn’t expect this, even given what is happening today [in Russia]. Just a few words proved enough to put someone behind bars for such a long time.”

Alina, one of the doctor’s group of supporters in court, said: “For me it was important that Nadezhda saw that a lot of us came today, so that, if a miracle didn’t happen – and we were all still hoping for a miracle – it would be just that little bit easier for her."

“It’s very difficult to speak about this. We’re all in shock.”

The law against spreading false information about the army is one of several harsh pieces of legislation adopted in Russia since the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with the aim of silencing or punishing criticism of the war.

The imprisonment of a Moscow paediatrician is the latest sign that, for Russia, a war abroad is fuelling repression at home.

US ex-congressman paralysed after polo accident

Getty Images Michael GrimmGetty Images

Former US congressman Michael Grimm has been paralysed from the chest down after being thrown from a horse during a polo tournament.

His friend and former New York City council member, Vincent Ignizio, told the Associated Press the "tragic accident" occurred in September, and that he was currently receiving treatment.

Ignizio has also set up a fundraising page to pay for the New York Republican's medical treatment.

A former marine and FBI agent, Grimm, 54, represented Staten Island and part of Brooklyn in the House of Representatives, but resigned months before being convicted of tax evasion in 2015.

"Through the grace of God and the amazing medical teams who have helped him, Mr Grimm has miraculously thread the needle to survive," his fundraising page said, adding that the treatment to enable him to walk again would cost "millions of dollars".

Ignizio said his friend was being treated at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, where the late actor Christopher Reeve stayed after a similar accident in 1995, the Associated Press reported.

"His ultimate goal is to get himself to walk again," Ignizio added.

On Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his "thoughts and prayers" were with Grimm and that he was "deeply saddened" by the accident.

"Grimm is a Marine veteran, and as we honour our nation's service members this Veteran’s Day, I hope for a full and speedy recovery," he wrote on X.

Grimm was first elected to the House in 2010.

After a two-year federal investigation into his finances, he was charged in 2014, and the following year sentenced to eight months in prison.

Prosecutors at the time said he under-reported wages and revenue so as to avoid payroll, income and sales taxes.

Trump lining up Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem for top jobs

Getty Images Rep Michael Walz is open mouthed in a gray suit with a blue tieGetty Images

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Rep Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, to serve as national security adviser, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

A veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a long-time Trump supporter, Waltz was re-elected to Congress last week - though he will have to vacate his office to serve in the White House.

In this role, Waltz would serve as a key White House adviser on national security and foreign policy matters. It is a prominent role that does not require confirmation.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is in talks to be Trump's nominee for secretary of state, though the pick is not a done deal, two sources told CBS.

Waltz and Rubio's offices did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Waltz: a soldier and congressman

A decorated Green Beret and Army veteran, Waltz served multiple tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.

He drew on his experiences serving in the Pentagon during the George W Bush administration and in combat in his book Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret's Battles from Washington to Afghanistan.

Waltz's military experience led to key national security committee assignments when he was elected to Congress in 2018, serving on the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees.

The Florida congressman's expressed views in Congress have hewed closely to Republicans' political views on national security and foreign policy since Trump's election in 2016 - but they also acknowledge the US's key role in global affairs.

Waltz has suggested NATO allies increase their defence spending, though he has not gone as far as Trump and said the US should leave the alliance altogether.

"Look we can be allies and friends and have tough conversations," Waltz said last month.

He has said the US should maintain its support for Ukraine, but in recent weeks he's advocated for a reassessment of the US funds sent to aid the country.

Waltz has also taken a tough line on China while in Congress, and - as chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness - argued that the US needs to do more to prepare for conflict in the Pacific.

Since the US's 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, Waltz has frequently criticised President Joe Biden and the White House for its decision to leave the country.

Waltz would be the second member of Congress to be tapped to serve in the next Trump administration, which will require him to resign his office in the House of Representatives and potentially slim Republicans' controlling majority.

He would be the fifth national security adviser to serve under Trump, who appointed four different men to serve in the position during his first term. He fired three of them.

Michael Flynn, a retired general and Trump loyalist lasted for only 24 days before he was fired.

Trump then appointed and later dismissed HR McMaster, another retired general who would later criticise the president-elect and his allies in a memoir that he published earlier this year.

John Bolton, who served in the post for 17 months and was Trump's longest-serving national security adviser before also being fired, became highly critical of his former boss and has advocated against the president-elect's efforts to return to the White House.

Robert O'Brien, a lawyer who served in the Bush administration, finished out Trump's first term as national security adviser.

Rubio: the foreign policy hawk

It is not yet certain that Rubio will be nominated to serve as secretary of state, but the Florida Republican's career has set him up to be America's next top diplomat.

Several US media outlets have reported that Rubio is in talks with the Trump transition team over the senior position, but it has not been finalised. It appears the president-elect could still change his mind.

Rubio has built out his resume in the Senate, however.

He serves as the vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and sits on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Rubio is considered a foreign policy hawk, particularly toward China and Iran. While supportive of Ukraine, he previously said the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine needs to "be brought to a conclusion”.

Trump and Rubio now have a cordial relationship, but it hasn't always been that way.

Both men ran for president in 2016, and the two developed a bitter rivalry. They clashed on a variety of issues - particularly immigration - and the conflict led to various insults: Trump referred to the senator as “Little Marco” and Rubio mocked Trump's "small hands".

The Florida senator, 53, went on to back his rival and the two patched up their relationship during Trump's first term.

Rubio was an early supporter of Trump in this election’s primary.

The son of working-class Cuban immigrants, Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010.

He has since become a stalwart of Republican politics, and was once floated as a potential running mate to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney and to Trump in 2024.

Spain braces for torrential rain as new weather system reaches Med coast

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock The province of Valencia is still getting back on its feet after the floods. Here a volunteer cleans the chairs of a bar in CatarrojaEPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Valencia is still recovering from the first "Dana" weather system at the end of October

Two weeks after flash floods caused devastation in eastern Spain, several areas of the country are on alert, with a new weather front expected to bring torrential rain and low temperatures.

Eastern and southern Mediterranean areas are again the most vulnerable, with Spain's meteorological agency Aemet placing parts of the Valencia, Catalonia and Andalusia regions, as well as the Balearic Islands, on orange alert from now until Thursday.

Aemet warns of rainfall and storms that could be “very strong to torrential”.

That orange alert is the second highest and it signals a significant meteorological event “with a degree of danger for normal activities”.

A military vehicle has been driving through towns using a megaphone to warn of the expected storms.

Precautions are being taken in many areas of Valencia, with school classes and sports activities suspended in some towns and sandbags piled up to protect the centre of the town of Aldaia.

However this second “Dana” weather system is not expected to be as dramatic as the red alert on 29 October, when the Valencia region in particular suffered an unprecedented loss of lives and material damage.

There were 222 confirmed deaths from the flooding in Spain last month, and 23 people are still missing.

Dana weather systems are formed when an area of low pressure gets "cut off" from the main flow of the jet stream. This means that instead of moving through a region relatively quickly, they get blocked over the same area leading to persistent rainfall for several days.

Colder air high in the atmosphere meets warmer air flowing in from the Mediterranean which intensifies the storm.

Spain to get more intense rain this week

Heavy rainfall has already hit some areas this week.

Parts of Almería province in Andalusia were flooded on Monday night, causing part of the A7 motorway to be closed temporarily.

Emergency services rescued three people after their cars were dragged by the flood waters to a bridge in the town of Vícar.

The Spanish weather agency has advised people in areas on orange alert to stay away from ravines and waterways, even though they may be dry, because of the risk that they become flooded.

The national traffic office (DGT) advised people in those areas to check the state of roads before using vehicles.

King Felipe VI was due to visit a military base at Bétera in Valencia on Tuesday where members of the armed forces are taking part in the ongoing search for missing people and the clean-up operation.

On a previous visit to Valencia, the king, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the regional president Carlos Mazón were insulted, jostled and had mud thrown at them by people in the town of Paiporta, due to the perceived lack of state help in the wake of the tragedy.

Mazón, in particular, has come under mounting pressure for his administration’s response on the day the flash floods struck.

How a Dana air system works - graphic showing the new Dana above Spain

Dana weather systems are not uncommon in Spain – they typically happen around 10 to 20 times a years in the western Mediterranean.

This second Dana in a matter of weeks is not considered either as extreme or slow-moving as the one that hit Valencia at the end of October.

However, the wettest places - especially around Malaga and Granada - could see around 180mm of rain falling this week – about two months’ worth of rainfall in a matter of days. Large hail and squally winds will also be a hazard.

The first significant snowfall of the season is expected to affect the Cantabrian mountains as well as the Sierra Morena mountains and the Central and Betic chains as colder air moves across the Peninsula.

Strong gusty winds will accompany the mountain snow too.

Germany plans February election after coalition collapse

EPA Inside the Bundestag, where there are many purple chairs in a semi-circle, and a huge eagle - the logo of the Bundestag  - hanging above the speaker. There are a few people milling around but it's mainly empty.EPA
The Bundestag are set to vote in December to dissolve the government

Germany is set to hold elections on 23 February, following the collapse of the governing coalition.

The country was plunged into crisis after Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the Social Democrats, fired the finance minister and coalition partner, Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats, following weeks of internal tensions.

The February date is a proposal and there are several steps to confirmation. The German press agency DPA reported that these were largely a formality.

It said the next step was for Scholz to put the current government to a confidence vote on 16 December.

If he loses, which is the expected outcome, the election date will formally be proposed to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He will then have 21 days to dissolve the German parliament, the Bundestag.

Tensions boiled over in the Bundestag last Wednesday during a row over the 2025 budget.

The chancellor fired Lindner, saying he had "betrayed my confidence" and put the interests of his party over those of the country.

Lindner accused Scholz of "leading Germany into a phase of uncertainty".

The turmoil plunged Europe's largest economy into political chaos, hours after Donald Trump's US election victory triggered uncertainty about the future of the continent's economy and security.

Scholz's initial plan for a no-confidence vote in January and elections in mid-March was rejected by the leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, as not soon enough.

The DPA reported that leaders of both main parties agreed the February date, and that the Greens and Free Democrats, the junior coalition partners, support the plan.

Trump lining up Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem for top jobs, US media say

Getty Images Rep Michael Walz is open mouthed in a gray suit with a blue tieGetty Images

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Rep Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, to serve as national security adviser, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

A veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a long-time Trump supporter, Waltz was re-elected to Congress last week - though he will have to vacate his office to serve in the White House.

In this role, Waltz would serve as a key White House adviser on national security and foreign policy matters. It is a prominent role that does not require confirmation.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is in talks to be Trump's nominee for secretary of state, though the pick is not a done deal, two sources told CBS.

Waltz and Rubio's offices did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Waltz: a soldier and congressman

A decorated Green Beret and Army veteran, Waltz served multiple tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.

He drew on his experiences serving in the Pentagon during the George W Bush administration and in combat in his book Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret's Battles from Washington to Afghanistan.

Waltz's military experience led to key national security committee assignments when he was elected to Congress in 2018, serving on the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees.

The Florida congressman's expressed views in Congress have hewed closely to Republicans' political views on national security and foreign policy since Trump's election in 2016 - but they also acknowledge the US's key role in global affairs.

Waltz has suggested NATO allies increase their defence spending, though he has not gone as far as Trump and said the US should leave the alliance altogether.

"Look we can be allies and friends and have tough conversations," Waltz said last month.

He has said the US should maintain its support for Ukraine, but in recent weeks he's advocated for a reassessment of the US funds sent to aid the country.

Waltz has also taken a tough line on China while in Congress, and - as chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness - argued that the US needs to do more to prepare for conflict in the Pacific.

Since the US's 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, Waltz has frequently criticised President Joe Biden and the White House for its decision to leave the country.

Waltz would be the second member of Congress to be tapped to serve in the next Trump administration, which will require him to resign his office in the House of Representatives and potentially slim Republicans' controlling majority.

He would be the fifth national security adviser to serve under Trump, who appointed four different men to serve in the position during his first term. He fired three of them.

Michael Flynn, a retired general and Trump loyalist lasted for only 24 days before he was fired.

Trump then appointed and later dismissed HR McMaster, another retired general who would later criticise the president-elect and his allies in a memoir that he published earlier this year.

John Bolton, who served in the post for 17 months and was Trump's longest-serving national security adviser before also being fired, became highly critical of his former boss and has advocated against the president-elect's efforts to return to the White House.

Robert O'Brien, a lawyer who served in the Bush administration, finished out Trump's first term as national security adviser.

Rubio: the foreign policy hawk

It is not yet certain that Rubio will be nominated to serve as secretary of state, but the Florida Republican's career has set him up to be America's next top diplomat.

Several US media outlets have reported that Rubio is in talks with the Trump transition team over the senior position, but it has not been finalised. It appears the president-elect could still change his mind.

Rubio has built out his resume in the Senate, however.

He serves as the vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and sits on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Rubio is considered a foreign policy hawk, particularly toward China and Iran. While supportive of Ukraine, he previously said the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine needs to "be brought to a conclusion”.

Trump and Rubio now have a cordial relationship, but it hasn't always been that way.

Both men ran for president in 2016, and the two developed a bitter rivalry. They clashed on a variety of issues - particularly immigration - and the conflict led to various insults: Trump referred to the senator as “Little Marco” and Rubio mocked Trump's "small hands".

The Florida senator, 53, went on to back his rival and the two patched up their relationship during Trump's first term.

Rubio was an early supporter of Trump in this election’s primary.

The son of working-class Cuban immigrants, Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010.

He has since become a stalwart of Republican politics, and was once floated as a potential running mate to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney and to Trump in 2024.

Dozens killed after car ploughs into crowd in China

Reuters Wounded people lie on the ground after a suspected hit-and-run attack outside a sports centre, in ZhuhaiReuters
Footage online showed several people lying on the ground

A car ploughed into a crowd outside a stadium in the Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday evening, injuring multiple people, police have said.

The 62-year-old male driver, surnamed Fan, has been arrested.

Local reports estimate that at least 20 people, many of whom were struck while exercising at Zhuhai Sports Centre, were injured and have been sent to hospital.

The incident took place despite heightened security in the city, which is also hosting a major civil and military airshow.

Most videos of the incident posted by eyewitnesses have since been scrubbed off Chinese social media, but some footage still circulating online show many people lying on the ground and being attended to by paramedics and bystanders.

Some of the victims appear to be unconscious.

An eyewitness, Mr Chen, told Chinese news magazine Caixin that at least six groups of people had gathered at the stadium for their regular walks when the incident happened.

The groups use a designated walking path that traces the stadium's perimeter.

Mr Chen said his group had just completed its third lap around the stadium when a car suddenly charged towards them at a high speed, "knocking down many people".

“It drove in a loop, and people were hurt in all areas of the running track - east, south, west, and north," another eyewitness told Caixin.

The outlet reported that many elderly people, as well as teenagers and children, were among those injured.

It is unclear whether the incident was linked to the high-profile Zhuhai Airshow, which started on Tuesday at a venue just 40km (24 miles) away from the stadium. China is showcasing its latest warplanes and attack drones at the show, and top Russian official Sergei Shoigu is expected to attend.

Several entrances and exits to the sports centre have been closed during the airshow to facilitate "control", the centre's management said on Tuesday.

China has seen a spate of violent attacks on members of the public in recent months.

In September, a man went on a stabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.

In that same month, a 10-year-old Japanese student died a day after he was stabbed near his school in southern China.

Israel has missed US deadline to boost Gaza aid, UN agency says

AFP Palestinian children collect aid food at Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip (6 November 2024)AFP
A UN-backed report recently warned there was an imminent likelihood of famine in northern Gaza

The main UN aid agency in Gaza says Israel has failed to meet a US deadline to boost aid to the territory or risk a reduction in American military aid.

Last month, in a strongly worded letter, the US secretary of state gave Israel an ultimatum of 30 days to ensure more aid trucks reached Gaza daily. The deadline expires on Tuesday.

The amount of aid getting into Gaza is at its lowest level in a year, the UN says. A UN-backed report recently warned that there was an imminent likelihood of famine in northern Gaza, where hardly any aid has entered in the past month.

Israel says it has substantially increased the amount of aid getting into Gaza, and accuses aid agencies of failing to adequately distribute it.

Bar chart showing the number of lorries entering Gaza

In his letter on 13 October, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel needed to allow a minimum of 350 lorries a day into Gaza, every day, by 12 November.

But when asked if Israel had done enough since then to meet America’s demands, Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Coordinator there for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), bluntly said “No”.

“There is not enough aid here. There are not enough supplies,” she told the BBC from Unrwa's base in central Gaza.

“People are starving in some areas. People are very hungry. They are fighting over bags of flour. There are just not enough supplies.”

In footage filmed for the BBC by a local journalist in Gaza at one of the few remaining bakeries in the centre of the strip, a stream of hot puffed-up pitas roll out of an oven on a conveyor belt.

Through a small square window, hands desperately grasp at the bags of bread as money is handed over.

Like all food, the price of bread has increased dramatically over the past year.

Outside the bakery, hundreds of packed people scramble to get their hands on the bread.

Among them is grandmother, Aida al-Horan, who has also been picking up soup.

“If it were not for the soup kitchen, we would have starved to death," Aida says.

“Every day it’s the same struggle. I go back and forth to the soup kitchen.”

EPA Israeli soldiers stand guard at a gate after a World Food Programme (WFP) aid convoy passes through the Erez West border crossing with the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel (11 November 2024)EPA
Israel says it has substantially increased the amount of aid getting into Gaza, including through the reopened Erez West crossing

But over the past month, Israel has met America’s request to open up more crossings into Gaza.

Cogat – the Israeli military body responsible for humanitarian affairs in the Gaza Strip – announced on Tuesday morning that it had opened a new crossing, Kissufim, towards the south.

A spokesman for Cogat told the BBC that “most aspects [of Blinken’s demands] have been met and those which have not are being discussed, [and] some US demands are for issues that were being resolved already”.

At Zikim, on the Israeli side of the strip’s northern border, I get as close as I’ve been to Gaza in more than 10 years.

I was the BBC’s Gaza correspondent between 2009 and 2013 and know the strip well.

But throughout this war, Israel has not allowed international journalists unrestricted access to Gaza.

Zikim is one of a number of crossings which have been reopened by Israel in recent weeks.

At a photocall on Monday, arranged by Israel’s military, a day before the US deadline, I and other journalists were invited to film around eight aid trucks passing into Gaza.

They were laden with sacks of flour, rice and toilet paper, among other things.

So, aid is getting into Gaza.

But nowhere near enough.

Bar chart showing level of food entering Gaza

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) says, over the past, month the average number of trucks getting into the strip is just over 40 trucks per day.

Israel disputes Ocha's figures and blames the UN for failing to deliver aid.

It says hundreds of pallets of supplies are waiting to be picked up by aid agencies on the Gaza side of the border and says some aid trucks are being looted by armed men.

The UN rejects that.

It says it is Israel’s responsibility as the occupying power to facilitate the safe passage of aid inside Gaza.

It stresses that it cannot distribute aid if Israel’s military operations mean it is too dangerous.

For more than a year Israel has crossed most of America’s red lines.

Much of the death and destruction was caused by US weapons, given to Israel in order the help the fight against Hamas after the 7 October 2023, attack.

But in the dying days of the Biden Presidency and with more than 43,000 Palestinian lives lost, it’s unlikely the White House will put its foot down and cut off arms supplies.

Ugandan TikTokers held for insulting first family

AFP Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni during his two-day state visit in Nairobi on May 16, 2024AFP
The TikTokers are accused of insulting President Yoweri Museveni and his family

Two Ugandans have been detained for allegedly insulting President Yoweri Museveni, the first lady Janet Museveni and the president's son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba on the video sharing platform, TikTok.

Magistrate Stella Maris Amabilis remanded 21-year-old David Ssengozi, alias Lucky Choice, and Isaiah Ssekagiri , 28, to Kigo prison until Wednesday when they will make an initial court appearance.

They are accused of hate speech and spreading malicious information against the first family and musicians linked to the governing National Resistance Movement (NRM).

Appearing in court on Monday, the two denied the charges.

They are jointly charged with Julius Tayebwa, 19, who had already been brought before court and remanded in prison for the same offences.

Prosecutors allege that they posted information on TikTok meant to "ridicule degrade, demean, and promote hostility” against the first family and others

The magistrate allowed their detention after police said they were still making inquiries on the matter.

“You will come back on the 13 November, when the case will come up for mention. You are remanded at Kigo prison till then,” the magistrate ordered.

In September, police spokesman Rusoke Kituuma warned that abusing the president, who he termed the "fountain of honour", was an offence. He mentioned Tiktoker with the name Lucky Choice who he said they were investigating. The Tiktoker was later arrested.

It is not clear which post led to the arrest, but a video released in April on TikTok on the page LuckyChoice70, with the title My First Enemies, criticised the first family using sexually explicit terms.

In July, a 24-year-old man was sentenced to six years in prison for insulting the president and the first family on a TikTok video. He had pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness.

It comes as the government has been criticised for restricting people’s ability to criticise actions by the state or its officials.

The US government in a report last year accused Uganda of restricting internet freedom through the use of criminal punishments.

Rights groups also regularly denounce the Ugandan authorities over violations of human rights and the freedom of expression.

In 2022, award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was charged with two counts of "offensive communication" after making unflattering remarks about the president and his son on Twitter.

He fled the country to Germany after spending a month in jail, where he said he had been tortured.

You may also be interested in:

Getty Images/BBC A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News AfricaGetty Images/BBC

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

BBC Africa podcasts

Megan Fox expecting first child with Machine Gun Kelly

Getty Images Megan Fox staring at a camera. Wearing a gold necklace, with pink hair and tattoos on her left arm. She's stood in front of an orange and black background. Getty Images

Megan Fox has announced she and US rapper Machine Gun Kelly are expecting their first child together.

The Transformers actress tagged the musician in a photo which showed her kneeling, covered in a black substance and cradling a baby bump.

Fox, who last year revealed that a previous pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage, also posted a picture of a positive pregnancy test alongside the portrait.

The actress, who has been dating Kelly since 2020, captioned the images with: "Nothing is ever really lost. welcome back".

Getty Images Megan Fox, wearing a pink dress, with silver straps and pink fingernails, holding hands with Machine Gun Kelly, wearing Silver shorts and a silver jacket. The pair are sitting on a purple sofa.Getty Images

Fox previously spoke about her miscarriage on ABC's Good Morning America.

She said: "I've never been through anything like that before in my life. It was very difficult for both of us.

"It sent us on a very wild journey together and separately - trying to navigate what does this mean and why did this happen?"

She also shared her experiences in her book, Pretty Boys are Poisonous, through two poems.

In an interview with Women's Wear Daily Fox also revealed that she'd experienced an ectopic pregnancy on a different occasion.

This is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes.

The American actress has three children, and Machine Gun Kelly has a daughter from a previous relationship.

A footer logo for BBC Newsbeat. It has the BBC logo and the word Newsbeat in white over a colourful background of violet, purple and orange shapes. At the bottom a black square reading "Listen on Sounds" is visible.

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

Trump lining up Marco Rubio and Michael Waltz for top jobs, US media say

Getty Images Rep Michael Walz is open mouthed in a gray suit with a blue tieGetty Images

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Rep Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, to serve as national security adviser, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

A veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a long-time Trump supporter, Waltz was re-elected to Congress last week - though he will have to vacate his office to serve in the White House.

In this role, Waltz would serve as a key White House adviser on national security and foreign policy matters. It is a prominent role that does not require confirmation.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is in talks to be Trump's nominee for secretary of state, though the pick is not a done deal, two sources told CBS.

Waltz and Rubio's offices did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Waltz: a soldier and congressman

A decorated Green Beret and Army veteran, Waltz served multiple tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.

He drew on his experiences serving in the Pentagon during the George W Bush administration and in combat in his book Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret's Battles from Washington to Afghanistan.

Waltz's military experience led to key national security committee assignments when he was elected to Congress in 2018, serving on the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees.

The Florida congressman's expressed views in Congress have hewed closely to Republicans' political views on national security and foreign policy since Trump's election in 2016 - but they also acknowledge the US's key role in global affairs.

Waltz has suggested NATO allies increase their defence spending, though he has not gone as far as Trump and said the US should leave the alliance altogether.

"Look we can be allies and friends and have tough conversations," Waltz said last month.

He has said the US should maintain its support for Ukraine, but in recent weeks he's advocated for a reassessment of the US funds sent to aid the country.

Waltz has also taken a tough line on China while in Congress, and - as chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness - argued that the US needs to do more to prepare for conflict in the Pacific.

Since the US's 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, Waltz has frequently criticised President Joe Biden and the White House for its decision to leave the country.

Waltz would be the second member of Congress to be tapped to serve in the next Trump administration, which will require him to resign his office in the House of Representatives and potentially slim Republicans' controlling majority.

He would be the fifth national security adviser to serve under Trump, who appointed four different men to serve in the position during his first term. He fired three of them.

Michael Flynn, a retired general and Trump loyalist lasted for only 24 days before he was fired.

Trump then appointed and later dismissed HR McMaster, another retired general who would later criticise the president-elect and his allies in a memoir that he published earlier this year.

John Bolton, who served in the post for 17 months and was Trump's longest-serving national security adviser before also being fired, became highly critical of his former boss and has advocated against the president-elect's efforts to return to the White House.

Robert O'Brien, a lawyer who served in the Bush administration, finished out Trump's first term as national security adviser.

Rubio: the foreign policy hawk

It is not yet certain that Rubio will be nominated to serve as secretary of state, but the Florida Republican's career has set him up to be America's next top diplomat.

Several US media outlets have reported that Rubio is in talks with the Trump transition team over the senior position, but it has not been finalised. It appears the president-elect could still change his mind.

Rubio has built out his resume in the Senate, however.

He serves as the vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and sits on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Rubio is considered a foreign policy hawk, particularly toward China and Iran. While supportive of Ukraine, he previously said the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine needs to "be brought to a conclusion”.

Trump and Rubio now have a cordial relationship, but it hasn't always been that way.

Both men ran for president in 2016, and the two developed a bitter rivalry. They clashed on a variety of issues - particularly immigration - and the conflict led to various insults: Trump referred to the senator as “Little Marco” and Rubio mocked Trump's "small hands".

The Florida senator, 53, went on to back his rival and the two patched up their relationship during Trump's first term.

Rubio was an early supporter of Trump in this election’s primary.

The son of working-class Cuban immigrants, Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010.

He has since become a stalwart of Republican politics, and was once floated as a potential running mate to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney and to Trump in 2024.

Rembrandt's Night Watch: Major restoration begins

Getty Images Two visitors in front of Rembrandt's The Night Watch. The visitor on the right is pointing at lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch in the painting, who is dressed in a gold outfit with a white sash.Getty Images

The largest restoration of Rembrandt's masterpiece, The Night Watch, is under way at the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam.

Following five years of research using techniques such as digital imaging and artificial intelligence, eight restorers will begin "Operation Night Watch" by removing the varnish from the painting - in full view of the public, within the glass-enclosed space in The Night Watch Room.

"The start of the restoration is thrilling," Rijksmuseum general director Taco Dibbits said.

"Removing the varnish will reveal The Night Watch's eventful history. It will be a unique experience for the public to follow this process up close.”

Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum A woman with long blonde hair in a ponytail is wearing black protective clothing and purple latex gloves as she carefully removes the varnish from a section of The Night WatchCourtesy of the Rijksmuseum
The varnish has started to be removed, as part of the first stage

The varnish, applied during a 1975-76 restoration, will be removed using microfibre cloths and cotton swabs.

The process follows years of scientific research, trials on other paintings, and tests on The Night Watch itself.

Getty Images The Night Watch shows a captain and lieutenant surrounded by their companyGetty Images
The Night Watch is one of the most famous Dutch Golden Age paintings

Made for Amsterdam's Arquebusiers Guild Hall, Rembrandt van Rijn's 1642 oil painting is one of the earliest to portray a group in action.

A captain, dressed in black, is telling his lieutenant to start the company marching. And the guardsmen are moving into formation.

Rembrandt uses the light to focus on particular details, such as the captain’s gesturing hand and the young girl, a mascot, in the background.

The painting’s original name is Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq - but it became known as The Night Watch, in the 18th Century.

The artwork was coated with a dark varnish and accumulated dirt over the years, giving the false impression it depicts a night scene.

Sprayed acid

The Night Watch has been attacked with a knife - in 1911 and again in 1975, when the attacker slashed 12 cuts into the canvas.

And in 1990, a man sprayed acid on to the painting - although, this time, thanks to a guard's rapid intervention, only the varnish was damaged.

The Night Watch has been treated at least 25 times - but this latest research and restoration project is the most extensive so far.

More than two million visitors come to see the painting, at the museum, in the Netherlands, every year.

World's longest detained journalist wins rights prize

The Edelstam Foundation Dawit IsaakThe Edelstam Foundation

A journalist detained in Eritrean prison without trial for 23 years has won a Swedish human rights prize for his commitment to freedom of expression.

Dawit Isaak, who holds dual Eritrean-Swedish citizenship, was given the Edelstam Prize "for his... exceptional courage", the foundation behind the award said in a statement.

Dawit, who holds dual Eritrean-Swedish citizenship, was one of the founders of Setit, Eritrea's first independent newspaper.

He was detained in 2001 after his paper published letters demanding democratic reforms.

Dawit was among a group of about two dozen individuals, including senior cabinet ministers, members of parliament and independent journalists, arrested in a government purge.

Over the years, the Eritrean government has provided no information on his whereabouts or health, and many who were jailed alongside him are presumed dead.

The Edelstam Prize, awarded for exceptional courage in defending human rights, will be presented on 19 November in Stockholm.

Dawit's daughter, Betlehem Isaak, will accept the prize on his behalf as he remains imprisoned in Eritrea.

His work with the Setit included criticism of the government and calls for democratic reform and free expression, actions that led to his arrest in a crackdown on dissent.

The Edelstam Foundation has called for Dawit's release, urging the Eritrean authorities to disclose his location and allow him legal representation.

"Dawit Isaak is the longest detained journalist in the world. We are very concerned about his health and his whereabouts are unknown, he is not charged with a crime, and he has been denied access to his family, consular assistance, and the right to legal counsel – effectively, it is an enforced disappearance," said Caroline Edelstam, the chair of the Edelstam Prize jury.

His "indefatigable courage stands as a testament to the principle of freedom of expression."

The Edelstam Foundation also urged the international community to pressure Eritrea for Dawit's release and to advocate for human rights reforms.

The Edelstam Prize honours individuals who show exceptional bravery in defending human rights, in memory of Swedish diplomat Harald Edelstam.

Eritrea is the only African country without privately owned media, having shut down its private press in 2001 under the pretext of "national security".

Dawit, who fled to Sweden in 1987 during Eritrea’s war for independence, returned after the country gained independence in 1993 after becoming a Swedish citizen.

There have been no elections in Eritrea since its independence, and President Isaias Afwerki has held power for nearly 31 years.

You may also be interested in:

Getty Images/BBC A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News AfricaGetty Images/BBC

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

BBC Africa podcasts

Trump to name national security adviser while Rubio in running for top diplomat role

Getty Images Rep Michael Walz is open mouthed in a gray suit with a blue tieGetty Images

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Rep Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, to serve as national security adviser, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

A veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a long-time Trump supporter, Waltz was re-elected to Congress last week - though he will have to vacate his office to serve in the White House.

In this role, Waltz would serve as a key White House adviser on national security and foreign policy matters. It is a prominent role that does not require confirmation.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is in talks to be Trump's nominee for secretary of state, though the pick is not a done deal, two sources told CBS.

Waltz and Rubio's offices did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Waltz: a soldier and congressman

A decorated Green Beret and Army veteran, Waltz served multiple tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.

He drew on his experiences serving in the Pentagon during the George W Bush administration and in combat in his book Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret's Battles from Washington to Afghanistan.

Waltz's military experience led to key national security committee assignments when he was elected to Congress in 2018, serving on the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees.

The Florida congressman's expressed views in Congress have hewed closely to Republicans' political views on national security and foreign policy since Trump's election in 2016 - but they also acknowledge the US's key role in global affairs.

Waltz has suggested NATO allies increase their defence spending, though he has not gone as far as Trump and said the US should leave the alliance altogether.

"Look we can be allies and friends and have tough conversations," Waltz said last month.

He has said the US should maintain its support for Ukraine, but in recent weeks he's advocated for a reassessment of the US funds sent to aid the country.

Waltz has also taken a tough line on China while in Congress, and - as chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness - argued that the US needs to do more to prepare for conflict in the Pacific.

Since the US's 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, Waltz has frequently criticised President Joe Biden and the White House for its decision to leave the country.

Waltz would be the second member of Congress to be tapped to serve in the next Trump administration, which will require him to resign his office in the House of Representatives and potentially slim Republicans' controlling majority.

He would be the fifth national security adviser to serve under Trump, who appointed four different men to serve in the position during his first term. He fired three of them.

Michael Flynn, a retired general and Trump loyalist lasted for only 24 days before he was fired.

Trump then appointed and later dismissed HR McMaster, another retired general who would later criticise the president-elect and his allies in a memoir that he published earlier this year.

John Bolton, who served in the post for 17 months and was Trump's longest-serving national security adviser before also being fired, became highly critical of his former boss and has advocated against the president-elect's efforts to return to the White House.

Robert O'Brien, a lawyer who served in the Bush administration, finished out Trump's first term as national security adviser.

Rubio: the foreign policy hawk

It is not yet certain that Rubio will be nominated to serve as secretary of state, but the Florida Republican's career has set him up to be America's next top diplomat.

Several US media outlets have reported that Rubio is in talks with the Trump transition team over the senior position, but it has not been finalised. It appears the president-elect could still change his mind.

Rubio has built out his resume in the Senate, however.

He serves as the vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and sits on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Rubio is considered a foreign policy hawk, particularly toward China and Iran. While supportive of Ukraine, he previously said the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine needs to "be brought to a conclusion”.

Trump and Rubio now have a cordial relationship, but it hasn't always been that way.

Both men ran for president in 2016, and the two developed a bitter rivalry. They clashed on a variety of issues - particularly immigration - and the conflict led to various insults: Trump referred to the senator as “Little Marco” and Rubio mocked Trump's "small hands".

The Florida senator, 53, went on to back his rival and the two patched up their relationship during Trump's first term.

Rubio was an early supporter of Trump in this election’s primary.

The son of working-class Cuban immigrants, Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010.

He has since become a stalwart of Republican politics, and was once floated as a potential running mate to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney and to Trump in 2024.

Shell wins landmark climate case against green groups in Dutch appeal

Reuters Supporters of Friends of the Earth react outside the court in The Hague after Shell wins the case Reuters
The ruling in favour of Shell was a blow for environmental campaigners including Friends of the Earth

Oil giant Shell has won a landmark case in the Dutch courts, overturning an earlier ruling requiring it to cuts its carbon emissions by 45%.

The Hague court of appeal said it could not establish that Shell had a "social standard of care" to reduce its emissions by 45% or any other amount, even though it agreed the company had an obligation to citizens to limit emissions.

Three years ago, a court in The Hague backed a case by Friends of the Earth and 17,000 Dutch citizens requiring Shell to reduce its CO2 emissions significantly, in line with the Paris climate accords.

The ruling came as climate talks involving some 200 countries got under way in Azerbaijan.

Friends of the Earth Netherlands said the ruling was a setback that affected them deeply.

They can now take their case against Shell to the Supreme Court - but a final verdict could be years away.

Donald Pols from the group said "it's a marathon, not a sprint and the race isn't yet over".

At the time, the 2021 ruling marked the first time a court had ordered a private company to align its workings with the Paris climate agreement, meaning that it was not sufficient for a company simply to comply with the law - it had to comply with global climate policy too.

Under the terms of the Paris Agreement on climate change, nearly 200 nations agreed to keep global temperatures "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels.

The appeals court judge said that companies such as Shell were obliged to contribute to combating climate change based on the human right to protection against dangerous climate change.

However, the court said Shell was already working to reduce its emissions and the court could not establish whether it should make a 45% cut or another percentage, as there was no current accepted agreement in climate science on the required amount.

Shell has argued that it is already taking "serious steps to reduce emissions". It complained the original ruling was unfair as it singled out one company for a global issue, and said it was unrealistic to try to hold Shell accountable for its customers' choices.

Shell said if people considered progress was too slow towards cutting emissions then they should lobby governments rather than Shell to change policies and bring about a green transition.

The oil firm says its aim is to reduce the carbon intensity of products it sells by 15-20% by 2030 from a 2016 baseline. Shell also aims to become a "net zero" emissions company by 2050.

Part of the historic legal case hinged on the interpretation of an "unwritten duty of care" that exists under Dutch law, which requires companies to prevent hazardous negligence.

Friends of the Earth Netherlands argued that there was an international consensus that human rights offered protection against dangerous climate change and that companies had to respect human rights.

Shell's successful appeal could have far-reaching implications for corporate climate responsibility.

A number of environmental groups around the world are now trying to force companies and governments to comply with the accords through the courts.

New arrests made in Amsterdam over violence after football match

Reuters The windows of a tram are seen shattered after riots in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 11, 2024. Reuters
A tram stands vandalised in Amsterdam on Monday evening

Dutch police have made five more arrests over the violence which followed a match involving an Israeli football team in Amsterdam on Thursday night.

The five men, all from the Netherlands and aged between 18 and 37, are suspected of "public violence against persons" before and after the Maccabi Tel Aviv match against local team Ajax.

Prime Minister Dick Schoof said earlier on Monday that "antisemitic attacks against Israelis and Jews" were "nothing short of shocking and reprehensible".

Unrest flared up again in the city on Monday evening when an empty tram was attacked. Some rioters reportedly shouted "Free Palestine", according to local media.

On Thursday night, youths on scooters criss-crossed the Dutch capital in "hit-and-run" attacks on Maccabi supporters who were visiting for the Europa League match, authorities said.

Five people were treated in hospital and others suffered minor injuries.

The five new arrests come on top of 63 announced by the authorities since the violence. One of the five was released from custody but remains a suspect.

Police also made several arrests after the new unrest in the city on Monday. No injuries were reported.

Dozens of youths dressed in black damaged cars in a western suburb, where the tram was attacked on '40-'45 Square. Videos posted on social media show a tram being attacked with fireworks and its windows being shattered.

A fire on the tram was quickly extinguished and riot officers cleared the square, making arrests, German broadcaster DW reports.

Schoof promised that the Netherlands would focus on bringing perpetrators of Thursday's violence to justice.

"The images and reports for Amsterdam and what we've seen this weekend of antisemitic attacks against Israelis and Jews are nothing short of shocking and reprehensible," he told journalists.

He also commented on reports that Maccabi supporters had attacked a taxi and burnt a Palestinian flag in Amsterdam, as well as chanting anti-Arab slogans.

"We are well aware of what happened earlier with Maccabi supporters but we think that's of a different category and we condemn any violence as well, but that is no excuse whatsoever for what happened later on that night in the attacks on Jews in Amsterdam," he said.

Pro-Palestinian protests planned in recent days had been banned, angering activists.

Some have argued that they should be free to voice their disapproval of Israel's actions in Gaza and the actions of the Maccabi supporters. Police chief Peter Holla has said there had been incidents "on both sides" during Thursday's clashes.

The violence was condemned by leaders across Europe, the US and Israel. For many, it was especially shocking coming on the eve of commemorations marking Kristallnacht, the 1938 Nazi pogroms against German Jews.

Three-quarters of Jewish people in the Netherlands were murdered during the Holocaust in World War Two.

Reports of antisemitic incidents in Europe have risen since the start of the war in Gaza just over a year ago.

Convulsing cat in Thai TV show sparks abuse concerns

PETA A black cat laying on the floor with its eyes and mouth openPETA
A cat featured on a Thai drama is at the centre of widespread animal abuse concerns

A scene in a television drama showing a black cat convulsing on the ground has caused uproar in Thailand.

Concerned viewers of Thai drama "The Empress of Ayodhaya" questioned what was done to the animal to make its performance so convincing, with some suggesting potential mistreatment and abuse.

Despite the show’s producers scrambling to reassure audiences of the cat’s safety, a boycott campaign has gained traction on social media.

Authorities said they were investigating allegations of animal abuse.

In the controversial scene, a woman makes a cat drink her tea to test if it has been spiked. Moments later, the cat lays purring and writhing on the ground until it "dies".

Social media users, including public figures, quickly took to social media to air their anger about potential mistreatment of the cat.

Those concerns have now cast a shadow over what was marketed as one of the biggest Thai dramas of the year.

"The Empress of Ayodhaya" tells a story about royal tensions in the Ayutthaya period, inspired by the story of a 16th century Siamese queen.

Thai television channel One31 and the show’s director, Sant Srikaenlaw, said the cat had been put under anaesthesia with the supervision of experts. Sant added that the cat had regained consciousness, and promised to take it in for a health check.

The show’s producers also posted photos and videos of the cat to prove that it was safe and healthy.

This has done little to quell public anger.

The Veterinary Council of Thailand, which warned of the dangers of sedating animals, said it would take relevant action on the case. Meanwhile, Thailand’s Livestock Department said it has started investigating allegations of animal cruelty, adding that it had asked to examine the cat to make sure it was not harmed.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) issued a statement on Monday condemning the anesthetising of the cat for entertainment, describing it as "reckless, dangerous, and cruel".

"The public is rightly outraged, especially knowing that today, anything is possible with CGI, AI and animatronics," the statement said. "If you can’t make a TV show without risking the lives of animals, you’re in the wrong business."

Bondi attacker stabbed 16 in three minutes, inquiry told

Supplied A collage of four victims of the 2024 Bondi mass stabbing, including three women and one manSupplied
Four of the victims (clockwise from left): Jade Young, Ashlee Good, Faraz Tahir and Pikria Darchia

It took just three minutes for Joel Cauchi to kill six people and injure 10 more during a stabbing rampage at a popular Sydney shopping centre, an inquest into the attack has found.

A New South Wales Coroner's court heard on Tuesday that Cauchi, 40, was mentally ill and sleeping rough at the time of the incident, and had come off his medication for schizophrenia, prompting his parents to confiscate his hunting knives.

The probe also found that no alarm sounded inside the centre until after Cauchi had been shot dead by police.

The incident on 13 April devastated Australia, where mass murder is rare, and prompted a national conversation about gendered violence.

All up, 14 of the 17 people stabbed that day were female - including five of the six who were killed, and a nine-month-old baby. The NSW police commissioner said at the time that it was "obvious" Cauchi had targeted women.

Tuesday's hearing laid out the areas of focus for an extensive inquiry which is due to begin in full in April 2025. The investigation will look into possible security lapses and failings in the mental health systems in NSW and Queensland, Cauchi's home state.

Speaking in court, Dr Peggy Dwyer SC, the counsel assisting the coroner, said Cauchi had been off his psychotropic medication since 2019, despite authorities being repeatedly warned of his deteriorating state. Cauchi had come "to the attention" of Queensland police several times, she said.

In her statement, Dwyer also provided the first detailed timeline of how the violence actually unfolded in Bondi that day.

She said that Cauchi - who had been sleeping rough in the suburb of Maroubra on the morning of the attack - entered Westfield shopping centre around 15.30 (local), and began stabbing people roughly three minutes later, after removing his knife in line at a bakery.

His first victim was Dawn Singleton, 25, followed by 47-year-old Jade Young and 25-year-old Yixuan Cheng. He then attacked Ashlee Good, 38, from behind.

Good - who has been described by her family as an "all-round outstanding human" - then saw Cauchi stabbing her nine-month-old baby girl in her pram, and was further wounded trying to save the child's life, the court heard.

Faraz Tahir, a 30-year-old security guard, was stabbed next, alongside a colleague. Onlookers at the time said he died "trying to save others".

Cauchi fatally stabbed Pikria Darchia, 55, before being shot dead by NSW Police Insp Amy Scott, who had been on duty close by. Between the moment Scott arrived and the moment she killed Cauchi just over a minute had passed, the court heard.

In total, the attack lasted for five minutes and 43 seconds - yet no alarm sounded during that time.

"It’s presently unclear why it took so long for the alarm to sound," Dwyer said.

Before opening the hearing, state coroner Teresa O’Sullivan acknowledged the pain and loss the broader community was still feeling as a result of the violence.

"I offer my sincere condolences to the family and loved ones who are here in court today as well as those who can’t be here in person," she told the court, according to the Guardian Australia.

"It’s important to me and my assisting team… that you feel safe, you feel heard and you feel cared for throughout this proceeding."

Several injured after car ploughs into crowd in China

Reuters Wounded people lie on the ground after a suspected hit-and-run attack outside a sports centre, in ZhuhaiReuters
Footage online showed several people lying on the ground

A car ploughed into a crowd outside a stadium in the Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday evening, injuring multiple people, police have said.

The 62-year-old male driver, surnamed Fan, has been arrested.

Local reports estimate that at least 20 people, many of whom were struck while exercising at Zhuhai Sports Centre, were injured and have been sent to hospital.

The incident took place despite heightened security in the city, which is also hosting a major civil and military airshow.

Most videos of the incident posted by eyewitnesses have since been scrubbed off Chinese social media, but some footage still circulating online show many people lying on the ground and being attended to by paramedics and bystanders.

Some of the victims appear to be unconscious.

An eyewitness, Mr Chen, told Chinese news magazine Caixin that at least six groups of people had gathered at the stadium for their regular walks when the incident happened.

The groups use a designated walking path that traces the stadium's perimeter.

Mr Chen said his group had just completed its third lap around the stadium when a car suddenly charged towards them at a high speed, "knocking down many people".

“It drove in a loop, and people were hurt in all areas of the running track - east, south, west, and north," another eyewitness told Caixin.

The outlet reported that many elderly people, as well as teenagers and children, were among those injured.

It is unclear whether the incident was linked to the high-profile Zhuhai Airshow, which started on Tuesday at a venue just 40km (24 miles) away from the stadium. China is showcasing its latest warplanes and attack drones at the show, and top Russian official Sergei Shoigu is expected to attend.

Several entrances and exits to the sports centre have been closed during the airshow to facilitate "control", the centre's management said on Tuesday.

China has seen a spate of violent attacks on members of the public in recent months.

In September, a man went on a stabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.

In that same month, a 10-year-old Japanese student died a day after he was stabbed near his school in southern China.

New arrests over violence after Ajax-Maccabi match

Reuters The windows of a tram are seen shattered after riots in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 11, 2024. Reuters
A tram stands vandalised in Amsterdam on Monday evening

Dutch police have made five more arrests over the violence which followed a match involving an Israeli football team in Amsterdam on Thursday night.

The five men, all from the Netherlands and aged between 18 and 37, are suspected of "public violence against persons" before and after the Maccabi Tel Aviv match against local team Ajax.

Prime Minister Dick Schoof said earlier on Monday that "antisemitic attacks against Israelis and Jews" were "nothing short of shocking and reprehensible".

Unrest flared up again in the city on Monday evening when an empty tram was attacked. Some rioters reportedly shouted "Free Palestine", according to local media.

On Thursday night, youths on scooters criss-crossed the Dutch capital in "hit-and-run" attacks on Maccabi supporters who were visiting for the Europa League match, authorities said.

Five people were treated in hospital and others suffered minor injuries.

The five new arrests come on top of 63 announced by the authorities since the violence. One of the five was released from custody but remains a suspect.

Police also made several arrests after the new unrest in the city on Monday. No injuries were reported.

Dozens of youths dressed in black damaged cars in a western suburb, where the tram was attacked on '40-'45 Square. Videos posted on social media show a tram being attacked with fireworks and its windows being shattered.

A fire on the tram was quickly extinguished and riot officers cleared the square, making arrests, German broadcaster DW reports.

Schoof promised that the Netherlands would focus on bringing perpetrators of Thursday's violence to justice.

"The images and reports for Amsterdam and what we've seen this weekend of antisemitic attacks against Israelis and Jews are nothing short of shocking and reprehensible," he told journalists.

He also commented on reports that Maccabi supporters had attacked a taxi and burnt a Palestinian flag in Amsterdam, as well as chanting anti-Arab slogans.

"We are well aware of what happened earlier with Maccabi supporters but we think that's of a different category and we condemn any violence as well, but that is no excuse whatsoever for what happened later on that night in the attacks on Jews in Amsterdam," he said.

Pro-Palestinian protests planned in recent days had been banned, angering activists.

Some have argued that they should be free to voice their disapproval of Israel's actions in Gaza and the actions of the Maccabi supporters. Police chief Peter Holla has said there had been incidents "on both sides" during Thursday's clashes.

The violence was condemned by leaders across Europe, the US and Israel. For many, it was especially shocking coming on the eve of commemorations marking Kristallnacht, the 1938 Nazi pogroms against German Jews.

Three-quarters of Jewish people in the Netherlands were murdered during the Holocaust in World War Two.

Reports of antisemitic incidents in Europe have risen since the start of the war in Gaza just over a year ago.

New Zealand PM says sorry for 'horrific' care home abuse

Getty Images Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks in parliament.Getty Images
Mr Luxon made the apology in parliament

New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has formally apologised to victims of abuse in care homes, following an inquiry into one of the country's biggest abuse scandals.

The historic apology, delivered in parliament, comes after a report found that 200,000 children and vulnerable adults had suffered abuse while in state and faith-based care between 1950 and 2019.

Many of them included people from the Māori and Pacific communities and those with mental or physical disabilities.

The government has since promised to reform the care system.

“I make this apology to all survivors on behalf of my own and previous governments," said Luxon on Tuesday.

“It was horrific. It was heartbreaking. It was wrong. And it should never have happened,” he added. “For many of you it changed the course of your life, and for that, the government must take responsibility.”

The inquiry, which Luxon described as the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, took six years to complete and included interviews with thousands of survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care institutions.

The ensuing report documented a wide range of abuses including rape and sterilisation, and forced labour.

It found that faith-based institutions often had higher rates of sexual abuse than state care; and civil and faith leaders fought to cover up abuse by moving abusers to other locations and denying culpability, with many victims dying before seeing justice.

The findings were seen as vindication for those who found themselves facing down powerful officialdom, the state, and religious institutions - and often struggling to be believed.

The inquiry made over 100 recommendations, including public apologies from New Zealand authorities and religious leaders, as well as legislation mandating suspected abuse to be reported.

Luxon said the government has either completed or is in the process of working on 28 of these recommendations, and will provide a full response next year.

He also announced a National Remembrance Day to be held on 12 November next year to mark the anniversary of Tuesday’s apology.

“It is on all of us to do all we can to ensure that abuse that should never have been accepted, no longer occurs," he said.

DNA-testing site 23andMe to lay off 40% of its workers

Getty Images A pedestrian walks by a sign posted in front of the 23andMe headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.Getty Images
The once-popular DNA-testing firm will also halt the development of therapies

The struggling genetic testing company 23andMe says it will cut 40% of its workforce, or 200 jobs, as it fights for survival.

The once-popular DNA-testing site will also halt work on therapies it was developing.

Last year, the company said hackers had managed to gain access to personal information of millions of its users.

23andMe's share price has fallen by more than 70% this year, as its co-founder and chief executive Anne Wojcicki tries to turn the business around.

The company said it expects to incur one-off costs of $12m (£9.3m), including severance pay, for the plan that will result in savings of $35m.

"We are taking these difficult but necessary actions as we restructure 23andMe and focus on the long-term success of our core consumer business and research partnerships," Ms Wojcicki said.

The company also said it is considering what to do with the therapies it had in development, including licensing or selling them.

23andMe is a giant of the growing ancestor-tracing industry. It offers genetic testing from DNA, with ancestry breakdown and personalised health insights.

In December last year, 23andMe confirmed that hackers had accessed details of about 6.9 million of its users.

In some cases this included family trees, birth years and geographic locations, the company said. But the stolen data did not include DNA records, it said.

Its customers famous names, including rapper Snoop Dogg and multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

Zelensky says Russia has 50,000 troops in Kursk

Getty Images Ukrainian tank drives on the road on September 16, 2024 in Kursk Region, Russia. Getty Images
A Ukrainian tank inside Kursk in September

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his military's ongoing incursion into Russia's Kursk region is now holding down 50,000 Russian troops.

In his daily address to the nation, Zelensky said the operation was reducing Moscow's ability to attack inside Ukraine itself. The president has long cited this as the goal of the offensive, despite scepticism from some Western allies.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, a US non-profit, Russia had 11,000 troops in Kursk when Ukraine began its shock incursion in early August.

However, a report in the New York Times suggests Moscow has achieved its troop build-up in Kursk without any need to pull its soldiers out of Ukraine.

The paper says North Korean troops are also being deployed in Kursk as part of an imminent Russian counter-offensive.

In his speech, Zelensky said he had been briefed by his Сommander-in-Сhief, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyy, who announced earlier on Monday that he had carried out an inspection of Ukrainian units deployed in Kursk.

"Our men are holding back... 50,000 of the occupier's army personnel who, due to the Kursk operation, cannot be deployed to other Russian offensive directions on our territory," the Ukrainian president said.

Gen Syrskyy said separately that were it not for Ukraine's forces inside Kursk, "tens of thousands of enemies from the best Russian assault units would have been storming" Ukrainian positions in Donetsk region, a key battleground since the conflict erupted a decade ago.

Fighting rages on in Donetsk, where the two sides accused each other on Monday of damaging a dam near the Ukrainian-held town of Kurakhove. Russian troops have been slowly advancing in the region for months towards the key city of Pokrovsk - a major supply hub for Ukrainian forces.

The New York Times, which quotes both US and Ukrainian unnamed officials, puts the number of Russian and North Korean troops being readied for the reported counter-offensive in Kursk at 50,000.

"A new US assessment concludes that Russia has massed the force without having to pull soldiers out of Ukraine’s east - its main battlefield priority - allowing Moscow to press on multiple fronts simultaneously," the paper says.

Both Ukraine and the US say that more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia. Moscow neither confirms nor denies that troops from North Korea, a close ally since Soviet times, are in Kursk.

In North Korea itself, it was announced that its leader, Kim Jong un, had signed a decree ratifying a mutual defence treaty with Russia, which was approved in June at a summit in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

North Korea and Russia have grown increasingly close since Moscow found itself largely internationally isolated after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The US has repeatedly accused Pyongyang of sending vast amounts of military hardware to Russia, including ballistic missiles and launchers.

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte recently suggested that Pyongyang was receiving military technology and other support from Moscow to help it evade international sanctions

Elsewhere, amid much speculation over the impact of Donald Trump's re-election victory last week, the Kremlin has denied media reports that he held a phone call with President Vladimir Putin.

The call, which was first reported by the Washington Post on Sunday, is said to have happened on Thursday. Trump is said to have warned the Russian president against escalating the war in Ukraine and mentioned America's extensive military presence in Europe.

Trump's team told the BBC that it would not comment on the president-elect's "private calls".

'Man of his word': Jan 6 rioters expect Trump will keep pardon promise

Reuters Seen at a distance and from the side, supporters of then-US President Donald Trump gather are seen covering the front steps of the Capitol building on 6 January. They are holding American and Trump flagsReuters

Out of all of Donald Trump’s supporters, Derrick Evans has a particular reason to be happy with November’s election results – he hopes the president-elect will give him a pardon for participating in the 6 January riots at the US Capitol.

“A pardon will be life changing,” said Evans, who was a member of the West Virginia legislature when he and at least 2,000 others stormed the Capitol in 2021. It was part of an effort to overturn the results of the US election, inspired by the false belief that it was Trump, not President Joe Biden, who had won.

He reached an agreement with prosecutors which saw him plead guilty to civil disorder and spent three months in federal prison in 2022. On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly said he would pardon the rioters, whom he has called “patriots” and “political prisoners”. But who exactly will be pardoned - and when - is still an open question.

“I believe he's a man of his word,” Evans told the BBC.

In March, Trump wrote on his Truth Social account that one of his first acts as president would be to “Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!”

He repeated the pledge at a National Association of Black Journalists forum in Chicago in July.

"Oh, absolutely, I would,” he said. “If they're innocent, I would pardon them."

But he has stopped short of proposing a blanket pardon, at one point telling CNN: "I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can't say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control."

His campaign has previously said decisions would be made “on a case-by-case basis when he is back in the White House”.

Arrests still being made

The events of 6 January resulted in one of the largest federal investigations in US history. Nearly 600 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding police officers.

Some of those who have been given the longest sentences, such as Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, did not participate in the violence inside the building. Instead, they were convicted of seditious conspiracy and other felonies for organising the melee.

Arrests are still being made. In an update issued last week, the FBI said it is still looking for nine suspects wanted for violent assaults on police officers.

But with Trump - who still maintains, without evidence, that he was the winner of the 2020 election - coming back to the White House, the future of the investigation remains uncertain.

Citing Justice Department sources, NBC News reported that officials are focusing on trying the “most egregious” cases before Trump’s inauguration on 20 January.

Delayed hearings

In the meantime, several Capitol riot defendants have asked for hearings to be delayed in anticipation of pardons.

Among them are Christopher Carnell, a North Carolina man who was found guilty on several riot-related charges earlier in the year. His lawyers asked for a hearing to be delayed last week because of possible "clemency actions relevant to his case”, but the request was turned down.

Jonathanpeter Klein, who along with his brother Matthew pleaded guilty to several charges in July, asked for his sentencing hearing, scheduled for 15 November, to be delayed. That request too was turned down.

Wendy Via, co-founder of the not-for-profit Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), said that there is already a sense of excitement amongst rioters and their supporters.

“Folks on fringe sites are calling for the release of what they are calling the Jan 6 ‘prisoners of war’ or ‘hostages’,” she said.

They include Jake Lang, who is charged with a number of crimes including assaulting police officers, and who regularly posts online from his jail cell in New York.

After Trump’s victory he wrote on X: “IM COMING HOME!!!! THE JANUARY 6 POLITICAL PRISONERS ARE FINALLY COMING HOME!!!!”

“In just 75 days on January 20th 2025, when Donald J Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, he will pardon all of the J6 Hostages.”

Laying low

GPAHE also found that some groups plan to lay low until Trump takes office and pardons are made official.

One post on a Proud Boys channel on Telegram suggested that members avoid the January inauguration: “Stay home or patronize your local watering hole and celebrate the inauguration of our President and the imminent release of our Boys.”

In a blog post, Via said pardons would “make a mockery of our justice system, and it will send the message to his followers that violence is a legitimate response to political outcomes they don’t like.”

For the moment, the release of everyone charged with riot-related offenses seems unlikely, but non-violent offenders such as Derrick Evans have called for large numbers to be freed.

And, he suggested, a pardon would not be enough to compensate him and others for the time they spent behind bars.

“I think there needs to be some reparations and restitution involved as well,” he said.

BBC banner graphic reads: "US Election Unspun: The newsletter that cuts out the noise around the presidential race" with image of Anthony Zurcher on the right

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

How will Trump's new 'border tsar' approach immigration?

Watch: New 'border tsar' Tom Homan discusses his approach

Veteran immigration official Tom Homan will be in charge of the country's borders following Trump's inauguration in January.

With a decades-long career in law enforcement and at the border, all eyes will be on how he plans to cut down on illegal immigration into the US - a flagship policy of Trump's election campaign.

So how will he approach the task?

Homan - an ex-policeman and former acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) director - has described immigration at the US border as "the biggest national security vulnerability this nation has seen since 9/11 and we have to fix it."

Addressing illegal immigrants in the US during the Republican National Convention in the summer, he said: “You better start packing now.”

But it is not yet clear how his role as "border tsar" will take shape, as managing immigration involves coordination among several government agencies.

He has however, provided some ideas on how he would approach the border.

Reversing Biden policies

In an interview with CBS News's 60 Minutes in October, prior to Trump's election, Homan indicated he would seek to target non-criminal immigrants who are in the country illegally, after first prioritising "public safety threats" and "national security threats".

Such an approach would reverse Biden administration policies that direct Ice to focus on deporting serious criminals, national security threats and recent border crossers.

The current Biden policy helps protect undocumented immigrants who have been living in the US and have not committed crimes.

Targeted arrests to facilitate deportations

Homan has said he would use a targeted approach would be used when carrying out arrests and deportations.

Asked in the same October interview how deportations would be carried out, Homan said: "It's not gonna be a mass sweep of neighbourhoods. It's not gonna be building concentration camps. I've read it all. It's ridiculous."

"They'll be targeted arrests. We'll know who we're going to arrest, where we're most likely to find 'em based on numerous... investigative processes," he added.

Deporting families together

Homan played a role in Trump’s controversial "zero tolerance" policy, which separated thousands of migrant children from their parents.

The policy sparked backlash when children were sent to shelters while their parents were prosecuted with no plans to reunite them.

Homan has said he didn’t write the policy memo that led to the separations, but he was one of three officials who signed it. He said he signed it “hoping to save lives”.

Homan indicated that he would not seek to re-instate that policy.

Rather, he has said families could be "deported together", when asked whether deportations could be carried out without separating families.

Workplace mass immigration arrests

Homan also has pointed to reviving mass immigration arrests at workplaces - what he refers to as work-site enforcement operations, which Biden discontinued in 2021.

“As far as the people going to push back on deporting, what is the option?,” he said on Fox News's Fox & Friends on Monday.

“You have the right to claim asylum. You have a right to see a judge. We make that happen. But at the end of that due process if the judge says you must go home, then we have to take them home.”

Homan’s roots as police officer, border patrol agent

Getty Images Tom Homan speaks into a microphone in front of a lectern. He wears a black suit jacket and white shirt.Getty Images

Homan, 62, started his career as a police officer in New York state before serving as a border patrol agent - a role he often references.

“I was a border patrol agent. I wore the uniform,” he told Fox & Friends on Monday. “I'm proud that I wore the uniform... I was the first Ice director to come up through the ranks.”

Former President Barack Obama appointed him to head Ice’s deportation branch in 2013. It marked a time when the agency conducted a record number of deportations.

Homan’s work won him the Presidential Rank Award, the highest civil service recognition.

Trump appointed Homan as acting director of Ice during his second week in office in 2017, a role he continued in until 2018.

Trump later nominated him to become the agency’s permanent director, but the Senate never moved on the nomination.

Homan, who currently serves as a Fox News contributor, joined the conservative Heritage Foundation as a visiting fellow and is a contributor to Project 2025, an ultra-conservative policy proposal.

It mentions increased funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border, creating a more powerful border policing operation and increasing fees on immigrants.

Trump has distanced himself from the agenda while on the campaign trail.

❌