South Africa's government says it has received distress calls from 17 citizens who have joined mercenary forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The men are between the ages of 20 and 39 years and are trapped in Ukraine's war-torn Donbas region.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has "ordered an investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men into these seemingly mercenary activities," a government spokesman said. The statement did not say which side of the conflict the South Africans were fighting for.

Working as a mercenary or fighting on behalf of another government is illegal in South Africa, unless the government authorises it.

The men were lured to join the mercenary forces under the pretext of lucrative contracts, the government said.

Spokesman Vincent Magwenya added the South African government is working through "diplomatic channels" to secure their return.

Magwenya said 16 of the men were from KwaZulu-Natal and one from the Eastern Cape.

"President Ramaphosa and the South African government strongly condemn the exploitation of young vulnerable people by individuals working with foreign military entities," he added.

The BBC has found evidence to suggest the Kremlin is working to expand its sphere of influence in Africa.

Africa Corps, a Russian mercenary group controlled by the Russian Ministry of Defence, has effectively replaced the rival military group Wagner in West Africa, after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash.

In August, the South African government issued a warning to young women not to fall for social media recruitment opportunities promoting jobs abroad, particularly in Russia.

A BBC investigation found young women had been taken to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia to work in a drones factory.

It is estimated more than 1,000 women have been recruited from across Africa and South Asia to work in Alabuga's weapons factories.

In September, Kenyan police said they had rescued more than 20 people from a suspected trafficking ring that had lured them with job offers in Russia but intended to send them to fight in Ukraine.

Ukraine has previously said that it was holding citizens of various countries - Somalia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cuba and Sri Lanka - at prisoner-of-war camps.

The Great Barrier Reef is headed for a "grim future" and will suffer a "rapid coral decline" by 2050 but parts may recover if global warming is kept below 2C, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) used modelling to simulate the lifecycles of certain coral species and found that some were better at adapting to warmer oceans and could help new coral grow.

Reefs near cooler-water currents were also more resilient, giving a "glimmer of hope" to the natural wonder, which has suffered severe climate-induced heat stress in recent years.

The study warned that curbing carbon emissions was crucial to allow coral to recover and avoid a "near collapse" of the reef.

Dr Yves-Marie Bozec, who led the research, said the modelling of more than 3,800 individual reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef looked at their "eco-evolutionary dynamics". This included how corals interact with each other, how they deal with warmer water and corals in naturally cooler areas.

"We ran all of those factors with the most up-to-date climate projections - and the news was not good," he said.

"We forecast a rapid coral decline before the middle of this century regardless of the emissions scenario."

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems, stretching more than 2,300km (1,400 miles) off Australia's north-east coast.

It has suffered four significant marine heatwaves between 2016 and 2022, causing much of its coral to expel the algae which gives them life and colour - a process called bleaching, which is often fatal.

A recent report found that parts of the Great Barrier Reef had suffered the largest annual decline in coral cover since records began nearly 40 years ago.

Dr Bozec said some parts of the reef "may partially recover after 2050, but only if ocean warming is sufficiently slow to allow natural adaptation to keep pace with temperature changes".

"Adaptation may keep pace if global warming does not exceed two degrees by 2100. For that to happen, more action is needed globally to reduce carbon emissions which are driving climate change."

Dr Bozec said: "The window for meaningful action is closing rapidly but it hasn't shut".

Under the Paris agreement, almost 200 nations have pledged to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C and to keep them "well below" 2C above those recorded in pre-industrial times, generally considered to mean the late 19th Century.

Prof Peter Mumby, who also worked on the study, said they found "many reefs could persist under the Paris agreement target of two degrees of warming".

"However, higher emissions leading to faster temperature rises would drive most reefs to a near collapse," he said.

Prof Murphy said reefs in areas "where the water doesn't heat up so dramatically because it is well mixed, fared better than others" and reefs close to populations of corals that can regenerate were also healthier.

Identifying areas of the reef network that are more resilient will mean efforts to protect the reef can focus on "strategic parts" of the ecosystem, he added.

A palliative care nurse in Germany has been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of the murder of 10 patients and the attempted murder of 27 others.

Prosecutors alleged that the man, who has not been publicly named, injected his mostly elderly patients with painkillers or sedatives in an effort to ease his workload during shifts overnight.

The offences were committed between December 2023 and May 2024 in a hospital in Wuerselen, in western Germany.

Investigators are reported to be looking into several other suspicious cases during his career.

According to media outlet Agence France-Presse (AFP), the unnamed man had employed at the hospital in Wuerselen since 2020, after completing training as a nursing professional in 2007.

Prosecutors told a court in Aachen that he showed "irritation" and a lack of empathy to patients who required a higher level of care, and accused him of playing "master of life and death".

The court was told that he injected patients with large doses of morphine and midazolam, a muscle relaxant, in an effort to reduce his workload during night shifts.

He was arrested in 2024.

When issuing the life sentence, the court said that the man's crimes carried a "particular severity of guilt" which should bar him from early release after 15 years.

He will be able to appeal the verdict.

Prosecutors have told AFP that exhumations are taking place to identify further potential victims, which could see the man put on trial again.

The case bears similarity to that of former nurse Niels Högel, who was handed a life sentence in 2019 after he was convicted of murdering 85 patients at two hospitals in northern Germany.

A court found that he administered lethal doses of heart medication to people in his care between 1999 and 2005.

He is believed to be the most prolific killer in Germany's modern history.

Voting has begun in the eastern Indian state of Bihar where more than 74 million people are eligible to vote in a crucial election that will be a precursor to several key state polls.

Voters will cast their ballots for 243 seats in a two-phase election to choose the next state government. Counting of votes is scheduled for 14 November.

The election comes after a controversial revision of electoral rolls that the opposition alleged would exclude genuine voters and give an edge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP and India's Election Commission have denied these allegations.

Bihar is one of India's poorest and most populous states, which sees millions migrating to other states for jobs. It is also among the few states in India where Modi's party has not managed to form a government yet on its own.

The outgoing government is an alliance between the BJP and the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U). They are contesting the elections again together while India's main opposition Congress party has tied up with the regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and a number of smaller parties.

The election has also seen the entry of a new political party led by Prashant Kishor, a political consultant who has in the past worked with both the BJP and the Congress.

The election is also being closely watched as it might be the last to see active participation from two leaders who have shaped Bihar's politics for almost four decades - JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar and RJD's Lalu Prasad Yadav. The rivals, who are said to be in poor health, have on occasion joined hands to stay in power.

Incumbent chief minister Kumar is one of the state's most influential leaders and has led the government for the major part of the past two decades.

He is a key ally of the BJP and played a crucial role in helping Modi's party form the federal government after the 2024 election.

RJD's Lalu Yadav served as chief minister from 1990-97. Known for his colourful personality and witty one-liners, Yadav's rise as a politician who championed marginalised caste groups transformed the political landscape of the state. His party's years in power, however, became associated with misrule and corruption. He is currently out on bail after being convicted in corruption cases.

Yadav's sons Tejashwi has been projected as the chief minister candidate for the opposition alliance.

The election comes on the back of a controversial voter list revision carried out by India's Election Commission a few months ago. The commission released a list of 74.2 million voters in September, weeding out 4.7 million names.

The exercise was sharply criticised by the opposition, which accused the commission of working dropping many voters - especially Muslims - to aid Modi's party. Both the BJP and the Election Commission denied this.

• New voters list in Indian state includes wrong photos and dead people

Analysts say female voters are expected to play a key role in these elections - nearly half of the voters are women and their turnout has seen a steady rise.

Political analyst Santosh Singh says women in Bihar are more likely to vote over issues and that's why political parties are trying to target them with different welfare schemes. Both alliances have offered financial assistance to woo women voters.

Earlier this week, the BBC met Kushboo Devi, 40, who's been campaigning for her local candidate in Masaurhi village. She says she has been trying to get everyone to come out and vote but her focus is on women.

"Because in Bihar, wherever you see a higher voting percentage, it's usually the women who are showing up at the poll booths."

The death toll from flooding caused by one of the strongest typhoons this year in the central Philippines has risen to at least 114, authorities said on Thursday.

Typhoon Kalmaegi has flooded entire towns on Cebu, the region's most populous island, where 71 deaths were reported. Another 127 are missing and 82 injured, officials said.

Cebu provincial authorities reported an additional 28 deaths, which were not included in the tally released by the national civil defence office, according to AFP news agency.

Kalmaegi left the Philippines on Thursday morning and is currently moving toward central Vietnam, where residents are still reeling from floods that have already killed dozens of people.

Most of the deaths were due to drowning, reports said. The storm sent torrents of muddy water down hillsides and into towns and cities.

Damage to Cebu's residential areas was extensive, with many small buildings swept away and a thick carpet of mud left by the retreating floodwaters.

Local officials described the havoc wrought by the storm as "unprecedented".

Residents returning to their destroyed homes are reeling from the deadly floods earlier this week.

Jel-an Moira Servas, a business owner who lives in Mandaue city, told the BBC that she found herself waist-deep in water within minutes when her house became flooded. She quickly evacuated with her family, bringing only light items like food and electronics.

"Right now, the rain has completely stopped and the sun is out, but our houses are still filled with mud, and everything inside is in shambles," she said. "We don't even know where to start cleaning. I can't even look at it without crying."

The national disaster agency said more than 400,000 people had been displaced by the disaster in Cebu, home to 2.5 million people.

The official death toll also includes six crew members of a military helicopter that crashed on Mindanao island, south of Cebu, after it was deployed to assist in relief efforts on Tuesday.

Carlos Jose Lañas, a volunteer rescuer, told the BBC that despite preparing for the worst case, they were caught off-guard by the extent of the flooding.

"This is the worst flood I've ever experienced," the 19-year-old said. "Almost all the rivers here in Cebu overflowed. Even emergency responders did not expect this kind of scenario."

"The rescue operation was too overwhelming for the emergency responders around Cebu, because there were a lot of people asking for help."

Typhoon Kalmaegi, locally called Tino, is the 20th tropical cyclone this year to hit the Philippines, a country prone to powerful storms.

It comes barely a month after back-to-back typhoons killed over a dozen people and wrought damage to infrastructure and crops.

Super Typhoon Ragasa, known locally as Nando, struck in late September, followed swiftly by Typhoon Bualoi, known locally as Opong.

In the months before, an extraordinarily wet monsoon season caused widespread flooding, sparking anger and protests over unfinished and sub-standard flood control systems that have been blamed on corruption.

Typhoon Kalmaegi left the Philippines at 00:30 local time (16:30pm GMT) on Thursday morning.

It has since strengthened, with maximum sustained winds increasing from 150 km/h to 155 km/h.

It is expected to make landfall in central Vietnam on Friday morning, according to forecasts. More than 50 flights there have been cancelled or rescheduled.

Vietnam has already been battling with a week of flooding and record rains that burst riverbanks and flooded some of the country's most popular tourist spots.

Thailand is also bracing for the storm's impact, with local officials warning of possible flash floods, landslides and river overflows caused by Kalmaegi.

From an embankment overlooking Gaza City, there's no hiding what this war has done.

The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees, from Beit Hanoun on one side to Gaza City on the other.

Beyond the distant shapes of buildings still standing inside Gaza City, there's almost nothing left to orient you here, or identify the neighbourhoods that once held tens of thousands of people.

This was one of the first areas Israeli ground troops entered in the early weeks of the war. Since then they have been back multiple times, as Hamas regrouped around its strongholds in the area.

Israel does not allow news organisations to report independently from Gaza. Today it took a group of journalists, including the BBC, into the area of the Strip occupied by Israeli forces.

The brief visit was highly controlled and offered no access to Palestinians, or other areas of Gaza.

Military censorship laws in Israel mean that military personnel were shown our material before publication. The BBC maintained editorial control of this report at all times.

Asked about the level of destruction in the area we visited, Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said it was "not a goal".

"The goal is to combat terrorists. Almost every house had a tunnel shaft or was booby-trapped or had an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] or sniper station," he said.

"If you're driving fast, within a minute you can be inside of a living room of an Israeli grandmother or child. That's what happened on October 7."

More than 1,100 people were killed in the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, and 251 others taken hostage.

Since then, more than 68,000 Gazans have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry there.

The bodies of several hostages had been found in this area, Lt Col Shoshani said, including that of Itay Chen, returned to Israel by Hamas this week. Searches are continuing for the missing bodies of another seven hostages.

The Israeli military base we travelled to is a few hundred metres from the yellow line – the temporary boundary set out in US President Donald Trump's peace plan, which divides the areas of Gaza still controlled by Israeli forces from the areas controlled by Hamas.

Israel's army has been gradually marking out the yellow line with blocks on the ground, as a warning to both Hamas fighters and civilians.

There are no demarcations along this part of the line yet - a soldier points it out to me, taking bearings from a small patch of sand between the grey crumbs of demolished buildings.

The ceasefire is almost a month old, but Israeli forces say they are still fighting Hamas gunmen along the yellow line "almost every day". The piles of bronze-coloured bullet casings mark the firing points on the embankments facing Gaza City.

Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire "hundreds of times", and Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 240 people have been killed as a result.

Col Shoshani said that Israeli forces were committed to the US-led peace plan, but that they would also make sure that Hamas no longer posed a threat to Israeli civilians, and would stay as long as necessary.

"It's very clear to everyone that Hamas is armed and trying to control Gaza," he said. "This is something that will be worked out, but we're far from that."

The next stage of the US-led plan requires Hamas to disarm and hand over power to a Palestinian committee overseen by international figures including President Trump.

But rather than give up its power and weapons, Col Shoshani said, Hamas was doing the opposite.

"Hamas is trying to arm itself, trying to assert dominance, assert control over Gaza," he told me. "It's killing people in broad daylight, to terrorise civilians and make sure they understand who is boss in Gaza. We hope this agreement is enough pressure to make sure Hamas disarms."

Israeli forces showed us a map of the tunnels they said that soldiers had found beneath the rubble we saw – "a vast network of tunnels, almost like spider's web" they said – some already destroyed, some still intact, and some they were still searching for.

What happens in the next stage of this peace deal is unclear.

The agreement has left Gaza in a tense limbo. Washington knows how fragile the situation is - the ceasefire has faltered twice already.

The US is pushing hard to move on from this volatile stand-off to a more durable peace. It has sent a draft resolution to UN Security Council members, seen by the BBC, which outlines a two-year mandate for an international stabilisation force to take over Gaza's security and disarm Hamas.

But details of this next stage of the deal are thin: it's not clear which countries would send troops to secure Gaza ahead of Hamas disarmament, when Israel's troops will withdraw, or how the members of Gaza's new technocratic administration will be appointed.

President Trump has outlined his vision of Gaza as a futuristic Middle Eastern hub, built with foreign investment. It's a far cry from where Gaza is today.

Largely destroyed by Israel, and seen as an investment by Trump, the question is not just who can stop the fighting, but how much say Gazans will have in the future of their communities and lands.

Donald Trump's sweeping use of tariffs in the first nine months of his second term was sharply questioned during oral arguments before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Chief Justice John Roberts, and justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch – three conservative jurists considered swing votes in this case - peppered US Solicitor General John Sauer, representing the president's administration, during his more than 45 minutes before the court.

They were joined by the court's three liberal justices, who also expressed scepticism about whether federal law – and the US Constitution – give the president authority to unilaterally set tariff levels on foreign imports.

"The justification is being used for power to impose tariffs on any product from any country in any amount, for any length of time," Roberts said.

If the court ruled for Trump in this case, Gorsuch wondered: "What would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce?"

He added that he was "struggling" to find a reason to buy Sauer's arguments.

The case centres around a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), that Trump's lawyers have said gives the president the power to impose tariffs. Although the Constitution specifically vests Congress with tariff authority, Trump has claimed that the legislature delegated "emergency" authority to him to bypass longer, established processes.

Sauer asserted that the nation faced unique crises – ones that were "country-killing and not sustainable" - that necessitated emergency action by the president. He warned that if Trump's tariff powers were ruled illegal, it would expose the US to "ruthless trade retaliation" and lead to "ruinous economic and national security consequences.

Trump first invoked IEEPA in February to tax goods from China, Mexico and Canada, saying drug trafficking from those countries constituted an emergency.

He deployed it again in April, ordering levies from 10% to 50% on goods from almost every country in the world. This time, he said the US trade deficit - where the US imports more than it exports - posed an "extraordinary and unusual threat".

• What happens if the Supreme Court rules Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs illegal?
• India-US sign 10-year defence pact amid tariff turmoil
• Trump hails 'amazing' meeting with China's Xi but no formal trade deal agreed

Those tariffs took hold in fits and starts this summer while the US pushed countries to strike "deals".

Lawyers for the challenging states and private groups have contended that while the IEEPA gave the president power to regulate trade, it made no mention of the word "tariffs"

Neil Katyal, making the case for the private businesses, said it was "implausible" that Congress "handed the president the power to overhaul the entire tariff system and the American economy in the process, allowing him to set and reset tariffs on any and every product from any and every country, at any and all times."

He also challenged whether the issues cited by the White House, especially the trade deficit, represent the kind of emergencies the law envisioned.

Suppose America faced the threat of war from a "very powerful enemy", Samuel Alito - another conservative justice – asked. "Could a president under this provision impose a tariff to stave off war?"

Katyal said that a president could impose an embargo or a quota, but a revenue-raising tariff was a step too far.

For Sauer, this was a false choice. Presidents, he said, have broad powers over national security and foreign policy – powers that the challengers want to infringe on.

A key question could be whether the court determines whether Trump's tariffs are a tax.

Several justices pointed out that the power to tax – to raise revenue – is explicitly given to Congress in the Constitution.

Sauer's reply was that Trump's tariffs are a means of regulating trade and that any revenue generated is "only incidental".

Of course, Trump himself has boasted about the billions his tariffs have generated so far and how essential this new stream of funding is to the federal government.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who attended the hearing, made no comment when asked by the BBC what he thought of the hearing. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, also in court, flashed a thumbs-up.

US Trade Envoy Jamieson Greer was in court, along with Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who said outside after arguments, that she was "hopeful" based on the questions asked that the court would overturn the tariffs.

"I thought they were very good questions," she said, describing tariffs as an "unconstitutional power grab" by the president.

If a majority of the Supreme Court rules in Trump's favour, it will overturn the findings of three lower courts that already ruled against the administration.

The decision, no matter how it works out, has implications for an estimated $90bn worth of import taxes already paid - roughly half the tariff revenue the US collected this year through September, according to Wells Fargo analysts.

Trump officials have warned that sum could swell to $1tn if the court takes until June to rule.

During oral arguments, Barrett grappled with the question of reimbursing such revenue, wondering if it would be a "complete mess".

Katyal responded by saying that small businesses might get refunds, but bigger companies would have to follow "administrative procedures". He admitted that it was a "very complicated thing".

In remarks on Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavett hinted that the administration already is looking at other ways to impose tariffs if the Supreme Court rules against them.

"The White House is always preparing for Plan B," she said. "It would be imprudent of the president's advisors not to prepare for such a situation."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned there will be a 10% reduction in air travel capacity at 40 major airports in the US starting Friday morning, if the government shutdown continues.

The decision was made because air traffic controllers have been reporting issues with fatigue, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said at a briefing with Duffy on Wednesday.

"It is unusual, just as the shutdown is unusual, just as the fact that our controllers haven't been paid for a month is unusual," said FAA chief Bryan Bedford

During the shutdown, now the longest in US history, controllers have had to keep working without pay, prompting some to call out sick or take side jobs.

The flight reductions will be gradual, starting at 4% of domestic flights on Friday, then rising to 5% on Saturday and 6% on Sunday, before hitting the full 10% next week, Reuters reported after the announcement, citing four unnamed sources.

The names of the affected airports - all high-traffic locations - will be released on Thursday, the officials said.

The cancellations could affect between 3,500 and 4,000 flights per day.

"We are seeing pressures build in a way that we don't feel - if we allow it to go unchecked - will allow us to continue to tell the public that we operate the safest airline system in the world," Bedford said.

Duffy said air travel is still safe, and the decision to cancel the flights was being made to maintain safety and efficiency.

If the shutdown continues and adds more pressure to the system, additional restrictive measures may be required, Bedford said.

A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines, the fourth-largest carrier in North America, said in a statement that the company is still evaluating how the flight restrictions will affect its services, and will let customers know as soon as possible.

"We continue to urge Congress to immediately resolve its impasse and restore the National Airspace System to its full capacity," the spokesperson added.

Delta Airlines declined to comment. The BBC has also reached out to other major US airlines.

Once government funds ran out on 1 October, most federal workers were sent home and told they would be paid once the government reopened. Those deemed essential, like controllers, though, had to keep doing their jobs without pay.

Almost immediately after the shutdown started, airports began feeling the effects. Some had to ground flights for hours after air traffic controllers called out sick, while others relied on controllers from other airports.

Nick Daniels, the president of the labor union representing more than 20,000 aviation workers, put the situation into stark terms on Wednesday.

"Air traffic controllers are texting 'I don't even have enough money to put gas in my car to come to work,'" he told CNN.

"We base what we do day in and day out on predictability," he said. "Right now there is no predictability."

Duffy warned earlier this week that the flight cancellations may be coming, as half of the country's 30 major airports experience staff shortages.

He previously said there's a risk that comes with air traffic controllers taking on additional jobs during the shutdown, and had threatened to fire controllers who do not come to work.

"They have to make a decision, do I go to work and not get a paycheque and not put food on the table? Or do I drive for Uber or DoorDash or wait tables?" Duffy said on ABC on Sunday.

Hamas has handed over to the Red Cross a coffin containing what it says is the body of another deceased hostage, the Israeli military has said.

The remains have been transferred to Israeli forces, who will take them to the National Centre of Foreign Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.

Under the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel, which started nearly a month ago, Hamas agreed to return all 20 living and 28 dead Israeli and foreign hostages it was holding within 72 hours.

Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the dead hostages' bodies, while Hamas has insisted it is struggling to find them under rubble.

If the latest remains are confirmed as those of a dead hostage, it will mean six others are still in Gaza – including Israelis and foreign nationals.

All the remaining living Israeli hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

Israel has also handed over the bodies of 300 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the Israeli hostages and those of two foreign hostages - one of them Thai and the other Nepalese.

On Tuesday, the remains of Israeli-American soldier Itay Chen, 19, were returned.

Staff Sgt Chen was serving as a soldier in the IDF's 7th Brigade when Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

The IDF said he was killed inside a tank during a battle in Kibbutz Nir Oz and that his body was taken to Gaza as a hostage by Hamas.

The slow progress over the return of the hostages has meant there has been no advance on the second phase of President Trump's Gaza peace plan. This includes plans for the governance of Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the disarmament of Hamas, and reconstruction.

Israel has allowed members of the Palestinian armed group and Red Cross staff to search for remains in areas still controlled by Israeli forces.

All but one of the dead hostages still in Gaza were among the 251 people abducted during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 other people were killed.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 68,800 people have been killed, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Controversial Malaysian rapper Namewee has been remanded in custody in connection with the death of a Taiwanese influencer found dead in a Kuala Lumpur hotel bathtub two weeks ago.

Police say Namewee, 42, was the last person seen with 31-year-old Iris Hsieh, according to reports. She was in Malaysia to discuss a commercial video Namewee had agreed to direct, her social media manager told the BBC.

Namewee, who denies charges of illegal drug use and possession for which he was granted bail, is now back in custody to "assist in the investigation", police said after reclassifying her death as murder.

He turned himself in early on Wednesday, his lawyer said, and has been put on remand for six days.

'I won't run away'

The case has gone through many twists in the last few days.

According to Malaysian media reports, Namewee contacted emergency services at 12:30 local time (05:30 GMT) on 22 October, after he found Hsieh unresponsive in the bathroom.

Police arrested Namewee that same day, after they found nine blue pills believed to be ecstasy in the hotel room.

Despite denying he had used drugs, Namewee tested positive for several illicit substances, including amphetamines, methamphetamine, ketamine, and THC, police said.

On Monday, he pleaded not guilty to the drug charges and was released on bail.

Namewee has maintained his innocence over the past few days and accused local media of "chasing shadows" with their reports on the case.

The singer, known for his satirical and profanity-laced music, has 3.6m subscribers on YouTube and 856,000 followers on Instagram. Singing in Mandarin, he is hugely popular in Taiwan and China.

Hsieh was previously featured in Namewee's music video for China Reggaeton, a song he released in January 2020.

On Tuesday, Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadil Marsus told reporters Namewee had "gone into hiding" after Hsieh's case was reclassified from "sudden death" to murder.

At the same time, Mr Fadil said police were waiting for post-mortem and toxicology results to determine the cause of death.

In the early hours of Wednesday, Namewee posted a clip on Instagram saying he had arrived at the police station and would "fully co-operate with the police to provide answers to the public and the bereaved family".

"I won't run away," he added.

Who is Namewee?

Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, has long courted controversy with his music.

Often seen wearing a beanie and sunglasses, he first gained popularity - and notoriety - in 2007 with his controversial remake of Malaysia's national anthem, Negaraku, which mocked the government.

The music video quickly went viral on YouTube and authorities considered charging him with sedition, but did not proceed after he made a public apology and removed the clip.

In 2016, he was arrested for his music video Oh My God, which features him rapping in front of places of worship around Malaysia. Authorities said the song insulted Islam and jailed him for four days.

His 2021 song Fragile poked fun at "little pinks" - young nationalists who rush to the defence of the Chinese government on the internet - and took digs at several sensitive issues, from Xinjiang to Taiwan sovereignty.

That track went viral among Mandarin-speaking audiences, but was banned by China. Speaking to the BBC in 2021, Namewee said he saw the ban as "part of my creative work".

"Some people think that my work is controversial, or that I have always been crossing the red line," he said at the time. "Sometimes I intend to do so... If I think more people should know about certain issues, I want more people to care."

Namewee has collaborated with other popular Mandarin artists, including Taiwanese rock duo Power Station and Chinese-Australian singer Kimberly Chen, and has been nominated three times for the best Mandarin male singer in Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards.

He has also ventured into filmmaking, both starring in and directing films, some of which have stirred controversy over their portrayals of race and religion.

Who is Iris Hsieh?

Compared to Namewee, Hsieh was not as famous across Asia, although she had a fairly strong following on social media and was known for posting photos of herself in revealing outfits.

Nicknamed the "nurse goddess" by her fans, she graduated from the Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology with a degree in nursing, according to China Press, a Mandarin newspaper published in Malaysia.

Hsieh rose to internet fame around 2019, Malaysian media reported, and released a personal photo album titled Angel Heart the next year.

She has about 545,000 followers on Instagram - her fifth account on the social media platform, after the last four were suspended for "adult sexual solicitation", CNA reported.

She was also active on OnlyFans, where she started an account in 2022.

Hsieh's social media manager, who asked only to be referred to as Chris, told the BBC that her family were unable to go to Malaysia to follow up on the case because of their "severe disabilities".

They have instead hired legal representatives there to act on their behalf, he said.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has said she will press charges against a man who groped her during a public appearance.

Mobile phone footage of the incident on Tuesday shows Sheinbaum speaking to a group of supporters on a street near the National Palace in Mexico City.

In the video, a man approaches her from behind and attempts to kiss her on the neck and place his hands on her body.

Sheinbaum moved away quickly and a member of her team stepped in, but she was visibly shaken. The offender has been arrested.

"My view is, if I don't file a complaint, what will happen to other Mexican women? If they do this to the president, what will happen to all women in our country?" Sheinbaum said at a news conference on Wednesday.

"I decided to press charges because this is something that I experienced as a woman, but that we as women experience in our country," she said. "I have experienced it before, when I wasn't president, when I was a student."

She added that she had decided to press ahead with bringing charges against the suspect as he had allegedly harassed other women in the crowd.

"A line must be drawn," she said.

Women's rights groups and feminist commentators have said the incident shows the extent of ingrained machismo in Mexican society, where a man believes he has the right to accost even the president if she is a woman.

Femicide is also a huge problem in Mexico, with a staggering 98% of gender-based murders estimated to go unpunished.

Sheinbaum promised to tackle the issue as a candidate, but so far in her administration there has been no discernible improvement in that area of violent crime.

The incident also comes amid discussions about presidential security and the wider safety of politicians.

As president, Sheinbaum has broadly followed the approach of her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in having close and regular contact with her supporters on the streets or in campaign events.

On occasion, that has presented security concerns for her team. However, she confirmed in her new conference she had no intention of changing her policy of interacting with her supporters.

The incident also happened just days after the murder of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, a municipality in the violent state of Michoacan, at the local Day of the Dead celebrations.

Manzo had called on Sheinbaum for greater federal support in Uruapan in the fight against drug cartels. Around 35 candidates were killed in the lead up to the general election last year in what was considered the bloodiest campaign in modern Mexico.

Since taking office, Sheinbaum has made in-roads in improving the country's dire security situation, particularly clamping down on fentanyl-trafficking – a key issue for her US counterpart, President Trump.

French police have launched an investigation into sex-trafficking linked to the disgraced businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, who died two years ago.

The police investigation, ordered by the Paris prosecutor's office, will focus on "potential acts of aggravated human trafficking… with multiple victims," according to correspondence seen by the BBC. Prostitution and one case of rape are also being investigated.

Al Fayed's Ritz Hotel in Paris will likely be a target of the investigation, amid claims from victims that staff knew about or facilitated the abuse of women.

In a statement, the Ritz said it was "deeply alarmed" by the allegations of abuse and it would cooperate "fully" with authorities.

The trafficking investigation marks a new twist in a series of legal battles linked to Al Fayed's violent crimes and to the search – both before and since his death – for some sort of justice for his many victims.

An American woman, Pelham Spong, 40, played a key role in triggering this investigation in France, where it is alleged that Al Fayed moved young female staff from the Ritz to his private house in Paris and to various yachts and family homes on the Mediterranean coast.

Ms Spong was living in Paris in 2008 when she applied for a job working as a personal assistant for the Al Fayed family in Monaco.

She was brought to London several times, subjected to an intrusive gynaecological examination, and then – she alleges - sexually assaulted by Al Fayed in his office on Park Lane.

"He told me the job entailed sleeping with him," Ms Spong said, adding that she declined the offer on the spot.

"I didn't realise I was a victim of sex trafficking until this past year when I… saw the scale and scope of the abuse and realised that it was a pattern and a system and a machine," she told the BBC in an interview in Paris.

A few months ago, Ms Spong, now living back in the USA, came to Paris to report her experiences to the French police, hoping that it might persuade other women to come forward with evidence of their own abuse.

"It's a big step that the prosecutors decided to open an investigation. [Ms Spong] has a really good case because she kept a lot of materials. It will be very strong," her lawyer, Anne-Claire Le Jeune told the BBC.

Ms Spong said it is "so much easier to dismiss the actions of an evil man that's dead".

"And you can't learn anything from that as a society. So how do you prevent this happening again?

"Well, first, you have to name what it... It's critical to call it what it is, trafficking, so that we can prevent it," she said.

Al Fayed is also being investigated in the UK, where more than 140 people have reported him to the Met Police.

The extent of Al Fayed's predatory behaviour was first brought to light by a BBC documentary and podcast, broadcast in September 2024.

Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods heard testimony from more than 20 female ex-Harrods employees who said Al Fayed sexually assaulted or raped them. Since then, dozens more women have come forward with similar experiences.

After the broadcast, the Met revealed it had been approached by 21 women before Al Fayed's death, who accused him of sexual offences including rape, sexual assault and trafficking. Despite this, he was never charged with any offences.

Ms Spong herself says she spoke to British police about Al Fayed in 2017 but was told he was too ill to be questioned.

Earlier this year, the Met wrote to alleged victims apologising, saying it was "truly sorry" for the distress they have suffered because Al Fayed will never face justice.

The force is currently investigating its handling of historical allegations against Al Fayed and looking into whether others could face charges for enabling his behaviour.

Harrods has set aside more than £60m in its plan to compensate alleged victims of Al Fayed's abuse.

In a statement announcing the scheme, Harrods said: "While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future."

A driver has rammed his car into pedestrians and cyclists on the Ile d'Oléron, off the west coast of France, leaving 10 people hurt including several in a critical condition.

A local man aged "about 30" was arrested at the scene after deliberately driving into people, the mayor of Dolus d'Oléron Thibault Brechkoff said.

The man drove some distance between two villages on the island, mowing down several people including a young girl, the mayor told French TV.

He eventually abandoned his vehicle and tried to set fire to it before running away, Brechkoff said.

The public prosecutor for La Rochelle, Arnaud Laraize, said the suspect was known to police and that he shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") at the moment of his arrest.

The incident took place around 08:45 (07:45 GMT), according to local media.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said an inquiry had been opened into the incident and he was heading to the scene.

Italy says seven of its citizens are missing in Nepal after trying to climb a Himalayan peak in the north-east of the country.

Officials said the Italian team was at the base camp of Dolma Khang peak, which has an elevation of 6,332m (20,774ft), in Dolakha district.

Three other Italian climbers have been confirmed dead this week, including in an avalanche that struck close to Dolma Khang on Monday.

A senior Italian diplomat from neighbouring India has arrived in Kathmandu to coordinate with the Nepalese authorities and search teams.

Nepal has been hit by avalanches and ferocious storms in the past week, killing and injuring a number of climbers and their local guides.

"At this stage, the local authorities have confirmed the deaths of three Italian climbers," Rome's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"There remains no news of seven other Italian nationals, including Marco Di Marcello and Markus Kircheler."

The foreign ministry said both Mr Marcello and Mr Kircheler were in the Yalung Ri area, where Monday's avalanche struck. Italian Paolo Cocco was among seven climbers who were already confirmed to have died near the Yalung Ri base camp.

On Tuesday, Mr Marcello's family told Italy's Ansa news agency that his satellite radio signal was continuing to update and appeared to be moving.

A Nepali tourism official, Ram Krishna Lamichhane, told the BBC they had been in contact with rescue teams searching the base camp at Dolma Khang peak, which was hit by an avalanche.

"According to the information we have, five people, including three foreign climbers and two Nepali guides, are missing in the Dolma Khang base camp area," Mr Lamichhane said.

There have been conflicting reports about the number of dead and missing climbers in the area in recent days, as well as their nationalities.

Mr Lamichhane added that they were also coordinating with the trekking agency that had organised their expedition to Dolma Khang to find out more details on the missing.

As well as Paolo Cocco, the bodies of two other Italian climbers who went missing while attempting to scale the Panbari peak in western Nepal have also been recovered.

Stefano Farronato and Alessandro Caputo were part of a three-man group that became stranded along with three local guides last week.

The group had been granted permission to climb the 6,887m peak, but were reported missing when they lost contact with the base camp following heavy snowfall on 28 October.

The third member of the group, another Italian man, was rescued along with one sherpa.

Autumn is a popular season for trekkers and mountaineers in Nepal as weather conditions and visibility have tended to be better. However, the risk of severe weather and avalanches remains.

Last week, Cyclone Montha triggered heavy rain and snowfall across Nepal, stranding people in the Himalayas.

Several contestants have walked out of a Miss Universe event after an official from host nation Thailand publicly berated Miss Mexico in a tense confrontation.

At a pre-pageant ceremony, Miss Universe Thailand director Nawat Itsaragrisil told off Fatima Bosch in front of dozens of contestants for failing to post promotional content.

When she objected, Mr Itsaragrisil called security and threatened to disqualify those supporting her. Ms Bosch then left the room and others joined her in solidarity.

Video of the incident, which was live streamed, has been shared online. The Miss Universe Organisation (MUO) has condemned Mr Itsaragrisil's "malicious" behaviour, for which he has since apologised.

The Miss Universe contestants, who are the winners of national pageants in their home countries, attended Tuesday's event in their sashes and gowns.

Some can be heard shouting back at Mr Itsaragrisil in the video, after he raises his voice to reprimand Ms Bosch and repeatedly tells her to stop talking.

As many of them stand to show support, Mr Itsaragrisil says: "If anyone wants to continue the contest, sit down. If you step out, the rest of the girls continue."

Despite this, the majority of the women in the video appear standing, with several heading towards the door.

After leaving the event on Tuesday, Ms Bosch told the press the 60-year-old executive was "not respectful" and said he had called her "dumb".

Mr Itsaragrisil has disputed this, claiming his words had been misunderstood.

He is widely reported to have called the 25-year-old a "dumbhead". But at a press conference he later claimed he was saying she had caused "damage".

His conduct prompted a stern rebuke from the MUO, which has sent a delegation of international executives to take over running the competition.

In a video statement, MUO President Raul Rocha said Mr Itsaragrisil had "forgotten the true meaning of what it means to be a genuine host".

He said the Thai official had "humiliated, insulted and showed a lack of respect" to Ms Bosch, and committed the "serious abuse of having called security to intimidate a defenceless woman".

Mr Itsaragrisil's participation in the pageant would be limited "as much as possible" or eliminated entirely, he said, adding the MUO would be taking "legal actions" against him.

"I wish to reiterate that Miss Universe is an empowerment platform for women so that their voices can be heard in the world," Mr Rocha said.

Among those to walk out on Tuesday was reigning Miss Universe Victoria Kjaer Theilvig of Denmark.

"This is about women's rights," she said as she left the event. "This is not how things should be handled. To trash another girl is beyond disrespectful... That's why I'm taking my coat and I'm walking out."

Ms Bosch later said in an interview: "I just want to let my country know, I'm not afraid to make my voice heard. It's here stronger than ever. I have a purpose. I have things to say.

"We're in the 21st century. I'm not a doll to be made up, styled and have my clothes changed," she added.

"I came here to be a voice for all the women and all the girls who fight for causes and to tell my country that I'm completely committed to that."

Video of Mr Itsaragrisil has outraged fans of the pageant, with many heavily criticising his actions and praising Ms Bosch's response.

In a social media video statement, Mr Itsaragrisil said: "If anyone feels bad, uncomfortable, or affected, I apologise to everyone. I especially apologised to the girls who were present, around 75 of them."

The Miss Universe competition has pressed on despite this controversy, with contestants taking part in a welcome event in Bangkok on Wednesday.

The winner will be crowned the new Miss Universe on 21 November.

Donald Trump has renominated billionaire investor Jared Isaacman to run Nasa, five months after withdrawing his first nomination.

The 42-year-old entrepreneur, who has ties to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, had looked set to lead the space agency when Trump abruptly pulled his nomination in late May, following what the president said was a "thorough review of prior associations."

While the White House did not specify what those associations were, it was during Trump's high-profile feud with Musk.

Isaacman, who is worth an estimated $1.9bn (£1.46bn), is an amateur jet pilot and also became the first non-professional astronaut to walk in space last year, on a mission with SpaceX that he bankrolled.

Why Trump has suddenly changed his mind is unclear, and the president made no mention of the past when he wrote on his Truth Social platform that he was "pleased to nominate" Isaacman for the role.

"Jared's passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era," the president wrote.

The Nasa administrator role will be Isaacman's first job in politics, representing a departure from the last two men appointed to the job.

It requires confirmation by the Senate, where the Republican Party holds a 53-47 majority. Even though the US government has been shut down since early October, the Senate is still able to confirm presidential nominees.

Thanking the president, Isaacman wrote on X that "it will be an honor" to serve in the role.

"The support from the space-loving community has been overwhelming," he wrote in a long post, that also acknowledged Nasa scientists and innovators.

"I am not sure how I earned the trust of so many, but I will do everything I can to live up to those expectations."

Sean Duffy, the head of the transport department, has been interim Nasa chief since July.

Isaacman's initial nomination withdrawal came just days after Elon Musk left the Trump administration, following a tumultuous drive to shrink the size of government departments with his Doge initiative, leading to thousands of job cuts.

Concerns were voiced over Isaacman's ties to Musk and his SpaceX company, where Isaacman has reportedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars. He has also made donations to the Democrats in past elections.

His nomination has encountered scepticism, and at his initial confirmation hearing in April, members of both parties questioned Isaacman about possible conflicts of interest, budget cuts and his desire to send astronauts to Mars.

They expressed fears he would sacrifice the long-planned Moon mission to focus on Mars, but Isaacman said both can be possible.

"We don't have to make a binary decision of Moon versus Mars, or Moon has to come first versus Mars," he later added.

The billionaire - who was a high-school dropout - made his fortune from payment processing company Shift4 Payments, which he founded in 1999 in his parents' basement when he was 16.

Isaacman has a longstanding interest in flying - having first taken pilot lessons in 2004 and later setting a world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world in a light jet.

Seven people were killed when a UPS cargo plane crashed while taking off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday evening, the state's governor said.

At least 11 other people were injured when the freight plane exploded as it departed Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport at around 17:15 local time (22:15 GMT), sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the plane's three crew members were likely to be among the dead, adding that, "Anyone who has seen the images and the video knows how violent this crash is".

Officials warned that people suffered "very significant" injuries in the incident and the death toll could rise.

UPS flight 2976 bound for Honolulu, Hawaii was carrying 38,000 gallons (144,000 litres) of fuel when it skidded off the runway in Louisville and struck nearby buildings.

The explosion engulfed at least two nearby businesses, including a petroleum recycling company. A shelter-in-place order was initially issued for within five miles of the airport due to concerns of further explosions and air pollution, but was later reduced to just one mile.

All departing flights for Tuesday evening were cancelled, the airport said in a statement on X.

Louisville Fire Dept Chief Brian O'Neill said the fire has almost entirely been contained, with crews still deployed at the crash site.

"When you have such a large scale incident and fire that spread over such a massive area, we have to use hundreds of personnel to surround it, contain it, and then slowly bring it in," O'Neill said.

He added: "These are trained firefighters from all around the region that are handling this to search, grid by grid, very carefully to make sure if we can find any other victims."

At a press conference, Beshear warned people not to go to the crash site, saying that, "There are still dangerous things that are flammable, that are potentially explosive."

Beshear said he would not "speculate" as to what caused the incident, adding that the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) would be leading the investigation.

The NTSB's investigative team is scheduled to arrive in Kentucky on Wednesday.

Louisville Metro Police Dept Chief Paul Humphrey said that the crash site will be "an ongoing active scene for the next several days".

He added: "We don't know how long it's going to take to render that scene safe for the investigation to take place."

The aircraft was a MD-11F, a triple-engine jet that started service 34 years ago with Thai Airways as a passenger jet, but was transferred to UPS in 2006.

The MD-11F was originally manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing in 1997.

MD-11s are just over 61 metres long and have a wingspan of 52 metres, smaller than Boeing 747s , which are roughly 76 metres long and have a wingspan of 68 metres.

In 2023, FedEx and UPS both announced plans to begin retiring their fleets of MD-11s over the next decade as part of plans to modernise their fleets.

In a statement, Boeing said it is "ready to support our customer" and that "our concern is for the safety and well-being of all those affected."

It added that it will offer technical assistance to the NTSB.

Louisville is home to UPS Worldport, a global hub for the delivery firm's air cargo operations and its largest package handling facility in the world.

During the press conference, Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe said that the city is a "UPS town", and that every resident would know somebody who works for company.

"They're all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe," she said.

In a statement, UPS said it was "terribly saddened" by the incident and would be halting package sorting operations at Worldport on Tuesday night.

It added: "UPS is committed to the safety of our employees, and customers and the communities we serve. This is particularly true in Louisville, home to our airline and thousands of UPSers."

State Senator Keturah Herron said, "Many of us watch our family members and loved ones pass through [Louisville airport] on a regular basis."

In a post on X, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said that the plane crash is an "incredible tragedy that our community will never forget".

He added: "We are so thankful for our brave first responders who have flooded the scene to help try and control the fire and provide support for any victims on the ground."

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has said she will press charges against a man who groped her during a public appearance.

Mobile phone footage of the incident on Tuesday shows Sheinbaum speaking to a group of supporters on a street near the National Palace in Mexico City.

In the video, a man approaches her from behind and attempts to kiss her on the neck and place his hands on her body.

Sheinbaum moved away quickly and a member of her team stepped in, but she was visibly shaken. The offender has been arrested.

"My view is, if I don't file a complaint, what will happen to other Mexican women? If they do this to the president, what will happen to all women in our country?" Sheinbaum said at a news conference on Wednesday.

"I decided to press charges because this is something that I experienced as a woman, but that we as women experience in our country," she said. "I have experienced it before, when I wasn't president, when I was a student."

She added that she had decided to press ahead with bringing charges against the suspect as he had allegedly harassed other women in the crowd.

"A line must be drawn," she said.

Women's rights groups and feminist commentators have said the incident shows the extent of ingrained machismo in Mexican society, where a man believes he has the right to accost even the president if she is a woman.

Femicide is also a huge problem in Mexico, with a staggering 98% of gender-based murders estimated to go unpunished.

Sheinbaum promised to tackle the issue as a candidate, but so far in her administration there has been no discernible improvement in that area of violent crime.

The incident also comes amid discussions about presidential security and the wider safety of politicians.

As president, Sheinbaum has broadly followed the approach of her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in having close and regular contact with her supporters on the streets or in campaign events.

On occasion, that has presented security concerns for her team. However, she confirmed in her new conference she had no intention of changing her policy of interacting with her supporters.

The incident also happened just days after the murder of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, a municipality in the violent state of Michoacan, at the local Day of the Dead celebrations.

Manzo had called on Sheinbaum for greater federal support in Uruapan in the fight against drug cartels. Around 35 candidates were killed in the lead up to the general election last year in what was considered the bloodiest campaign in modern Mexico.

Since taking office, Sheinbaum has made in-roads in improving the country's dire security situation, particularly clamping down on fentanyl-trafficking – a key issue for her US counterpart, President Trump.

Italy says seven of its citizens are missing in Nepal after trying to climb a Himalayan peak in the north-east of the country.

Officials said the Italian team was at the base camp of Dolma Khang peak, which has an elevation of 6,332m (20,774ft), in Dolakha district.

Three other Italian climbers have been confirmed dead this week, including in an avalanche that struck close to Dolma Khang on Monday.

A senior Italian diplomat from neighbouring India has arrived in Kathmandu to coordinate with the Nepalese authorities and search teams.

Nepal has been hit by avalanches and ferocious storms in the past week, killing and injuring a number of climbers and their local guides.

"At this stage, the local authorities have confirmed the deaths of three Italian climbers," Rome's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"There remains no news of seven other Italian nationals, including Marco Di Marcello and Markus Kircheler."

The foreign ministry said both Mr Marcello and Mr Kircheler were in the Yalung Ri area, where Monday's avalanche struck. Italian Paolo Cocco was among seven climbers who were already confirmed to have died near the Yalung Ri base camp.

On Tuesday, Mr Marcello's family told Italy's Ansa news agency that his satellite radio signal was continuing to update and appeared to be moving.

A Nepali tourism official, Ram Krishna Lamichhane, told the BBC they had been in contact with rescue teams searching the base camp at Dolma Khang peak, which was hit by an avalanche.

"According to the information we have, five people, including three foreign climbers and two Nepali guides, are missing in the Dolma Khang base camp area," Mr Lamichhane said.

There have been conflicting reports about the number of dead and missing climbers in the area in recent days, as well as their nationalities.

Mr Lamichhane added that they were also coordinating with the trekking agency that had organised their expedition to Dolma Khang to find out more details on the missing.

As well as Paolo Cocco, the bodies of two other Italian climbers who went missing while attempting to scale the Panbari peak in western Nepal have also been recovered.

Stefano Farronato and Alessandro Caputo were part of a three-man group that became stranded along with three local guides last week.

The group had been granted permission to climb the 6,887m peak, but were reported missing when they lost contact with the base camp following heavy snowfall on 28 October.

The third member of the group, another Italian man, was rescued along with one sherpa.

Autumn is a popular season for trekkers and mountaineers in Nepal as weather conditions and visibility have tended to be better. However, the risk of severe weather and avalanches remains.

Last week, Cyclone Montha triggered heavy rain and snowfall across Nepal, stranding people in the Himalayas.

Several contestants have walked out of a Miss Universe event after an official from host nation Thailand publicly berated Miss Mexico in a tense confrontation.

At a pre-pageant ceremony, Miss Universe Thailand director Nawat Itsaragrisil told off Fatima Bosch in front of dozens of contestants for failing to post promotional content.

When she objected, Mr Itsaragrisil called security and threatened to disqualify those supporting her. Ms Bosch then left the room and others joined her in solidarity.

Video of the incident, which was live streamed, has been shared online. The Miss Universe Organisation (MUO) has condemned Mr Itsaragrisil's "malicious" behaviour, for which he has since apologised.

The Miss Universe contestants, who are the winners of national pageants in their home countries, attended Tuesday's event in their sashes and gowns.

Some can be heard shouting back at Mr Itsaragrisil in the video, after he raises his voice to reprimand Ms Bosch and repeatedly tells her to stop talking.

As many of them stand to show support, Mr Itsaragrisil says: "If anyone wants to continue the contest, sit down. If you step out, the rest of the girls continue."

Despite this, the majority of the women in the video appear standing, with several heading towards the door.

After leaving the event on Tuesday, Ms Bosch told the press the 60-year-old executive was "not respectful" and said he had called her "dumb".

Mr Itsaragrisil has disputed this, claiming his words had been misunderstood.

He is widely reported to have called the 25-year-old a "dumbhead". But at a press conference he later claimed he was saying she had caused "damage".

His conduct prompted a stern rebuke from the MUO, which has sent a delegation of international executives to take over running the competition.

In a video statement, MUO President Raul Rocha said Mr Itsaragrisil had "forgotten the true meaning of what it means to be a genuine host".

He said the Thai official had "humiliated, insulted and showed a lack of respect" to Ms Bosch, and committed the "serious abuse of having called security to intimidate a defenceless woman".

Mr Itsaragrisil's participation in the pageant would be limited "as much as possible" or eliminated entirely, he said, adding the MUO would be taking "legal actions" against him.

"I wish to reiterate that Miss Universe is an empowerment platform for women so that their voices can be heard in the world," Mr Rocha said.

Among those to walk out on Tuesday was reigning Miss Universe Victoria Kjaer Theilvig of Denmark.

"This is about women's rights," she said as she left the event. "This is not how things should be handled. To trash another girl is beyond disrespectful... That's why I'm taking my coat and I'm walking out."

Ms Bosch later said in an interview: "I just want to let my country know, I'm not afraid to make my voice heard. It's here stronger than ever. I have a purpose. I have things to say.

"We're in the 21st century. I'm not a doll to be made up, styled and have my clothes changed," she added.

"I came here to be a voice for all the women and all the girls who fight for causes and to tell my country that I'm completely committed to that."

Video of Mr Itsaragrisil has outraged fans of the pageant, with many heavily criticising his actions and praising Ms Bosch's response.

In a social media video statement, Mr Itsaragrisil said: "If anyone feels bad, uncomfortable, or affected, I apologise to everyone. I especially apologised to the girls who were present, around 75 of them."

The Miss Universe competition has pressed on despite this controversy, with contestants taking part in a welcome event in Bangkok on Wednesday.

The winner will be crowned the new Miss Universe on 21 November.

From an embankment overlooking Gaza City, there's no hiding what this war has done.

The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees, from Beit Hanoun on one side to Gaza City on the other.

Beyond the distant shapes of buildings still standing inside Gaza City, there's almost nothing left to orient you here, or identify the neighbourhoods that once held tens of thousands of people.

This was one of the first areas Israeli ground troops entered in the early weeks of the war. Since then they have been back multiple times, as Hamas regrouped around its strongholds in the area.

Israel does not allow news organisations to report independently from Gaza. Today it took a group of journalists, including the BBC, into the area of the Strip occupied by Israeli forces.

The brief visit was highly controlled and offered no access to Palestinians, or other areas of Gaza.

Military censorship laws in Israel mean that military personnel were shown our material before publication. The BBC maintained editorial control of this report at all times.

Asked about the level of destruction in the area we visited, Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said it was "not a goal".

"The goal is to combat terrorists. Almost every house had a tunnel shaft or was booby-trapped or had an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] or sniper station," he said.

"If you're driving fast, within a minute you can be inside of a living room of an Israeli grandmother or child. That's what happened on October 7."

More than 1,100 people were killed in the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, and 251 others taken hostage.

Since then, more than 68,000 Gazans have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry there.

The bodies of several hostages had been found in this area, Lt Col Shoshani said, including that of Itay Chen, returned to Israel by Hamas this week. Searches are continuing for the missing bodies of another seven hostages.

The Israeli military base we travelled to is a few hundred metres from the yellow line – the temporary boundary set out in US President Donald Trump's peace plan, which divides the areas of Gaza still controlled by Israeli forces from the areas controlled by Hamas.

Israel's army has been gradually marking out the yellow line with blocks on the ground, as a warning to both Hamas fighters and civilians.

There are no demarcations along this part of the line yet - a soldier points it out to me, taking bearings from a small patch of sand between the grey crumbs of demolished buildings.

The ceasefire is almost a month old, but Israeli forces say they are still fighting Hamas gunmen along the yellow line "almost every day". The piles of bronze-coloured bullet casings mark the firing points on the embankments facing Gaza City.

Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire "hundreds of times", and Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 240 people have been killed as a result.

Col Shoshani said that Israeli forces were committed to the US-led peace plan, but that they would also make sure that Hamas no longer posed a threat to Israeli civilians, and would stay as long as necessary.

"It's very clear to everyone that Hamas is armed and trying to control Gaza," he said. "This is something that will be worked out, but we're far from that."

The next stage of the US-led plan requires Hamas to disarm and hand over power to a Palestinian committee overseen by international figures including President Trump.

But rather than give up its power and weapons, Col Shoshani said, Hamas was doing the opposite.

"Hamas is trying to arm itself, trying to assert dominance, assert control over Gaza," he told me. "It's killing people in broad daylight, to terrorise civilians and make sure they understand who is boss in Gaza. We hope this agreement is enough pressure to make sure Hamas disarms."

Israeli forces showed us a map of the tunnels they said that soldiers had found beneath the rubble we saw – "a vast network of tunnels, almost like spider's web" they said – some already destroyed, some still intact, and some they were still searching for.

What happens in the next stage of this peace deal is unclear.

The agreement has left Gaza in a tense limbo. Washington knows how fragile the situation is - the ceasefire has faltered twice already.

The US is pushing hard to move on from this volatile stand-off to a more durable peace. It has sent a draft resolution to UN Security Council members, seen by the BBC, which outlines a two-year mandate for an international stabilisation force to take over Gaza's security and disarm Hamas.

But details of this next stage of the deal are thin: it's not clear which countries would send troops to secure Gaza ahead of Hamas disarmament, when Israel's troops will withdraw, or how the members of Gaza's new technocratic administration will be appointed.

President Trump has outlined his vision of Gaza as a futuristic Middle Eastern hub, built with foreign investment. It's a far cry from where Gaza is today.

Largely destroyed by Israel, and seen as an investment by Trump, the question is not just who can stop the fighting, but how much say Gazans will have in the future of their communities and lands.

Hamas has handed over to the Red Cross a coffin containing what it says is the body of another deceased hostage, the Israeli military has said.

The remains have been transferred to Israeli forces, who will take them to the National Centre of Foreign Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.

Under the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel, which started nearly a month ago, Hamas agreed to return all 20 living and 28 dead Israeli and foreign hostages it was holding within 72 hours.

Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the dead hostages' bodies, while Hamas has insisted it is struggling to find them under rubble.

If the latest remains are confirmed as those of a dead hostage, it will mean six others are still in Gaza – including Israelis and foreign nationals.

All the remaining living Israeli hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

Israel has also handed over the bodies of 300 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the Israeli hostages and those of two foreign hostages - one of them Thai and the other Nepalese.

On Tuesday, the remains of Israeli-American soldier Itay Chen, 19, were returned.

Staff Sgt Chen was serving as a soldier in the IDF's 7th Brigade when Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

The IDF said he was killed inside a tank during a battle in Kibbutz Nir Oz and that his body was taken to Gaza as a hostage by Hamas.

The slow progress over the return of the hostages has meant there has been no advance on the second phase of President Trump's Gaza peace plan. This includes plans for the governance of Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the disarmament of Hamas, and reconstruction.

Israel has allowed members of the Palestinian armed group and Red Cross staff to search for remains in areas still controlled by Israeli forces.

All but one of the dead hostages still in Gaza were among the 251 people abducted during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 other people were killed.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 68,800 people have been killed, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

French police have launched an investigation into sex-trafficking linked to the disgraced businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, who died two years ago.

The police investigation, ordered by the Paris prosecutor's office, will focus on "potential acts of aggravated human trafficking… with multiple victims," according to correspondence seen by the BBC. Prostitution and one case of rape are also being investigated.

Al Fayed's Ritz Hotel in Paris will likely be a target of the investigation, amid claims from victims that staff knew about or facilitated the abuse of women.

In a statement, the Ritz said it was "deeply alarmed" by the allegations of abuse and it would cooperate "fully" with authorities.

The trafficking investigation marks a new twist in a series of legal battles linked to Al Fayed's violent crimes and to the search – both before and since his death – for some sort of justice for his many victims.

An American woman, Pelham Spong, 40, played a key role in triggering this investigation in France, where it is alleged that Al Fayed moved young female staff from the Ritz to his private house in Paris and to various yachts and family homes on the Mediterranean coast.

Ms Spong was living in Paris in 2008 when she applied for a job working as a personal assistant for the Al Fayed family in Monaco.

She was brought to London several times, subjected to an intrusive gynaecological examination, and then – she alleges - sexually assaulted by Al Fayed in his office on Park Lane.

"He told me the job entailed sleeping with him," Ms Spong said, adding that she declined the offer on the spot.

"I didn't realise I was a victim of sex trafficking until this past year when I… saw the scale and scope of the abuse and realised that it was a pattern and a system and a machine," she told the BBC in an interview in Paris.

A few months ago, Ms Spong, now living back in the USA, came to Paris to report her experiences to the French police, hoping that it might persuade other women to come forward with evidence of their own abuse.

"It's a big step that the prosecutors decided to open an investigation. [Ms Spong] has a really good case because she kept a lot of materials. It will be very strong," her lawyer, Anne-Claire Le Jeune told the BBC.

Ms Spong said it is "so much easier to dismiss the actions of an evil man that's dead".

"And you can't learn anything from that as a society. So how do you prevent this happening again?

"Well, first, you have to name what it... It's critical to call it what it is, trafficking, so that we can prevent it," she said.

Al Fayed is also being investigated in the UK, where more than 140 people have reported him to the Met Police.

The extent of Al Fayed's predatory behaviour was first brought to light by a BBC documentary and podcast, broadcast in September 2024.

Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods heard testimony from more than 20 female ex-Harrods employees who said Al Fayed sexually assaulted or raped them. Since then, dozens more women have come forward with similar experiences.

After the broadcast, the Met revealed it had been approached by 21 women before Al Fayed's death, who accused him of sexual offences including rape, sexual assault and trafficking. Despite this, he was never charged with any offences.

Ms Spong herself says she spoke to British police about Al Fayed in 2017 but was told he was too ill to be questioned.

Earlier this year, the Met wrote to alleged victims apologising, saying it was "truly sorry" for the distress they have suffered because Al Fayed will never face justice.

The force is currently investigating its handling of historical allegations against Al Fayed and looking into whether others could face charges for enabling his behaviour.

Harrods has set aside more than £60m in its plan to compensate alleged victims of Al Fayed's abuse.

In a statement announcing the scheme, Harrods said: "While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future."

Seven people were killed when a UPS cargo plane crashed while taking off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday evening, the state's governor said.

At least 11 other people were injured when the freight plane exploded as it departed Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport at around 17:15 local time (22:15 GMT), sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the plane's three crew members were likely to be among the dead, adding that, "Anyone who has seen the images and the video knows how violent this crash is".

Officials warned that people suffered "very significant" injuries in the incident and the death toll could rise.

UPS flight 2976 bound for Honolulu, Hawaii was carrying 38,000 gallons (144,000 litres) of fuel when it skidded off the runway in Louisville and struck nearby buildings.

The explosion engulfed at least two nearby businesses, including a petroleum recycling company. A shelter-in-place order was initially issued for within five miles of the airport due to concerns of further explosions and air pollution, but was later reduced to just one mile.

All departing flights for Tuesday evening were cancelled, the airport said in a statement on X.

Louisville Fire Dept Chief Brian O'Neill said the fire has almost entirely been contained, with crews still deployed at the crash site.

"When you have such a large scale incident and fire that spread over such a massive area, we have to use hundreds of personnel to surround it, contain it, and then slowly bring it in," O'Neill said.

He added: "These are trained firefighters from all around the region that are handling this to search, grid by grid, very carefully to make sure if we can find any other victims."

At a press conference, Beshear warned people not to go to the crash site, saying that, "There are still dangerous things that are flammable, that are potentially explosive."

Beshear said he would not "speculate" as to what caused the incident, adding that the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) would be leading the investigation.

The NTSB's investigative team is scheduled to arrive in Kentucky on Wednesday.

Louisville Metro Police Dept Chief Paul Humphrey said that the crash site will be "an ongoing active scene for the next several days".

He added: "We don't know how long it's going to take to render that scene safe for the investigation to take place."

The aircraft was a MD-11F, a triple-engine jet that started service 34 years ago with Thai Airways as a passenger jet, but was transferred to UPS in 2006.

The MD-11F was originally manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing in 1997.

MD-11s are just over 61 metres long and have a wingspan of 52 metres, smaller than Boeing 747s , which are roughly 76 metres long and have a wingspan of 68 metres.

In 2023, FedEx and UPS both announced plans to begin retiring their fleets of MD-11s over the next decade as part of plans to modernise their fleets.

In a statement, Boeing said it is "ready to support our customer" and that "our concern is for the safety and well-being of all those affected."

It added that it will offer technical assistance to the NTSB.

Louisville is home to UPS Worldport, a global hub for the delivery firm's air cargo operations and its largest package handling facility in the world.

During the press conference, Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe said that the city is a "UPS town", and that every resident would know somebody who works for company.

"They're all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe," she said.

In a statement, UPS said it was "terribly saddened" by the incident and would be halting package sorting operations at Worldport on Tuesday night.

It added: "UPS is committed to the safety of our employees, and customers and the communities we serve. This is particularly true in Louisville, home to our airline and thousands of UPSers."

State Senator Keturah Herron said, "Many of us watch our family members and loved ones pass through [Louisville airport] on a regular basis."

In a post on X, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said that the plane crash is an "incredible tragedy that our community will never forget".

He added: "We are so thankful for our brave first responders who have flooded the scene to help try and control the fire and provide support for any victims on the ground."

After sealing decisive wins in the New York mayoral election and governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey, it is clear the Democratic Party will be buoyed by a big election night on Tuesday.

It is a far cry from the scenes after last year's presidential election, when the party was left searching for answers after Donald Trump and the Republicans scored a hugely dominant victory.

The results also mark a year until vital midterm elections. So with the picture of the night becoming clearer, here's what we've learned from the results.

1. Democrats get their energy back

The Democrats notched key victories as they swept the first major elections of Trump's second term.

There were joyous celebrations at the various candidate headquarters, a stark contrast to the downbeat scenes after the party's bruising 2024 defeat.

Abigail Spanberger won in Virginia, flipping the governorship from Republican, while Mikie Sherrill was elected governor in New Jersey. Both won decisively, securing more than 56% of the vote.

In New York City, Zohran Mamdani beat independent Andrew Cuomo and became the first candidate to pass one million votes since 1969.

• FOLLOW LIVE: Updates and analysis after election night

Barack Obama's former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told the BBC that Mamdani had "changed the electorate" by urging young people and immigrants to vote.

"He most importantly built a movement," he said.

The series of decisive victories may well boost a party that has at times struggled to counter President Trump's rapidly-enacted second term agenda, and rebound from its 2024 defeat.

"The Democrats are back and we're winning," said Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin on Wednesday. "We've got the momentum going into the midterm elections."

2. Cost of living a winning message

Pledging to bring down the cost of rent, food and childcare was at the core of Mamdani's left-wing campaign, but it was also a winning issue for the more moderate Democrats elsewhere.

Sherrill in New Jersey and Spanberger in Virginia both made tackling the high cost of living front and centre in their governor campaigns. And it was seemingly top of voters' minds, too.

Exit poll data from the major US networks indicated that in all three races the most important issue for voters was the economy and affordability.

And tellingly, according to exit poll data from the BBC's US partner CBS News, a majority of voters who named the economy as their most important issue voted for the Democratic candidate in New York, New Jersey and Virginia.

It may well give the party a message to coalesce around ahead of the crucial midterm elections next year - and pose a challenge for Republicans to counter.

"I can't see into the future, but I see Republicans losing the House if Americans are continuing to go paycheck-to-paycheck," Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene told Semafor recently.

"It's clearer than ever that affordability needs to be the centrepiece of the Democrats' message going into the midterms," political communications expert Andrew Koneschusky told the AFP news agency.

"The affordability message cuts across demographics and highlights a major vulnerability for Republicans," he said.

3. A stark shift in the Latino vote

When Trump scored his decisive victory over Kamala Harris last year, he racked up huge support from Latino voters who had been a key part of the Democratic voter base for decades.

Trump saw a huge 14 percentage-point increase in support from that demographic compared to the 2020 election, according to exit polls. No Republican presidential candidate had ever won a higher percentage with Latino voters.

And while he wasn't on the ballot on Tuesday night, there were some potentially concerning signs for his Republican Party. The winning candidates for governor in Virginia and New Jersey both had wide leads of around 30% with Latino voters, according to exit poll data.

There are interesting shifts, too, when examining the results more closely.

Passaic County in New Jersey - which census data shows is almost half Latino - is often cited by analysts as a bellwether for Trump's support among those voters. He won it by 3 percentage points in 2024, yet Sherrill won it by 15 on Tuesday.

Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant who specialises in Latino voting trends, suggested the cost of living - a key theme in the Democratic campaigns - was a major factor.

"No poll taken anywhere in the country in the past month has anything other than the economy as the top issue for Latinos," he said.

4. Democratic differences were on display

In liberal New York, Mamdani ran as a democratic socialist who will tax millionaires and corporations to the tune of $9bn (£6.9bn), in order to pay for policies such as free childcare and buses.

It was a different story, however, in the governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia, where Republicans have had far more electoral success in the past.

In those states, the two Democratic candidates were establishment-backed moderates who emphasised pragmatic policies more likely to appeal to voters less liberal than those in New York City.

The night itself illustrated the broad differences in the party between its left-wing and centrists, and raised questions over how it will approach elections and candidate selection in the future.

Koneschusky suggested Democrats needed to field candidates who reflect the specific electorate, rather than taking a "one-size-fits-all" approach.

"In some cases, that may mean fielding progressive candidates. In other cases, it may mean moderate or centrist candidates," he said.

New York City comptroller and Mamdani ally Brad Lander echoed this point, telling the BBC's Nada Tawfik that Democratic leadership must acknowledge different things will work in different parts of the country and they should allow the primary process to play out.

"A moment comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new," Zohran Mamdani told a jubilant crowd in New York on Wednesday - quoting India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's midnight speech of 1947, when the country awoke to freedom.

"When an age ends and the soul of a nation finds utterance. Tonight we step out from the old to the new," Mamdani continued.

As Mamdani wrapped up his victory speech, the title track from the 2004 Bollywood hit Dhoom rang out across the hall - followed by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind, now pulsing with new meaning as New York's first Indian-origin mayor made history.

Months earlier, Mamdani had turned Bollywood into campaign language, a nod to his South Asian roots - his mother is filmmaker Mira Nair, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan-born scholar of Indian descent. On Instagram, he's recorded several messages in Hindi, often relying on playful imagery and dialogues from popular Bollywood films.

Invoking India's first prime minister on Wednesday was a final flourish.

Seventy-seven years ago, Nehru, in a sweltering Constituent Assembly hall in Delhi, had prefaced the lines borrowed by Mamdani with one of the most stirring openings in history: "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially."

"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom."

It was just before midnight on 15 August 1947, and India was about to become independent after nearly two centuries of British rule. The words carried both elation and gravity - a promise of responsibility and of a nation finding its voice.

Many believe Mamdani's nod to Nehru's speech held out the promise that something new, untested, and potentially transformative had begun in New York.

Decades earlier, in another moment of awakening, Nehru had been evoking something far larger - a nation's rebirth.

Freedom, Nehru continued, as not an end but a beginning - "not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving". The service of India, he insisted, meant serving "the millions who suffer" and ending "poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity".

He pledged that India's work would not be over "so long as there are tears and suffering", and urged unity over "petty and destructive criticism" to build "the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell."

The roughly 1,600-word speech by India's first prime minister has gone down as one of the most famous speeches in history.

The New York Times said Nehru had "electrified his countrymen with a speech of soaring eloquence". Historian Ramachandra Guha called it a speech "rich in emotion and rhetoric". Srinath Raghavan, a historian, told an interviewer that the "speech still resonates in India because it genuinely captured the moment in the way great speeches can".

There were three main speakers that night: Chaudhry Khaliquz-zaman spoke for India's Muslims, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a philosopher, for his eloquence and vision, and Nehru - the star of the evening.

The set-up of Nehru's speech was electric. Time magazine reported that Indian leaders had gathered in the Constituent Assembly Hall an hour before midnight. The chamber was "ablaze with the colours of India's new tricolour flag - orange, white and green". Nehru made what the magazine called an "inspired speech".

What followed was pure theatre of history.

"And as the twelfth chime of midnight died out, a conch shell, traditional herald of the dawn, sounded raucously through the chamber. Members of the Constituent Assembly rose. Together they pledged themselves at this solemn moment . . . to the service of India and her people."

Outside, Indians were rejoicing. In his book India After Gandhi, Guha quotes an American journalist reporting: "Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs were happily celebrating together... It was Times Square on New Year's Eve. More than anyone else, the crowd wanted Nehru."

But beneath the euphoria, chaos and violence were already stirring. Across the subcontinent, religious riots broke out. Two days later, the borders were drawn - triggering one of history's largest and bloodiest migrations, as up to 15 million people moved and about a million died.

Amid the upheaval, Nehru's words stood out - a reminder of India's unfulfilled promise, and of a leader whose command of language many believe matched the enormity of the moment.

By then, Nehru had gained a reputation as a formidable orator, delivering extempore speeches that ranged effortlessly across politics, science, art, and ethics. As Australian diplomat Walter Crocker observed, the breadth and spontaneity of his addresses were "without parallel".

As he concluded his most famous speech in August 1947, Nehru said: "We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be."

Seven decades later, in New York, Mamdani has his own, rather different work cut out for him.

Many Ugandans are expressing their pride in the newly elected mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and retains dual nationality.

Some have described him as one of "their own", saying he inspires them.

A journalist who mentored him during his teenage internship at one of Uganda's leading newspapers told the BBC that there was a "lot of excitement" in Uganda about Mamdani's rise especially because of his young age. Uganda has the second-lowest median age worldwide of just 16.2, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Zohran, 34, is the son of Prof Mahmood Mamdani, a prominent Ugandan academic, while his mother, Mira Nair, is an acclaimed filmmaker.

Journalist Angelo Izama told the BBC's Newsday programme that the younger Mamdani was "initially shy" while they worked together, but was "absolutely determined to get things done".

He says Zohran is "very fond of Kampala", Uganda's capital, which he often mentions.

Mahmood Mamdani was raised in Uganda and worked for more than a decade at Makerere University, the country's main and oldest university. He met his wife in Kampala while she was researching Mississippi Masala, a film about the expulsion of Asians from Uganda under Idi Amin.

Prof Mamdani is known for his anti-colonialist scholarship, which examines the legacy of colonialism in Africa and its impact on governance, identity and justice.

Makerere University professor Okello Ogwang says he "feels great" about Zohran's success, describing him as the "son of a colleague. This is somebody from home".

"We have one of us there," he told the BBC.

"It gives me hope that the children we are raising are the hope of this world. As a continent... we are missing out on the greatest resource we have - the youth."

While many Ugandans had not heard of Zohran until his election, a student at the university said people were "very happy", saying it proved that anyone could rise above their background.

"It gives morale, especially to us as youths," said Abno Collins Kuloba. "Wherever you have grown up, be it poor or rich, you can become something big, like what [Mamdani] has done."

Another student, Chemtai Zamzam, said she was happy, for herself and Ugandans. She said Mamdani was an inspiration to her as a young person, as "it shows we can become anything we want as long as we put faith and determination".

The new mayor is also being celebrated elsewhere in the continent.

Abdul Mohamed, an Ethiopian who is a former senior UN and African Union official, describes Mahmood Mamdani as "a distinguished scholar of African politics", a man who interrogated power and justice.

He says having known Zohran since infancy, he sees him as having inherited his father's "commitment to pan-Africanism", his parents' "courage to think freely," and their belief that one can "belong everywhere".

He says Zohran's rise is symbolic and practical especially to young Africans, asking them to draw from him lessons in politics.

"I think through him, [the] power and beauty of multi-ethnic, multi-religious identity found its voice. And Africa is by and large a multi-ethnic and a multi-religious society," he says.

He adds that as Zohran has demonstrated, young people need to organise and build political action and "avoid despair and avoid pure anger".

Uganda is holding elections next year, with 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni seeking another term after almost 40 years in power.

The Mamdani family also spent at around three years in Cape Town, South Africa, after Mahmood was appointed to the country's University of Cape Town.

Some South Africans have also been taking pride in his historic win.

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

Donald Trump has renominated billionaire investor Jared Isaacman to run Nasa, five months after withdrawing his first nomination.

The 42-year-old entrepreneur, who has ties to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, had looked set to lead the space agency when Trump abruptly pulled his nomination in late May, following what the president said was a "thorough review of prior associations."

While the White House did not specify what those associations were, it was during Trump's high-profile feud with Musk.

Isaacman, who is worth an estimated $1.9bn (£1.46bn), is an amateur jet pilot and also became the first non-professional astronaut to walk in space last year, on a mission with SpaceX that he bankrolled.

Why Trump has suddenly changed his mind is unclear, and the president made no mention of the past when he wrote on his Truth Social platform that he was "pleased to nominate" Isaacman for the role.

"Jared's passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era," the president wrote.

The Nasa administrator role will be Isaacman's first job in politics, representing a departure from the last two men appointed to the job.

It requires confirmation by the Senate, where the Republican Party holds a 53-47 majority. Even though the US government has been shut down since early October, the Senate is still able to confirm presidential nominees.

Thanking the president, Isaacman wrote on X that "it will be an honor" to serve in the role.

"The support from the space-loving community has been overwhelming," he wrote in a long post, that also acknowledged Nasa scientists and innovators.

"I am not sure how I earned the trust of so many, but I will do everything I can to live up to those expectations."

Sean Duffy, the head of the transport department, has been interim Nasa chief since July.

Isaacman's initial nomination withdrawal came just days after Elon Musk left the Trump administration, following a tumultuous drive to shrink the size of government departments with his Doge initiative, leading to thousands of job cuts.

Concerns were voiced over Isaacman's ties to Musk and his SpaceX company, where Isaacman has reportedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars. He has also made donations to the Democrats in past elections.

His nomination has encountered scepticism, and at his initial confirmation hearing in April, members of both parties questioned Isaacman about possible conflicts of interest, budget cuts and his desire to send astronauts to Mars.

They expressed fears he would sacrifice the long-planned Moon mission to focus on Mars, but Isaacman said both can be possible.

"We don't have to make a binary decision of Moon versus Mars, or Moon has to come first versus Mars," he later added.

The billionaire - who was a high-school dropout - made his fortune from payment processing company Shift4 Payments, which he founded in 1999 in his parents' basement when he was 16.

Isaacman has a longstanding interest in flying - having first taken pilot lessons in 2004 and later setting a world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world in a light jet.

A driver has rammed his car into pedestrians and cyclists on the Ile d'Oléron, off the west coast of France, leaving 10 people hurt including several in a critical condition.

A local man aged "about 30" was arrested at the scene after deliberately driving into people, the mayor of Dolus d'Oléron Thibault Brechkoff said.

The man drove some distance between two villages on the island, mowing down several people including a young girl, the mayor told French TV.

He eventually abandoned his vehicle and tried to set fire to it before running away, Brechkoff said.

The public prosecutor for La Rochelle, Arnaud Laraize, said the suspect was known to police and that he shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") at the moment of his arrest.

The incident took place around 08:45 (07:45 GMT), according to local media.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said an inquiry had been opened into the incident and he was heading to the scene.