Awkward moment for couple on screen at Coldplay gig
A US tech company says its chief executive has quit after he was reportedly caught on a big screen at a Coldplay concert embracing a woman, in a clip that went viral.
Astronomer said in a statement: "Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted."
The clip showed a man and a woman hugging on a giant screen at the arena in Foxborough, Massachusetts, before they abruptly ducked and hid from the camera.
The pair were identified in US media as Andy Byron, a married chief executive of Astronomer, and Kristin Cabot, the firm's chief people officer. The BBC has been unable to independently confirm the identities of either person in the video.
The company statement said on Saturday: "As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding.
"Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met."
The firm said its board would begin a search for the next leader and their chief product officer would keep serving as interim CEO.
The video of the pair swaying to music at Wednesday night's concert and quickly trying to hide gained millions of views.
After seeing the pair duck, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin said to the crowd: "Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy."
Astronomer announced it was launching an investigation into the relationship and placed the CEO on leave shortly after the video went viral.
Ukraine has proposed a new round of peace talks with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, in a move aimed at restarting negotiations that halted last month.
Senior security official Rustem Umerov has offered to meet the Russian side next week, Zelensky said in his evening address, adding that everything had to be done to get a ceasefire.
Zelenksy also repeated his readiness to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin face-to-face. "A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace," he said.
The proposal came hours after Ukraine was hit with another widespread air bombardment by Russia, which killed three people.
Ten regions of Ukraine, including several cities, were hit in the night between Friday and Saturday, Zelensky said earlier on Saturday.
Ukraine's military said more than 340 explosive and dummy drones and 35 cruise and ballistic missiles had been used, but many were downed.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said the US would send "top-of-the-line weapons" to Ukraine via Nato countries, while also threatening Russia with severe tariffs if a deal to end the war is not reached within 50 days.
Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have so far failed to result in any progress towards a ceasefire, but large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of killed soldiers were agreed.
After the last round, which ended in early June, Ukrainian negotiators said Russia had again rejected an "unconditional ceasefire" - a key demand by Kyiv and its allies in Europe and the US .
Russia also outlined a list of demands, including calls for Ukraine to cede more territory and to reject all forms of Western military support.
At the time, Zelensky accused Moscow of "doing everything it can to ensure the next possible meeting is fruitless".
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukraine's territory, including the southern Crimea peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.
At least 20 people have been injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).
Up to five people have been critically injured and up to 10 are in a serious condition, the emergency services said.
The incident happened at 02:00 local time (09:00 GMT) in East Hollywood.
Pictures from the scene show a grey car on a pavement with debris strewn on the ground, and a large police presence.
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At least 32 Palestinians seeking food have been killed by Israeli gunfire near two aid distribution points close to Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Dozens were also injured near the two sites run by the controversial US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), it said.
The GHF said there were no incidents "at or near" their sites, but that there had been "Israel Defense Forces (IDF) activity" hours before their sites were due to open.
One eyewitness told the Reuters news agency that the Israeli gunfire seemed "targeted to kill".
The Palestinian ministry of health said a number of bodies were taken to nearby Nasser hospital on Saturday morning.
There are almost daily reports of Palestinians being killed while seeking aid since the GHF began operations in late May. Witnesses say most have been shot by Israeli forces.
The IDF told the BBC that in the latest incident, troops fired warning shots to prevent "suspects" approaching them, saying the incident happened before the aid sites opened.
Mohammed Al-Khalidi, speaking to Reuters, pointed the finger at the Israeli army for the attack.
He said he was part of a group of Palestinians who had been told the GHF aid distribution centre was open, but when they arrived tanks began moving towards them and opened fire.
"It wasn't shots that were to scare us or to organize us, it was shots that were targeted to kill us, if they wanted to organize us they would have, but they meant to kill us."
The GHF uses private security contractors to distribute aid from sites in Israeli military zones. Israel and the US say the system is necessary to stop Hamas from stealing aid. The UN refuses to co-operate with it, describing it as unethical and saying no evidence has been offered of Hamas systematically diverting aid.
On 15 July, the UN human rights office said it had so far recorded 674 killings in the vicinity of the GHF's four sites in southern and central Gaza over the past six weeks.
Another 201 killings had been recorded along routes of UN and other aid convoys, it added.
The GHF denies that there have been any deadly incidents in close proximity to its sites and accused the UN of using "false and misleading" figures from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry's figures are widely seen as a reliable count of bodies seen by Gazan hospitals.
Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, to send journalists into the territory.
The UN also said this week that the number of acutely malnourished children has doubled since Israel began restricting food entering the territory in March. Despite the creation of the GHF significant amounts of aid, including baby formula, is still being blocked at the border.
On Friday, the director of one field hospital said in a statement that they had an unprecedented influx of patients suffering from severe exhaustion, emaciation and acute malnutrition.
So far, 69 children have died from malnutrition during the increasing humanitarian crisis, according to the Hamas government media office.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump once again suggested a ceasefire deal was very near – but a Palestinian official told the BBC that talks remain blocked, with a latest troop withdrawal map proposed by Israel still unacceptable to Hamas.
Twenty-eight people have died after a tourist boat capsized in Vietnam in bad weather, according to local reports.
At least 14 people are said to be missing following the incident in Halong Bay, a popular tourist destination in the north of the country, the reports say.
Most of the passengers were reportedly Vietnamese visiting from Hanoi.
Heavy rain has been hindering the search for survivors, rescuers say.
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Apartments were among the buildings went up in flames across Ukraine following the Russian air strike
At least three people have died following another widespread air bombardment by Russia.
Two people were killed in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, the regional governor, Sergiy Lysak, said, while a woman died of her injuries after being rescued from a burning apartment in Odesa, according to emergency services.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said 10 regions of Ukraine, including a number of cities, were hit in the overnight assault. Ukraine's military said more than 340 explosive and dummy drones and 35 cruise and ballistic missiles were used.
Although it said 90% of these were shot down, suppressed electronically or lost, more than 30 got through.
One of the strikes hit a residential block in the southern city of Odesa, causing a fire on its upper floors.
Rescuers said five people were rescued from burning apartments - including the woman who later died. At least another six people were wounded.
The eastern city of Pavlohrad was subjected to what Serhiy Lysak called a "hellish night and morning".
He said there had been "explosion after explosion" caused by drone and missile strikes, adding it had been the biggest-scale attack on the city to date.
Targets reportedly included industrial sites, a fire department, a clinic, a school, and a cultural institution.
Zelensky wrote of "important infrastructure" being damaged there. A missile plant is based in Pavlohrad, and the city has been struck in the past by Russia.
Russia's defence ministry said it struck military-industrial enterprises that produce components for missiles and drones overnight, but did not specify where.
The north-eastern city of Sumy was also attacked. Zelensky said critical infrastructure had been damaged, cutting power to several thousand families.
There have also been strikes - including with guided bombs - on another town in the region, Shostka, which lies less than 50km (30 miles) from the Russian border. Officials said a "targeted hit" there had caused a fire. They did not say what had been struck.
Unverified video footage posted online purportedly of the incident shows a fierce fire and billowing clouds of grey smoke.
Zelensky once again stressed the importance of bolstering air defences, both in terms of supplies from allies, but also producing them in Ukraine, including more interceptor drones.
The Trump administration recently moved to free up weapons supplies, even if some of these - including much-needed Patriot air defences - will be paid for by other Nato allies.
EPA/Shutterstock
At least six people were wounded as a result of the Russian attack on Odesa
Russia said it shot down more than 70 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday, most of them over the regions of Rostov, Moscow and Bryansk.
The acting governor of Rostov, Yuri Slyusar, said the attack had been massive, affecting areas close to the border with occupied parts of Ukraine. Houses, he said, were damaged by what he said had been falling debris, and several settlements suffered temporary power cuts.
Slyusar said one railway worker had been injured, and rail traffic disrupted. Several supply routes into Ukraine run through the area.
Meanwhile, on the front lines, Russian forces continue to attack one of their key objectives - the town of Pokrovsk in the eastern region of Donetsk.
Late on Friday, Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, acknowledged it faced increasing pressure, but insisted its defence was "steadfast". He said Russia had been trying to get to the city with small groups of soldiers attacking for sabotage and reconnaissance purposes, claiming one such group had been destroyed. Russia has been trying to encircle Pokrovsk for months.
Sumbu Sita Mambu, representative of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Benjamin Mbonimpa (R) secretary exectutive of the M23 group sign a deal in Qatar
The Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 rebels have signed ceasefire deal in Qatar to end fighting between the warring sides.
Dubbed the Declaration of Principles, Saturday's agreement seen by the BBC, says both sides must refrain from attacks, "hate propaganda" and "any attempt to seize by force new positions on the ground".
The declaration is intended as a roadmap towards a permanent settlement.
The two sides agreed to implement the deal's terms by July 29. A final peace deal is due by 18 August and must align with last month's US-brokered deal between DR Congo and Rwanda, which denies accusations it backs M23.
Decades of conflict escalated earlier this year when M23 rebels seized control of large parts of the mineral-rich eastern DR Congo including the regional capital, Goma, the city of Bukavu and two airports.
The UN says thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of civilians forced from their homes following since. The M23 disputes the figures, saying fewer than 1,000 people have died.
DR Congo spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said the deal took the government's "red line" into account - including the "non-negotiable withdrawal" of the M23 from occupied areas.
But in a video posted on X, M23 negotiator Benjamin Mbonimpa said the deal did not mention such a pull-out.
It is the first direct accord between the two sides since the rebels launched their offensive at the turn of the year.
Qatar said negotiations were set to continue.
The African Union Commission called the declaration a "milestone" in lasting peace efforts and security in the region.
The declaration also outlines a commitment to reinstating state authority in eastern DR Congo.
This is the latest in a long line of failed peace deals in the region.
One of the main players in today's conflict - the M23 rebels - emerged from a failed peace deal 16 years ago that never delivered on demobilisation.
In March, DR Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame met in Qatar and both called for an immediate ceasefire.
The following month, DR Congo and M23 group agreed to a ceasefire facilitated by Qatar, but fighting continued on the ground.
The Washington deal, which came about in June, has been met with widespread criticism as a key incentive for the US' intervention is access to the DR Congo's vast mineral wealth. President Trump boasted of this feat.
There has been talk of Tshisekedi and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame going to Washington to meet Trump together, though no date has been fixed.
Workers had reported feeling vibrations in the partially built structure, and being told to cover up holes with sand
A building collapse that killed 34 construction workers and injured dozens more in the Western Cape, town of George last May was "entirely preventable", South Africa's government says.
A newly released report into the 2024 tragedy revealed that serious safety concerns had been raised well before the partially-built five-storey apartment block came crashing down.
Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson said the collapse was the result of multiple failures including the use of substandard materials, structural cracks, and visible gaps.
"There were a number of red flags that were continually raised about this project," said a visibly angry Macpherson.
Some of the defects in the building were detected a year before the building collapsed. The health and safety officer even resigned in protest but work continued the report found.
"The work should have stopped" Macpherson said.
Macpherson added that these signs were a chance to turn back but instead, problems with the building were "covered up".
Workers reported feeling vibrations in the partially built structure, and being told to cover up holes with sand and substandard concrete, the report revealed.
Following what the minister described as an "emotional and painful" private meeting with survivors and families of victims, he called for criminal accountability for those found to have been negligent.
A police investigation is still ongoing but no arrests have been made.
Many survivors are still facing trauma, medical bills and struggling to put food on the table, Macpherson said.
One survivor of the disaster, Elelwani, tearfully told local media, that her life had changed dramatically in the last year.
She lost many of her teeth, struggles to eat and has been the subject of bullying. She appealed for money from well wishers.
Macpherson pledged to introduce regulations to improve oversight in construction and reform outdated legislation.
The probe was conducted by the Council for the Built Environment and a parallel investigation by the Engineering Council of South Africa.
Getty Images/BBC
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
At least 20 people have been injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).
Up to five people have been critically injured and up to 10 are in a serious condition, the emergency services said.
The incident happened at 02:00 local time (09:00 GMT) in East Hollywood.
Pictures from the scene show a grey car on a pavement with debris strewn on the ground, and a large police presence.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
At least 20 people have been injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).
Up to five people have been critically injured and up to 10 are in a serious condition, the emergency services said.
The incident happened at 02:00 local time (09:00 GMT) in East Hollywood.
Pictures from the scene show a grey car on a pavement with debris strewn on the ground, and a large police presence.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
Syrian military and security forces in Suweida. Photo: 15 July 2025
The Syrian presidency says it will deploy a new force to halt the deadly sectarian clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters in the south of the country.
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's office urged "all parties to exercise restraint", amid reports of renewed fighting near the city of Suweida on Friday.
Almost 600 people are reported to have been killed since the violence erupted on Sunday. Government troops deployed to the area were accused by residents of killing Druze civilians and carrying out extrajudicial executions.
Israel later struck targets in Syria to force the troops to withdraw from Suweida province. On Friday, the US ambassador to Turkey said that Israel and Syria had agreed a ceasefire.
In a post on X, ambassador Tom Barrack said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sharaa "have agreed to a ceasefire" embraced by Syria's neighbours Turkey and Jordan.
"We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours," the envoy said.
Israel and Syria have not publicly commented on the reported ceasefire agreement.
Shortly before Sharaa's office announced its planned military deployment to the south, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow the limited entry of Syrian Internal Security Forces personnel into Suweida for 48 hours to protect Druze civilians "in light of the ongoing instability".
Suweida's predominantly Druze community follows a secretive, unique faith derived from Shia Islam, and distrusts the current jihadist-led government in Damascus.
The BBC correspondent in the Syrian capital says that sectarian hatred of the Druze is now spreading across the country.
The Druze are a minority in Syria, as well as in neighbouring Lebanon and Israel.
Earlier this week, the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, said his office had received credible reports indicating widespread violations and abuses, including summary executions and arbitrary killings in Suweida.
Among the alleged perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim government, as well as local Druze and Bedouin armed elements, Türk said in a statement.
"This bloodshed and the violence must stop," he warned, adding that "those responsible must be held to account".
The BBC has contacted the Syrian government and security forces about allegations of summary killings and other violations.
In a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a "priority".
"We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said.
He went on to blame "outlaw groups", saying their leaders "rejected dialogue for many months".
Donald Trump, his now wife Melania, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pose for a photo in February 2000
When Jack Posobiec walked into the Department of Justice in Washington, DC last February, he thought he would finally get some answers about Jeffrey Epstein.
But when he and other MAGA supporters were given essentially just rehashed, already-public material - and when the government put a damper on the release of any new information this July - they balked.
"We were all told more was coming. That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn't have to be," Posobiec posted on social media on 7 July.
Now, Donald Trump is finding it hard to shake loose the conspiracy theories that have animated his base since he first broke through into Republican politics a decade ago.
Getty Images
Jack Posobiec is a vocal MAGA commentator with millions of followers
Posobiec, who emerged from the fringes of the internet in 2016 when he spread false rumours about a child abuse ring based in a Washington DC restaurant - a conspiracy theory that became known as Pizzagate - is just one of many MAGA die-hards who believes officials are hiding key truths about Epstein's life and death.
The disgraced financier and convicted sex offender died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019 while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
On a recent podcast hosted by Breitbart News editor Alex Marlow, Posobiec said the MAGA base see this case as shorthand for the thorough rot of the so-called "deep state".
"It's not that they care about Epstein personally," he said. "It's that they care that there's this optic that Epstein was somehow involved with a shadowy system that actually has control over our government, control over our institutions, control of our lives, and really is a ruling power over us."
Over the years, some have claimed that government officials possess files on Epstein that reveal sordid details, including that a "client lint" exists with notable names on it who may have participated in some Epstein's alleged crimes.
Trump has, in the past, played to that crowd. During last year's election campaign, he said he would have "no problem" releasing Epstein case files, and after the election directly answered a question about whether he would "declassify" the files by saying: "Yeah, yeah, I would."
Conspiratorial thinking has been a part of President Trump's movement from the outset. His entry into the once-crowded world of Republican Party politics a decade ago came as he amplified the false theory that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States.
Now, however, the world of conspiracy is biting back.
Watch: Trump calls out "stupid Republicans" in Jeffrey Epstein files saga
Epstein's crimes are real and horrific, and there remains the possibility that further information could emerge about them.
But they have also become subsumed by grander narratives – Pizzagate, and later QAnon, the sprawling interactive conspiracy theory that swamped the internet during Trump's first term, pushing the idea that the highest echelons of society were controlled by a child-abusing elite cabal. The conspiracy theory spread through cryptic messages posted by a pseudonymous character called Q.
Mike Rothschild, author of several books on Trump-era conspiracies, including The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult and Conspiracy of Everything, said Epstein was mentioned in several such messages dating back to late 2017.
"Epstein is seen as one of the major players in a global 'paedo elite' that's been trafficking children for centuries, and that Q and Trump were supposed to put an end to once and for all," he told the BBC.
But after the justice department meeting in February, administration officials, including FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino - who both stoked Epstein rumours for years - started to dampen talk of any major revelations.
Then, on 8 July, the Department of Justice and FBI said in a memo that Epstein's cause of death was suicide and there was no evidence he had a "client list".
The president seemed eager to move on, calling the Epstein case "sordid, but it's boring" while also blaming Democrats for continuing to make it an issue.
Many Trump supporters are happy to follow the president's lead. But a subset of extremely online MAGA supporters are still deeply passionate about the Epstein case.
Several MAGA voices, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have alleged that Epstein was employed by the Israeli security services. And among more extreme elements of the movement, the conspiracy theories around Epstein sometimes veer into the antisemitic.
But Rothschild said most of the people in MAGA world are simply itching for more information – if it indeed exists – about the financier's connections with Bill Clinton and other Democrats and Trump opponents. Epstein cultivated powerful people from both major US political parties.
The long history of MAGA's Epstein obsession mean Trump is now finding it difficult to satisfy the conspiratorial elements in his base.
The story took another twist late on Thursday as The Wall Street Journal reported Trump had sent Epstein a "bawdy" birthday greeting in 2003. The pair's one-time friendship is well-known, but Trump says he cut ties with Epstein long ago and filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company, its owner and two reporters following the report.
Meanwhile, Trump seemed more willing to indulge the conspiracy theorists, posting on Truth Social: "Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval."
There is no doubt that conspiracy theories clearly have the power to motivate some of the president's base. QAnon supporters were among some of the most visible participants at the January 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
In a survey conducted just before last November's election, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) think tank found that nearly a fifth of Americans agree with QAnon-linked statements, including most pointedly: "The government, media, and financial worlds in the US are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping paedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation."
Many see the Epstein case as a confirmation of those views, and the QAnon-believing population is heavily pro-Trump, the PRRI found, with 80% backing the president.
And with that support has come influence. Posobiec, the Pizzagate and Epstein conspiracy theorist who was at the DOJ meeting in February, reportedly accompanied Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on a recent trip to Europe.
He also has been photographed meeting with neo-Nazi's, although he denies being a white nationalist himself.
He did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
He is adamant that Epstein's case is connected to the wider conspiracy world.
"It ties to Covid, it ties to lockdowns, it ties to vaccines," Posobiec said, on the Alex Marlow podcast, which was recorded at a conference last week where multiple speakers brought up Epstein and demanded further revelations.
"It ties to so many different buckets of the anger people are feeling."
Rich Logis, a former longtime Trump supporter who broke ranks and started an organisation called Leaving MAGA, said that these outlandish theories serve "as ties that bind many within the MAGA community", even amongst those who doubt them.
Logis says Trump's dismissal this week of their concerns this left some supporters "feeling confused and stunned".
"They expected Trump to keep his promise and reveal those who allegedly aided and abetted Epstein," he said.
If the Epstein case presents a political quagmire for Trump, there is also a problem for his supporters, particularly the vocal influencer class, in figuring out where to funnel their rage. Targeting the president could backfire when it comes to their own followers.
"Many of the major influencers are furious," Rothschild said, "and while they might not take it out on Trump, they might take it out on the GOP (Republican Party) in general."
Trump has so far stood by Pam Bondi, his attorney general. But she, Patel and Bongino may increasingly feel the pressure if MAGA's conspiracy wing continues to demand more files - whether or not they actually exist.
President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company, its owner and two reporters, over a report claiming Trump wrote a "bawdy" personal note to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami, names Dow Jones, News Corp and conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, claiming the paper slandered him and violated libel laws.
Earlier, Trump had threatened that he would force Murdoch "to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper".
Trump says the note, which the paper reported he'd sent for Epstein's 50th birthday, is "fake". It comes amid a backlash from his supporters over his handling of the Epstein case files.
Trump acknowledged that he and members of his staff attempted to halt publication of the story. He said the newspaper and Murdoch "were warned directly" they would be sued if they printed the article, describing it as "false, malicious, and defamatory".
The lawsuit also names the two reporters who wrote the story, Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.
Earlier on Friday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform, writing: "I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!"
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a letter bearing Trump's name "contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker".
"Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person," the paper reports.
It reportedly contains a joking reference that "Enigmas never age" and allegedly ends with the words: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret."
Trump denied writing the note after the article was published on Thursday, posting: "These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures."
On Friday, Trump declined to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with Epstein, and why he had not ordered the release of more documents.
Instead, he asked the Attorney General to produce documents related to secretive grand jury testimony, which could prove to be a lengthy court process. It's unclear when or if those documents will be released, or if they contain the details Trump's supporters have been demanding be released publicly.
Trump's order concerning grand jury testimony came after days of sustained pressure from some of his most loyal supporters demanding further disclosures in the Epstein case.
Some Trump loyalists have called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to resign after she reversed course on releasing certain documents related to Epstein.
In February, Bondi said that a "client list" belonging to Epstein was "sitting on my desk right now". Then last week, her office announced that there is no such "client list".
Chad Bianco, a Republican sheriff running for California governor, told BBC News that Trump's handling of the Epstein files was "not what I was expecting" and that "millions" of his followers are disappointed.
"We feel like we're being talked down to like stupid children."
Trump and Murdoch have a relationship that goes back decades.
The 94-year-old media tycoon's media empire, which includes Fox News, is often credited with helping propel Trump to the White House.
But the two grew more distant over the years and their relationship started to collapse following Trump's loss at the ballot box in 2020 to Joe Biden.
"We want to make Trump a non-person," Murdoch wrote in an email that emerged during court battles over Fox's role spreading misinformation in the 2020 election.
Trump's more recent victory in 2024 appeared to bring the two together again. During a February visit to the White House, Trump referred to Murdoch as "a class by himself" and "an amazing guy".
On Sunday, the two men were pictured together attending the Fifa World Cup in New Jersey.
Attorney General Bondi was also seen watching the match from the president's private box.
Meanwhile, members of Congress are pushing to pass a "discharge petition" that would force Bondi to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys' Offices" relating to Epstein.
The effort has brought together some of Congress's fiercest opponents, including Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who are both signed on as supporters.
President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company, its owner and two reporters, over a report claiming Trump wrote a "bawdy" personal note to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami, names Dow Jones, News Corp and conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, claiming the paper slandered him and violated libel laws.
Earlier, Trump had threatened that he would force Murdoch "to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper".
Trump says the note, which the paper reported he'd sent for Epstein's 50th birthday, is "fake". It comes amid a backlash from his supporters over his handling of the Epstein case files.
Trump acknowledged that he and members of his staff attempted to halt publication of the story. He said the newspaper and Murdoch "were warned directly" they would be sued if they printed the article, describing it as "false, malicious, and defamatory".
The lawsuit also names the two reporters who wrote the story, Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.
Earlier on Friday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform, writing: "I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!"
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a letter bearing Trump's name "contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker".
"Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person," the paper reports.
It reportedly contains a joking reference that "Enigmas never age" and allegedly ends with the words: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret."
Trump denied writing the note after the article was published on Thursday, posting: "These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures."
On Friday, Trump declined to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with Epstein, and why he had not ordered the release of more documents.
Instead, he asked the Attorney General to produce documents related to secretive grand jury testimony, which could prove to be a lengthy court process. It's unclear when or if those documents will be released, or if they contain the details Trump's supporters have been demanding be released publicly.
Trump's order concerning grand jury testimony came after days of sustained pressure from some of his most loyal supporters demanding further disclosures in the Epstein case.
Some Trump loyalists have called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to resign after she reversed course on releasing certain documents related to Epstein.
In February, Bondi said that a "client list" belonging to Epstein was "sitting on my desk right now". Then last week, her office announced that there is no such "client list".
Chad Bianco, a Republican sheriff running for California governor, told BBC News that Trump's handling of the Epstein files was "not what I was expecting" and that "millions" of his followers are disappointed.
"We feel like we're being talked down to like stupid children."
Trump and Murdoch have a relationship that goes back decades.
The 94-year-old media tycoon's media empire, which includes Fox News, is often credited with helping propel Trump to the White House.
But the two grew more distant over the years and their relationship started to collapse following Trump's loss at the ballot box in 2020 to Joe Biden.
"We want to make Trump a non-person," Murdoch wrote in an email that emerged during court battles over Fox's role spreading misinformation in the 2020 election.
Trump's more recent victory in 2024 appeared to bring the two together again. During a February visit to the White House, Trump referred to Murdoch as "a class by himself" and "an amazing guy".
On Sunday, the two men were pictured together attending the Fifa World Cup in New Jersey.
Attorney General Bondi was also seen watching the match from the president's private box.
Meanwhile, members of Congress are pushing to pass a "discharge petition" that would force Bondi to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys' Offices" relating to Epstein.
The effort has brought together some of Congress's fiercest opponents, including Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who are both signed on as supporters.
Fregona, viewed from the mayor's office, has a shrinking population
Winding down the narrow main street of his north Italian town, Giacomo de Luca points to the businesses that have closed: two supermarkets, a barbershop, restaurants – all with shutters drawn and faded signs above their doors.
The pretty town of Fregona at the foot of the mountains is emptying out like many here, as Italians have fewer children and increasingly migrate to bigger places or move abroad.
Now the local primary school is at risk and the mayor is worried.
"The new Year One can't go ahead because there are only four children. They want to shut it down," De Luca explains. The minimum class size to get funding is 10 children.
"The drop in births and in the population has been very, very sharp."
The mayor calculates that the population of Fregona, an hour's drive north of Venice, has shrunk by almost a fifth in the past decade.
By June this year there were just four new births and most of the 2,700 or so remaining residents are elderly, from the men drinking their morning prosecco to the women filling their bags with chicory and tomatoes at the weekly market.
Giacomo de Luca is worried about the future of Fregona's primary school
For De Luca, closing the school reception class would be a tide-turner: if the children leave Fregona to study, he fears they will never look back.
So he's been touring the surrounding area, even visiting a nearby pizza factory, trying to persuade parents to send their children to his town and help keep the school open.
"I'm offering to pick them up with a minibus, we've offered for children to stay at school until six in the evening, all paid for by the council," the mayor told the BBC, his sense of urgency obvious.
"I'm worried. Little by little, if things keep going like this, the village will die."
Nationwide problem
Italy's demographic crisis extends far beyond Fregona and it is deepening.
Over the past decade, the population nationwide has contracted by almost 1.9 million and the number of births has fallen for 16 consecutive years.
On average, Italian women are now having just 1.18 babies, the lowest level ever recorded. That's under the EU average fertility rate of 1.38 and far below the 2.1 needed to sustain the population.
Despite its efforts to encourage childbirth, and much talk of family-friendly politics, Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government has been unable to stop the slide.
"You have to think a lot before having a baby," Valentina Dottor admits when we meet on Fregona's main square, her 10-month-old daughter Diletta cooing in a pushchair.
Valentina is due to return to work soon, and her daughter Diletta will be cared for by family
Valentina gets an allowance of around €200 (£175) a month for Diletta's first year, but just missed out on the government's new Baby Bonus of €1,000 for children born in 2025.
There are new tax breaks, too, and longer parental leave.
But Valentina now needs to return to work and says accessing affordable childcare is still very tough.
"There are not many babies, but not many kindergarten [places] either," she says. "I am lucky to have my grandmother take care of my daughter. If not, I don't know where I would leave her."
That's why her friends are wary of motherhood.
"It's difficult - because of work, schools, the money," Valentina says. "There is some help, but it's not enough to have babies.
"It won't solve the problem."
Self-help schemes
Some companies in the Veneto region have taken matters into their own hands.
A short drive down into the valley from Fregona is a big industrial estate filled with small and medium-sized firms, many run by families.
Irinox, a blast chiller manufacturer, spotted the parenting problem long ago and decided to act rather than lose valuable workers.
The firm joined forces with seven others to create a creche a short walk from the factory floor – not free, but heavily discounted and convenient. It was the first of its kind in Italy.
Irinox employee Melania was able to use the creche near her workplace
"Knowing I had the chance to put my son two minutes from here was very important, because I can reach him any time, very fast," one of the firm's finance bosses, Melania Sandrin, explains.
Without the creche she would have struggled to return to work: she didn't want to lean on her own parents, and state kindergartens won't generally take children for a full day.
"There's also a priority list… and there are few, few places," Melania says.
Like Valentina, she and her friends delayed having children into their late 30s, keen to establish their careers, and Melania isn't sure she'd have a second baby, even now. "It's not easy," she says.
Later childbirth, a growing trend here, is another factor in lowering fertility.
All of that is why CEO Katia da Ros thinks Italy needs to make "massive changes" to address its population problem.
"It's not the €1,000 payments that make a difference, but having services like free kindergartens. If we want to change the situation we need strong action," she says.
Irinox boss Katia da Ros says greater changes are needed to enable Italians to have more babies
The other solution is increased immigration, which is far more contentious for Meloni's government.
More than 40% of the workers at Irinox are already from abroad.
A map on the factory wall dotted with pins shows they come from Mongolia to Burkina Faso. Barring an unlikely sudden surge in childbirth, Katia da Ros argues Italy – like Veneto – will need more foreign workers to drive its economy.
"The future will be like that."
End of a school era
Even immigration couldn't save a school in nearby Treviso.
Last month, Pascoli Primary shut its doors for good because there weren't enough pupils to sustain it.
A ceremony was held to mark the closure of this school in Treviso, where pupil numbers had fallen
Just 27 children gathered on the school steps for a final ceremony marked by an Alpine bugler with a feather in his hat, who sounded the Last Post as the Italian flag was lowered.
"It's a sad day," Eleanora Franceschi said, collecting her 8-year-old daughter for one last time. From September, she'll have to travel much further to a different school.
Eleanora doesn't believe the falling birthrate alone is to blame: she says Pascoli school didn't teach in the afternoons, making life harder for working parents who then moved their children elsewhere.
The headteacher has another explanation.
"This area has been transformed because many people from abroad came here," Luana Scarfi told the BBC, referring to two decades of migration to the Veneto region with multiple factories and plenty of jobs.
Headteacher Luana Scarfi says there are many reasons behind the falling school rolls
"Some [families] then decided to go to other schools where the immigration index was less high."
"Over the years, we had lower and lower people who decided to come to this school," the headmistress says, in English, hinting at tensions.
A UN prediction suggests Italy's population will drop by about five million in the next 25 years, from 59 million. It's ageing, too, increasing the strain on the economy.
Government measures to tackle that have so far only scratched the surface.
But Eleanora argues parents like her need a lot more help with services, not just cash handouts, for a start.
Eleanora, seen with her daughter and father, says seeing her child's school close was a sad day
"We get monthly cheques but we need practical support, too, like free summer camps for the children," she says, pointing to the three-month school holiday from June that can be a nightmare for parents who work.
"The government wants a bigger population but at the same time, they're not helping," Eleanora says.
President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company, its owner and two reporters, over a report claiming Trump wrote a "bawdy" personal note to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami, names Dow Jones, News Corp and conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, claiming the paper slandered him and violated libel laws.
Earlier, Trump had threatened that he would force Murdoch "to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper".
Trump says the note, which the paper reported he'd sent for Epstein's 50th birthday, is "fake". It comes amid a backlash from his supporters over his handling of the Epstein case files.
Trump acknowledged that he and members of his staff attempted to halt publication of the story. He said the newspaper and Murdoch "were warned directly" they would be sued if they printed the article, describing it as "false, malicious, and defamatory".
The lawsuit also names the two reporters who wrote the story, Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.
Earlier on Friday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform, writing: "I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!"
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a letter bearing Trump's name "contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker".
"Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person," the paper reports.
It reportedly contains a joking reference that "Enigmas never age" and allegedly ends with the words: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret."
Trump denied writing the note after the article was published on Thursday, posting: "These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures."
On Friday, Trump declined to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with Epstein, and why he had not ordered the release of more documents.
Instead, he asked the Attorney General to produce documents related to secretive grand jury testimony, which could prove to be a lengthy court process. It's unclear when or if those documents will be released, or if they contain the details Trump's supporters have been demanding be released publicly.
Trump's order concerning grand jury testimony came after days of sustained pressure from some of his most loyal supporters demanding further disclosures in the Epstein case.
Some Trump loyalists have called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to resign after she reversed course on releasing certain documents related to Epstein.
In February, Bondi said that a "client list" belonging to Epstein was "sitting on my desk right now". Then last week, her office announced that there is no such "client list".
Chad Bianco, a Republican sheriff running for California governor, told BBC News that Trump's handling of the Epstein files was "not what I was expecting" and that "millions" of his followers are disappointed.
"We feel like we're being talked down to like stupid children."
Trump and Murdoch have a relationship that goes back decades.
The 94-year-old media tycoon's media empire, which includes Fox News, is often credited with helping propel Trump to the White House.
But the two grew more distant over the years and their relationship started to collapse following Trump's loss at the ballot box in 2020 to Joe Biden.
"We want to make Trump a non-person," Murdoch wrote in an email that emerged during court battles over Fox's role spreading misinformation in the 2020 election.
Trump's more recent victory in 2024 appeared to bring the two together again. During a February visit to the White House, Trump referred to Murdoch as "a class by himself" and "an amazing guy".
On Sunday, the two men were pictured together attending the Fifa World Cup in New Jersey.
Attorney General Bondi was also seen watching the match from the president's private box.
Meanwhile, members of Congress are pushing to pass a "discharge petition" that would force Bondi to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys' Offices" relating to Epstein.
The effort has brought together some of Congress's fiercest opponents, including Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who are both signed on as supporters.
President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company, its owner and two reporters, over a report claiming Trump wrote a "bawdy" personal note to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami, names Dow Jones, News Corp and conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, claiming the paper slandered him and violated libel laws.
Earlier, Trump had threatened that he would force Murdoch "to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper".
Trump says the note, which the paper reported he'd sent for Epstein's 50th birthday, is "fake". It comes amid a backlash from his supporters over his handling of the Epstein case files.
Trump acknowledged that he and members of his staff attempted to halt publication of the story. He said the newspaper and Murdoch "were warned directly" they would be sued if they printed the article, describing it as "false, malicious, and defamatory".
The lawsuit also names the two reporters who wrote the story, Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.
Earlier on Friday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform, writing: "I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!"
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a letter bearing Trump's name "contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker".
"Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person," the paper reports.
It reportedly contains a joking reference that "Enigmas never age" and allegedly ends with the words: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret."
Trump denied writing the note after the article was published on Thursday, posting: "These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures."
On Friday, Trump declined to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with Epstein, and why he had not ordered the release of more documents.
Instead, he asked the Attorney General to produce documents related to secretive grand jury testimony, which could prove to be a lengthy court process. It's unclear when or if those documents will be released, or if they contain the details Trump's supporters have been demanding be released publicly.
Trump's order concerning grand jury testimony came after days of sustained pressure from some of his most loyal supporters demanding further disclosures in the Epstein case.
Some Trump loyalists have called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to resign after she reversed course on releasing certain documents related to Epstein.
In February, Bondi said that a "client list" belonging to Epstein was "sitting on my desk right now". Then last week, her office announced that there is no such "client list".
Chad Bianco, a Republican sheriff running for California governor, told BBC News that Trump's handling of the Epstein files was "not what I was expecting" and that "millions" of his followers are disappointed.
"We feel like we're being talked down to like stupid children."
Trump and Murdoch have a relationship that goes back decades.
The 94-year-old media tycoon's media empire, which includes Fox News, is often credited with helping propel Trump to the White House.
But the two grew more distant over the years and their relationship started to collapse following Trump's loss at the ballot box in 2020 to Joe Biden.
"We want to make Trump a non-person," Murdoch wrote in an email that emerged during court battles over Fox's role spreading misinformation in the 2020 election.
Trump's more recent victory in 2024 appeared to bring the two together again. During a February visit to the White House, Trump referred to Murdoch as "a class by himself" and "an amazing guy".
On Sunday, the two men were pictured together attending the Fifa World Cup in New Jersey.
Attorney General Bondi was also seen watching the match from the president's private box.
Meanwhile, members of Congress are pushing to pass a "discharge petition" that would force Bondi to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys' Offices" relating to Epstein.
The effort has brought together some of Congress's fiercest opponents, including Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who are both signed on as supporters.
Awkward moment for couple on screen at Coldplay gig
A US tech company announced that it has launched an investigation after a big screen embrace at a Coldplay concert - rumoured to involve two of its employees, including its CEO - went viral.
In the clip, which initially appeared on a giant screen at the Boston concert, two people are seen with their arms wrapped around each other.
When their faces appear for thousands to see, the man and woman abruptly duck and hide from the camera.
Reports that both are executives at the company Astronomer and rumours of an affair sparked by the band leader's comment, then spread online, but the information remains unverified by the company.
The video of the pair swaying to music, then quickly trying to hide exploded on the internet after the concert on Wednesday night.
Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, after seeing the pair hide, said to the crowd: "Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy."
The initial video posted to TikTok received millions of views. It was then shared across platforms, turned into memes and made fun of on television programs.
Two days after the internet became inundated with chatter about the embrace, Astronomer put out its own statement announcing an investigation into the matter, without specifying the video.
"Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding," the statement read. "Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability. The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly."
The man in the video is rumoured in multiple reports to be Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, who has been with the company since July 2023. Mr Byron himself has not confirmed his identity in the video. The woman was identified online as Kristin Cabot, the company's chief people officer, who has been with Astronomer since November 2024.
She has not confirmed her identity either. The BBC has been unable to confirm the identities of the people in the video.
The Astronomer statement added that Mr Byron had not released a personal statement, and that reports otherwise were incorrect. It also said no other employees were in the video.
Fake statements from Mr Byron went viral on Thursday.
Syrian military and security forces in Suweida. Photo: 15 July 2025
The Syrian presidency says it will deploy a new force to halt the deadly sectarian clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters in the south of the country.
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's office urged "all parties to exercise restraint", amid reports of renewed fighting near the city of Suweida on Friday.
Almost 600 people are reported to have been killed since the violence erupted on Sunday. Government troops deployed to the area were accused by residents of killing Druze civilians and carrying out extrajudicial executions.
Israel later struck targets in Syria to force the troops to withdraw from Suweida province. On Friday, the US ambassador to Turkey said that Israel and Syria had agreed a ceasefire.
In a post on X, ambassador Tom Barrack said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sharaa "have agreed to a ceasefire" embraced by Syria's neighbours Turkey and Jordan.
"We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours," the envoy said.
Israel and Syria have not publicly commented on the reported ceasefire agreement.
Shortly before Sharaa's office announced its planned military deployment to the south, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow the limited entry of Syrian Internal Security Forces personnel into Suweida for 48 hours to protect Druze civilians "in light of the ongoing instability".
Suweida's predominantly Druze community follows a secretive, unique faith derived from Shia Islam, and distrusts the current jihadist-led government in Damascus.
The BBC correspondent in the Syrian capital says that sectarian hatred of the Druze is now spreading across the country.
The Druze are a minority in Syria, as well as in neighbouring Lebanon and Israel.
Earlier this week, the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, said his office had received credible reports indicating widespread violations and abuses, including summary executions and arbitrary killings in Suweida.
Among the alleged perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim government, as well as local Druze and Bedouin armed elements, Türk said in a statement.
"This bloodshed and the violence must stop," he warned, adding that "those responsible must be held to account".
The BBC has contacted the Syrian government and security forces about allegations of summary killings and other violations.
In a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a "priority".
"We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said.
He went on to blame "outlaw groups", saying their leaders "rejected dialogue for many months".
Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is known for standing up to his political bosses
A highly respected police officer has shaken South Africa's government - and won the admiration of many ordinary people - with his explosive allegations that organised crime groups have penetrated the upper echelons of President Cyril Ramaphosa's administration.
Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi did it in dramatic style - dressed in military-like uniform and surrounded by masked police officers with automatic weapons, he called a press conference to accuse Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of having ties to criminal gangs.
He also said his boss had closed down an elite unit investigating political murders after it uncovered a drug cartel with tentacles in the business sector, prison department, prosecution service and judiciary.
"We are on combat mode, I am taking on the criminals directly," he declared, in an address broadcast live on national TV earlier this month.
South Africans have long been concerned about organised crime, which, leading crime expert Dr Johan Burger pointed out, was at a "very serious level".
One of the most notorious cases was that of South Africa's longest-serving police chief, Jackie Selebi, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2010 after being convicted of taking bribes from an Italian drug lord, Glen Agliotti, in exchange for turning a blind eye to his criminal activity.
But Gen Mkhwanazi's intervention was unprecedented - the first time that a police officer had publicly accused a cabinet member, let alone the one in charge of policing, of having links to criminal gangs.
The reaction was instantaneous. Mchunu dismissed the allegations as "wild and baseless" and said he "stood ready to respond to the accusations", but the public rallied around Gen Mkhwanazi - the police commissioner in KwaZulu-Natal - despite the province also being Mchunu's political turf.
#HandsoffNhlanhlaMkhwanazi topped the trends list on X, in a warning shot to the government not to touch the 52-year-old officer.
"He's [seen as] a no-nonsense person who takes the bull by the horn," Calvin Rafadi, a crime expert based at South Africa's University of Johannesburg, told the BBC.
Gallo Images via Getty Images
South Africans have come to Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's support following his explosive claims
Gen Mkhwanazi first earned public admiration almost 15 years ago when, in his capacity as South Africa's acting police chief, he suspended crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, a close ally of then-President Jacob Zuma.
Mdluli was later sentenced to five years in jail for kidnapping, assault, and intimidation, vindicating Gen Mkhwanazi's view that he was a rotten apple within the police service.
Gen Mkhwanazi faced enormous pressure to shield Mdluli, with his political bosses assuming that the officer, aged only 38 at the time, would be "open to manipulation [but] they were grossly mistaken", said Dr Burger.
Not only did he push ahead with Mdluli's suspension, he also made claims of political interference during an appearance in Parliament.
While this move earned him brownie points with citizens, his public outburst did him no favours and he was axed barely a year into the job and shunted back into obscurity for a number of years.
Gallo via Getty Images
The Richard Mdluli saga shaped public opinion on Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in 2011
He made a dramatic comeback in 2018 when then-Police Minister Bheki Cele appointed him to the provincial police chief post, with one of his major tasks being to investigate killings in a province where competition for political power - and lucrative state tenders - is fierce.
It would be the disbandment of this investigative unit by Mr Mchunu that led to Gen Mkhwanazi's explosive briefing a fortnight ago, complaining that 121 case dockets were "gathering dust" at the national police headquarters.
"I will die for this [police] badge. I will not back down," Gen Mkhwanazi said, in line with his reputation of being a brave and selfless officer who cannot be captured by a corrupt political and business elite.
A survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSCRC) shows that public trust in the police stands at an all-time low of 22%,
The police force has long been plagued by issues of political interference, corruption and a seeming inability to effectively tackle the high crime levels.
The crisis has also reached the force's upper structures, with about 10 different police chiefs since 2000 - one has been convicted of corruption and another currently faces criminal charges.
"The dysfunction is across all levels," Gareth Newham of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS) think-tank told the BBC, adding that "there are many dynamics within the police service that need to be fixed".
But Gen Mkhwanazi's tenure has not been without controversy. He was the subject of an investigation by the police watchdog, following a complaint that he interfered in a criminal investigation into a senior prisons official.
However, he was cleared of the charge last month, with the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) saying the complaint was "designed to derail a committed officer who has been unrelenting in his fight against crime and corruption".
Gen Mkhwanazi's team has also faced criticism for their heavy-handed approach towards criminal suspects, who are sometimes shot dead in confrontations with officers under his command.
Mr Newham said that with Gen Mkhwanazi seen as the "cop's cop", the public was willing to turn a blind eye to his officers' alleged abuses because "they want to have a hero in the police".
With Mchunu sent packing, South Africa will have a new acting police minister from next month - Firoz Cachalia, a law professor who comes from a renowned family of anti-apartheid activists, and served as minister of Community Safety in Gauteng, South Africa's economic heartland, from 2004 to 2009.
In an interview with local TV station Newzroom Afrika, Cachalia said that Gen Mkhwanazi's decision to go public with his explosive allegations was "highly unusual", but if they turned out to be true then "we will be able to see in retrospect that he was perfectly justified in doing what he did".
So Gen Mkhwanazi's credibility is on the line - either he proves his allegations against Mchunu or he could fall on his sword.
But for now he has cemented his reputation as a brave police officer who took on his political bosses - twice.
President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company, its owner and two reporters, over a report claiming Trump wrote a "bawdy" personal note to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami, names Dow Jones, News Corp and conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, claiming the paper slandered him and violated libel laws.
Earlier, Trump had threatened that he would force Murdoch "to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper".
Trump says the note, which the paper reported he'd sent for Epstein's 50th birthday, is "fake". It comes amid a backlash from his supporters over his handling of the Epstein case files.
Trump acknowledged that he and members of his staff attempted to halt publication of the story. He said the newspaper and Murdoch "were warned directly" they would be sued if they printed the article, describing it as "false, malicious, and defamatory".
The lawsuit also names the two reporters who wrote the story, Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.
Earlier on Friday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform, writing: "I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!"
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a letter bearing Trump's name "contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker".
"Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person," the paper reports.
It reportedly contains a joking reference that "Enigmas never age" and allegedly ends with the words: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret."
Trump denied writing the note after the article was published on Thursday, posting: "These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures."
On Friday, Trump declined to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with Epstein, and why he had not ordered the release of more documents.
Instead, he asked the Attorney General to produce documents related to secretive grand jury testimony, which could prove to be a lengthy court process. It's unclear when or if those documents will be released, or if they contain the details Trump's supporters have been demanding be released publicly.
Trump's order concerning grand jury testimony came after days of sustained pressure from some of his most loyal supporters demanding further disclosures in the Epstein case.
Some Trump loyalists have called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to resign after she reversed course on releasing certain documents related to Epstein.
In February, Bondi said that a "client list" belonging to Epstein was "sitting on my desk right now". Then last week, her office announced that there is no such "client list".
Chad Bianco, a Republican sheriff running for California governor, told BBC News that Trump's handling of the Epstein files was "not what I was expecting" and that "millions" of his followers are disappointed.
"We feel like we're being talked down to like stupid children."
Trump and Murdoch have a relationship that goes back decades.
The 94-year-old media tycoon's media empire, which includes Fox News, is often credited with helping propel Trump to the White House.
But the two grew more distant over the years and their relationship started to collapse following Trump's loss at the ballot box in 2020 to Joe Biden.
"We want to make Trump a non-person," Murdoch wrote in an email that emerged during court battles over Fox's role spreading misinformation in the 2020 election.
Trump's more recent victory in 2024 appeared to bring the two together again. During a February visit to the White House, Trump referred to Murdoch as "a class by himself" and "an amazing guy".
On Sunday, the two men were pictured together attending the Fifa World Cup in New Jersey.
Attorney General Bondi was also seen watching the match from the president's private box.
Meanwhile, members of Congress are pushing to pass a "discharge petition" that would force Bondi to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys' Offices" relating to Epstein.
The effort has brought together some of Congress's fiercest opponents, including Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who are both signed on as supporters.
Awkward moment for couple on screen at Coldplay gig
A US tech company announced that it has launched an investigation after a big screen embrace at a Coldplay concert - rumoured to involve two of its employees, including its CEO - went viral.
In the clip, which initially appeared on a giant screen at the Boston concert, two people are seen with their arms wrapped around each other.
When their faces appear for thousands to see, the man and woman abruptly duck and hide from the camera.
Reports that both are executives at the company Astronomer and rumours of an affair sparked by the band leader's comment, then spread online, but the information remains unverified by the company.
The video of the pair swaying to music, then quickly trying to hide exploded on the internet after the concert on Wednesday night.
Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, after seeing the pair hide, said to the crowd: "Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy."
The initial video posted to TikTok received millions of views. It was then shared across platforms, turned into memes and made fun of on television programs.
Two days after the internet became inundated with chatter about the embrace, Astronomer put out its own statement announcing an investigation into the matter, without specifying the video.
"Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding," the statement read. "Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability. The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly."
The man in the video is rumoured in multiple reports to be Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, who has been with the company since July 2023. Mr Byron himself has not confirmed his identity in the video. The woman was identified online as Kristin Cabot, the company's chief people officer, who has been with Astronomer since November 2024.
She has not confirmed her identity either. The BBC has been unable to confirm the identities of the people in the video.
The Astronomer statement added that Mr Byron had not released a personal statement, and that reports otherwise were incorrect. It also said no other employees were in the video.
Fake statements from Mr Byron went viral on Thursday.
The explosion occurred at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training on Friday morning.
Three police officers were killed in an explosion at a County Sheriff's Department training facility in East Los Angeles, officials say.
The explosion occurred at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training on Friday morning at around 07:30 local time (15:30 BST), according to first responders.
Confirming the deaths in a post on X, US Attorney General Pam Bondi called it a "horrific incident" and said that federal agents have been deployed on the scene and are "working to learn more".
It was unclear what caused the explosion or if there were any more victims.
The explosion occurred in a parking lot of the Special Enforcement Bureau at the facility, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) told BBC's US partner CBS News.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed about the explosion and he is "closely monitoring the situation", his office said in a statement on X.
Newsom's office added that state assistance has also been offered to help respond to the incident.
Kathryn Barger, Chief of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, wrote in a statement that she is "closely tracking the situation as we learn more about what occurred and the condition of those affected".
"My heart is heavy, and my thoughts are with the brave men and women of the Sheriff's Department during this difficult time," she said.
A medic and other men walk past the bodies of those killed in the fighting at a hospital in Suweida city
Over the last five days, Rima says she has witnessed "barbaric" scenes.
The 45-year-old Druze woman has lived in the southern Syrian city of Suweida her whole life, and never thought her once-peaceful hometown would become the scene of a bloodbath.
"There were bodies everywhere outside our building," she told the BBC in a phone interview, using a pseudonym out of fear for her safety.
Rima said she huddled inside her home, bracing for the unimaginable, as gunmen - government forces and foreign fighters - moved through her neighbourhood earlier this week, going door-to-door looking for their next victim.
"One of the worst feelings ever is to keep waiting for people to come into your house and decide whether we should live or die," she recalled, her voice still trembling with fear.
The violence has left Rima and her neighbours feeling abandoned and afraid in their own homes, as bullets and shells sounded off outside.
Long-running tensions between Druze and Bedouin tribes in Suweida erupted into deadly sectarian clashes on Sunday, following the abduction of a Druze merchant on the highway to the capital, Damascus.
As the fighting spread to other parts of the southern province, the government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa - who led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime by Islamist-led rebels in December - announced that it would deploy the interior and defence ministry's forces to "restore stability".
Since the fall of Assad, some local Druze leaders have rejected the presence of the security forces in Suweida city. When government forces were deployed on Tuesday, the fighting escalated.
Soon, the government's forces were being accused of attacking both Druze fighters and civilians, which prompted the Israeli military to intervene with a series of air strikes that it said were intended to protect the Druze.
As Rima watched this play out, the lack of internet and power made it difficult to keep up with the unfolding events. All she knew for sure was what she could see from her window: slaughtered bodies and burned buildings.
Syrian state media have also cited authorities and Bedouin tribes as saying that "outlaw groups" carried out "massacres" and other crimes against Bedouin fighters and civilians.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, has said it has documented the killing of at least 594 people since Sunday, including 154 Druze civilians, of whom 83 were summarily killed by government forces, and three members of Bedouin tribes who were summarily killed by Druze fighters.
Reuters
Syria's interim president said government forces had expelled "outlaw groups" in Suweida
Nayef, a Druze man whose name we have also changed, was also confronted with horrific scenes in Suweida.
"We are collecting bodies from the streets. We found bodies left outside houses, next to houses for two or three days," he told the BBC in a phone interview.
Despite being a government employee, Nayef lashed out in disbelief at what he saw as the government forces' brutality inside the city.
"They stormed neighbourhoods, selecting the houses that look wealthy. They looted these houses and then torched them. They sprayed unarmed civilians with bullets."
Videos circulating on social media appeared to support Nayef's allegations.
Footage shared on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon shows at least half-a-dozen men dressed in camouflage firing live rounds at a group of residents, who are kneeling on the sidewalk.
The UN human rights office said it had documented the killing of at least 13 people on Tuesday by armed men affiliated with the government who deliberately opened fire at a family gathering. On the same day, they reportedly summarily executed six men near their homes.
While bullets and shells rained down, Suweida residents were left wondering when help was coming.
But it never came.
Rima said she watched as security forces and foreign fighters entered her neighbourhood and later shot her neighbour in front of his mother.
"Is this the army and security forces who were supposed to come and protect us?" she asked. "People's livelihoods were stolen. Those who were killed were young and unarmed."
Other testimony we heard backed up Rima's claim. Those we spoke to said most of the fighters who entered Suweida and attacked civilians appeared to be Islamists.
One woman heard the fighters shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) in her building, calling the Druze "infidels" and "pigs", and saying they were there to kill them.
Some of these fighters posted videos of themselves online humiliating men in Suweida, including cutting or shaving off the moustaches of Druze sheikhs. The moustaches are a symbol of Druze religious identity.
The BBC has approached the Syrian government for official comments on the issue but not so far received a response.
In a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a "priority".
"We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said.
He went on to blame "outlaw groups", saying their leaders "rejected dialogue for many months".
Reuters
Bedouin families have been displaced by the fighting in Suweida
For many, the promise of protection felt like déjà vu.
It resembled the message the president delivered when government forces and allied Islamist fighters carried out deadly reprisals against civilians from another religious minority, the Alawites, in response to attacks by Assad loyalists in the coastal region in March.
A committee was established to investigate those violations - but is yet to deliver any findings.
The accounts from Nayef and others bore many similarities to what happened on the coast in March.
"There's a total lack of trust with the government," Nayef said. "They are just doing a lip-service. They say nice things about freedoms, documenting violations and accountability, but they are all lies."
Many Suweida residents say this latest episode of sectarian violence will have long-lasting effects.
"If it was not for Israel's bombardment, we wouldn't be able to talk to you today," one woman told the BBC.
However, some were also critical of Israel's airstrikes and its claim that it was acting to protect the Druze.
Nayef said: "Nobody wants Israel. We are patriotic people. We were at the forefront of people to adopt patriotism. Our loyalty and patriotism should not be doubted."
Additional reporting by Samantha Granville in Beirut
The ex-Brazilian president is standing trial on charges of staging a coup against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva following his election victory in 2021
A court has ordered Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro to wear an ankle tag and put him under curfew over fears he might abscond while standing trial.
He governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022 and is accused of plotting a coup to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023. He denies any wrongdoing.
It follows US President Donald Trump's attempts to quash the case, which he has called a "witch hunt", by threatening steep tariffs on Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro said the court restrictions amounted to "supreme humiliation" and that he had never considered leaving Brazil.
On Friday, police raided his home and political headquarters on orders from the Supreme Court.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes also ordered that Bolsonaro be banned from social media and barred from communicating with his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has been lobbying for him in the US, and foreign ambassadors, diplomats or embassies.
The ex-president will be placed under 24-hour surveillance and have to comply with a nighttime curfew.
Judge Moraes said Bolsonaro was acting deliberately and illegally, together with his son Eduardo, to have sanctions imposed on Brazilian public officials.
In a statement, Bolsonaro's lawyers expressed "surprise and outrage" at the court's decision, adding that the former president had "always complied with the court's orders".
According to the Federal Police, Bolsonaro has attempted to hinder the trial and undertaken actions that constitute coercion, obstruction of justice and an attack on national sovereignty.
Lula hit back, saying he would match any tariffs imposed on Brazil by the US. In a post on X, the president said Brazil was a "sovereign country with independent institutions" and "no one is above the law".
On Thursday, Trump posted a letter on Truth Social that he sent to Bolsonaro in which he said the criminal case amounted to political persecution and that his tariff threat was aimed at exerting pressure on Brazilian authorities to drop the charges.
The US president has compared the prosecution to legal cases he himself faced between his two presidential terms.
Bolsonaro is standing trial along with seven accused over events which culminated in the storming of government buildings by his supporters a week after Lula's inauguration in January 2023.
The eight defendants are accused of five charges: attempting to stage a coup, involvement in an armed criminal organisation, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, aggravated damage and deterioration of listed heritage.
If found guilty, Bolsonaro, 70, could face decades behind bars.
Reuters
Bolsonaro and Trump enjoyed a friendly relationship when their presidencies overlapped
The former president has consistently denied the charges against him, calling them "grave and baseless" and claiming to be the victim of "political persecution" aimed at preventing him running for president again in 2026.
He narrowly lost the presidential election to his left-wing rival Lula in 2022.
He never publicly acknowledged defeat. Many of his supporters spent weeks camped outside army barracks in an attempt to convince the military to prevent Lula from being sworn in.
Bolsonaro was in the US at the time and has always denied any links to the rioters.
A federal investigation into the riots and the events leading up to them was launched. Investigators subsequently said they had found evidence of a "criminal organisation" which had "acted in a coordinated manner" to keep then-President Bolsonaro in power.
Their 884-page report, which was unsealed in November 2024, alleged that "then-President Jair Messias Bolsonaro planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organisation aiming to launch a coup d'etat and eliminate the democratic rule of law".
Brazil's Attorney General Paulo Gonet went further in his report published last month, in which he accused Bolsonaro of not just being aware but of leading the criminal organisation that he says sought to overthrow Lula.
The Cecot jail in El Salvador is one of the world's largest prisons, and is notorious for the poor conditions prisoners are kept in
El Salvador is repatriating dozens of detained Venezuelans in exchange for US nationals held in Venezuela, the governments of the US and El Salvador announced on Friday.
The central American country sent approximately 250 prisoners incarcerated in its notorious Cecot (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism) prison in return for the release of 10 US nationals from Venezuela.
The planeload of migrants deported from the US to El Salvador is scheduled to arrive in Maiquetía, Venezuela later on Friday.
Relations between Salvadorean leader Bukele and US President Donald Trump have warmed significantly in recent months, especially as Bukele has agreed to detain deported US migrants.
A senior administration official told reporters on Friday that, with the release, there are currently no longer any US nationals being held by the government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
"Today, we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country, accused of being part of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TDA)," Bukele said in a post on X.
He said the exchange was done in return "for a considerable number of Venezuelan political prisoners" as well as the US citizens.
In a separate post, US Secretary of State Marc Rubio confirmed the exchange and thanked Bukele and American officials.
The Venezuelans had originally been deported by the US under the Trump administration to El Salvador earlier this year, under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which gives a US president power to detain and deport natives or citizens of "enemy" nations without usual processes.
A senior Trump administration official told reporters on Friday that El Salvador made the "independent decision" to release the Venezuelan prisoners - which it considers to be gang members - for humanitarian reasons.
The exchange of Venezuelans for Americans facilitated by El Salvador highlights the strong relationship between Trump and Bukele - the self-styled "world's coolest dictator".
"This deal would not have been possible without President Bukele," the administration official said. "We extend our deep, deep gratitude."
The Salvadoran leader visited Trump in the White House in April, where the pair appeared friendly as they spoke to reporters, often laughing and cracking jokes together.
Bukele has backed the deportation of migrants from the United States to El Salvador's Cecot maximum security jail.
Trump said at the time that Bukele is "really helping out" the US out by facilitating these detentions, as the Salvadoran president responded that his country is "very eager to help".
Around the same time, Bukele first proposed swapping Venezuelan deportees for "political prisoners", including family members of Venezuelan opposition figures, journalists and activists detained in a government electoral crackdown in 2024.
"The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud," he wrote to Maduro on X.
"However, I propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and surrender of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you hold."
The senior administration official said that while the deal only pertained to US nationals kept in Venezuela, the Trump administration is still actively working on the release of "dozens" of political prisoners held by the Maduro government.
Watch: People clap and cheer as the gold miners emerge after nearly a day trapped underground
Eighteen workers trapped for about 18 hours in a gold mine in north-western Colombia have been rescued by emergency crews, the country's government has said.
The miners became stuck on Thursday in the El Minón mine, in Colombia's Antioquia region, after equipment failure, according to AFP news agency.
After a 12-hour-long rescue operation, all the workers are in good health, Colombia's National Mining Agency (ANM) said.
In a letter sent to the government, the local mayor in Remedios said the mine was apparently unlicensed.
The operation to free the miners finished at just after 03:00 local time (09:00 BST) on Friday, according to Colombia's energy minister.
Video of the rescue showed the miners' colleagues clapping and cheering as they climbed out of the mine shaft.
Yarley Erasmo Marin, a representative of a local miners' association, told the AFP news agency that a mechanical failure caused the collapse of a structure designed to prevent landslides, blocking the mine's main exit.
Oxygen had to be given to the trapped miners through hoses while they waited to be rescued, local radio station ABC reported.
The ANM said in a statement that the mining community should "refrain from illegal mining activities, which endanger the lives and safety of those involved and also impact the country's resources and the environment".
Mining accidents are not uncommon in Colombia and dozens of deaths have been recorded in recent years.
Sophie Vouzelaud was first runner-up to Miss France in 2007
A Belgian man has travelled 760km (472 miles) to meet a French beauty queen he had been led to believe would be his future wife, only to realise he had been a victim of online romance fraud.
Michel, 76, turned up at the home of Sophie Vouzelaud in France but was met by the model's husband.
He told Ms Vouzelaud's husband, Fabien, he had paid €30,000 ($35,000) to the scammers and thought he had been in a romantic relationship for several weeks.
"I am an imbecile," the man said to the couple as he contemplated taking the long journey back.
Michel's misadventure became known after a video of his unfortunate encounter with the couple was shared online by Fabien.
For weeks, the Belgian - a widower of four years - had been communicating on WhatsApp with who he thought was Ms Vouzelaud, former Miss Limousin and first runner-up to Miss France in 2007.
He turned up outside the couple's property in Saint-Julien, some 420km (270 miles) south of Paris, on 9 July and according to Fabien said: "I am the future husband of Sophie Vouzelaud", to which he retorted: "Well, I'm the current one."
Ms Vouzelaud, 38, then tried to explain to him that he had been swindled and the couple urged him to go to the police to file a complaint. It is not clear if he has done so.
Romance fraud is when someone is conned into sending money to a criminal who convinces them they are in a genuine relationship.
According to Action Fraud, signs of romance fraud include a person being secretive about their relationship or becoming hostile or angry when asked about their online partner.
They may have sent, or be planning to send, money to someone they have never met in person.
Advice for protecting yourself against scams includes:
Be suspicious of any requests for money from someone you have never met in person, particularly if you have only recently met online
Speak to your family or friends to get advice
Profile photos may not be genuine, so do your research first. Performing a reverse image search using a search engine can help you find photos that have been stolen from somewhere else
Advice for supporting a victim of a scam includes:
Reassure your loved one you are there for them and it is not their fault
Improve your own understanding about romance scams
Remember to look after yourself, too - supporting someone through romance fraud can be tough
Donald Trump, his now wife Melania, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pose for a photo in February 2000
When Jack Posobiec walked into the Department of Justice in Washington, DC last February, he thought he would finally get some answers about Jeffrey Epstein.
But when he and other MAGA supporters were given essentially just rehashed, already-public material - and when the government put a damper on the release of any new information this July - they balked.
"We were all told more was coming. That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn't have to be," Posobiec posted on social media on 7 July.
Now, Donald Trump is finding it hard to shake loose the conspiracy theories that have animated his base since he first broke through into Republican politics a decade ago.
Getty Images
Jack Posobiec is a vocal MAGA commentator with millions of followers
Posobiec, who emerged from the fringes of the internet in 2016 when he spread false rumours about a child abuse ring based in a Washington DC restaurant - a conspiracy theory that became known as Pizzagate - is just one of many MAGA die-hards who believes officials are hiding key truths about Epstein's life and death.
The disgraced financier and convicted sex offender died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019 while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
On a recent podcast hosted by Breitbart News editor Alex Marlow, Posobiec said the MAGA base see this case as shorthand for the thorough rot of the so-called "deep state".
"It's not that they care about Epstein personally," he said. "It's that they care that there's this optic that Epstein was somehow involved with a shadowy system that actually has control over our government, control over our institutions, control of our lives, and really is a ruling power over us."
Over the years, some have claimed that government officials possess files on Epstein that reveal sordid details, including that a "client lint" exists with notable names on it who may have participated in some Epstein's alleged crimes.
Trump has, in the past, played to that crowd. During last year's election campaign, he said he would have "no problem" releasing Epstein case files, and after the election directly answered a question about whether he would "declassify" the files by saying: "Yeah, yeah, I would."
Conspiratorial thinking has been a part of President Trump's movement from the outset. His entry into the once-crowded world of Republican Party politics a decade ago came as he amplified the false theory that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States.
Now, however, the world of conspiracy is biting back.
Watch: Trump calls out "stupid Republicans" in Jeffrey Epstein files saga
Epstein's crimes are real and horrific, and there remains the possibility that further information could emerge about them.
But they have also become subsumed by grander narratives – Pizzagate, and later QAnon, the sprawling interactive conspiracy theory that swamped the internet during Trump's first term, pushing the idea that the highest echelons of society were controlled by a child-abusing elite cabal. The conspiracy theory spread through cryptic messages posted by a pseudonymous character called Q.
Mike Rothschild, author of several books on Trump-era conspiracies, including The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult and Conspiracy of Everything, said Epstein was mentioned in several such messages dating back to late 2017.
"Epstein is seen as one of the major players in a global 'paedo elite' that's been trafficking children for centuries, and that Q and Trump were supposed to put an end to once and for all," he told the BBC.
But after the justice department meeting in February, administration officials, including FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino - who both stoked Epstein rumours for years - started to dampen talk of any major revelations.
Then, on 8 July, the Department of Justice and FBI said in a memo that Epstein's cause of death was suicide and there was no evidence he had a "client list".
The president seemed eager to move on, calling the Epstein case "sordid, but it's boring" while also blaming Democrats for continuing to make it an issue.
Many Trump supporters are happy to follow the president's lead. But a subset of extremely online MAGA supporters are still deeply passionate about the Epstein case.
Several MAGA voices, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have alleged that Epstein was employed by the Israeli security services. And among more extreme elements of the movement, the conspiracy theories around Epstein sometimes veer into the antisemitic.
But Rothschild said most of the people in MAGA world are simply itching for more information – if it indeed exists – about the financier's connections with Bill Clinton and other Democrats and Trump opponents. Epstein cultivated powerful people from both major US political parties.
The long history of MAGA's Epstein obsession mean Trump is now finding it difficult to satisfy the conspiratorial elements in his base.
The story took another twist late on Thursday as The Wall Street Journal reported Trump had sent Epstein a "bawdy" birthday greeting in 2003. The pair's one-time friendship is well-known, but Trump says he cut ties with Epstein long ago and filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company, its owner and two reporters following the report.
Meanwhile, Trump seemed more willing to indulge the conspiracy theorists, posting on Truth Social: "Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval."
There is no doubt that conspiracy theories clearly have the power to motivate some of the president's base. QAnon supporters were among some of the most visible participants at the January 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
In a survey conducted just before last November's election, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) think tank found that nearly a fifth of Americans agree with QAnon-linked statements, including most pointedly: "The government, media, and financial worlds in the US are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping paedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation."
Many see the Epstein case as a confirmation of those views, and the QAnon-believing population is heavily pro-Trump, the PRRI found, with 80% backing the president.
And with that support has come influence. Posobiec, the Pizzagate and Epstein conspiracy theorist who was at the DOJ meeting in February, reportedly accompanied Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on a recent trip to Europe.
He also has been photographed meeting with neo-Nazi's, although he denies being a white nationalist himself.
He did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
He is adamant that Epstein's case is connected to the wider conspiracy world.
"It ties to Covid, it ties to lockdowns, it ties to vaccines," Posobiec said, on the Alex Marlow podcast, which was recorded at a conference last week where multiple speakers brought up Epstein and demanded further revelations.
"It ties to so many different buckets of the anger people are feeling."
Rich Logis, a former longtime Trump supporter who broke ranks and started an organisation called Leaving MAGA, said that these outlandish theories serve "as ties that bind many within the MAGA community", even amongst those who doubt them.
Logis says Trump's dismissal this week of their concerns this left some supporters "feeling confused and stunned".
"They expected Trump to keep his promise and reveal those who allegedly aided and abetted Epstein," he said.
If the Epstein case presents a political quagmire for Trump, there is also a problem for his supporters, particularly the vocal influencer class, in figuring out where to funnel their rage. Targeting the president could backfire when it comes to their own followers.
"Many of the major influencers are furious," Rothschild said, "and while they might not take it out on Trump, they might take it out on the GOP (Republican Party) in general."
Trump has so far stood by Pam Bondi, his attorney general. But she, Patel and Bongino may increasingly feel the pressure if MAGA's conspiracy wing continues to demand more files - whether or not they actually exist.