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Israeli settlers kill Palestinians in West Bank attack, health ministry says

AFP File photo showing Palestinians looking on as a fire burns on a hilltop that was seized by Israeli settlers near the town of Sinjil, in the occupied West Bank (4July 2025)AFP
(File photo) Palestinians look on as a fire burns on a hilltop seized by Israeli settlers near Sinjil on 4 July

Two Palestinians have been killed in an attack by Israeli settlers on a town in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The Israeli military said stones were thrown at Israelis near Sinjil and that "a violent confrontation developed in the area".

It added that security forces were looking into the reports of one Palestinian being killed, and the incident involving the second was under review.

There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since Hamas's attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The UN says at least 910 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, 13 by Israeli settlers, and another seven by either Israeli forces or settlers. At least 44 Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank.

Sayfollah Musallet, a 23-year-old dual US citizen from Florida, was fatally beaten during the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, the Palestinian ministry said.

The second man, Mohammed al-Shalabi, also 23, died after being shot in the chest, it added.

The US state department said it was "aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank", and that it had no further comment "out of respect for the privacy of the family".

Sayfollah Musallet, a businessman whose nickname was Saif, travelled from his home in Tampa to the West Bank on 4 June, according to his family.

A statement alleged that he was "brutally beaten to death by Israeli settlers while he was protecting his family's land from settlers who were attempting to steal it".

"Israeli settlers surrounded Saif for over three hours as paramedics attempted to reach him, but the mob of settlers blocked the ambulance and paramedics from providing life-saving aid."

"After the mob of Israeli settlers cleared, Saif's younger brother rushed to carry his brother to the ambulance. Saif died before making it to the hospital."

The statement added: "We demand the US state department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes."

Official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Mohammed al-Shalabi was from the town of al-Mazraa al-Sharqiya, just south of Sinjil.

It cited the Palestinian health ministry as saying that he was shot in the chest by settlers, during the same attack in which Sayfollah Musallet was killed.

He was left bleeding for hours before paramedics were able to reach him, it added.

Wafa reported than another 10 Palestinians from Sinjil and neighbouring areas were injured in the clashes with settlers who were armed with automatic rifles.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Friday night that "terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli civilians adjacent to Sinjil", lightly injuring two of them.

"A violent confrontation developed in the area involving Palestinians and Israeli civilians, which included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling."

The military said soldiers, police and paramilitary Border Police forces were dispatched to the area and "used riot dispersal means in response to the violent confrontation".

It added that it was "aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians as a result of the confrontation", and that they were being looked into by the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police.

When asked by the BBC on Saturday for a response to the reports that a second Palestinian was killed, the military said: "The situation is under review".

Separately, the US embassy in Jerusalem has said it condemns recent violence by Israeli settlers against the Christian town of Taybeh in the West Bank.

Most of the land there is owned by Palestinian-Americans and, according to locals, some 300 residents are US passport holders.

Attacks, including by masked men torching cars and attacking homes, have ramped up. On Monday, settlers set fields ablaze close to a fifth-Century church, leading to a call for international action from the town's priests.

The State Department said in response it had no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas and that protecting Christians was a priority for President Donald Trump.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state - during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law - a position supported by an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year - although Israel disputes this.

There has been a sharp increase in the number and severity of settler attacks in the West Bank over the same period. The UN says there were 136 attacks by settlers resulting in casualties or property damage in May alone.

On Thursday, a 22-year-old Israeli security guard Shalev Zvuluny was shot and killed when two Palestinian men opened fire and tried to stab passerbys in the car park of a shopping centre in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, in the south of the West Bank.

The attackers were shot dead by soldiers and armed civilians present at the scene, police said.

Tom Bateman contributed to this report

Med Sea heatwave might feel nice for holiday swimming but there's a catch

Getty Images A red and blue parasol on a beach next to the sea, which is at the top of the picture. Two beachgoers are resting in the shade under the blue parasol on the right.Getty Images
Shading from the midday Sun during a recent heatwave in southern France

Warmer water at the seaside might sound nice for your holiday dip, but recent ocean heat in the Mediterranean Sea has been so intense that scientists fear potentially devastating consequences for marine life.

The temperature of the sea surface regularly passed 30C off the coast of Majorca and elsewhere in late June and early July, in places six or seven degrees above usual.

That's probably warmer than your local leisure centre swimming pool.

It has been the western Med's most extreme marine heatwave ever recorded for the time of year, affecting large areas of the sea for weeks on end.

The heat appears to be cooling off, but some species simply struggle to cope with such prolonged and intense warmth, with potential knock-on effects for fish stocks.

To give you some idea of these temperatures, most leisure centre swimming pools are heated to roughly 28C. Competitive swimming pools are slightly cooler at 25-28C, World Aquatics says.

Children's pools are a bit warmer, recommended at 29-31C or 30-32C for babies, according to the Swimming Teachers' Association.

Such balmy temperatures might sound attractive, but they can pose hidden threats. Harmful bacteria and algae can often spread more easily in warmer seawater, which isn't treated with cleaning chemicals like your local pool.

Map showing the average sea surface temperature across the Mediterranean Sea on 6 July. Some areas exceeded 30C on 6 July, marked by dark reds off the coast of Majorca and south-west Italy. Below the map is a graph showing daily sea temperature highs from a measurement buoy off Majorca. Temperatures exceeded 30C in late June, the earliest date on record to pass that mark.

Sea temperatures of 30C or above are not unprecedented in the Med in late summer.

But they are highly unusual for June, according to data from the European Copernicus climate service, Mercator Ocean International, and measurements at Spanish ports.

"What is different this year is that 30C sea temperatures have arrived much earlier, and that means that we can expect the summer to be more intense and longer," said Marta Marcos, associate professor at the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain.

"I grew up here, so we are used to heatwaves, but this has become more and more common and intense."

"We're all very, very surprised at the magnitude of this heatwave," added Aida Alvera-Azcárate, an oceanographer at the University of Liege in Belgium.

"It's a matter of high concern, but this is something we can expect to be happening again in the future."

Map showing categories of marine heatwave across Europe on 6 July. Most of the Mediterranean is in a marine heatwave of some kind. In the east, there is a "moderate" marine heatwave in many places, marked by yellows. Most of the west is in a "strong", "severe" or even "extreme" heatwave, marked by oranges and dark reds.

Marine heatwaves are becoming more intense and longer-lasting as humanity continues to release planet-warming gases into our atmosphere, principally by burning coal, oil and gas.

In fact, the number of days of extreme sea surface heat globally has tripled over the past 80 years, according to research published earlier this year.

"Global warming is the main driver of marine heat waves… it's essentially transferring heat from the atmosphere to the ocean. It's very simple," said Dr Marcos.

The Mediterranean is particularly vulnerable because it's a bit like a bathtub, largely surrounded by continents rather than open ocean.

That means water cannot escape easily, so its surface heats up quickly in the presence of warm air, sunny skies and light winds - as happened in June.

Map showing the sea surface temperature across the Mediterranean Sea on 30 June compared with the long-term average for that day. Almost all of the Med was warmer than usual, marked by yellows, oranges and reds. Only small areas of the eastern Med were cooler than usual, marked by light blues. Some places, like off the south coast of France, were more than 6C above average, shown by dark reds. Below the map is a graph showing daily average sea surface temperature across the whole of the western Med in 2025 in red versus other years in grey. There is a big spike in June, with average temperatures across the region reaching 3.7C above usual for the time of year, the highest figure ever recorded.

For that reason, the Med is "a climate change hotspot" said Karina von Schuckmann of Mercator Ocean International, a non-profit research organisation.

The heat peaked as June turned to July, after which stronger winds allowed deeper, cooler waters to mix with the warm surface above and bring temperatures down.

But temperatures remain above average and there could be consequences for marine life that we don't yet know about.

Most life has a temperature threshold beyond which it can't survive, though it varies a lot between species and individuals.

But sea creatures can also suffer from prolonged heat exposure, which essentially drains their energy through the summer to a point where they can no longer cope.

"I remember four years ago diving in September at the end of summer, we found skeletons of many, many, many populations," said Emma Cebrian, an ecologist at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes in Spain.

Seaweeds and seagrasses act a bit like the forests of the Mediterranean Sea, home to hundreds of species, as well as locking up planet-warming carbon dioxide.

"Some of them are well adapted to typical Mediterranean warm temperatures, but actually they often cannot withstand marine heatwave conditions, which are becoming more extreme and widespread," said Dr Cebrian.

Getty Images About 50 fish swim in deep blue ocean waters above a dark green seagrass meadow.Getty Images
Seagrasses like Posidonia support large numbers of fish species, providing food and shelter

The heat can also cause what ecologists call "sub-lethal effects", where species essentially go into survival mode and don't reproduce.

"If we start to see ecological impacts, there will almost certainly be impacts on human societies [including] losses of fisheries," warned Dan Smale, senior research fellow at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth.

"We'll have to wait and see, really, but because the temperatures are so high this early in the summer, it is really alarming."

The fast-warming Med is "a canary in the coal mine for climate change and marine ecosystems," he added.

Excessive ocean heat can also supercharge extreme weather.

Warmer seas mean extra evaporation, adding to the moisture in the atmosphere that can fuel extreme rainfall.

If other conditions are right, that can lead to devastating flooding, as happened in Libya in 2023 and Valencia in 2024.

EPA Damage at the end of a street. In the foreground there is a large pile of muddy rubble. In the background there are more than a dozen people in high-visibility or white protective clothing cleaning up. On the left is a yellow truck and on the right is an orange digger. EPA
The Valencia floods killed more than 200 people and destroyed large areas of the city

And warmer waters can reduce the cooling effect that coastal populations would usually get from the sea breeze.

That could make things very uncomfortable if there's another heatwave later in the summer, Dr Marcos warned.

"I'm pretty sure that's going to be horrible."

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Two Palestinians killed in West Bank settler attack, health ministry says

AFP File photo showing Palestinians looking on as a fire burns on a hilltop that was seized by Israeli settlers near the town of Sinjil, in the occupied West Bank (4July 2025)AFP
(File photo) Palestinians look on as a fire burns on a hilltop seized by Israeli settlers near Sinjil on 4 July

Two Palestinians have been killed in an attack by Israeli settlers on a town in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The Israeli military said stones were thrown at Israelis near Sinjil and that "a violent confrontation developed in the area".

It added that security forces were looking into the reports of one Palestinian being killed, and the incident involving the second was under review.

There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since Hamas's attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The UN says at least 910 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, 13 by Israeli settlers, and another seven by either Israeli forces or settlers. At least 44 Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank.

Sayfollah Musallet, a 23-year-old dual US citizen from Florida, was fatally beaten during the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, the Palestinian ministry said.

The second man, Mohammed al-Shalabi, also 23, died after being shot in the chest, it added.

The US state department said it was "aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank", and that it had no further comment "out of respect for the privacy of the family".

Sayfollah Musallet, a businessman whose nickname was Saif, travelled from his home in Tampa to the West Bank on 4 June, according to his family.

A statement alleged that he was "brutally beaten to death by Israeli settlers while he was protecting his family's land from settlers who were attempting to steal it".

"Israeli settlers surrounded Saif for over three hours as paramedics attempted to reach him, but the mob of settlers blocked the ambulance and paramedics from providing life-saving aid."

"After the mob of Israeli settlers cleared, Saif's younger brother rushed to carry his brother to the ambulance. Saif died before making it to the hospital."

The statement added: "We demand the US state department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes."

Official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Mohammed al-Shalabi was from the town of al-Mazraa al-Sharqiya, just south of Sinjil.

It cited the Palestinian health ministry as saying that he was shot in the chest by settlers, during the same attack in which Sayfollah Musallet was killed.

He was left bleeding for hours before paramedics were able to reach him, it added.

Wafa reported than another 10 Palestinians from Sinjil and neighbouring areas were injured in the clashes with settlers who were armed with automatic rifles.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Friday night that "terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli civilians adjacent to Sinjil", lightly injuring two of them.

"A violent confrontation developed in the area involving Palestinians and Israeli civilians, which included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling."

The military said soldiers, police and paramilitary Border Police forces were dispatched to the area and "used riot dispersal means in response to the violent confrontation".

It added that it was "aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians as a result of the confrontation", and that they were being looked into by the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police.

When asked by the BBC on Saturday for a response to the reports that a second Palestinian was killed, the military said: "The situation is under review".

Separately, the US embassy in Jerusalem has said it condemns recent violence by Israeli settlers against the Christian town of Taybeh in the West Bank.

Most of the land there is owned by Palestinian-Americans and, according to locals, some 300 residents are US passport holders.

Attacks, including by masked men torching cars and attacking homes, have ramped up. On Monday, settlers set fields ablaze close to a fifth-Century church, leading to a call for international action from the town's priests.

The State Department said in response it had no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas and that protecting Christians was a priority for President Donald Trump.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state - during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law - a position supported by an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year - although Israel disputes this.

There has been a sharp increase in the number and severity of settler attacks in the West Bank over the same period. The UN says there were 136 attacks by settlers resulting in casualties or property damage in May alone.

On Thursday, a 22-year-old Israeli security guard Shalev Zvuluny was shot and killed when two Palestinian men opened fire and tried to stab passerbys in the car park of a shopping centre in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, in the south of the West Bank.

The attackers were shot dead by soldiers and armed civilians present at the scene, police said.

Tom Bateman contributed to this report

Why cockpit audio deepens the mystery of Air India crash

Air India plane descending moments before crash

Investigators have uncovered a chilling discovery in the preliminary investigation into the Air India Flight 171 crash which killed 260 people in June.

Just seconds after takeoff, both the 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner's fuel-control switches abruptly moved to the "cut-off" position, starving the engines of fuel and triggering total power loss. Switching to "cut-off" is a move typically done only after landing.

The cockpit voice recording captures one pilot asking the other why he "did the cut-off", to which the person replies that he didn't. The recording doesn't clarify who said what. At the time of takeoff, the co-pilot was flying the aircraft while the captain was monitoring.

The switches were returned to their normal inflight position, triggering automatic engine relight. At the time of the crash, one engine was regaining thrust while the other had relit but had not yet recovered power.

Air India Flight 171 was airborne for less than 40 seconds before crashing into a crowded neighbourhood in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, marking one of India's most baffling aviation disasters.

Investigators are probing the wreckage and cockpit recorders to understand what went wrong just after takeoff. The Air India flight climbed to 625 feet in clear weather before losing location data 50 seconds in, per Flightradar24. Saturday's 15-page report offers early insights.

The investigation - led by Indian authorities with experts from Boeing, General Electric, Air India, Indian regulators, and participants from the US and UK - raises several questions.

Investigators say the lever-lock fuel switches are designed to prevent accidental activation - they must be pulled up to unlock before flipping, a safety feature dating back to the 1950s. Built to exacting standards, they're highly reliable. Protective guard brackets further shield them from accidental bumps.

"It would be almost impossible to pull both switches with a single movement of one hand, and this makes accidental deployment unlikely," a Canada-based air accidents investigator, who wanted to remain unnamed, told the BBC.

That's what makes the Air India case stand out.

If one of the pilots was responsible for shutting down the switches, intentionally or not, it "does beg the question: why... pull the switches to the off position," Shawn Pruchnicki, a former airline accident investigator and aviation expert at Ohio State University, said.

"Was it intentional, or the result of confusion? That seems unlikely, as the pilots reported nothing unusual. In many cockpit emergencies, pilots may press the wrong buttons or make incorrect selections - but there was no indication of such a situation here, nor any discussion suggesting that the fuel switches were selected by mistake. This kind of error doesn't typically happen without some evident issue," he told the BBC.

Getty Images Two investigative officials stand at the site of Air India Boeing 787 crash site. They stand with their backs to the camera, next to the remnants of the plane amid foliage.Getty Images
Air India Flight 171 crashed into a crowded neighbourhood in Ahmedabad

Peter Goelz, a former managing director of the US's NTSB, echoed a similar sentiment: "The finding is very disturbing - that a pilot has shut off the fuel switch within seconds of flying."

"There's likely much more on the cockpit voice recorder than what's been shared. A lone remark like 'why did you cut off the switches' isn't enough," he said.

"The new details suggest someone in the cockpit shut those valves. The question is, who, and why? Both switches were turned off and then restarted within seconds. The voice recorder will reveal more: was the flying pilot trying to restart the engines, or the monitoring one?"

Investigators believe the cockpit voice recorder - with audio from pilot mics, radio calls and ambient cockpit sounds - holds the key to this puzzle.

"They haven't identified the voices yet, which is crucial. Typically, when the voice recorder is reviewed, people familiar with the pilots are present to help match voices. As of now, we still don't know which pilot turned the switches off and back on," said Mr Goelz.

In short, investigators say what's needed is clear voice identification, a full cockpit transcript with labelled speakers, and a thorough review of all communications from the moment the plane was pushed back from the gate to the time it crashed.

They also say this underscores the need for cockpit video recorders, as recommended by the NTSB. An over-the-shoulder view would show whose hand was on the cut-off switch.

Before boarding Flight 171, both pilots and crew passed breathalyser tests and were cleared fit to fly, the report says. The pilots, based in Mumbai, had arrived in Ahmedabad the day before the flight and had adequate rest.

But investigators are also zeroing in on what they describe is an interesting point in the report.

It says in December 2018, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) highlighting that some Boeing 737 fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged.

While the issue was noted, it wasn't deemed an unsafe condition requiring an Airworthiness Directive (AD) - a legally enforceable regulation to correct unsafe conditions in a product.

The same switch design is used in Boeing 787-8 aircraft, including Air India's VT-ANB which crashed. As the SAIB was advisory, Air India did not perform the recommended inspections.

Bloomberg via Getty Images An employee, right, sits with a visitor inside the cockpit of a Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner aircraft, operated by Air India Ltd., on display during the India Aviation 2014 air show held at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, India, on Thursday, March 13, 2014. The air show takes place from March 12-16. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg via Getty Images
A cockpit of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, operated by Air India at an air show in India

Mr Pruchnicki said he's wondering whether there was a problem with the fuel control switches.

"What does this [bit in the report] exactly mean? Does it mean that with a single flip, that switch could shut the engine off and cut the fuel supply? When the locking feature is disengaged, what exactly happens? Could the switch just flip itself to off and shut down the engine? If that's the case, it's a really serious issue. If not, that also needs to be explained," he said.

Others, however, aren't convinced this is a key issue.

"I haven't heard of this which appears to be a low-profile FAA issuance. Nor have I heard any complaints [about the fuel switches] from pilots - who are usually quick to speak up. It's worth examining since it's mentioned, but it may just be a distraction," said Mr Goelz.

Capt Kishore Chinta, a former investigator with India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), wonders whether the switches tripped because of a problem with the plane's electronic control unit.

"Can the fuel cut-off switches be triggered electronically by the plane's electronic control unit without movement by the pilot? If the fuel cut-off switches tripped electronically, then it's a cause for concern," he told the BBC.

The report says fuel samples from the refuelling tanks were "satisfactory". Experts had earlier suggested fuel contamination as a possible cause of the dual engine failure. Notably, no advisory has been issued for the Boeing 787 or its GE GEnx-1B engines, with mechanical failure ruled out for now pending further investigation.

It also said that the aircraft's Ram Air Turbine (RAT) had deployed - a clear sign of a major systems failure - and the landing gear was found in "down position" or not retracted.

The RAT, a small propeller that extends from the underside of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, acts as an emergency backup generator. It automatically deploys in flight when both engines lose power or if all three hydraulic systems register critically low pressure, supplying limited power to keep essential flight systems operational.

"The deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) strongly supports the conclusion that both engines had failed," Mr Pruchnicki said.

A Boeing 787 pilot explained why he thought the landing gear was not retracted.

"These days, every time I take off in a 787, I notice the landing gear retraction process closely. By the time the gear handle is pulled, we're already at about 200ft (60.9m), and the entire gear retraction process completes by around 400ft - roughly eight seconds in total, thanks to the aircraft's high-pressure hydraulic system."

The pilot believes the one flying had no time to think.

"When both engines fail and the aircraft starts going down, the reaction goes beyond just being startled - you go numb. In that moment, landing gear isn't your focus. Your mind is on one thing: the flight path. Where can I put this aircraft down safely? And in this case, there simply wasn't enough altitude to work with."

Investigators say the crew tried to recover, but it happened too fast.

"The engines were switched off and then back on. The pilots realised the engines were losing thrust - likely restarting the left one first, followed by the right," said Mr Pruchnicki.

"But the right engine didn't have enough time to spool back up, and the thrust was insufficient. Both were eventually set to "run", but with the left shut down first and the right too late to recover, it was simply too little, too late."

Gaza ceasefire talks on verge of collapse, Palestinian officials say

Reuters Palestinians look on at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced families, in Gaza CityReuters
Gaza has been devastated by 21 months of war between Israel and Hamas

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Qatar on a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal are on the brink of collapse, according to Palestinian officials familiar with the details of the discussions.

One senior official told the BBC that Israel had "bought time" during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week and deliberately stalled the process by sending a delegation to Doha with no real authority to make decisions on key points of contention.

They include the withdrawal of Israeli troops and humanitarian aid distribution.

Before he left the US on Thursday, Netanyahu had maintained a positive tone, saying he hoped to complete an agreement "in a few days".

He said the proposed deal would see Hamas release half of the 20 living hostages it is still holding and just over half of the 30 dead hostages during a truce lasting 60 days.

Since last Sunday, Israeli and Hamas negotiators have attended eight rounds of indirect "proximity" talks in separate buildings in Doha.

They have been facilitated by Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani and senior Egyptian intelligence officials, and attended by US envoy Brett McGurk.

The mediators have relayed dozens of verbal and written messages between the Hamas and Israeli delegation, which has included military, security and political officials.

But on Friday night, Palestinian officials familiar with the negotiations told the BBC they were on the verge of collapse, with the two sides deeply divided on several contentious issues.

They said the most recent discussions had focused on two of those issues: the mechanism for delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza and the extent of the Israeli military withdrawal.

Hamas has insisted that humanitarian assistance must enter Gaza and be distributed via United Nations agencies and international relief organisations.

Israel, on the other hand, is pushing for aid distribution via the controversial Israeli- and US-backed mechanism run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

According to mediators involved in the process, there has been some limited progress on bridging the divide over this issue. However, no formal agreement has been reached.

The second major sticking point is over the extent of the Israeli withdrawal.

During the fifth round of talks, Israeli negotiators reportedly handed mediators a written message stating that Israel would maintain a limited "buffer zone" inside Gaza that was between 1km and 1.5km (0.6-0.9 miles) deep.

Hamas, according to a Palestinian official who attended at least two of the rounds of talks, viewed this proposal as a possible starting point for compromise.

However, when Hamas requested and received a map outlining Israel's proposed withdrawal zones, the document contradicted the earlier message, showing far deeper military positions. The map was said to indicate buffer zones that were up to 3km deep in certain areas and confirmed a continued Israeli presence in vast swathes of territory.

They covered all of the southern city of Rafah, 85% of the village of Khuzaa east of Khan Younis, substantial parts of the northern towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, and eastern neighbourhoods of Gaza City, such as Tuffah, Shejaiya and Zeitoun.

Map showing Israeli evacuation or "no-go" zones in Gaza (9 July 2025)

Hamas officials saw the map as a bad-faith manoeuvre by Israel, further eroding trust between the sides.

Palestinian officials accused the Israeli delegation of deliberately stalling to create a positive diplomatic backdrop for the Israeli prime minister's recent visit to Washington.

"They were never serious about these talks," one senior Palestinian negotiator told the BBC. "They used these rounds to buy time and project a false image of progress."

The official also claimed that Israel was pursuing a long-term strategy of forced displacement under the guise of humanitarian planning.

He alleged that Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz's plan to move Palestinians to a "humanitarian city" in Rafah was part of a broader effort to permanently relocate them.

"The goal of concentrating civilians near the Egyptian border is to pave the way for their expulsion either across the Rafah crossing into Egypt or out through the sea," the official said.

On Monday, Katz briefed Israeli reporters that he had instructed the military to prepare a plan for a new camp in Rafah that would initially house about 600,000 Palestinians - and eventually the whole 2.1 million population.

According to the plan, the Palestinians would be security screened by Israeli forces before being allowed in and not permitted to leave.

Critics, both domestically and internationally, have condemned the proposal, with human rights groups, academics and lawyers calling it a blueprint for a "concentration camp".

With the talks at a critical juncture, the Palestinian side is calling on the US to intervene more forcefully and pressure Israel to make meaningful concessions.

Without such intervention, mediators warn, the Doha negotiations could collapse entirely.

That is a scenario that would further complicate regional efforts to reach a durable ceasefire and avert a broader humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Diplomats in Doha say there is still a narrow window for compromise, but that the situation remains fragile.

"This process is hanging by a thread," one regional official said. "Unless something changes dramatically and quickly, we may be heading towards a breakdown."

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,823 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Canada's Carney talked tough on Trump - now some say he's backing down

PA Media Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney walks behind US President Donald Trump as they attend a family photo session during the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. Both wear dark suits, and Carney smiles and gestures while Trump frowns slightly. PA Media

It's another curveball in the Canada-US trade war - a new missive by US Donald Trump threatening an unexpected 35% tariff on Canadian goods starting next month.

It came as the two countries engage in intense trade talks meant to produce a new deal in the coming days, and what the latest tariff threat means for these negotiations is unclear.

But Canada's new prime minister, Mark Carney, is beginning to face questions over whether he is able to stand up to Trump and secure the fair deal for Canada he promised.

Carney won April's general election vowing to keep his "elbows up" in the face of US threats, leaning on a popular ice hockey metaphor used to describe an assertive and confrontational style of play.

But Canada's recent concessions to Trump appear to have yielded, to date, little result.

The latest came in late June, when Canada scrapped a Digital Services Tax (DST) it had planned to impose on big tech companies after Trump threatened to end negotiations over the policy.

The White House said that Canada "caved" to its demands, and the move prompted debate in Canada.

Canadian commentator Robyn Urback wrote: "Maybe Prime Minister Mark Carney's elbows were getting tired."

She said government's elbows up and down approach to negotiations so far could be characterised as a "chicken dance".

Meanwhile, Blayne Haggart, a professor of political science at Brock University, argued in a recent opinion piece in The Globe and Mail newspaper that: "Nothing about Carney's US strategy, particularly his pursuit of a 'comprehensive' trade and security agreement, makes a lick of sense."

Walking back on the DST has achieved "less than nothing", he said.

Still many are willing to give Carney more time, and polls suggest his government maintains strong support.

Roland Paris, a former adviser to Ottawa on Canada-US relations, told the BBC that it is too early to say whether Canada has conceded things prematurely.

"Much will depend on the final agreement," he said.

But Mr Paris said it's clear Trump drives a hard bargain.

"If, in the end, Carney appears to have capitulated to Trump and we're left with a bad deal, he will pay a political price at home," he said.

Before the walk back on the DST, Canada sought to appease the president by pledging early this year C$1.3bn to enhance security at the shared border and appointing a "fentanyl czar" over Trump's claims the drug was flooding over the boundary.

Still, in his Thursday letter announcing the latest tariff, Trump again warned Canada over the drug.

Carney also didn't respond with further counter measures when the president doubled tariffs on steel and aluminium last month.

The prime minister responded to the new threat of a 35% tariffs by 1 August saying: "Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses."

He said Canada will continue negotiating, with next month as the now-revised deadline for an agreement. (The two countries had previously set a 21 July time limit)

The good news for Canada is that the new tariff rate will not apply - at least for now - to goods under the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, which covers a vast majority of the cross-border trade.

President Trump has also sent similar notes to more than 20 countries as part of his plan to carve out new agreements with America's trade partners.

Domestically, Canadians across political stripes remain united against Trump's tariffs.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said on Thursday his party is ready to do everything it can "to secure the best deal for Canada", while British Columbia Premier David Eby said Trump's letter is "one more reminder of why Canadians need to come together".

And experts note there may be more to the ongoing negotiations than meets the eye.

Despite having a smaller economy than the US, it still has some leverage, argued Fen Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University and expert on international negotiations.

"It's important to remember that it is American consumers who are going to pay the tariffs, not us," he said.

Many US-based manufacturers also rely on Canadian products like steel and aluminium, which are currently subject to a steep 50% tariff.

"You can't judge the outcome of negotiations by the last move or the concession that's made," Prof Hampson noted. "You can only judge it by its outcome."

Experts also point to Carney's efforts to reduce reliance on the US - including by signing an arms deal with the European Union - and to fast-track major projects and remove domestic trade barriers.

Pressed Friday on Trump's latest threat, Canada's industry minister Melanie Joly said the government "does not negotiate in public".

And she denied that Canada isn't standing up to Trump.

"We're dealing with a very unpredictable US administration," she said, and "we're not the only ones".

North Korea's Benidorm-style resort welcomes first Russian tourists

Getty Images A North Korean tourist slides down a waterslide at the new resort. Several other visitors watch on. The photo is imposed over the BBC Verify colours and branding. Getty Images

A new beach resort in North Korea, criticised by human rights groups for the harsh treatment of construction workers, has welcomed its first group of Russian tourists this week.

The Wonsan Kalma resort was opened in a grand ceremony last month by North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, who hailed it as a "world-class tourist and cultural destination".

The details of how this resort was built have been shrouded in secrecy in a country largely closed to the outside world.

BBC Verify has studied satellite imagery, obtained internal planning documents, and spoken to experts and former North Korean insiders about their concerns over human rights abuses during the development of the site.

Echoes of Benidorm

Kim Jong Un spent much of his youth in Wonsan, and prior to the building of the new resort the town was a popular holiday destination for the country's elite.

"When the Wonsan tourist area was initially planned… the idea was to attract around one million tourists to the area while keeping it a closed-off zone," says Ri Jong Ho, a senior North Korean economic official involved in the resort's early planning stages and who defected in 2014.

"The intention was to open North Korea up a bit."

In 2017, a year before construction began, Kim sent a delegation on a fact-finding mission to Spain, where the team toured the resort of Benidorm.

The North Korean delegation "included high ranking politicians and many architects who took lots of notes," recalls Matias Perez Such, a member of the Spanish team that hosted the delegation on a tour including a theme park, high-rise hotels and a marina.

A North Korean brochure with a map of the resort has 43 hotels identified along the beach front, as well as guest houses on an artificial lake, and camping sites.

We've matched these locations with high-resolution satellite imagery, although we are unable to verify whether they have actually been completed.

A satellite image showing the new resort. Labelled are a water park and several hotels. They all sit along the shoreline, where a beach is visible.

An aquatic park, complete with towering yellow water slides, is set back from the beach.

Further north, there's an entertainment quarter which includes buildings that are identified in the plan as a theatre, recreation and fitness centres, and a cinema.

A satellite image of the resort shows a recreation centre, cinema and a theatre. They all sit along the shoreline, where a beach is visible.

Beginning in early 2018, satellite images taken over 18 months reveal dozens of buildings springing up along the 4km (2.5 mile) stretch of coastline.

By the end of 2018, around 80% of the resort had been completed, according to research carried out by satellite imagery firm, SI Analytics, based in South Korea.

However, following this whirlwind construction effort, work on the site then appears to have paused.

Time-lapse of the Wonsan Kalma resort's construction

Construction then resumed after a June 2024 meeting with Kim and Vladimir Putin, where the Russian president said he would encourage his citizens to visit North Korea's holiday resorts.

The human cost of construction

This rapid pace of construction has raised concerns over the treatment of those working at the site.

The UN has highlighted a system of forced labour used in North Korea, in particular "shock brigades" where workers often face harsh conditions, long hours, and inadequate compensation.

James Heenan of the UN Human Rights Office in Seoul says "there are reports that the resort was built using what they call shock brigades".

"We've also seen reports that people were working 24 hours at the end to get this thing finished, which sounds like a shock brigade to me."

Getty Images The Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in Wonsan. A series of multi-story buildings are visible in the image, which all sit along the shoreline. Getty Images
Dozens of high-rise buildings have been constructed along the beach front

The BBC has spoken to one North Korean who served in and eventually managed shock brigades.

Although Cho Chung Hui - who has subsequently defected - wasn't involved in the construction of the Wonsan resort, he recalled the brutal conditions of the brigades he oversaw.

"The principle behind these [brigades] was that no matter what, you had to complete the task, even if it cost you your life," he said.

"I saw many women who were under so much physical strain and eating so poorly that their periods stopped altogether."

Getty Images Domestic tourists ride a bicycle at Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in Wonsan, North Korea's Kangwon Province. Getty Images
Beach front hotels were built at great speed raising concerns over conditions for construction workers

Kang Gyuri, who worked in Wonsan before fleeing to South Korea in 2023, says her cousin volunteered to work on the construction site because he saw it as a pathway to residency in the country's capital of Pyongyang, which is reserved for citizens trusted by the regime.

"He could hardly sleep. They [didn't] give him enough to eat," she said.

"The facilities are not properly organised, some people just die while working and they [the authorities] don't take responsibility if they fall and die."

Ms Kang also said residents in Wonsan were driven out from their homes as the resort project expanded, often without compensation.

Though not specific to Ms Kang's experience, BBC Verify was able to identify through satellite analysis the demolition of buildings near a main road leading towards the resort. In their place, larger tower blocks are now visible.

"They just demolish everything and build something new, especially if it's in a good location," Ms Kang said.

"The problem is, no matter how unfair it feels, people can't openly speak out or protest."

The BBC reached out to North Korean officials for comment.

Where are the foreign tourists?

North Korea has been almost entirely closed to foreign visitors with only a few highly-controlled tours permitted to visit the country in recent years.

Wonsan Kalma is seen not only as playing an important role in reviving the sanctioned country's ailing economic fortunes, but also as a means of strengthening its ties with Russia - which have grown closer following Pyongyang's military support for Moscow's war in Ukraine.

According to early planning documents seen by BBC Verify, the initial goal was to attract more than a million visitors, with foreign tourists expected to mainly come from China and Russia.

AFP Domestic tourists watch as a man uses a slide into a swimming pool at the Myongsasimni Water Park in the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in Wonsan, North Korea's Kangwon Province. AFP
The resort opened to North Korean tourists at the end of June

We have scanned tourist agency sites both in China and Russia for any listings promoting trips to the new resort.

None of the Chinese agencies we checked were advertising trips to Wonsan. In Russia, however, we identified three agencies offering tours that included Wonsan Kalma.

We called one of the Russian agencies in early July posing as an interested customer a week before its first scheduled departure on 7 July and were told that it had attracted 12 people from Russia.

The week-long trip to North Korea, including three days at the Wonsan resort, cost $1,800 (£1,300) - that's 60% more than the average monthly salary in Russia.

Two further trips have been scheduled for August, according to this tour operator.

Vostok Intur A screengrab of an advert for from a Russian tourism agency promoting the resort. It says a trip cost around $1,800. Vostok Intur
A week's tour of North Korea costs a Russian traveller around $1,800 (£1,300)

We contacted the other two agencies offering similar tour packages, but they declined to disclose how many people had signed up.

Andrei Lankov, an expert in Russian-North Korean relations at the Kookmin University in Seoul, said Wonsan Kalma was "highly unlikely to become seriously popular with Russian visitors".

"Russian tourists can easily go to places like Turkey, Egypt, Thailand and Vietnam, which are far superior to everything North Korea can develop," he said.

"The standards of service are higher and you are not put under constant supervision."

Additional reporting by Yaroslava Kiryukhina, Yi Ma and Cristina Cuevas. Graphics by Sally Nicholls and Erwan Rivault.

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Trade trumps geopolitics as Australia PM visits China

Watch: Relationship with China means 'jobs in Australia', Australian PM says

Australia's leader Anthony Albanese will visit China and meet with President Xi Jinping this weekend as he seeks to strengthen ties with Canberra's largest trading partner.

Regional security and trade will take centre stage during the prime minister's six-day trip spanning three cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.

"My government will continue to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in our national interest," Albanese said in a statement.

The trip marks Albanese's second official visit to China - but the first since his re-election in May. It comes as countries around the world navigate US president Donald Trump's "America First" policies including tariffs.

China accounts for nearly a third of Australia's total trade and "will remain so for the foreseeable future", Albanese said.

"The relationship in China means jobs in Australia. It's as simple as that," he told reporters on Friday.

Albanese, whose Labor Party government was re-elected with an increased majority in May, had pledged among other things to create more jobs and bring back manufacturing in Australia.

Analysts say this trip signals a stabilisation of ties between Australia and China, even as Beijing has been trying to extend its military reach across the Pacific to some protest by Australia.

Last month, Australia's defence minister Richard Marles called on China to explain why it needs to have "such an extraordinary military build-up".

A rare Chinese military drill in the Tasman sea in February was also called "unusual" by Marles.

"Both sides recognise their differences... [and] agree those differences should not define the relationship," says James Laurenceson, director of Australia-China Relations Institute.

The two countries are not seeking geopolitical alignment, he said.

"They need to keep the politics stable and constructive so that other parts of the relationship, like businesses, cultural organisations, universities and so on can forge ahead with engagement in their own areas."

Mr Laurenceson notes, however, that Washington "will not be pleased" with Albanese's visit. But the prime minister has domestic support for this, he says.

"Washington is heading in a direction so plainly contrary to Australia's interests that any [leader] seen as kowtowing to the White House would face pushback at home," he says.

Beijing will continue to criticise Australia's involvement in the Aukus submarine deal with its longstanding allies, the UK and the US, observers tell the BBC, while Canberra will reiterate its commitment to the pact - even as Trump's administration has recently put the agreement under review.

But disagreements over issues like Aukus will not thwart Australia's and China's relationship significantly, the observers say.

Getty Images Anthony Albanese, Australia's prime minister, in a black suit, white shirt and orange tie, during an address at the National Press Club in CanberraGetty Images
Anthony Albanese will arrive in Beijing on Saturday for his second official visit to China since 2023

And neither will other contentious topics Albanese may bring up - including China's actions in the South China Sea and the case of Australian novelist Yang Hengjun, who has been jailed and handed a suspended death sentence by Beijing on espionage charges which he denies.

"This is part of a broader, understated and mature diplomacy from the current government and it does not fall into the recriminations of previous years," says Bryce Wakefield, who leads the Australian Institute for International Studies.

Albanese's delegation to China includes top executives from Macquarie Bank and the Australian arm of HSBC, as well as mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Albanese had cited green energy among the areas that Australia and China can "further engage" on.

While in China, the prime minister will also meet with Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People' Congress.

China's state newspaper Global Times says Albanese's visit "carries special significance" and shows "Australia's desire to seek more reliable partners in an uncertain world order... with China being the obvious choice".

In November 2023, Albanese became the first Australian leader visit China in seven years - ending a hiatus triggered by a string of disputes including various Chinese sanctions on Australian goods, and back and forth accusations of foreign interference.

Since then, his administration has managed to stabilise ties with Beijing and negotiate the end of a series of brutal tariffs.

Intense Med Sea heatwave raises fears for marine life

Getty Images A red and blue parasol on a beach next to the sea, which is at the top of the picture. Two beachgoers are resting in the shade under the blue parasol on the right.Getty Images
Shading from the midday Sun during a recent heatwave in southern France

Warmer water at the seaside might sound nice for your holiday dip, but recent ocean heat in the Mediterranean Sea has been so intense that scientists fear potentially devastating consequences for marine life.

The temperature of the sea surface regularly passed 30C off the coast of Majorca and elsewhere in late June and early July, in places six or seven degrees above usual.

That's probably warmer than your local leisure centre swimming pool.

It has been the western Med's most extreme marine heatwave ever recorded for the time of year, affecting large areas of the sea for weeks on end.

The heat appears to be cooling off, but some species simply struggle to cope with such prolonged and intense warmth, with potential knock-on effects for fish stocks.

To give you some idea of these temperatures, most leisure centre swimming pools are heated to roughly 28C. Competitive swimming pools are slightly cooler at 25-28C, World Aquatics says.

Children's pools are a bit warmer, recommended at 29-31C or 30-32C for babies, according to the Swimming Teachers' Association.

Such balmy temperatures might sound attractive, but they can pose hidden threats. Harmful bacteria and algae can often spread more easily in warmer seawater, which isn't treated with cleaning chemicals like your local pool.

Map showing the average sea surface temperature across the Mediterranean Sea on 6 July. Some areas exceeded 30C on 6 July, marked by dark reds off the coast of Majorca and south-west Italy. Below the map is a graph showing daily sea temperature highs from a measurement buoy off Majorca. Temperatures exceeded 30C in late June, the earliest date on record to pass that mark.

Sea temperatures of 30C or above are not unprecedented in the Med in late summer.

But they are highly unusual for June, according to data from the European Copernicus climate service, Mercator Ocean International, and measurements at Spanish ports.

"What is different this year is that 30C sea temperatures have arrived much earlier, and that means that we can expect the summer to be more intense and longer," said Marta Marcos, associate professor at the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain.

"I grew up here, so we are used to heatwaves, but this has become more and more common and intense."

"We're all very, very surprised at the magnitude of this heatwave," added Aida Alvera-Azcárate, an oceanographer at the University of Liege in Belgium.

"It's a matter of high concern, but this is something we can expect to be happening again in the future."

Map showing categories of marine heatwave across Europe on 6 July. Most of the Mediterranean is in a marine heatwave of some kind. In the east, there is a "moderate" marine heatwave in many places, marked by yellows. Most of the west is in a "strong", "severe" or even "extreme" heatwave, marked by oranges and dark reds.

Marine heatwaves are becoming more intense and longer-lasting as humanity continues to release planet-warming gases into our atmosphere, principally by burning coal, oil and gas.

In fact, the number of days of extreme sea surface heat globally has tripled over the past 80 years, according to research published earlier this year.

"Global warming is the main driver of marine heat waves… it's essentially transferring heat from the atmosphere to the ocean. It's very simple," said Dr Marcos.

The Mediterranean is particularly vulnerable because it's a bit like a bathtub, largely surrounded by continents rather than open ocean.

That means water cannot escape easily, so its surface heats up quickly in the presence of warm air, sunny skies and light winds - as happened in June.

Map showing the sea surface temperature across the Mediterranean Sea on 30 June compared with the long-term average for that day. Almost all of the Med was warmer than usual, marked by yellows, oranges and reds. Only small areas of the eastern Med were cooler than usual, marked by light blues. Some places, like off the south coast of France, were more than 6C above average, shown by dark reds. Below the map is a graph showing daily average sea surface temperature across the whole of the western Med in 2025 in red versus other years in grey. There is a big spike in June, with average temperatures across the region reaching 3.7C above usual for the time of year, the highest figure ever recorded.

For that reason, the Med is "a climate change hotspot" said Karina von Schuckmann of Mercator Ocean International, a non-profit research organisation.

The heat peaked as June turned to July, after which stronger winds allowed deeper, cooler waters to mix with the warm surface above and bring temperatures down.

But temperatures remain above average and there could be consequences for marine life that we don't yet know about.

Most life has a temperature threshold beyond which it can't survive, though it varies a lot between species and individuals.

But sea creatures can also suffer from prolonged heat exposure, which essentially drains their energy through the summer to a point where they can no longer cope.

"I remember four years ago diving in September at the end of summer, we found skeletons of many, many, many populations," said Emma Cebrian, an ecologist at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes in Spain.

Seaweeds and seagrasses act a bit like the forests of the Mediterranean Sea, home to hundreds of species, as well as locking up planet-warming carbon dioxide.

"Some of them are well adapted to typical Mediterranean warm temperatures, but actually they often cannot withstand marine heatwave conditions, which are becoming more extreme and widespread," said Dr Cebrian.

Getty Images About 50 fish swim in deep blue ocean waters above a dark green seagrass meadow.Getty Images
Seagrasses like Posidonia support large numbers of fish species, providing food and shelter

The heat can also cause what ecologists call "sub-lethal effects", where species essentially go into survival mode and don't reproduce.

"If we start to see ecological impacts, there will almost certainly be impacts on human societies [including] losses of fisheries," warned Dan Smale, senior research fellow at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth.

"We'll have to wait and see, really, but because the temperatures are so high this early in the summer, it is really alarming."

The fast-warming Med is "a canary in the coal mine for climate change and marine ecosystems," he added.

Excessive ocean heat can also supercharge extreme weather.

Warmer seas mean extra evaporation, adding to the moisture in the atmosphere that can fuel extreme rainfall.

If other conditions are right, that can lead to devastating flooding, as happened in Libya in 2023 and Valencia in 2024.

EPA Damage at the end of a street. In the foreground there is a large pile of muddy rubble. In the background there are more than a dozen people in high-visibility or white protective clothing cleaning up. On the left is a yellow truck and on the right is an orange digger. EPA
The Valencia floods killed more than 200 people and destroyed large areas of the city

And warmer waters can reduce the cooling effect that coastal populations would usually get from the sea breeze.

That could make things very uncomfortable if there's another heatwave later in the summer, Dr Marcos warned.

"I'm pretty sure that's going to be horrible."

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US court rejects plea deal for '9/11 mastermind' Khalil Sheikh Mohammed

Reuters An artist's sketch of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed during a court recess at a pre-trial hearing at the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in this October 15, 2012 file photo.Reuters
Khalid Sheikh Muhammad is accused of organising and directing the 9/11 attacks on the United States

A divided federal appeals court has thrown out a plea agreement that would have allowed accused "9/11 mastermind" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other co-defendants to plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, US media report.

Judges in Washington DC rejected the agreement, which would have given Mohammed and the other defendants a life sentence without parole, in a 2-1 decision on Friday.

Mohammed is accused of organising and directing the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, in which hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing almost 3,000 people. He was captured in 2003 and is being held in Guantanamo Bay, the US prison camp in Cuba.

Under the deal, families of the 9/11 victims would have been allowed to pose questions to Mohammed, who would be required to "answer their questions fully and truthfully", lawyers said.

Relatives of the victims were split on the deal, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Those who objected felt a trial was the best path to justice and to uncovering more information about the attacks.

Supporters saw it as the best hope for getting some answers and finally closing the painful case.

The plea deal was negotiated over two years and approved by military prosecutors and the senior Pentagon official in Guantanamo Bay.

Pre-trial hearings have been going on for more than a decade, complicated by questions over whether torture Mohammed and other defendants faced while in US custody taints the evidence.

Following his arrest in Pakistan in 2003, Mohammed spent three years at secret CIA prisons known as "black sites", where he was subjected to simulated drowning, or "waterboarding", 183 times, among other so-called "advanced interrogation techniques" that included sleep deprivation and forced nudity.

In July last year, the Biden administration announced it had struck deals with Mohammed and three other co-defendants.

But then Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin overruled the agreement two days later, saying he was the sole authority who could enter such an agreement.

A military court ruled against Austin's effort in December, which put the agreement to avoid the death penalty back on the table.

On Friday, the appeals court tossed the deal, saying Austin was acting within his authority in December 2024.

"Having properly assumed the convening authority, the Secretary determined that the 'families and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out.' The Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment," judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao wrote, as reported by the Associated Press.

Judge Robert Wilkins disagreed, saying the government "has not come within a country mile of proving clearly and indisputably that the Military Judge erred."

Mother mourns 'beautiful' 12-year-old shot while watching TV during Kenya protests

Njoki's family Bridgit Njoki stares at a camera, wearing a top with a blue collar. She stands in front of a white wall.Njoki's family
Bridgit Njoki's family said she was the pride of the household

On Monday, as anti-government protests swept across parts of Kenya, 12-year-old Bridgit Njoki sat watching television in her family's modest home.

She had no idea that the deadly clashes between these protesters and Kenya's armed police would find their way into her living room.

A single bullet pierced the roof, puncturing the ceiling and striking Njoki in the head, her mother, Lucy Ngugi, tells the BBC. Within hours, she was pronounced dead in hospital.

"She was my everything," Ms Ngugi says, while sobbing in her home just outside the capital, Nairobi. "She was all I had."

"Let me be the last mother to weep because of the death of a child. An innocent child. I wish she was even playing outside… but inside the house? Oh Lord, this is painful."

Njoki is one of the youngest victims of the violence that has rocked Kenya over the past month. According to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), almost 70 people have died and hundreds were wounded in the three major protests that have taken place since 17 June.

The protests - mainly led by young Kenyans - reflect growing discontent over issues like the cost of living, tax hikes, runaway public debt, and police brutality.

On 7 July, the day Njoki died, the authorities barricaded major roads in preparation for the demonstrations.

Video evidence shows the police firing tear gas, and in some cases, live rounds in residential areas where protesters had regrouped.

"The bullet came over the roof of the house. It penetrated into the ceiling, right where Njoki was seated on a chair," says Njoki's grandmother, Margaret Njeri.

"Immediately, her mother grabbed her and came screaming to my home: 'Mum, my child has been shot!' I couldn't even hold the child."

A close-up photo shows a hole in a sheet of iron
The bullet punctured the family's corrugated iron roof

The family had thought they were far from the violent clashes, given they lived in Ndumberi, a village nearly two kilometres (1.2 miles) from a main road.

"I was sure it was a bullet," says Njoki's mother. "The bang that hit the roof was so loud. Very loud."

The police have dismissed the family's claims, insisting a bullet couldn't travel from the main road to their house. But Njoki's lifeless body told a different story.

A report from the 12-year-old's post-mortem examination says doctors retrieved a bullet from her body, and that her head injury was "consistent with a gunshot".

Njoki had been a Grade 7 student at Benson Njau School in Ting'ang'a, a nearby village. As the family's firstborn, she was a caretaker, helper, and the pride of the household.

"She was always number one in her class," her grandmother says. "So obedient, so specific, so neat.

"Even in the way she spoke. She was just a very good girl. She loved serving in church. She helped her siblings. She cooked for me. She was everything."

Njoki's mother describes her as "a beautiful girl, a charming girl, who had so many dreams".

Her father is crushed, unable to speak. Her siblings are also silent. Grief hangs like a shroud in the house, while Njoki's chair sits empty.

The deaths of dozens like Njoki have drawn international condemnation.

The UN said it was deeply troubled by the killings and criticised the Kenyan police for using "lethal ammunition" against protesters.

This all feels like a repeat of last year, when according to the KNCHR, more than 50 died in a police crackdown on months of anti-government protests.

President Ruto has taken a particularly hard-line stance this time.

In a national address following the 7 July protests, in which 38 people were killed, according to the state-run human rights commission, Ruto said: "Anyone caught burning another person's business or property should be shot in the leg, hospitalised and later taken to court. Don't kill them, but ensure their legs are broken."

Ruto has accused political rivals of inciting violence in a bid to unseat him illegally, but the president's opponents have dismissed this allegation.

Njoki's mother and father sit in front of a bright blue wall - her mother wears a blue hoody and father wears a beige blazer with a checked shirt.
Njoki's father and mother are now calling for peace and justice

Meanwhile, back in Ndumberi, Njoki's family are simply calling for an end to the brutality.

"I'll bury Njoki, but I'll never forget the Saba Saba Day [7 July]. Let Njoki be the last sacrifice of these protests," her mother says.

The ongoing anti-government protest movement has reshaped Kenyan politics. It has demanded transparency, empathy and a listening ear. But it has also paid in blood.

And as the uprising continues, Njoki's name and those of many others lost have become a symbol - of innocence, state overreach, and a lack of accountability.

"Let's not burn our country. Let's have dialogue. Let's talk. We are brothers and sisters, I'm begging our government - let this not happen to any other parent," Njoki's mother says.

"Don't let another child die like Njoki."

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Federal judge says voice-over artists' AI lawsuit can move forward

BBC Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage, who claim their voices were stolen, sit in armchairs with neutral expressions.BBC
Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage have filed a class action lawsuit against Lovo

A federal judge in New York has allowed a lawsuit to move forward from two voice-over artists alleging their voices were stolen by an AI voice startup.

The judge dismissed artists Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage claims that their voices were subject to federal copyright.

But claims from the artists of breach of contract and deceptive business practices, as well as separate copyright claims alleging that the voices were improperly used as part of the AI's training data, will, however, move forward.

California-based Lovo Inc. had asked for the case to be dismissed entirely. The company has not yet responded to the BBC's request for comment.

The judge's decision comes after a flood of cases from artists against artificial intelligence companies alleging misuse of their work to train AI models.

The artists' attorney, Steve Cohen, has called the decision a "spectacular" victory for his clients, saying he was confident a future jury will "hold big tech accountable".

Lawyers for Lovo had called the artists' allegations a "kitchen sink approach" saying the artists' claims failed to make an actionable claim against the company.

The artists, a couple living in New York City, filed a proposed class action lawsuit in 2024 after learning alleged clones of their voices were for sale via Lovo's text-to-speech platform Genny.

The couple claim they were separately approached by anonymous Lovo employees for voice-over work through the online freelance marketplace Fiverr.

Lehrman was paid $1200 (around £890). Sage received $800 (almost £600).

In messages shared with the BBC, the anonymous client can be seen saying Lehrman and Sage's voices would be used for "academic research purposes only" and "test scripts for radio ads" respectively.

The anonymous messenger said the voice-overs would "not be disclosed externally and will only be consumed internally".

Months later, while driving near their home in New York City, the couple listened to a podcast about the ongoing strikes in Hollywood and how artificial intelligence (AI) could affect the industry.

This episode had a unique hook – an interview with an AI-powered chatbot, equipped with text-to-speech software. It was asked how it thought the use of AI would affect jobs in Hollywood.

But, when it spoke, it sounded just like Mr Lehrman.

"We needed to pull the car over," Mr Lehrman told the BBC in an interview last year. "The irony that AI is coming for the entertainment industry, and here is my voice talking about the potential destruction of the industry, was really quite shocking."

Upon returning home, the couple found voices with the names Kyle Snow and Sally Coleman available for use by paid Lovo subscribers.

They later found Sage's alleged clone voicing a fundraising video for the platform –while Lehrman's had been used in an advertisement on the company's YouTube page.

The company eventually removed the voices, saying both voices were not popular on the platform.

The case is now set to move ahead in the US District Court in Manhattan.

'They were just kids': Mother mourns sons killed in Israeli strike while waiting for aid

BBC Iman al-Nouri weeps while talking about the Israeli strike that killed two of her sons and seriously wounded anotherBBC
Two of Iman al-Nouri's five sons were killed on Thursday's Israeli strike, while a third was seriously wounded

Iman al-Nouri's youngest son, two-year-old Siraj, woke up crying from hunger on Thursday and asked to get some nutritional supplements.

Siraj's 14-year-old cousin, Sama, agreed to take him and two of his older brothers - Omar, nine, and Amir, five - to the Altayara health clinic in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

"The [medical] point was still closed, so they were sitting on the pavement when suddenly we heard the sound of the strike," Iman told a local journalist working for the BBC.

"I went to [my husband] and said: 'Your children, Hatim! They went to the point.'"

Family handout Iman al-Nouri's son, AmirFamily handout
Amir, five, was killed instantly in the Israeli strike, according to Iman

Warning: This piece contains graphic descriptions of death and violence

Iman, a 32-year-old mother of five, rushed to the scene after hearing the strike, only to find her sons and niece lying on a donkey cart that was being used to transport casualties to the hospital because there were no ambulances.

Amir and Sama were among the dead, while Omar and Siraj were seriously wounded.

"Omar still had some breath in him. They tried to revive him," Iman recalled. "Omar needed blood, and it took them an hour to get it. They gave it to him, but it was in vain."

"Why are they gone? Why? What did they do wrong?" she asked.

"They had dreams just like any other children in the world. If you gave them a small toy, they'd be so happy. They were just kids."

Family handout Iman al-Nouri's son Omar (right) and one of his elder brothersFamily handout
Nine-year-old Omar (right), pictured with his elder brother, died of his wounds in hospital

Iman said Siraj's head was bleeding and he had lost an eye – an image that she cannot now get out of her head.

"He had fractures in his skull and... according to the doctor, not just bleeding, but [a major haemorrhage] on his brain," she added. "How long can he stay like this, living on oxygen? Two are already gone. If only he could help me hold on a little longer."

Tragically, doctors have said they are unable to treat Siraj.

"Since yesterday at 07:00 until now, he's in the same condition. He's still breathing, his chest rises and falls, he still has breath in him. Save him!" she pleaded.

Family handout Iman al-Nouri's son, SirajFamily handout
Iman said doctors had told her that they were unable to treat two-year-old Siraj

A spokesperson for the US-based aid group Project Hope, which runs the Altayara clinic, told the BBC that the strike happened at around 07:15.

Women and children were waiting outside before it opened at 09:00, in order to be first in line for nutrition and other health services, Dr Mithqal Abutaha said.

CCTV footage of the Israeli air strike shows two men walking along a street, just metres away from a group of women and children. Moments later, there is an explosion next to the men and the air is filled with dust and smoke.

In a graphic video showing the aftermath of the attack, many dead and severely wounded children and adults are seen lying on the ground.

"Please get my daughter an ambulance," one woman calls out as she tends to a young girl. But for many it was too late for help."

Dr Abutaha said 16 people were killed, including 10 children and three women.

The Israeli military said it targeted a "Hamas terrorist" and that it regretted any harm to what it called "uninvolved individuals", while adding that the incident was under review.

Project Hope said the strike was "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza".

Dr Abutaha said it was "unbearable" when he found out that people were killed "where they [were] seeking their basic humanitarian and human rights".

He questioned the Israeli military's statement on the strike, including its expression of regret, saying that it "cannot bring those patients, those beneficiaries back alive".

He also said that the clinic was a UN-recognised, "deconflicted humanitarian facility", and that no military actions should have taken place nearby.

Anadolu via Getty Images Palestinians hold out pans at a charity kitchen in the al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City (11 July 2025)Anadolu via Getty Images
The UN says there are thousands of malnourished children across Gaza

Iman said her children used to go to the clinic every two or three days to get nutritional supplements because she and Hatim were not able to give them enough food.

"Their father risks his life just to bring them flour. When he goes to Netzarim [military corridor north of Deir al-Balah], my heart breaks. He goes there to bring food or flour."

"Does anyone have anything? There's no food. What else would make a child scream if he didn't want something?"

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the Palestinian armed group to release Israeli hostages.

Although the blockade was partially eased in late May, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, there are still severe shortages of food, as well as medicine and fuel.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) says there are thousands of malnourished children across the territory, with more cases detected every day.

Dr Abutaha said Project Hope had also noticed an alarming rise in cases of malnutrition among adults, which they had not observed before in Gaza.

In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US helped set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid. But since then, there have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food.

The UN human rights office said on Friday that it had so far recorded 798 such killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF's sites, which are operated by US private security contractors and located inside military zones in southern and central Gaza. The other 183 killings were recorded near UN and other aid convoys.

The Israeli military said it recognised there had been incidents in which civilians had been harmed and that it was working to minimise "possible friction between the population and the [Israeli] forces as much as possible".

The GHF accused the UN of using "false and misleading" statistics from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Iman al-Nouri (2nd right), her husband Hatim (right) and two of their sons look at photos on a mobile phone
Iman said a ceasefire "means nothing to me after my children are gone"

Dr Abutaha called on Israel to allow in enough food, medicine and fuel to meet the basic humanitarian needs of everyone in Gaza, so that "everyone could have a dignified life".

He also expressed concern that people were being given "false hope" that Israel and Hamas could soon agree a new ceasefire deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that an agreement on a 60-day truce and the release of 28 hostages could be just days away.

But Palestinian officials said on Friday night that the indirect talks in Qatar were on the brink of collapse because of significant gaps remaining on issues like Israeli troop withdrawals and Hamas's rejection of an Israeli plan to move all of Gaza's population into a camp in Rafah.

"Every day they talk about a ceasefire, but where is it?" Iman said.

"They've killed us through hunger, through gunfire, through bombs, through air strikes. We've died in every possible way."

"It's better to go to God than stay with any of them. May God give me patience."

The beauty and brutality of life in the shadow of Kashmir killings

Abid Bhat/BBC A soldier stands guard in the Betab Valley in PahalgamAbid Bhat/BBC

A centuries-old Persian couplet often repeated in Indian-administered Kashmir translates to: "If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here." And many Kashmiris insist it was written with Pahalgam in mind.

The small town, nestled between tall Himalayan mountains with a gurgling Lidder River flowing through it, is called the mini-Switzerland of India.

The valleys and meadows here have long provided stunning locations for Bollywood romances and attracted tens of thousands of tourists escaping the heat and dust of Indian planes.

But on 22 April, the tranquil valley hit global headlines when a sprawling meadow here turned into killing fields.

Militants singled out male Hindu tourists and murdered 25 of them in front of their families in Baisaran, a beauty spot about 7km from the town. A local Muslim pony handler who tried to help tourists was also shot dead.

The massacre brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of war. India blamed Pakistan for the killings – an accusation Islamabad denied – and the two countries attacked each other with missiles and drones over four days in May after which a fragile truce was agreed.

But in Pahalgam, time seems to have slowed down and the residents are trying to pick up the pieces and move on.

When I recently visited Pahalgam, where a large majority makes a living through tourism, I found a land and its people trying to deal with the collective trauma, mourning the loss of lives - and livelihoods. The peak tourist season here is April to June - and this year, most of it has already been lost.

REUTERS/Adnan Abidi Chairs and tables are scattered at the site of a suspected militant attack on tourists in Baisaran near Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Chairs and tables are scattered at the site of a militant attack on tourists in Baisaran

"What happened here is condemnable… an inhuman act. Innocent people were killed," says Javeed Burza, president of Pahalgam Hotels and Restaurants association.

Standing in the rear lawns of his hotel, he watches the Lidder roar past. On the other side are huge mountains covered by a thick carpet of trees. It's this sort of view that made this valley in south Kashmir such a sought-after destination.

Mr Burza says visitors came from all over India for its lakes, forests, meadows and glaciers – and went back raving about the local people and their hospitality.

"People here are poor, they live hand-to-mouth, but they are known to be very kind and helpful. Now we are all facing the consequences of this senseless violence," he adds. "We had bookings right until the end of June. But then everything fell apart like a pack of cards. There's not much left here now."

Abid Bhat/BBC The Jaffar family enjoy the river in Pahalgam Abid Bhat/BBC
The Jaffar family say their friends tried to discourage them from coming to Pahalgam

The region's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah says in the immediate aftermath of the attack, tourists fled the town and people who were proposing to come cancelled.

To persuade tourists to give Pahalgam another chance, he visited the town within weeks of the attack, held a cabinet meeting there and, ignoring advice of security officials, cycled through the streets.

For Mr Abdullah, Pahalgam's wellbeing is personal.

"It's where our school picnics were; it's where we probably first dipped our toes in running water. For some of us it's the first time we went white water rafting or trout fishing. For others, it's a day or overnight visit. For us, it's part of our growing up."

Mr Abdullah says it's always hard to make predictions but he hopes to see Pahalgam "where it was on 21 April this year".

Abid Bhat/BBC Fayyaz Ahmad sells Kashmiri embroidered shawls and dresses in Pahalgam's main marketAbid Bhat/BBC
Fayyaz Ahmad says the targeting of tourists has left him bewildered

On that day, it was packed with tourists, says Fayyaz Ahmad, who sells Kashmiri embroidered shawls and dresses in Pahalgam's main market, with shops lining both sides of the only road that passes through the town.

Many remain shuttered, but a few have begun to open in the hope of attracting customers. The day I met him was the first he'd opened his shop since the killings.

The last three seasons – post-Covid years – had been marked by bumper visits, Mr Ahmad says.

"Every morning at least 3,000 cars would arrive by 11am. There would be traffic jams lasting two-three hours. Many tourists would say they couldn't find accommodation."

His own shop sometimes got so crowded that a queue of shoppers would form outside. "Business was brisk," he said. But now he's had to let three salesmen go. They would be rehired only if business picked up, he said.

The targeting of tourists has left him bewildered. Since 1989, when an anti-India militancy gripped Kashmir valley, Mr Ahmad says, "the situation was really bad here".

"We were afraid to step out of our homes, but tourists who chose to come here were never harmed. We can't understand why they've been targeted now. Who could do such a thing?" he asks.

India blamed Pakistan-backed militants for the massacre in a region that both countries claim in full, but control only in parts.

Delhi accuses its neighbour of fuelling a long-running insurgency that has killed tens of thousands in Indian-administered Kashmir. Islamabad has long denied backing militants there.

In recent years, the insurgency had abated, bringing millions of tourists and a growing sense that the region was finally becoming safer. But that has now changed.

"Pahalgam ke naam par dhabba lag gaya [Pahalgam's name is stained]," laments Nisar Ali, an 80-year-old resident who makes a living by selling papier mache products.

"People had taken loans to open shops and buy taxis, now everyone is staring at an uncertain future. What's happened to our paradise," he asks.

Abid Bhat/BBC A girl drives sheep along the Baisaran roadAbid Bhat/BBC
The road to Baisaran remains closed for outsiders but is used by local people and flocks of sheep

Just 2km from the market, a signboard points to the untarred road that goes up to Baisaran, a 5km trek covered on foot or ponies. The concertina wire used to barricade the road has been moved to one side and local people and flocks of sheep can be seen making their way down.

Before the killings, it was one of the most popular places for tourists. The meadow offering a great view of the valley was open from 08:00 to 17:00 and would get thousands of visitors daily in the summer.

But it remains out of bounds now. Two men have been arrested for allegedly providing shelter to the militants, but those who carried out the killings have still not been caught - leading to fears that they could return.

Abdul Wahid Wani, the president of Pahalgam pony owners' union, who was the first to arrive at the scene, says 1,090 tourists had gone up to the meadow until 14:00.

At the time of the attack, there were about 300 tourists in Baisaran, he estimates.

At 14:36, he says, he received a call from the police asking him if he had heard anything about an incident at Baisaran.

"I tried calling colleagues who had taken tourists up to the meadow, but no-one answered. I figured something was wrong and my brother and I ran all the way up and reached there at 15:10."

The police and paramilitaries arrived 15 minutes later. That night, Mr Wani, wrapped up at 02:30. He says what he saw there keeps him awake at nights.

"I saw women and children crying and screaming. I saw bodies on the ground. I saw 10-15 people injured."

In the first videos of the aftermath that went viral on the day of the attack, Mr Wani can be heard trying to reassure the survivors, offering them water, telling them he was there to help.

Abid Bhat/BBC Abdul Waheed Wani, president of Pahalgam local pony owners' unionAbid Bhat/BBC
Abdul Wahid Wani was the first to arrive at the scene of the massacre in April

He summoned other pony handlers who arrived at the scene to help evacuate people - "carrying them down on our backs and wooden cots" - and gather bodies strewn about the vast field.

"I still can't forget what I saw that day. I panicked; I had palpitations. I'd never seen anything like that before."

When I met him in Pahalgam, he looked tired, his eyes sunk deep into his lined face.

"For many nights I couldn't sleep and sleep still eludes me. With the militants still on the loose, I worry what will happen if they come after us because we helped people they were trying to kill?"

But earlier this week, we exchanged messages and he sounded more optimistic.

The town has sprung back to life, with thousands of pilgrims arriving to take part in Amarnath Yatra - the annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine. It began on 3 July and will go on until 9 August.

Dozens of camps have been set up and thousands of police and security forces have been deployed along the route to ensure security.

Pahalgam is one of the two starting points for the trek to the shrine – and as many pilgrims hire ponies to take them part of the way, there's a steady stream of work for Mr Wani and his colleagues.

But hoteliers and shop-owners say they will have to wait for their turn until after the end of the pilgrimage since most pilgrims stay in cheaper camps and rarely purchase crafts.

Abid Bhat/BBC Tourists in PahalgamAbid Bhat/BBC
In June, 40% of more than 45,000 tourists who visited the Kashmir Valley went to Pahalgam

But many are taking heart from the fact that tourists have begun returning to the region. Ravi Gosain, president of All India Tour Operators, says in June, 40% of more than 45,000 tourists who visited the Kashmir Valley went to Pahalgam.

On the day I visited, there were families stopping for photographs under a "Love Pahalgam" sign.

Shabiba and Hamid Jaffar, who had visited last year around the same time, said it was so crowded then that they had to wait for half an hour to be able to take a photo here.

"When we decided to come this year, our friends tried to discourage us saying it's not safe," says Shabiba. "But it's totally safe and my children are so happy that they are saying let's move to Kashmir."

Mr Jaffar says their friends are calling them after seeing their photos. "And I'm telling them to come here for a holiday. Where will you see this beauty? Where will you get this peace?"

Abid Bhat/BBC A man drives sheep through the main street in Pahalgam Abid Bhat/BBC

US has resumed military supplies to Ukraine, Zelensky says

Reuters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stands, visible above the shoulders dressed in a black shirt, his dark hair and beard short and face serious. Behind him is a camouflage-painted missile defence system.Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pictured in a file photo with a US Patriot defence system

US President Donald Trump has said he will send weapons, including Patriot air defence systems, for Ukraine via Nato.

Trump told NBC News that in a new deal, "we're going to be sending Patriots to Nato, and then Nato will distribute that", adding that Nato would pay for the weapons.

His announcement came after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of having a "positive dialogue" with Trump on ensuring that arms arrived on time, particularly air defence systems.

Zelensky said he had asked for 10 Patriot systems, after a surge in Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in the past week.

Speaking in Rome on Thursday, the Ukrainian leader said Germany was ready to pay for two of the Patriots and Norway for one, while other European partners were also prepared to help.

After a phone-call with Russia's Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said he was "not happy" that progress had not been made towards ending the war, and he has since complained that Putin's "very nice" attitude turned out to be meaningless.

During his interview with NBC News, Trump said he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday, but did not say what it would be about.

He said "Nato is going to reimburse the full cost" for the weapons sent on to Ukraine. Nato is funded through the contributions of its members, including the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday that he had urged countries including Germany and Spain to hand over some of their existing Patriot batteries, as they could reach Ukraine faster.

"We have continued to encourage our Nato allies to provide those weapons... since they have them in their stocks, then we can enter into financial agreements... where they can purchase the replacements."

The US defence department halted some shipments of critical weapons last week, raising concerns in Kyiv that its air defences could run low in a matter of months.

Among the armaments reported to have been placed on pause were Patriot interceptor missiles and precision artillery shells.

Then, as Ukraine was pounded by record numbers of drone attacks this week, Trump said more weapons would be sent: "We have to... They're getting hit very hard now."

Zelensky had appealed for the shipments to resume, describing the Patriot systems as "real protectors of life".

On Tuesday night, Ukraine was hit by a record 728 drones, and the Ukrainian president warned that Russia wanted to increase that to 1,000.

Heat map showing attacks on Ukraine

June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in Ukraine in three years, with 232 people killed and more than 1,300 injured, according to the UN.

Since re-entering the White House in January, Trump has pushed to scale back US support for Ukraine.

The US was the biggest source of military aid to Ukraine between the start of 2022 and the end of 2024, giving $69bn (£54.6bn) in that time period, according to German think tank the Kiel Institute.

Trump has also pressed Nato allies to pledge more of their GDP to the security alliance. Last year, all European Nato members pledged to spend 2% of GDP on defence.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The US has been urging the two countries to reach an agreement to end the war.

Rubio told reporters that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a "frank" conversation on the sidelines of a meeting in Malaysia on Thursday.

Rubio echoed Trump's "frustration at the lack of progress at peace talks", including "disappointment that there has not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict".

He said the two had shared some new ideas about how the conflict could conclude, which he would take back to Trump.

Rubio declined to elaborate on what Trump said would be a "major" announcement about Russia on Monday.

Trump surveys damage in Texas as search continues for 160 missing

Watch: 'We're filled with grief' - President Trump visits Texas after deadly floods

US President Donald Trump reassured residents of Kerrville, Texas, that the government would help rebuild after floods hit the central part of the state last week, killing 120 people.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump met on Friday with local officials on the ground - standing in front of an upended tractor trailer - and surveyed the damage.

"I've never seen anything like it," Trump said after taking a tour of the devastation.

More than 12,300 volunteers have gathered to help search for the 161 people still missing statewide. Officials said volunteers have been working 10 hours a day.

Watch: BBC's Nomia Iqbal on Trump's handling of the Texas floods as he visits disaster area

Trump told officials at an afternoon roundtable that he and the first lady were in town to "express the love and support, and the anguish of our entire nation".

The first lady, who ordinarily keeps a low profile, joined the tour of the devastation. She said she hugged and prayed with families of the victims during her visit.

"My deepest sympathy to all of the parents who lost beautiful young souls," she said. "We are grieving with you. Our nation is grieving with you."

She also promised to visit again.

In the wake of the deadly tragedy, questions have been raised about whether adequate warnings were provided and why some weren't evacuated ahead of the deluge.

"Only an evil person would ask a question like that," Trump responded when the topic came up Friday, saying it's easy to sit back and wonder what could have happened.

The Guadalupe River levels, which submerged homes, roads and cars, caught many by surprise.

Watch: "I pray for them" - First Lady Melania offers condolences to Texas flood victims

The catastrophe unfolded before daybreak last Friday as the river rose 26ft (8m) in the span of just 45 minutes. Young children and staff at summer camps along the river were asleep as weather alerts went off.

Search crews in Texas are still sifting through debris for scores of missing people. Authorities have said they will not relent until everyone is accounted for.

Experts have said there were a number of factors that led to the tragic floods in, including the pre-dawn timing, the location of some homes and the extreme weather.

Watch: "We're appreciative" - Texans react to Trump's visit after devastating floods

In the country with the world's lowest birth rate, fertility clinics are booming

Getty Images Close-up of a baby's hand grabbing a silver baby shoe. The baby is wearing a furry sweater.Getty Images
South Korea, home to the world's lowest birth rates, is seeing a fertility industry boom

When she started in vitro fertilisation (IVF) last November, Kim Mi-ae knew it would be a gruelling test of patience - something she had already endured when she conceived her first child three years ago.

But what shocked her this time around were the "crazy" waits at the fertility clinic.

"When I went in January, it felt like everyone had made a New Year's resolution to have a baby! Even with a reservation, I waited over three hours," says the 36-year-old Seoul resident.

While South Korea continues to struggle with the world's lowest birth rates, fertility clinics are in growing demand - a bright spot in the country's demographic crisis.

Between 2018 and 2022, the number of fertility treatments carried out in the country rose nearly 50% to 200,000. Last year, one in six babies in Seoul were born with the help of fertility treatment.

Underpinning the boom, experts say, is a shift in attitudes about family planning.

"We have a young generation… that is used to being in control of its life," says Sarah Harper CBE, professor in Gerontology at the University of Oxford. That control, she adds, may come in the form of single women freezing their eggs or couples trying IVF when they can't conceive.

"Whereas in previous generations there was a greater acceptance that whether you conceive or not can be a bit haphazard, now we have Korean women saying, 'I want to plan my life.'"

Getty Images Backview of children and parents sitting and standing in front of colourful arcade machines, in a brightly lit mall.Getty Images
In 2024, South Korea's birth rate rose for the first time in nine years

This is good news for South Korea's government, which is trying to lift the country out of a demographic crisis. One in five people in South Korea are now aged 65 or above. As a proportion of the country's total population, there have never been fewer babies.

The country has repeatedly broken its own record for having the world's lowest birth rate: 0.98 babies per woman in 2018, 0.84 in 2020 and 0.72 in 2023. If this trend continues, experts warn the population of 50 million could halve in 60 years.

But recently there is reason for cautious optimism: instead of another record low, South Korea's birth rate rose slightly to 0.75 in 2024 - its first increase in nine years.

"It's a small bump, but still a meaningful one," says Seulki Choi, a professor at the Korea Development Institute's School of Public Policy and Management.

It is too early to tell whether this is the start of a much-needed reversal or just a blip. The country's birth rate remains far below the global average of 2.2. But many like Dr Choi are cautiously optimistic.

"If this trend holds, it could signal a longer-term shift," says Dr Choi. "We need to watch how young people's attitudes toward marriage and parenthood are changing."

A baby bump

For years, having children was the last thing on Park Soo-in's mind. She was mostly busy at work, often only clocking off from her advertising job at 04:00.

"I was in a company with endless overtime, so it wasn't even something I could realistically consider," says the 35-year-old.

Things started to change after she got married two years ago. She landed a new job with better hours - and friends around her started having babies.

"Seeing and interacting with their kids made it feel less overwhelming," she said. "And watching my husband take initiative, doing research on pregnancy and childbirth and showing real effort, gave me confidence that we could do this."

When Ms Park and her husband had trouble conceiving, they looked to fertility treatments. Many others are doing the same, fuelling projections that the burgeoning industry could be worth more than $2bn by 2030.

"This is actually an important signal for policymakers that there are still some women who want to start families but are facing … barriers to doing so," says Jennifer Sciubba, president and CEO of the non-profit Population Reference Bureau in Washington, DC.

"More than anything, this is a sign that people are unable to fulfil their desires to have children."

Jang Sae-ryeon A woman injecting a substance with a syringe on her belly. She is standing in front of a counter, which is strewn with medical products.Jang Sae-ryeon
South Korean women are on average 33.6 years old by the time they have their first child

Difficulty conceiving is just one barrier. At the heart of South Korea's population woes are a raft of social and financial pressures - from patriarchal norms that place most childcare responsibilities on women to long work hours and high education costs - which discourage many young people from having children.

For some, however, those dreams have merely been delayed. More than half of South Koreans say they want kids but can't afford them, according to a UN report. And by the time South Korean women have their first child, their average age is 33.6 - among the highest in the world.

"Looking back, it might have been better to start earlier," says Ms Park. "But realistically… now actually feels like the right time. In my late 20s, I just didn't have the financial capacity to think about marriage or kids."

The same goes for Ms Kim, who spent three years saving up for marriage and another four for a child.

"People spend their youth studying, job hunting, and spending money to prepare for life. And by the time they're ready to settle down, it's often late," she says. "But the later you wait, the harder it gets [to become pregnant], physically and emotionally."

Bumps in the road

For those who opt for IVF, the process of trying to conceive also becomes much more expensive.

"It's hard to say exactly how much IVF costs because it varies so much by person and cycle," says Ms Kim. "It's a huge and unpredictable expense that can really affect your finances."

As part of concerted efforts to boost its birth rate, South Korea's government has expanded its support for fertility treatments. Seoul now subsidises up to 2 million Korean won ($1,460; £1,100) for egg-freezing and 1.1 million won for each IVF treatment.

But even with government subsidies, Ms Kim says she spent more than 2 million won in January for IVF - mostly on out-of-pocket items that subsidies do not cover, such as supplements and additional tests.

And with less than half of IVF cycles ending in success, the costs can stack up quickly.

This has been the case for Jang Sae-ryeon in the southwestern Jeolla province. The 37-year-old started fertility treatment two years ago and has done five IVF cycles, each of which cost her around 1.5 million won.

Jang Sae-ryeon A woman, wearing a blue shirt, stares at the camera. Jang Sae-ryeon
Despite the financial and cultural pressures she faced while undergoing IVF, Jang Sae-ryeon still dreams of having children

"I wish things worked out after just one or two tries, but for most people, that's not the case," she says. "Without money, you simply can't move forward. That's the reality. And I think that's the most frustrating part."

Equally challenging, women say, are the workplace pressures they face when they commit to a demanding IVF schedule.

While South Korean companies offer several days of leave for fertility treatment, women say that in reality it is difficult to utilise them. Ms Kim says she underwent IVF for her first child without taking leave at all. Ms Jang, meanwhile, says her colleagues asked her to postpone her treatment.

"It made me feel like IVF and a full-time job just don't mix," says Ms Jang. "So I quit. But once I left, I struggled financially. That led to another cycle of quitting and job-hunting again."

Such financial and cultural pressures may have dampened many South Koreans' dreams of having children, but not Ms Jang's. She still gets teary when she recalls two pregnancies from early in her marriage - both of which ended in miscarriages.

"You know how they say when you have a child, you feel a love that's limitless?" she says. "I think having a child that resembles both of us and creating a family together is one of the greatest forms of happiness a person can feel."

'I created it myself': The boy behind the viral 'aura farming' boat racing dance

TikTok/Lensa Rams A boy, dressed in black wearing sunglasses, standing on the tip of a racing boat while a dozen adult atheles, in red uniforms, rowing behind him. TikTok/Lensa Rams
Rayyan Arkan Dikha's boat-racing dance has made him an internet sensation

It's a dance, a viral meme, and now a trend among elite athletes.

Over the last few weeks, social media feeds all over the world have been flooded with videos of a sunglass-wearing young boy in Indonesia, balancing on the tip of a long racing boat and doing what is possibly the world's coolest dance.

It's being seen as the ultimate representation of "aura farming" - an internet phrase for the act of looking cool and building one's "aura" (another word for charisma, or rizz).

The moves, full of swag and easy to follow, are now being copied across the world with big sporting names like American Football player Travis Kelce, F1 driver Alex Albon, the Paris Saint-Germain football team all jumping on the trend.

And behind it all is eleven-year-old Rayyan Arkan Dikha, who told the BBC that the viral moves came to him on the spur of the moment.

"I came up with the dance myself," he told BBC Indonesia on Thursday.

"It was just spontaneous."

The 5th-grader from a village in Kuantan Singingi Regency was making his debut at the national Pacu Jalur boat race. "Pacu" means race and "Jalur" refers to the long canoe-like boats that are raced.

Dikha is the Togak Luan - the dancer at the tip of the boat whose role is to energise the crew.

In the widely shared video, he wears a traditional outfit known as a Teluk Belanga with a Malay Riau headcloth. Standing on the prow of the speeding race boat which is being rowed by at least 11 adults, he blows kisses to his left and right before rhythmically moving his arms - all without much facial expression.

In one dance sequence, he reaches one hand forward at chest level while sweeping the other underneath, then rolls both fists like a wheel as he transitions from left to right. In another sequence, he stretches one arm forward and the other backward, striking a balanced pose.

Videos featuring various sound tracks under hashtags like "aura farming kid on boat" and "boat race kid aura" have racked up millions of views on TikTok since late June. And Dikha himself has now been given a nickname, "The Reaper".

"He's known as 'the reaper' because he never loses," reads one top-liked comment under a clip that has got 1.1 million likes.

"Bro taking out opps[opponents] while aura farming is crazy," says another.

Many online users have been trying to copy his moves, posting videos of themselves, or their friends, recreating the dance.

Sports teams are taking notice too. On 1 July, the French football club Paris Saint-Germain uploaded a TikTok clip attempting the boat racing dance, with the caption: "His aura made it all the way to Paris." The video has been watched more than 7 millions in just 10 days.

The next day, Travis Kelce, NFL player and boyfriend of pop icon Taylor Swift, posted his own version, which has since garnered over 14 million views.

BBC/Dicky Kurniawan Rayyan Arkan Dikha, in a traditional black Malay outfit wearing sunglasses, stands on a chair dancing in front of a cameraBBC/Dicky Kurniawan
The 11-year-old boy has been busy this week, attending events in the capital city of Jakarta and appearing on national television

"Dancing at the tip of the boat is not easy," Indonesia's minister of culture Fadli Zon told reporters at an event meant to fete Dikha on Wednesday.

"Maintaining balance as a dancer who motivates the Pacu Jalur rowing team is truly not simple. Perhaps that's why children are chosen instead of adults - because it's easier for them to keep balance."

The concern is real, Dikha's mother Rani Ridawati told BBC Indonesia.

"The main concern is that he might fall," she said, but added that he was a strong swimmer.

"Sometimes if he falls accidentally or suddenly, I worry he might get hit by the paddles.

"But if he falls, there's already a rescue team. The rescue team is in place," she said.

Getty Images Travis Kelce, dressed in American football gears, smilesGetty Images
Travis Kelce is among a growing list of sports stars who have been attempting the viral dance

Although Dikha doesn't recognise any of the celebrities who've copied his dance - he first says he knows Travis Kelce before admitting he doesn't -he's quickly becoming one himself - especially in his home country.

Last week, he was named a cultural ambassador by the governor of Riau, the province he comes from.

This week, he and his mother were invited to the capital, Jakarta, to meet with the country's ministers of culture and tourism, and to appear on national television.

He says he's "happy" his dance is being noticed around the world.

"Every time my friends see me, they say 'you're viral'," he says, beaming with a shy smile.

While his dream is to become a police officer, he has one tip for anyone who wants to follow in his footsteps:

"Stay healthy, friends, so you can become like me."

Row over language turns violent in India's richest state

EPA/Shutterstock Indian police personnel detain a Marathi native activist taking part in a protest against alleged injustice against Marathi native people in Mumbai, India, 08 July 2025. She can be seen in an agitated state, being whisked away while speaking to a news channel microphone. EPA/Shutterstock
Police in Mumbai detain a woman who was participating in a protest this week against alleged injustice to Marathi speakers

For weeks, a battle over language and identity has been raging in India's richest state, Maharashtra.

The row began in April after the Maharashtra government made it compulsory for state-run primary schools to teach Hindi as a third language, apart from English and Marathi (the state's dominant language). This, it said, was in line with a federal policy which mandates that children be taught three languages in school.

The National Education Policy (NEP), introduced in 1968, aims to promote and regulate education in India and the government updates it occasionally. The latest iteration of the policy, introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government five years ago, is being implemented in stages and has run into controversy earlier.

The Maharashtra government's decision met fierce opposition from civil society groups, language activists and opposition leaders who accused it of trying to impose Hindi - predominantly spoken in northern and central Indian states - in the state.

Language is a sensitive issue in India where many states, including Maharashtra, were formed on linguistic lines after independence. The local language is often intrinsically linked to regional pride and identity, and any change to the status quo can be perceived as a threat. For instance, last year, Kannada-language activists in Bengaluru, often called India's Silicon Valley, held protests demanding that billboards be written in the local language and not just English.

But the uneasiness is especially high when it comes to Hindi, the most-spoken language in India. Over the years, steps by various federal governments to promote Hindi have fuelled fears within non-Hindi speaking states that the local culture will be diluted. These worries have been exacerbated by high migration from less-developed Hindi-speaking states to other parts of India, especially the south, in search of jobs.

Abhay Deshpande, a political analyst, says that these anxieties have increased after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. Top leaders of the BJP - the party is stronger in Hindi-speaking states - have often courted controversy by making remarks about privileging Hindi.

As tensions rose in Maharashtra, the state government - ruled by a BJP-led coalition - revoked its decision and appointed a committee to re-examine the three-language policy. But the controversy refuses to die down.

The row comes months ahead of the long-overdue municipal polls which are set to be held in the state, including in Mumbai city, home to India's richest municipal corporation. It has sparked a political slugfest between the ruling coalition and opposition parties, with each side accusing the other of playing political games.

Getty Images Hindu right-wing political party chief Shiv Sena (UBT) Uddhav Thackeray (R) and his cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray gesture as they greet the crowd upon their arrival on stage to address a joint rally against the imposition of the Hindi language in primary schools, in Mumbai on July 5, 2025.Getty Images
Raj Thackeray (left) and Uddhav Thackeray (right) set aside their two-decade long political rivalry to protest against alleged Hindi imposition

There have also been reports of violence against non-Marathi speakers in the state.

In April, two women in Thane district were allegedly assaulted in their residential complex after they said "excuse me" to a man who insisted they speak to him in Marathi.

The same month, a security guard in Mumbai was allegedly beaten up by workers from the opposition Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) - a nativist party known for its aggressive brand of politics - after he said that he did not know Marathi.

In May, a couple in Mumbai reportedly refused to pay a delivery agent after he declined to speak in Marathi. Last week, a shocking video showing a shop owner being assaulted, allegedly by MNS workers, for not speaking Marathi went viral on social media, sparking outrage.

While the issue seems to have increased societal divisions, it has also brought together two political rivals almost two decades after they parted ways.

Last week, Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the local opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) party and Raj Thackeray, leader of the MNS - the son and nephew, respectively, of Bal Thackeray, patriarch of the erstwhile Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist party that gained popularity in Maharashtra in the 1960s with its nativist politics - held a joint rally to oppose alleged Hindi imposition.

While the strength of the truce remains to be seen, experts say that the optics of the cousins putting aside differences to "protect Marathi pride" could help their prospects in the upcoming municipal elections.

"The issue of Marathi language and culture is close to peoples' hearts," says Prashant Dixit, a former political journalist who has reported on the state for over two decades. "It is an emotive issue, especially for people living in Mumbai, and it has been so since the 1960s," he adds.

PTI A man can be seen hitting a billboard with a stick in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.PTI
Last year, Kannada-language activists in Bengaluru tore down billboards written in English

In the 1960s and 1970s, the erstwhile Shiv Sena, under the leadership of Bal Thackeray, conducted aggressive campaigns against people who had migrated to Mumbai from southern states, accusing them of taking up jobs that should have gone to locals.

In the decades after that, migration patterns changed and the party turned its ire towards people from northern states who were migrating to the city in search of economic opportunities. The party blamed migrants from states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for taking away jobs.

These tensions look set to continue. According to data from India's last census, there was a 40% increase in Mumbai city's Hindi-speaking population between 2001 and 2011.

These Marathi-centric agitations have earlier resonated with voters, especially in Mumbai, and some believe that it could help the Thackeray cousins in the municipal elections as well.

However, many have criticised this approach.

An editorial in the Indian Express newspaper titled 'Slap In Mumbai's Face' argued that politics centred around linguistic identity was "deeply troubling" and that its parochialism lent itself to violence, something that "should have no place in India's most industrialised state".

Mr Dixit agrees - he thinks that any support garnered by aggressive language agitations is likely to be short-lived.

"People want their leaders to deliver on their promises and focus on real progress, in the form of better jobs and policies, so that life is better for everyone," he says.

Death of Ukrainian conscript prompts row with Hungary

EPA File pic of army recruits in UkraineEPA
The 45 year old died in a psychiatric hospital three weeks after being forcibly conscripted (file photo)

The death of a 45-year-old ethnic Hungarian in Ukraine, weeks after he was conscripted into the Ukrainian army, has provoked a furious row between the Hungarian government and authorities in Kyiv.

Jozsef Sebestyen, a dual Ukrainian-Hungarian citizen, was beaten with iron bars after he was forcibly conscripted on 14 June, his brother and sister have told Hungarian media.

Sebestyen, from Berehove in western Ukraine, died there in a psychiatric hospital on 8 July.

The circumstances surrounding his death have been denied by the military, but his case has shone a light on forced conscription in Ukraine as the army seeks to defend the front lines from Russia in the face of heavy losses.

"They took me to a forest with many other men and started beating me there," Sebestyen is quoted by Hungary's Mandiner news site as having told his brother and sister.

"The beatings were mainly to the head and body. They said that if I didn't sign something, they would take me to 'zero' [the front line]. It hurt so much, I couldn't move."

On 10 July, Ukrainian ambassador Sandor Fegyir was summoned to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry in Budapest over the case.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a bitter critic of the Ukrainian government and war effort, posted on Facebook: "A Hungarian citizen was beaten to death in Ukraine. A few kilometres from the Hungarian border. A country where this can happen cannot be a member of the EU."

Later the same day, the Ukrainian army published its full denial.

"According to the final report of the hospital, no physical injuries were found during the medical examination," the statement said.

"We firmly reject any allegations of forced labour, inhuman treatment or human rights violations, whether by the Territorial Military Centres or other military officials."

The army goes on to say that it would be open to a "transparent investigation under Ukrainian law".

SBU A man in black is taken away by two uniformed men in khakiSBU
In May, Ukraine's SBU security service announced the arrest of two Ukrainian citizens accused of spying for Hungary

The incident has become the latest flashpoint in a war of words between Orban's government in Budapest and Volodymyr Zelensky's administration in Kyiv.

In May, a spy row sparked arrests in both countries and tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats.

At the end of June, the Hungarian government published the results of its latest "national consultation", in which it presented eight reasons for not allowing Ukraine into the EU, and invited citizens to vote "no".

More than two million did so, according to the results, which were not independently verified.

Allegations of violence during forced conscription in Ukraine are not new. Ukrainian men are eligible for the army from the ages of 25 to 60, and most men from the age of 18, are barred from leaving the country.

"I keep hearing from relatives of those taken by the military that they receive back their clothes covered in blood," a Hungarian woman in Transcarpathia told the BBC on condition of anonymity.

"The situation has been getting worse since the start of the war, but it got particularly bad in the past two months."

Often, she continued, medical certificates granting exemption from the draft are ignored by the soldiers - and the holders are bundled unceremoniously into vehicles and taken away. Thousands of dollars, "insane sums", were being demanded in exchange for being left in peace.

BBC/Nick Thorpe A recruitment poster in TranscarpathiaBBC/Nick Thorpe
Most Ukrainian men, aged between 25 and 60, are eligible for military service

There are also allegations that critics of the government, including journalists, are deliberately targeted for conscription.

Oleh Dyba, 58, the editor of Zakarpattya Online, is now on hunger strike in military detention. He alleges he was taken because his articles investigating the construction of wind turbines in the Carpathian mountains upset the authorities.

Ukrainians can take cases of unfair or violent conscription to the office of the Ukrainian ombudsman for human rights, Dmytro Lubynets.

He said recently that his office had received 3,500 complaints for human rights violations regarding conscription in 2024, and more than 2,000 complaints so far this year.

Criminal cases have been brought against more than 50 recruiters, he said.

The right to conscientious objection was abolished in Ukraine when martial law was declared in February 2022 - the month Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

At the request of Ukraine's Constitutional Court, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe issued an opinion on alternative service in Ukraine in March 2025.

"States have the positive obligation to set up a system of alternative service which must be separated from the military system, shall not be of a punitive nature and remain within reasonable time limits," it said.

Dozens taken to hospital after suspected mass overdose in Baltimore

Baltimore Police A landscape image of a road crossing with multiple emergency service workers standing around. The front of a red fire truck can be seen on the left hand side.Baltimore Police
The incident happened around a road intersection in West Baltimore close to a subway station.

At least 25 people have been taken to hospital in West Baltimore following suspected drug overdoses.

Citing officials from the region's fire department, the BBC's US partner CBS News said five people were admitted in a critical condition with others in a serious condition.

The incident, which took place near a road intersection in the Penn North area of the city on Thursday morning, led to the Maryland Department of Transportation closing a nearby subway station while roads were also blocked.

Fire Chief James Wallace told reporters that emergency services on the scene were directed to multiple people suspected of overdosing by members of the public.

He said people were found along two intersecting avenues as well as on the subway platforms and along alleyways following the initial response at around 09:20 local time (14:20 BST), according to CBS.

Officials have not named any substance they believe to have been involved.

Baltimore Police posted on X on Thursday that they, and fire services, were at the road intersection "in reference to multiple individuals experiencing overdose symptoms".

The police service asked people to avoid the area as multiple streets had been blocked off and buses rerouted.

The city's state attorney, Ivan Bates, said the incident "serves as a powerful reminder of our city's ongoing battle against the opioid epidemic".

He added that his office will support emergency services and the health department in their work to find out what happened.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore also said on Thursday his team were coordinating with state agencies, city officials and first responders.

"I'm grateful to those who quickly alerted us about this situation, and those who are providing support to the community," Mr Moore said.

Separately, an update from the city's mayor, Brandon Scott, issued advice for residents who use drugs; including to never use alone and to carry Naloxone or Narcan - both of which can be collected for free from the city's health department.

Kurdish PKK burns guns in cauldron in big step towards ending Turkey conflict

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP A supporter holds a flag with the face of Abdullah Ocalan, with his face also on the backdrop behind herDELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP
Imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan still commands support among many Kurds

After 40 years of armed struggle against the Turkish state, the outlawed Kurdish PKK will hold a ceremony on Friday to mark a symbolic first step in laying down its arms.

The disarmament process will start under tight security in Iraqi Kurdistan and is expected to take all summer.

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has hailed the move as "totally ripping off and throwing away the bloody shackles that were put on our country's legs".

Some 40,000 people have been killed since the conflict began, and the PKK is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the US, EU and UK. Its disarmament will be felt not just in Turkey but in Iraq, Syria and Iran.

How and where will the PKK disarm?

A small group of PKK members will symbolically lay down their weapons in a ceremony near Suleymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan, before going back to their bases.

For security reasons, the exact location is not being revealed, although it's thought members of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Dem party will be there, even if other major Turkish political parties will not.

Disarmament will then continue over the coming months at points set up with the involvement of the Turkish, Iraqi and Kurdistan regional governments, BBC Turkish has been told.

In a video, the PKK's long-imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, said it was "a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law". He has been in solitary confinement on the small prison island of Imrali, south-west of Istanbul, since he was captured in 1999.

Who are the PKK and why has the conflict lasted so long?

Getty Images PKK fighters training in Iraqi KurdistanGetty Images
A fragile ceasefire with the PKK broke down in 2015

This is not the first attempt at peace involving Turkey and the PKK, but this is the best hope so far that the armed struggle that began in 1984 will come to an end.

Originally a Marxist group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party took up arms calling for an independent state inside Turkey.

In the 1990s, they called instead for greater autonomy for Kurds, who make up about 20% of the population.

Ocalan announced a ceasefire in 2013, and urged PKK forces to withdraw from Turkey. The 2015 Dolmabahce Agreement was supposed to bring democratic and language rights for Kurds, but the fragile truce collapsed amid devastating violence, especially in the Kurdish-dominated cities of the south-east, including Diyarbakir.

Turkey's air force targeted PKK bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. Several military campaigns have also targeted Kurdish-led forces in Syria.

The government in Ankara ruled out further talks until the PKK laid down its arms. That is now on the verge of happening.

Why has the PKK decided to disband?

In October 2024, a prominent nationalist leader and key Erdogan ally called Devlet Bahceli began a process described by the government as "terror-free Turkey". He urged the PKK's imprisoned leader to call for the dissolution of the outlawed group. It could pave the way for his possible release from Imrali island, he suggested.

The Turkish government launched talks with Ocalan via the pro-Kurdish Dem party, and then in February came his historic appeal for the PKK to disband, read out by two Dem MPs who had just returned from a visit to the prison island.

"All groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself," read Ocalan's letter.

The PKK had been formed primarily because "the channels of democratic politics were closed", he said, but Devlet Bahceli and Erdogan's own positive signals had created the right environment.

The PKK followed Ocalan's lead and declared a ceasefire and later declared that it had "completed its historical mission": the Kurdish issue could now "be resolved through democratic politics".

President Erdogan said it was an "opportunity to take a historic step toward tearing down the wall of terror" and met pro-Kurdish politicians in April.

Why is Ocalan so important?

ANF Seven men - three sitting and four standing - are in front of a camera looking solemn.ANF
Ocalan, in the centre at the front, released a video on Wednesday ahead of Friday's ceremony

As founder of the PKK, Ocalan continues to be reviled by many Turks, even after 26 years in solitary confinement.

And yet he still plays an important role in the eyes of Kurds.

"I think he really has this authority; he is a main symbol for many Kurds, not all," says Joost Jongerden, a specialist on the 41-year conflict at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Two days before the PKK were due to begin disarmament, Ocalan appeared on video for the first time since he was put on trial more than 20 years ago.

Speaking for seven minutes, he addressed the outlawed group: "I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons. And I call on you to put this principle into practice."

Ocalan was wearing a branded Lacoste polo shirt, and in an indication of his enduring relevance, the shirt quickly went viral and websites ran out of stock.

What happens next?

Reuters Turkey's President Erdogan looks at the camera Reuters
Turkey's President Erdogan has denied wanting to continue in office when his term runs out

After Friday's ceremony, the scene switches to Turkey's parliament in Ankara where a commission will be set up to make decisions on the next steps for the government.

As the summer recess is around the corner, no concrete decisions are expected for several months, when MPs vote on the commission's recommendations and President Erdogan has the final say.

What happens to Abdullah Ocalan is not yet clear. The government says his conditions in jail could be reviewed as the process unfolds, but any chance of release will be left to the latter stages.

What's in this process for Erdogan?

Erdogan's AK Party has begun work on changing the constitution, and there has been speculation that this would mean Erdogan would be able to run for the presidency again when his final term runs out in 2028.

The AKP and pro-Kurdish Dem party deny there is any link between the peace process and reshaping the constitution, but if Erdogan secures Dem support he would have a far greater chance of pushing through changes.

Erdogan is behind in the polls, but his main opposition rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, is in jail accused of corruption, which he denies, and more opposition mayors have been arrested as part of a crackdown in the past week.

More than 150 arrests in global human trafficking crackdown

Europol A woman is pictured standing in between two police officers with her back turned. The officers are also facing away. A male officer's face has been blurred.Europol

An international human trafficking crackdown has led to more than 150 arrests and the identification of more than 1,000 victims.

The six-day operation, which took place at the start of June, involved nearly 15,000 officers from 43 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, according to Interpol.

It targeted organised criminal gangs involved in trafficking people - who are typically underage - for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced criminality and begging, Europol said.

Many sexual exploitation trafficking victims are women, who are typically recruited from abroad and taken to massage parlours where they are pressured into prostitution.

"Human trafficking is a brutal and devastating crime that strips people of their dignity, freedom, and humanity, preying on the most vulnerable, including children," said David Caunter, director of organised and emerging crime at Interpol.

The operation - dubbed "Global Chain" - made 158 arrests in total and identified a further 205 suspects, while 1,194 potential victims were discovered.

It was led by Austrian and Romanian authorities, and focused primarily on Europe - but also saw suspects arrested in Thailand, Nigeria and Vietnam.

Police in Malta freed three Colombian women - two sisters and their aunt - who were originally offered employment as cleaners there by an Italian national, Europol said.

Upon arrival, their passports were confiscated by the suspect under the guise of arranging work permits, the witholding of which was then used to coerce them into prostitution, the agency added.

In Austria, officers made seven arrests in connection with a Romanian family-based gang that allegedly used the "lover-boy" method to lure women into sexual exploitation and forced criminality under the pretence of a romantic relationship.

And in Italy, police raided several massage parlours with suspected links to sexual exploitation, identifying 75 potential trafficking victims, according to Interpol.

Potential trafficking victims originated from 64 countries around the globe, but the majority came from Romania, Ukraine, Colombia, China and Hungary, officials said.

The operation also saw €277,669 (£240,351) in cash seized, as well as 30 guns, 65 fraudulent documents and a tonne of cannabis.

A similar operation took place around the same time last year, resulting in the arrest of 200 suspects and the identification of more than 1,300 victims.

Outrage builds over plan to force all Gazans to southern city

Reuters Palestinians walk among rubble in Rafah, with a tent and a bombed out building in the background (March 2025)Reuters
Rafah in southern Gaza has suffered large-scale destruction of buildings and infrastructure

For Gazans, a 60-day ceasefire being negotiated between Israel and Hamas would be a lifeline.

A window to bring in large quantities of desperately needed food, water and medicine after severe – and at times total - Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries.

But for Israel's defence minister Israel Katz a two-month pause in military operations would create an opportunity to build what he has called a "humanitarian city" in the ruins of the southern city of Rafah to contain almost every single Gazan except those belonging to armed groups.

According to the plan, Palestinians would be security screened before being allowed in and not permitted to leave.

Critics, both domestically and internationally, have condemned the proposal, with human rights groups, academics and lawyers calling it a blueprint for a "concentration camp".

It's unclear to what extent it represents a concrete plan of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government or whether it is a negotiating tactic to put more pressure on Hamas in the talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

In the notable absence of any Israeli plan for Gaza after the war ends, this idea is filling the strategic vacuum.

Katz briefed a group of Israeli reporters that the new camp would initially house about 600,000 Palestinians - and eventually the whole 2.1 million population.

His plan would see the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) securing the site from a distance while international bodies managed the area. Four aid distribution sites would be established in the area, he said.

Map showing evacuation areas in Gaza

Katz also restated his desire to encourage Palestinians to "voluntarily emigrate" from the Gaza to other countries.

But it has not gained traction or support among other senior figures in Israel, and according to reports the proposal even triggered a clash between the prime minister and the head of the IDF.

Israeli media say the office of the chief of the general staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, made clear the army was not obligated to forcibly transfer civilians, as the plan would require.

It's claimed Gen Zamir and Netanyahu were involved in an angry exchange during a recent war cabinet meeting.

Tal Schneider, a political correspondent at the centrist Times of Israel, said Zamir would be in a strong position to push back because the government "practically begged him to take the job" six months ago – and Netanyahu strongly endorsed his appointment.

It's not only the top military brass that is opposed to the idea. There is also consternation among rank and file too.

"Any transfer of a civil population is a form of war crime, that's a form of ethnic cleansing, which is also a form of genocide," IDF reservist Yotam Vilk told the BBC at his home in Tel Aviv.

John Landy Yotam VilkJohn Landy
Yotam Vilk says he will refuse any further reserve duty in Gaza

The 28-year-old former officer in the Armored Corps is refusing to serve any longer in the army following 270 days of active combat in Gaza.

He describes himself as a patriot and argues Israel must defend itself but that the current war has no strategy nor end in sight.

Vilk is also part of Soldiers for the Hostages, a group calling for an end of the war to secure the release of the 50 Israelis still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza, up to 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Meanwhile 16 Israeli experts in international law issued a joint letter on Friday denouncing the plan, which they said would constitute a war crime. The letter urged "all relevant parties to publicly withdraw from the plan, renounce it and refrain from carrying it out".

The plan has unsurprisingly dismayed Palestinians in Gaza.

"We completely reject this proposal, and we reject the displacement of any Palestinian from their land," Sabreen, who had been forced to leave Khan Younis, told the BBC. "We are steadfast and will remain here until our last breath."

Ahmad Al Mghayar from Rafah said: "Freedom is above everything. This is our land, we should be free to move wherever we want. Why are we being pressured like this?"

It's not clear how much support Katz's plan has among the general public, but recent surveys have indicated the majority of Jews in Israel favour the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.

One poll published in the left-wing daily newspaper Haaretz claimed as many as 82 per cent of Jewish Israelis supported such a move.

But there has been curious lack of public support for the proposal among the far-right, including prominent ministers in the coalition Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Both have been vocal proponents of Palestinians leaving Gaza and Jewish settlers returning.

Tal Schneider said both ministers may still be weighing up giving their backing to the proposal for a mass camp.

"Maybe they're waiting to see where the wind blows to see if it's serious. Both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are cabinet members and have more access to internal discussions. Maybe they think this is just to put political pressure on Hamas to come to the table."

Outside Israel, the proposal for a new camp for all Gazans has attracted widespread criticism.

In the UK, minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer posted on social media that he was "appalled" by the plan.

"Palestinian territory must not be reduced," he wrote. "Civilians must be able to return to their communities. We need to move towards a ceasefire deal and open a pathway to lasting peace."

British human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy KC told the BBC the project would force Palestinians into a "concentration camp".

The description, which other critics including academics, NGOs and senior UN officials have used, holds considerable resonance in light of the role of concentration camps in the Holocaust.

Baroness Kennedy said the plan - as well as the latest actions of Israel - has led her to conclude Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

"I was very reluctant to go there, because the threshold has to be very high. There has to be specific intent for genocide. But what we're now seeing is genocidal behaviour," she said.

Israel has vehemently rejected the charge of genocide and says it does not target civilians.

The Israeli foreign ministry also told the BBC that "the notion that Israel is creating concentration camps is deeply offensive and draws parallels with the Nazis". Israel "adheres to the Geneva Convention", it added, referring to the international regulations governing the treatment of civilians in occupied territories.

Aside from grim warnings about what might happen, the prospect of a new camp is having an impact on efforts to end the Gaza war.

Palestinian sources at the ceasefire talks grinding on in the Qatari capital Doha have told the BBC the plan has alarmed the Hamas delegation and has created a new obstacle to a deal.

Additional reporting by Joyce Liu and John Landy

Asia is reeling from Trump's tariff salvo – is anyone winning?

Getty Images US President Donald Trump during a dinner with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, not pictured, in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, 7 July, 2025.Getty Images
President Trump has extended the deadline for tariff negotiations - again

"Deeply regrettable" is how Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has described US President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat - a 25% levy on Japanese goods.

Tokyo, a long-time US ally, has been trying hard to avoid exactly this. It has been seeking concessions for its beleaguered car makers, while resisting pressure to open its markets to American rice.

There have been many rounds of negotiations. Japan's trade minister has visited Washington DC at least seven times since April, when Trump announced sweeping tariffs against friends and foes.

And yet, those trips seem to have borne little fruit. Trump's label for Tokyo moved from "tough" to "spoiled" as talks dragged on.

And then this week, Japan joined a list of 22 nations that were sent tariff letters - 14 of those are in Asia. From South Korea to Sri Lanka, many are export-driven manufacturing hubs.

They have until 1 August to strike a deal with the US. But they are likely wondering about their chances given that Japan, a staunch ally that has been openly pursuing a deal, is still facing a steep levy.

Trump has reset the tariffs clock - again. So who is winning, and who is losing?

Winner: Negotiators who want more time

In one sense, almost all of the countries targeted by Trump earlier this year benefit from the deadline extension - they now have more than three weeks more to strike deals.

"The optimistic case is that there is pressure now to engage in further negotiations before the 1 August deadline," said Suan Teck Kin, head of research at United Overseas Bank.

Growing economies like Thailand and Malaysia, which received tariff letters this week, will be especially eager to seek a solution. They are also caught in the middle of US-China tensions as Washington targets Chinese exports rerouted through third countries, what are known as transhipped goods.

Economists have told the BBC that further extensions are likely, given the complexity of trade agreements.

Countries will need time to implement Trump's demands, which, going by the letters, are not entirely clear, said business lecturer Alex Capri from the National University of Singapore.

For instance, transhipped goods have been specifically levied as part of Vietnam's trade deal with the US. But it is unclear whether that applies to finished goods, or to all imported components.

Either way, it will involve far more sophisticated technology to keep track of supply chains, Mr Capri said.

"It's going to be a slow, long-term and evolving process involving many third parties, tech companies and logistic partners."

Loser: Asian manufacturers

It seems clear that tariffs are here to stay, which makes global trade the loser.

Companies from the US, Europe and China with global businesses remain at risk, Mr Capri said. This hurts not just exporters, but also US importers and consumers.

And it is a blow for the economic ambitions of large parts of Asia, whose rise has been fuelled by manufacturing, from electronics to textiles.

Getty Images Garment workers, men and women, walk out in a large group from their factory during their lunch break in Phnom Penh on July 8, 2025.Getty Images
Cambodia's garment workers rely on an export-driven industry for their livelihood

It is unwise to make zero-sum observations on which countries are winning and losing, Mr Capri added, because international trade, especially between US and China is so deeply inter-linked.

Some countries, however, could lose more than others.

Vietnam was the first in Asia to strike a deal, but it has little leverage against Washington, and is now facing levies up to 40%. The same goes for Cambodia. A poor country heavily reliant on exports, it has been negotiating a deal as Trump threatens 35% tariffs.

South Korea and Japan, on the other hand, may be able to hold out longer, because they are richer and have stronger geo-political levers.

India, which too has leverage of its own, has not been issued a letter yet. A deal has seemed imminent but appears to be delayed by key sticking points, including access to the Indian agricultural market and the country's import rules.

Loser: US-Japan alliance

"Despite its close economic and military relationship with the US, Japan is being treated the same as other Asian trade partners," said economist Jesper Koll.

And that could transform the relationship, especially as Tokyo, with its large financial reserves, appears to be ready for the long game.

"Japan has proven to be a tough negotiator and I think that has annoyed Trump," Mr Koll said.

Despite a rice shortage that has sent prices soaring, PM Ishiba has refused to buy US rice, choosing instead to protect domestic farmers. His government has also refused to give in to US demands to increase its military spending.

Getty Images This photo taken on April 8, 2025 shows a man in a cap walking past the logo of Samsung Electronics on a billboard in Vietnam's Bac Ninh province.Getty Images
Global businesses like Samsung are in limbo because of Trump's tariffs

"They are well prepared," Mr Koll argued. He said the day after Trump announced tariffs in April, Tokyo declared an economic emergency and set up hundreds of consultation centres to assist affected companies.

"Japan will be seeking a deal that is credible," he said, because what's the guarantee Trump won't change his mind again?

With Japan's upper-house election due this month, it would be surprising if a deal is agreed by August, Mr Koll said.

"No-one is happy. But is this something that is going to force a recession in Japan? No."

Winner: US or China?

Asia has long been seen as a key battleground between Washington and Beijing, and analysts say, because of tariffs, Trump may be ceding ground.

For one, given how complex these deals can be, Trump may be overplaying his hand by extending the deadline again, according to some observers.

"The bargaining position of the US has actually been diminished as they have revealed that their hand isn't actually as strong as they would like," said NUS economics professor David Jacks.

And the deals that are made could come at the cost of reshaping trade and ties built over decades.

Trump's choice of posting the letters online, rather than through traditional diplomatic channels, could backfire, said Mr Capri, who described it as "political theatre".

The confusion caused is a "great gift" to China, which is trying to portray itself as a stable alternative to Trump's unpredictability, he added.

But the US market is not easy to replace - and Beijing has its fair share of tensions with countries in this part of the world, from Vietnam to Japan.

China is in the middle of its own trade negotiations the US, although it has longer to strike a full agreement - until 13 August.

So who will win more friends in this trade war is hard to say, but the race is still on.

“Both parties see the need for a divorce," Prof Jacks said, "but getting there will be tough and involve proceedings which will span years, if not decades."

Gaza's largest functioning hospital facing disaster, medics warn, as Israel widens offensive

Reuters A Palestinian medic cares for injured people receiving treatment at Nasser hospital, Khan Younis, southern Gaza (9 July 2025)Reuters
A fuel shortage threatens to shut down life-saving services at Nasser hospital

Doctors have warned of an imminent disaster at Gaza's largest functioning hospital because of critical shortage of fuel and a widening Israeli ground offensive in the southern city of Khan Younis.

Nasser Medical Complex was forced to stop admitting patients on Thursday, when witnesses said Israeli troops and tanks advanced into a cemetery 200m (660ft) away and fired towards nearby camps for displaced families. The forces reportedly withdrew on Friday after digging up several areas.

Medical staff and dozens of patients in intensive care remain inside the hospital, where the fuel shortage threatens to shut down life-saving services.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

However, it said on Friday morning that an armoured brigade was operating in Khan Younis to dismantle "terrorist infrastructure sites" and confiscate weapons> It has previously issued evacuation orders for the areas around the hospital.

A witness told the BBC that Israeli tanks accompanied by excavators and bulldozers advanced from the south of the cemetery near Nasser hospital on Thursday.

The tanks fired shells and bullets as they moved into an area, which was previously farmland, and several tents belonging to displaced families were set on fire, the witness said. Video footage shared online showed a plume of dark smoke rising from the area.

The witness added that Israeli quadcopter drones also fired towards tents in the Namsawi Towers and al-Mawasi areas to force residents to evacuate. Another video showed dozens of people running for cover amid as gunfire rang out.

One or two civilians standing near the hospital's gates were reportedly injured by stray bullets.

Medical staff inside Nasser hospital meanwhile sent messages to local journalists expressing their fear. "We are still working in the hospital. The tanks are just metres away. We are closer to death than to life," they wrote.

On Friday morning, locals said the Israeli tanks and troops pulled out of the cemetery and other areas close to the hospital.

Pictures shared online later in the day appeared to show deep trenches dug into the sandy ground, flattened buildings, burnt tents, and crushed vehicles piled on top of each other.

Staff at Nasser hospital said they were assessing if they could resume admitting patients.

Anadolu via Getty Images People search for belongings after Israeli tanks and bulldozers operated in an area where there was a tent camp, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza (11 July 2025)Anadolu via Getty Images
Displaced people search for their belongings at the site of a camp near Nasser hospital that was destroyed by Israeli forces

On Wednesday, they warned that the hospital was very close to a complete shutdown due to a critical fuel shortage.

They said electricity generators were expected to function for one additional day despite significant efforts to reduce power consumption and restrict electricity to only the most critical departments, including the intensive care and neonatal units.

If the power went out completely, dozens of patients, particularly those dependent of ventilators, would "be in immediate danger and face certain death", the hospital added.

An Israeli military official told Reuters news agency on Thursday that around 160,000 litres of fuel destined for hospitals and other humanitarian facilities had entered Gaza since Wednesday, but that the fuel's distribution around the territory was not the responsibility of the army.

There is a shortage of critical medical supplies, especially those related to trauma care.

During a visit to Nasser hospital last week, the Gaza representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) described it as "one massive trauma ward".

Dr Rik Peeperkorn said in a video that the facility, which normally has a 350-bed capacity, was treating about 700 patients, and that exhausted staff were working 24 hours a day.

The director and doctors reported receiving hundreds of trauma cases over the past four weeks, the majority of them linked to incidents around aid distribution sites, he added.

"There's many boys, young adolescents who are dying or getting the most serious injuries because they try to get some food for their families," he said.

Among them were a 13-year-old boy who was shot in the head and is now tetraplegic, and a 21-year-old man who has a bullet lodged in his neck and is also tetraplegic.

On Friday, 10 people seeking aid were reportedly killed by Israeli military fire near an aid distribution site in the nearby southern city of Rafah. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not commented.

Reuters Medical personnel work in an operating room at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, amid a critical fuel shortage (9 July 2025)Reuters
Nasser hospital said doctors were performing some surgeries without electricity or air conditioning

Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, a senior Hamas commander was among eight people who were killed in an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Jabalia, a local source told the BBC.

Iyad Nasr, who led the Jabalia al-Nazla battalion, died alongside his family, including several children, and an aide when two missiles hit a classroom at Halima al-Saadia school, according to the source.

Another Hamas commander, Hassan Marii, and his aide were reportedly killed in a separate air strike on an apartment in al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.

It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal could be just days away, after concluding his four-day trip to the US.

Before flying back from Washington on Thursday night, he told Newsmax that the proposal would supposedly see Hamas release half of the 20 living hostages it is still holding and just over half of the 30 dead hostages during a 60-day truce.

"So, we'll have 10 living left and about 12 deceased hostages [remaining], but I'll get them out, too. I hope we can complete it in a few days," he added.

However, a Palestinian official told the BBC that the indirect negotiations in Qatar were stalled, with sticking points including aid distribution and Israeli troop withdrawals.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,762 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Map of Israeli evacuation and "no-go" zones in Gaza (9 July 2025)

Ukraine to receive US air defence systems, says Trump

Reuters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stands, visible above the shoulders dressed in a black shirt, his dark hair and beard short and face serious. Behind him is a camouflage-painted missile defence system.Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pictured in a file photo with a US Patriot defence system

US President Donald Trump has said he will send weapons, including Patriot air defence systems, for Ukraine via Nato.

Trump told NBC News that in a new deal, "we're going to be sending Patriots to Nato, and then Nato will distribute that", adding that Nato would pay for the weapons.

His announcement came after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of having a "positive dialogue" with Trump on ensuring that arms arrived on time, particularly air defence systems.

Zelensky said he had asked for 10 Patriot systems, after a surge in Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in the past week.

Speaking in Rome on Thursday, the Ukrainian leader said Germany was ready to pay for two of the Patriots and Norway for one, while other European partners were also prepared to help.

After a phone-call with Russia's Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said he was "not happy" that progress had not been made towards ending the war, and he has since complained that Putin's "very nice" attitude turned out to be meaningless.

During his interview with NBC News, Trump said he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday, but did not say what it would be about.

He said "Nato is going to reimburse the full cost" for the weapons sent on to Ukraine. Nato is funded through the contributions of its members, including the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday that he had urged countries including Germany and Spain to hand over some of their existing Patriot batteries, as they could reach Ukraine faster.

"We have continued to encourage our Nato allies to provide those weapons... since they have them in their stocks, then we can enter into financial agreements... where they can purchase the replacements."

The US defence department halted some shipments of critical weapons last week, raising concerns in Kyiv that its air defences could run low in a matter of months.

Among the armaments reported to have been placed on pause were Patriot interceptor missiles and precision artillery shells.

Then, as Ukraine was pounded by record numbers of drone attacks this week, Trump said more weapons would be sent: "We have to... They're getting hit very hard now."

Zelensky had appealed for the shipments to resume, describing the Patriot systems as "real protectors of life".

On Tuesday night, Ukraine was hit by a record 728 drones, and the Ukrainian president warned that Russia wanted to increase that to 1,000.

Heat map showing attacks on Ukraine

June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in Ukraine in three years, with 232 people killed and more than 1,300 injured, according to the UN.

Since re-entering the White House in January, Trump has pushed to scale back US support for Ukraine.

The US was the biggest source of military aid to Ukraine between the start of 2022 and the end of 2024, giving $69bn (£54.6bn) in that time period, according to German think tank the Kiel Institute.

Trump has also pressed Nato allies to pledge more of their GDP to the security alliance. Last year, all European Nato members pledged to spend 2% of GDP on defence.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The US has been urging the two countries to reach an agreement to end the war.

Rubio told reporters that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a "frank" conversation on the sidelines of a meeting in Malaysia on Thursday.

Rubio echoed Trump's "frustration at the lack of progress at peace talks", including "disappointment that there has not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict".

He said the two had shared some new ideas about how the conflict could conclude, which he would take back to Trump.

Rubio declined to elaborate on what Trump said would be a "major" announcement about Russia on Monday.

Iran could recover some enriched uranium after US strikes, Israeli official says

Getty Images Satellite Image of Isfahan nuclear facilitiyGetty Images
Isfahan was one of three Iranian nuclear facilities struck by US aircraft and missiles on 22 June

Israel believes that Iran could potentially retrieve enriched uranium buried beneath one of the three facilities struck by US forces last month, according to a senior Israeli official.

Speaking to US reporters, the official said that reaching the enriched uranium at Isfahan would be extremely difficult and any attempt would prompt renewed Israeli strikes.

Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that US air and missile strikes on Iran in June "obliterated" the country's nuclear facilities, even as some US intelligence agencies have taken a more cautious view.

Iran denies seeking to develop nuclear weapons and says its enrichment of uranium is for peaceful purposes.

In a briefing for reporters in Washington, the senior Israeli official - who declined to be named - said that intelligence indicates that much of Iran's enriched uranium is buried at Isfahan, which was struck by submarine-launched cruise missiles during "Operation Midnight Hammer" on 22 June.

The official, however, did not express concern about the assessment, noting that any Iranian attempt to recover the material would probably be detected.

According to the official, Israel's assessment is that Iran's nuclear programme was set back two years.

Trump and members of his administration have been adamant that the Iranian nuclear facilities were completely destroyed.

"As President Trump has said many times, Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran's nuclear facilities," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement sent to US media outlets. "The entire world is safer thanks to his decisive leadership."

The BBC has contacted the White House for further comment.

US intelligence assessments have been more cautious, with a leaked preliminary Defense Intelligence Agency report concluding that while all three sites - at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan - were heavily damaged, they were not completely destroyed.

In late June, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told US lawmakers that the destruction of Iran's only facility for producing metallic uranium effectively took away Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that while the three targeted Iranian sites were "destroyed to an important degree", parts are "still standing".

"Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared, and there is nothing there," Mr Grossi said.

In an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson published earlier this week, Iranian President Mahmoud Pezeshkian said that the facilities were "severely damaged".

"Therefore we don't have any access to them," he said, adding that a full assessment is impossible for now.

Graphic of Iran's main nuclear facilities

Kurdish PKK burns guns in big step towards ending Turkey conflict

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP A supporter holds a flag with the face of Abdullah Ocalan, with his face also on the backdrop behind herDELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP
Imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan still commands support among many Kurds

After 40 years of armed struggle against the Turkish state, the outlawed Kurdish PKK will hold a ceremony on Friday to mark a symbolic first step in laying down its arms.

The disarmament process will start under tight security in Iraqi Kurdistan and is expected to take all summer.

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has hailed the move as "totally ripping off and throwing away the bloody shackles that were put on our country's legs".

Some 40,000 people have been killed since the conflict began, and the PKK is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the US, EU and UK. Its disarmament will be felt not just in Turkey but in Iraq, Syria and Iran.

How and where will the PKK disarm?

A small group of PKK members will symbolically lay down their weapons in a ceremony near Suleymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan, before going back to their bases.

For security reasons, the exact location is not being revealed, although it's thought members of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Dem party will be there, even if other major Turkish political parties will not.

Disarmament will then continue over the coming months at points set up with the involvement of the Turkish, Iraqi and Kurdistan regional governments, BBC Turkish has been told.

In a video, the PKK's long-imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, said it was "a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law". He has been in solitary confinement on the small prison island of Imrali, south-west of Istanbul, since he was captured in 1999.

Who are the PKK and why has the conflict lasted so long?

Getty Images PKK fighters training in Iraqi KurdistanGetty Images
A fragile ceasefire with the PKK broke down in 2015

This is not the first attempt at peace involving Turkey and the PKK, but this is the best hope so far that the armed struggle that began in 1984 will come to an end.

Originally a Marxist group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party took up arms calling for an independent state inside Turkey.

In the 1990s, they called instead for greater autonomy for Kurds, who make up about 20% of the population.

Ocalan announced a ceasefire in 2013, and urged PKK forces to withdraw from Turkey. The 2015 Dolmabahce Agreement was supposed to bring democratic and language rights for Kurds, but the fragile truce collapsed amid devastating violence, especially in the Kurdish-dominated cities of the south-east, including Diyarbakir.

Turkey's air force targeted PKK bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. Several military campaigns have also targeted Kurdish-led forces in Syria.

The government in Ankara ruled out further talks until the PKK laid down its arms. That is now on the verge of happening.

Why has the PKK decided to disband?

In October 2024, a prominent nationalist leader and key Erdogan ally called Devlet Bahceli began a process described by the government as "terror-free Turkey". He urged the PKK's imprisoned leader to call for the dissolution of the outlawed group. It could pave the way for his possible release from Imrali island, he suggested.

The Turkish government launched talks with Ocalan via the pro-Kurdish Dem party, and then in February came his historic appeal for the PKK to disband, read out by two Dem MPs who had just returned from a visit to the prison island.

"All groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself," read Ocalan's letter.

The PKK had been formed primarily because "the channels of democratic politics were closed", he said, but Devlet Bahceli and Erdogan's own positive signals had created the right environment.

The PKK followed Ocalan's lead and declared a ceasefire and later declared that it had "completed its historical mission": the Kurdish issue could now "be resolved through democratic politics".

President Erdogan said it was an "opportunity to take a historic step toward tearing down the wall of terror" and met pro-Kurdish politicians in April.

Why is Ocalan so important?

ANF Seven men - three sitting and four standing - are in front of a camera looking solemn.ANF
Ocalan, in the centre at the front, released a video on Wednesday ahead of Friday's ceremony

As founder of the PKK, Ocalan continues to be reviled by many Turks, even after 26 years in solitary confinement.

And yet he still plays an important role in the eyes of Kurds.

"I think he really has this authority; he is a main symbol for many Kurds, not all," says Joost Jongerden, a specialist on the 41-year conflict at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Two days before the PKK were due to begin disarmament, Ocalan appeared on video for the first time since he was put on trial more than 20 years ago.

Speaking for seven minutes, he addressed the outlawed group: "I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons. And I call on you to put this principle into practice."

Ocalan was wearing a branded Lacoste polo shirt, and in an indication of his enduring relevance, the shirt quickly went viral and websites ran out of stock.

What happens next?

Reuters Turkey's President Erdogan looks at the camera Reuters
Turkey's President Erdogan has denied wanting to continue in office when his term runs out

After Friday's ceremony, the scene switches to Turkey's parliament in Ankara where a commission will be set up to make decisions on the next steps for the government.

As the summer recess is around the corner, no concrete decisions are expected for several months, when MPs vote on the commission's recommendations and President Erdogan has the final say.

What happens to Abdullah Ocalan is not yet clear. The government says his conditions in jail could be reviewed as the process unfolds, but any chance of release will be left to the latter stages.

What's in this process for Erdogan?

Erdogan's AK Party has begun work on changing the constitution, and there has been speculation that this would mean Erdogan would be able to run for the presidency again when his final term runs out in 2028.

The AKP and pro-Kurdish Dem party deny there is any link between the peace process and reshaping the constitution, but if Erdogan secures Dem support he would have a far greater chance of pushing through changes.

Erdogan is behind in the polls, but his main opposition rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, is in jail accused of corruption, which he denies, and more opposition mayors have been arrested as part of a crackdown in the past week.

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