Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman who earned international recognition after publicly testifying at her mass-rape trial last year, has been given France's top honour.

The 72-year-old was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France's Bastille Day.

Pelicot waived her right to anonymity during the high-profile trial against her husband who had drugged and raped her, in addition to inviting dozens of strangers to also abuse her over nearly a decade.

Pelicot was among 589 other people given France's highest award on Sunday.

She attended almost every day of the trial, which ended last December with Dominique Pelicot, 72, being given a maximum 20 years in jail for aggravated rape, after confessing to drugging her and recruiting around 50 men to rape her while she lay comatose in bed.

"I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too," Pelicot previously told reporters, adding that she wanted to make "shame swap sides" from the victim to the rapist.

French President Emmanuel Macron has publicly paid tribute to Pelicot as a trailblazer, adding that her "dignity and courage moved and inspired France and the world".

According to her lawyer, a memoir detailing Gisèle Pelicot's story in her own words will be published early next year.

US President Donald Trump has defended Pam Bondi, America's highest-ranking prosecutor, amid growing calls from the president's supporters for her to resign.

In a lengthy social media post, Trump hit out at complaints from critics who have accused Bondi of withholding more information about the death of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his so-called client list.

The mounting attacks from critics come after a memo released by Bondi's Justice Department last week failed to deliver what many had hoped would be major revelations in the Epstein case.

"Let Pam Bondi do her job," Trump wrote in all caps, encouraging his supporters to "not waste time and energy" on Epstein.

US Attorney General Bondi's critics include far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who was frequently seen with Trump on the campaign trail, and billionaire Elon Musk, Trump's biggest campaign donor.

The memo sent out on Monday, jointly released with the FBI, said there was "no incriminating client list" nor evidence to suggest Epstein had blackmailed high-profile figures suspected of being in what conservatives call the "deep state".

The government's findings were made, according to the memo, after reviewing more than 300 gigabytes of data.

The findings follow multiple pledges from Bondi to reveal potentially damaging evidence related to Epstein, including "a lot of names" and "a lot of flight logs".

Many of Bondi's past claims related to the Epstein files, and the possibility of hidden evidence, had been echoed by FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

After the memo was released, frustrations from Bongino led to a contentious meeting between him and Bondi in the White House on Wednesday, according to the BBC's media partner CBS News.

The feud highlighted what some have described as a growing division between the FBI and the Justice Department over the Epstein case.

On Friday, Loomer claimed on X that she was told Bongino was "seriously thinking about resigning".

Bongino did not show up to work on Friday, according to CBS News sources.

Epstein's sudden death aged 66 in a jail cell inside New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center has been a strong source of conspiracy theories for years.

The FBI and Justice Department's memo confirmed that Epstein died by suicide, which many people in Trump's orbit had questioned.

Bondi suggested to Fox News in February that Epstein's client list was "sitting on my desk right now to review".

However, she clarified those remarks in the White House on Tuesday, telling reporters that she was commenting on the entire Epstein "file" and other files.

The president's frustrations with the ongoing public interest in Epstein were on display last week in the White House, when he responded to a reporter's question with: "Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?"

Conservatives have long held the conspiracy theory that high-ranking Democrats would be implicated in a full release of the Epstein files. Now liberals are asking whether a reluctance to release the files is to shield Trump.

Ten people, including six children, have been killed in an Israeli air strike while waiting to fill water containers in central Gaza on Sunday, emergency service officials say.

Their bodies were sent to Nuseirat's al-Awda Hospital, which also treated 16 injured people, seven of them children, according to a doctor there.

Eyewitnesses said a drone fired a missile at a crowd of people queuing with empty jerry cans next to a water tanker in the heart of the al-Nuseirat refugee camp.

The Israeli military has been asked to comment.

Unverified footage shared online after the strike showed bloodied children and lifeless bodies, with screams of panic and desperation.

Residents rushed to the scene and transported the wounded using private vehicles and donkey carts.

The strike came as Israeli aerial attacks across the Gaza Strip have escalated.

A spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defense Agency said 19 other Palestinians had been killed on Sunday, in three separate strikes on residential buildings in central Gaza and Gaza City.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,882 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza's population has been displaced multiple times.

More than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed. The healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

This week, for the first time in 130 days, 75,000 litres of fuel was allowed into Gaza - "far from enough to meet the daily needs of the population and vital civilian aid operations", the United Nations said.

Nine UN agencies warned on Saturday that Gaza's fuel shortage had reached "critical levels", and if fuel ran out, it would affect hospitals, water systems, sanitation networks and bakeries.

"Hospitals are already going dark, maternity, neonatal and intensive care units are failing, and ambulances can no longer move," the UN said.

Ukraine says two agents working for Russia have been killed after a senior Ukrainian intelligence officer was shot dead on Thursday.

Col Ivan Voronych was shot several times in a Kyiv car park in board daylight, after being approached by an unidentified assailant who fled the scene.

The head of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), Vasyl Malyuk, said in a video statement that two agents working for Russia's security service FSB had been tracked down and "liquidated" after they resisted arrest on Sunday morning.

Separately, Ukraine's national police said the agents were "citizens of a foreign country", without giving any further details. There was no immediate response from Moscow.

CCTV footage of the incident on 10 July - verified by the news agency Reuters - showed a man leaving a building in Kyiv's southern Holosiivskyi district shortly after 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT), while another man ran towards him.

The SBU said on Sunday the suspects had been tracking Col Voronych's movements prior to the attack, and were sent the co-ordinates of a hiding place where they found a pistol with a silencer.

It said that after he was shot, they then tried to "lay low," but were found following a joint investigation with national police.

The SBU mainly focuses on internal security and counter-intelligence, like the UK's MI5. But it has played a prominent role in sabotage attacks and assassinations deep inside Russia since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Sources within Ukraine's security services told the BBC that the SBU was responsible for the killing of the high-ranking Russian Gen Igor Kirillov in December 2024.

In April, Gen Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow - which the Kremlin blamed on Kyiv.

Ukraine's security services have never officially admitted responsibility for the deaths.

This week's deaths come after Russian strikes on Ukraine have hit record levels.

On Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had faced its largest ever Russian aerial attack. In June, Ukraine recorded the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years, according to the UN.

Fighting has also continued on the frontlines, with Russia's military making slow gains in eastern Ukraine and retaking control of most of Russia's Kursk region that Kyiv's forces seized in a surprise offensive last summer.

Efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the more than three-year-long war have faltered.

A man has escaped a French prison by hiding in the bag of a fellow inmate who was leaving prison after serving their sentence, officials told local media.

The prison service has launched an investigation after the man escaped from Lyon-Corbas prison in south-east France on Friday, according to broadcaster BFMTV.

He "took advantage of the liberation of his fellow inmate to hide himself in his luggage and get out", the prison service said in a statement to AFP news agency.

French media have reported that the escaped prisoner was serving several sentences and was also under investigation in a case linked to organised crime.

A judicial investigation has also been opened into possible "escape as part of an organised gang and criminal conspiracy", according to local media.

Last month, the Lyon Bar Association expressed alarm about overcrowding at the Lyon-Corbas prison.

As of 1 May 2025, around 1,200 people were detained in the prison, which has capacity for 678 places, BFMTV had reported.

Thousands of South Korean medical students are set to return to classes after a 17-month long boycott, the Korean Medical Association has announced.

Trainee doctors walked out to oppose government plans to increase medical school admissions, arguing it would lower the quality of the education they received.

No timeline for their return has been provided by the association, but the group has urged the government to restore the academic calendar and improve training conditions.

Prime Minister Kim Min-Seok welcomed the end of the boycott, describing it as a "big step forward".

"It's time to take a deeper look at the medical field, the Congress, and the government, so that citizens can help solve problems," he wrote in a statement on Facebook.

The Korean Medical Association said "we will place our trust in the government and parliament and commit to returning to school to help normalize medical education and the healthcare system," in a reported statement issued jointly with the parliament's education committee and other lobby groups.

The government wanted to increase the annual admittance of medical students to universities from around 3,000 to roughly 5,000, saying more staff were needed to meet demand.

It went back on its plan in March 2025.

Yonhap News Agency reported that 8,305 students will be subject to grade retention, requiring them to repeat the same academic year, according to the education ministry.

M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo recently allowed the BBC to visit a huge mining site under their control which is vital to the production of the world's mobile phones - and over its vast expanse not one person was idle.

Thousands of miners dotted the landscape covered with pits and tunnels.

Some were deep underground digging up ore with shovels, others then hoisted sacks of the extracted rock containing coltan, which is used to make many electronic devices, on to their shoulders. They then took it to assembly points where others washed and filtered it with spades and by hand.

"We usually have more than 10,000 or more people working here daily," Patrice Musafiri, who has supervised the Rubaya mining site since the rebels took control of it in April last year, told the BBC.

It is tricky terrain to navigate - our team needed the aid of walking sticks, as well as Mr Musafiri's guidance, to stop us falling - yet for most of the men it is the only life they have known. It may be onerous and dangerous, but it allows them to make a small living.

"When we are deep in the mines, temperatures are very high - digging the mineral is also very hard... plus there can be other harmful gases," mineworker Peter Osiasi told the BBC.

"Sometimes cold air is pumped inside so that we can continue working," he said.

But the young man said he was grateful that since he began mining five years ago, he has been able to save a little money for a dowry and is now married with children.

"My life has really changed. Mining has really helped me."

The swathe of golden scarred earth they mine is found in the sprawling, lush Masisi Hills of North Kivu province - around 60km (37 miles) north-west of the city of Goma - and holds 15% of the world's coltan supply and half of the DR Congo's total deposits.

Little wonder that global investors have their eyes on this area.

It has provided immense wealth over the years to the various armed groups that have overseen it at different times, including the army.

We arrived at the mine, which is around 10km outside Rubaya town, several days after a ceasefire deal was signed in Washington by DR Congo and Rwanda as part of the peace process aimed at ending three decades of instability in the region.

The roots of the insecurity in the east of DR Congo are notoriously complicated.

There is an ethnic dimension, with many rebel groups operating here - including an ethnic Hutu militia linked to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which Kigali believes has Congolese backing.

• What's the fighting in DR Congo all about?
• Ceasefire deal still faces many challenges
• The evidence that shows Rwanda is backing rebels in DR Congo

In Washington both sides committed on 27 June to disarm and disengage their alleged proxies (despite denying having any).

The M23 was not party to the deal. Mainly led by ethnic Tutsis, it controls large parts of eastern DR Congo - and since January has taken control of Goma, the city of Bukavu and two airports. Rwanda has been accused by many — including the UN — of backing the M23. However, the authorities there deny sending military or financial aid.

The US's involvement in the process seems to hinge on getting access to DR Congo's mineral resources - though nothing has so far been specified.

"We're getting for the United States, a lot of the mineral rights from the [DR] Congo," said US President Donald Trump ahead of the signing.

During our brief visit - we were allowed access for around 45 minutes - there was no hint that the chain of command was about to change.

The supervisor, appointed by the M23, was keen to explain how the set-up at Rubaya had been reorganised over the last year and how the rebel group had brought security to allow miners to work without fear - specifying that no armed men were allowed on the site.

"We have already solved so many issues," Mr Musafiri said.

"Presently we have a mining department that regulates and monitors safety issues and also resolves internal disputes within the mines. If a tunnel becomes dangerous, people are told to leave to avoid accidents.

"People from different groups come here to mine daily and others to buy the minerals and now we have a huge market in Goma where they can resell what they buy here."

In December, a UN experts' report detailed how the M23 makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each month from taxing coltan, much of it was sent directly to Rwanda - allegations both the M23 and Kigali deny.

Surrounded by his colleagues wearing jeans, sweaters and wellington boots, all of whom buy permits to work at the site, Mr Osiasi agreed that conditions were better.

"Business is going on very well here because we have at least some semblance of peace, but the pay is very low. We are paid very little money," the miner said.

Trump's second term coincided with the M23's seizure of much of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and the humiliating retreat of the Congolese army.

Political analyst Akramm Tumsifu says DR Congo decided to use its rich mineral reserves as a bargaining chip to get US assistance - for months it had sought military support.

With a tentative peace process under way, the Congolese authorities' great hope, he told the BBC, was that American firms would be in a position to make "massive investments" in its mining sector, which is currently dominated by Chinese companies.

US companies are reportedly already looking to cash in on the opportunity to invest in Rubaya's mining sector.

The Rubaya supervisor told us investment would be welcomed, but only initiatives aimed at boosting the local economy - with jobs, schools and hospitals - would be allowed.

"Any foreign investor can come here, as long as they come with development for our people and increase daily wages for the miners," Mr Musafiri said.

Despite the country's colossal natural endowments, most mining communities have little infrastructure, without even accessible roads to the mines where the wealth is scooped from the ground.

Mr Tumsifu reckons the presence of American investors could also act as a "caution against fighting or a resurgence of other armed groups".

But it is not yet clear how or with whom an investor would do business given the M23 is still very much in control in the east.

A parallel mediation effort led by Qatar - which involves direct talks between the armed groups and the Congolese government - may yield more clarity in the coming months.

The M23, which is part of the broader Congo River Alliance, said the Washington-backed deal had fallen short of addressing the causes of the long conflict. It maintains it took up arms to protect the rights of the minority Tutsi group in DR Congo.

While the belligerents try and hammer out their preferred pathways to peace, local people at the Rubaya mine, like elsewhere in eastern DR Congo, only hope for a definitive end to the fighting and bloodshed which has seen hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes.

"My appeal to fellow young men and our leaders is to keep and maintain peace in our area," said Mr Osiasi.

As he prepared to go back to hours of more digging, he added: "I also appeal to the owners of the mines to increase our pay because it's very little."

Additional reporting by the BBC's Robert Kiptoo and Hassan Lali

You may also be interested in:

• Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR Congo
• DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal met with scepticism in rebel-held city
• How DR Congo's Tutsis become foreigners in their own country
• Goma under M23 rule: 'They killed all these young people'
• 'They took all the women here': Rape survivors recall horror of DR Congo jailbreak

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

The US attorney general has ordered charges to be dropped against a doctor accused of destroying Covid-19 vaccines worth $28,000 (£20,742), distributing fake vaccination record cards, and giving children saline shots instead of the vaccine at their parents' request.

Pam Bondi said Dr Michael Kirk Moore Jr. "gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so". He had been indicted by the Justice Department under the Biden administration in 2023.

The plastic surgeon was already on trial in Utah, where he had pleaded not guilty to all charges including conspiracy to defraud the US.

The acting US Attorney for the district of Utah, Felice John Viti, filed to dismiss the charges on Saturday, saying this was "in the interests of justice".

Dr Moore was accused of providing fraudulently completed vaccination certificates for more than 1,900 vaccine doses, the US Attorney's office in Utah said in 2023.

These were allegedly provided, without administering the vaccine, for a charge of $50 (£37), in exchange for direct cash payments or donations to a specific charity.

The government also accused him of giving children saline shots at their parents' request so that the "children would think they were receiving a COVID-19 vaccine," according to the US attorney's office.

He was accused alongside his company - Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah, Inc. - and three others of seeking to defraud the US and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Bondi wrote on X on Saturday that she had ordered the Justice Department to drop the charges because Dr Moore "did not deserve the years in prison he was facing".

She said US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Senator Mike Lee, both Republicans, had brought the case to her attention, calling them champions for "ending the weaponization of government".

Lee thanked the attorney general for "standing with the countless Americans who endured too many official lies, mandates, and lockdowns during COVID".

Dr Moore and other defendants faced up to 35 years in prison on multiple charges, according to the Associated Press news agency.

The current US Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ran a group for eight years, Children's Health Defense, that repeatedly questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccination.

Kennedy has in the last year repeatedly said he is not "anti-vax" and will not be "taking away anybody's vaccines".

President Donald Trump has announced that the European Union and Mexico will face a 30% tariff on imports to the US from 1 August.

He warned he would impose even higher import taxes if either of the US trading partners decided to retaliate.

The announcement was made in two letters posted on Trump's Truth Social website. Similar letters were sent this week to several other countries.

The 27-member EU - America's biggest trading partner - said earlier this week it hoped to agree a deal with Washington before 1 August.

In the letter to European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Trump wrote: "We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with the European Union, and have concluded that we must move away from these long-term-large, and persistent, trade deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-tariff, policies and trade barriers."

"Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal," the letter added.

The EU has been a frequent target of Trump's criticism, and in April Washington announced levies of 20% on European goods.

In 2024, the US trade deficit with the bloc was $235.6bn (€202bn; £174bn), according to the office of the US trade representative.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

The Nasser hospital in southern Gaza has said 24 people have been killed near an aid distribution site.

Palestinians who were present at the site said Israeli troops opened fire as people were trying to access food on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said there were "no known injured individuals" from IDF fire near the site.

Separately, an Israeli military official said warning shots were fired to disperse people who the IDF believed were a threat.

The claims by both sides have not been independently verified. Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza.

Footage seen by the BBC later on Saturday showed what appeared to be a number of body bags at Nasser hospital's courtyard surrounded by nurses and people in blood-stained clothes.

In another video, a man said people were waiting to get aid when they came under targeted fire for five minutes. A paramedic accused Israeli troops of killing in cold blood.

The videos have not been verified by the BBC.

Reuters said it had spoken to witnesses who described people being shot in the head and torso. The news agency also reported seeing bodies wrapped in white shrouds at Nasser hospital.

There have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food in Gaza.

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in March, and later resumed its military offensive against Hamas, 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.

In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid.

On Friday, the UN human rights office said that it had so far recorded 798 aid-related 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.

Earlier this month, a former security contractor for the GHF told the BBC he witnessed colleagues opening fire several times on hungry Palestinians who had posed no threat. The GHF said the allegations were categorically false.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' cross-border attack 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 Hamas-run health ministry.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered Moscow his "unconditional support" on the war in Ukraine, according to Pyongyang state media reports.

In talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in North Korea, Kim said that Pyongyang stood by "all the measures taken by the Russian leadership" to tackle the "root cause of the Ukrainian crisis".

Western officials believe Pyongyang has sent an estimated 11,000 troops to Russia over the last year to fight against Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

According to North Korean state media KCNA news agency, Kim and Lavrov met on Saturday in "an atmosphere full of warm comradely trust".

The North Korean leader also expressed a "firm belief that the Russian army and people would surely win victory in accomplishing the sacred cause of defending the dignity and basic interests of the country".

On Telegram, Russia's foreign ministry posted a video showing the two men shaking hands and greeting each other with a hug.

Lavrov also met with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui and thanked the "heroic" North Korean soldiers deployed to aid Russia, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

North Korea's renewed military support for Russia comes as US President Donald Trump has resumed military supplies to Ukraine, after a brief hiatus.

Trump told NBC News on Thursday that he had made a deal with Nato for the US to send Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine via the alliance, after a surge of Russian aerial attacks.

Pyongyang first publicly acknowledged sending troops to Russia in April, months after Ukraine and the West revealed the large-scale troop movement from North Korea to the Russian-Ukrainian frontline.

Kim signed an accord with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in June last year, agreeing to support each other if either country was dealing with "aggression".

Apart from soldiers, North Korea also promised to send thousands of workers to help rebuild Russia's war-torn Kursk region, Moscow's security chief said last month.

A federal California judge has ordered the Trump administration to stop "indiscriminately" detaining people thought to be in the US illegally.

The decision came down in a temporary restraining order issued against the government on Friday, which also bars immigration officials from denying individuals access to lawyers.

The case was brought in a lawsuit filed by three immigrants, arrested at a Pasadena bus stop while looking for work, and two US citizens who were held, one of whom had reportedly shown an ID.

The Department of Homeland Security responded to the judge's order in a social media post, accusing her of "undermining the will of the American people".

US District Judge Maame Frimpong's emergency orders are a temporary measure while the lawsuit continues.

In her order, Judge Frimpong said there was a "mountain of evidence" to support that officials have been performing "roving patrols", defined as "indiscriminately rounding up individuals without reasonable suspicion". This would violate the US Constitution, she said.

The government cannot base its immigration arrests "solely" on factors including "race or ethnicity", "speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent", or "presence at a particular location" such as a bus stop or car wash, Judge Frimpong said.

Judge Frimpong's decision comes as the Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to crackdown on illegal immigration, particularly in California, a Democratic stronghold that has long held the ire of President Donald Trump.

Raids in Los Angeles, in particular, were met with widespread protests over immigration enforcement in the region.

An immigration raid at a marijuana farm in California on Thursday led to violent protests and the arrests of more than 200 people, including 10 minors.

Some farm workers were critically injured during the "chaotic" Ventura County raids, the United Farm Workers said in a statement.

Human rights advocates have accused the government of illegal discrimination and denying people their Constitutional rights.

"No matter the color of their skin, what language they speak, or where they work, everyone is guaranteed constitutional rights to protect them from unlawful stops," Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, said in a statement.

The government, however, says it is prioritising violent criminals as ICE tries to meet a daily quota of 3,000 daily arrests, part of Trump's stated goal to launch the "largest deportation" campaign in US history.

"America's brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists—truly the worst of the worst from Golden State communities," Homeland Security wrote on X, in response to the judge's order.

M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo recently allowed the BBC to visit a huge mining site under their control which is vital to the production of the world's mobile phones - and over its vast expanse not one person was idle.

Thousands of miners dotted the landscape covered with pits and tunnels.

Some were deep underground digging up ore with shovels, others then hoisted sacks of the extracted rock containing coltan, which is used to make many electronic devices, on to their shoulders. They then took it to assembly points where others washed and filtered it with spades and by hand.

"We usually have more than 10,000 or more people working here daily," Patrice Musafiri, who has supervised the Rubaya mining site since the rebels took control of it in April last year, told the BBC.

It is tricky terrain to navigate - our team needed the aid of walking sticks, as well as Mr Musafiri's guidance, to stop us falling - yet for most of the men it is the only life they have known. It may be onerous and dangerous, but it allows them to make a small living.

"When we are deep in the mines, temperatures are very high - digging the mineral is also very hard... plus there can be other harmful gases," mineworker Peter Osiasi told the BBC.

"Sometimes cold air is pumped inside so that we can continue working," he said.

But the young man said he was grateful that since he began mining five years ago, he has been able to save a little money for a dowry and is now married with children.

"My life has really changed. Mining has really helped me."

The swathe of golden scarred earth they mine is found in the sprawling, lush Masisi Hills of North Kivu province - around 60km (37 miles) north-west of the city of Goma - and holds 15% of the world's coltan supply and half of the DR Congo's total deposits.

Little wonder that global investors have their eyes on this area.

It has provided immense wealth over the years to the various armed groups that have overseen it at different times, including the army.

We arrived at the mine, which is around 10km outside Rubaya town, several days after a ceasefire deal was signed in Washington by DR Congo and Rwanda as part of the peace process aimed at ending three decades of instability in the region.

The roots of the insecurity in the east of DR Congo are notoriously complicated.

There is an ethnic dimension, with many rebel groups operating here - including an ethnic Hutu militia linked to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which Kigali believes has Congolese backing.

• What's the fighting in DR Congo all about?
• Ceasefire deal still faces many challenges
• The evidence that shows Rwanda is backing rebels in DR Congo

In Washington both sides committed on 27 June to disarm and disengage their alleged proxies (despite denying having any).

The M23 was not party to the deal. Mainly led by ethnic Tutsis, it controls large parts of eastern DR Congo - and since January has taken control of Goma, the city of Bukavu and two airports. Rwanda has been accused by many — including the UN — of backing the M23. However, the authorities there deny sending military or financial aid.

The US's involvement in the process seems to hinge on getting access to DR Congo's mineral resources - though nothing has so far been specified.

"We're getting for the United States, a lot of the mineral rights from the [DR] Congo," said US President Donald Trump ahead of the signing.

During our brief visit - we were allowed access for around 45 minutes - there was no hint that the chain of command was about to change.

The supervisor, appointed by the M23, was keen to explain how the set-up at Rubaya had been reorganised over the last year and how the rebel group had brought security to allow miners to work without fear - specifying that no armed men were allowed on the site.

"We have already solved so many issues," Mr Musafiri said.

"Presently we have a mining department that regulates and monitors safety issues and also resolves internal disputes within the mines. If a tunnel becomes dangerous, people are told to leave to avoid accidents.

"People from different groups come here to mine daily and others to buy the minerals and now we have a huge market in Goma where they can resell what they buy here."

In December, a UN experts' report detailed how the M23 makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each month from taxing coltan, much of it was sent directly to Rwanda - allegations both the M23 and Kigali deny.

Surrounded by his colleagues wearing jeans, sweaters and wellington boots, all of whom buy permits to work at the site, Mr Osiasi agreed that conditions were better.

"Business is going on very well here because we have at least some semblance of peace, but the pay is very low. We are paid very little money," the miner said.

Trump's second term coincided with the M23's seizure of much of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and the humiliating retreat of the Congolese army.

Political analyst Akramm Tumsifu says DR Congo decided to use its rich mineral reserves as a bargaining chip to get US assistance - for months it had sought military support.

With a tentative peace process under way, the Congolese authorities' great hope, he told the BBC, was that American firms would be in a position to make "massive investments" in its mining sector, which is currently dominated by Chinese companies.

US companies are reportedly already looking to cash in on the opportunity to invest in Rubaya's mining sector.

The Rubaya supervisor told us investment would be welcomed, but only initiatives aimed at boosting the local economy - with jobs, schools and hospitals - would be allowed.

"Any foreign investor can come here, as long as they come with development for our people and increase daily wages for the miners," Mr Musafiri said.

Despite the country's colossal natural endowments, most mining communities have little infrastructure, without even accessible roads to the mines where the wealth is scooped from the ground.

Mr Tumsifu reckons the presence of American investors could also act as a "caution against fighting or a resurgence of other armed groups".

But it is not yet clear how or with whom an investor would do business given the M23 is still very much in control in the east.

A parallel mediation effort led by Qatar - which involves direct talks between the armed groups and the Congolese government - may yield more clarity in the coming months.

The M23, which is part of the broader Congo River Alliance, said the Washington-backed deal had fallen short of addressing the causes of the long conflict. It maintains it took up arms to protect the rights of the minority Tutsi group in DR Congo.

While the belligerents try and hammer out their preferred pathways to peace, local people at the Rubaya mine, like elsewhere in eastern DR Congo, only hope for a definitive end to the fighting and bloodshed which has seen hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes.

"My appeal to fellow young men and our leaders is to keep and maintain peace in our area," said Mr Osiasi.

As he prepared to go back to hours of more digging, he added: "I also appeal to the owners of the mines to increase our pay because it's very little."

Additional reporting by the BBC's Robert Kiptoo and Hassan Lali

You may also be interested in:

• Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR Congo
• DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal met with scepticism in rebel-held city
• How DR Congo's Tutsis become foreigners in their own country
• Goma under M23 rule: 'They killed all these young people'
• 'They took all the women here': Rape survivors recall horror of DR Congo jailbreak

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

For years, from behind a computer screen, Erin Patterson built up a reputation in an online true crime community as a "super sleuth".

Today, she herself has become a true crime obsession.

When three people died – and another fell gravely ill - after eating toxic-mushroom-laced beef Wellingtons at her home in rural Victoria two years ago, her entire life was put under a microscope.

Journalists have descended from around the world to cover her lengthy murder trial, spectators have queued daily to nab a spot in the courtroom, and thousands of people have picked apart details of the case online.

But, despite a jury earlier this week finding her guilty on all charges, the frenzy of speculation and depth of fascination has only intensified.

"It has shades of Macbeth," criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told the BBC.

It was in one of Australia's smallest courtrooms that its biggest trial in recent history took place.

Over 11 weeks, seven documentary-making teams cast their lens on the tiny town of Morwell. Podcasters here were a dime a dozen. Journalists vied for the six seats reserved for media inside the court each day. Even one of Australia's best-loved authors, Helen Garner, frequently dropped by the Latrobe Valley Law Courts, fuelling rumours that she is preparing to write another best-seller.

Waiting with the sea of tripods outside the building most mornings of the trial was a queue of camp chairs.

Come rain, frost or fog, court watchers – predominantly women, often rugged up in beanies and encased in sleeping bags – watched for the moment the glass doors would open.

Once inside, they would lay a line of belongings – scarves, water bottles, notepads, bags – outside the courtroom entry to reserve their spot.

Tammy Egglestone commuted for more than an hour to reach Morwell most days of the trial. "I'm a bit of a true crime fanatic," she explains.

She was in court when it heard evidence that Patterson was once just like her.

Patterson had been an active member in a Facebook group focussed on the crimes of Keli Lane, a woman who was found guilty of killing her two-day-old daughter in one of Australia's most notorious cases.

In 2018, Lane became the subject of a major podcast after writing to a journalist claiming to have been wrongly convicted and begging her to investigate.

At Patterson's trial, one of her online friends Christine Hunt said she was renowned among her peers for her nimble researching and tech skills.

"She was a bit of a super sleuth," she said. "She was highly regarded in that group."

But as her case unfolded in Morwell, Patterson was also put on trial in the court of public opinion.

She became water-cooler talk in workplaces around the country, gossip among friend groups, and the ultimate topic of debate online.

Thousands of people theorised over a motive for the crime, provided commentary on bits of evidence, and even alleged corrupt forces were behind the case – much of the discussion unfounded, almost all of it in breach of laws designed to give defendants a fair trial.

Memes filled social media feeds. On Google Maps, someone created a restaurant listing at Patterson's home address. Others shared trial bingo cards they had created for those following it closely.

Throughout the week the jury was considering their verdict, sequestered in a hotel to protect them from the maelstrom, the question everyone had was: what were they thinking?

"What are they doing in there?" one lawyer was overheard asking in a Morwell café on day four of deliberations.

With jury members bound by strict secrecy requirements, we will never know.

"In the US, they can interview jurors after a trial," criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told the BBC. "We can't get into the heads of jurors in Australia… so it's really hard to know what they're thinking has been and why they've come to that conclusion."

That leaves a massive vacuum for members of the public to fill with their speculation.

People like Ms Egglestone pondered: if the poisoning was intended to kill, wouldn't Patterson have planned and executed it better?

"I've come in here [as] Switzerland," Ms Egglestone clarified, calling the discourse around the case "very pitchforky".

"You know, [it's] she's guilty, she's guilty, she's guilty.

"And a lot of them are using hindsight reasoning. 'If I was in that situation, I wouldn't do this, this and this.' Well, you don't know what you would do in that situation."

But people like her were drowned out by the hordes proclaiming Patterson guilty.

Many said it was her lies that convinced them. Some claimed the evidence showed a clear lack of empathy and concern for those who died.

"What really gave her away was wearing white pants when she had 'gastro' and needed to go to hospital for it!" one person posted, referring to CCTV footage of her movements in the days after the lunch, which was played at the trial.

Already, the case has inspired a television special, a silver screen drama series, a bevy of podcasts, several documentaries and a handful of books.

"It has those typical cliché things that make true crime sell," Ms Egglestone said, explaining why she and flocks of others have become obsessed with the case.

"The fact that she did take out family members... [she's] white, female, financially stable, you know. And they're all church people."

For David Peters, seemingly benign circumstances surrounding the crime – and the fact it was in his local area – drew him in: "The fact that it was a family sitting down to do something you would consider to be safe - have a meal - and then the consequences of that meal..."

Several people tell the BBC the case reminds them of the frenzy over Lindy Chamberlain's notorious trial in 1982. She was falsely convicted of murder after her infant daughter Azaria was taken from an outback campsite by a dingo.

It's no coincidence that both of those cases centre around women, criminology researcher Brandy Cochrane tells the BBC.

The world has long been fascinated by women who kill – in no small part because it contradicts their traditional "caring" gender role, they explain.

Those stereotypes also cast a shadow on Patterson's time in court.

"She's expected to act in a particular way, and she's not," says Dr Cochrane, a lecturer at Victoria University.

"It's like, 'Oh, obviously she's guilty, she's not crying the whole time' or 'Obviously she's guilty, she's lied about this'. The legal system in and of itself treats women very differently."

Away from the ghoulish spectre of the trial, there's anger – albeit dwindling – among the communities where the victims are from over the way the case has been dissected, local councillor Nathan Hersey tells the BBC.

Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson were respected and adored by many in the South Gippsland region, he says, but it feels like they've been forgotten.

"This has been an extremely high-profile case that's brought a lot of attention, often unwanted through to our local community.

"[And] some people haven't had that humanity… they've certainly lost focus that for people, there is a loss, there is grief."

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has been barred from European stages ever since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A close ally of Vladimir Putin for many years, the director of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Russian state theatres has never spoken out against the war.

But a region of southern Italy has now invited Gergiev back to Europe, signalling the artist's rehabilitation even as Russia's attacks on Ukraine intensify.

Vincenzo de Luca, who runs the Campania region, insists that the concert at the Un'Estate da RE festival later this month will go ahead despite a growing swell of criticism.

"Culture… must not be influenced by politics and political logic," De Luca said in a livestream on Friday. "We do not ask these men to answer for the choices made by politicians."

The 76-year-old local leader has previously called Europe's broad veto on pro-Putin artists "a moment of stupidity – a moment of madness" at the start of the war and announced that he was "proud" to welcome Gergiev to town.

But Pina Picierno, a vice-president of the European Parliament, has told the BBC that allowing Gergiev's return is "absolutely unacceptable".

She calls the star conductor a "cultural mouthpiece for Putin and his crimes".

Ukrainian human rights activist and Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk said the invitation by the regional government was "hypocrisy", rather than neutrality.

Russian opposition activists have also condemned the director's sudden return. The Anti-Corruption Foundation, of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, wants his concert cancelled and is calling on Italy's interior ministry to ban Gergiev's entry to the country.

Before Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, the virtuoso Gergiev was a regular visitor to stages in Italy and across Europe, despite his closeness to Putin.

His long and illustrious career includes stints at the London Symphony Orchestra and Munich Philharmonic.

But the invitations to Europe stopped abruptly on 24 February 2022.

Hours before the first Russian missiles were launched at Ukraine, Gergiev was on stage at Milan's La Scala opera house. Urged then by the city's mayor to speak out against the war, Gergiev chose silence.

He was promptly dropped from the bill.

Abandoned by his manager, despite calling Gergiev "the greatest conductor alive", he was then fired as chief conductor in Munich and removed from concert schedules across the continent.

That's why the invitation from Italy is so controversial.

Pina Picierno, who is from the Campania region herself, says her call to stop the event is not Russophobic.

"There is no shortage of brilliant Russian artists who choose to disassociate themselves from Putin's criminal policies," she told the BBC.

The European MP, who says she has received threats for her work exposing Russia's hybrid warfare, warns that allowing Gergiev to perform would be both wrong and dangerous.

"This is not about censorship. Gergiev is part of a deliberate Kremlin strategy. He is one of their cultural envoys to soften Western public opinion. This is part of their war."

The cultural controversy erupted in a week when Italy was hosting heads of state from all over Europe to reaffirm their support for Ukraine and discuss how to rebuild the country once the war is over.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been a strong and consistent critic of Vladimir Putin from the start. But her culture ministry is one of the backers of Un'Estate da RE, which has invited Gergiev.

A senior MP from Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, Alfredo Antoniozzi, has described Gergiev as "simply a great artist".

"If Russians have to pay for the mistakes of their president, then we are committing a kind of cultural genocide," he argued.

Last month, Canada formally barred Gergiev from entry and declared it would freeze any assets.

But the European Union has shied away from formal sanctions against the conductor, who has avoided voicing open support for the war.

Gergiev has been a vocal supporter of Putin since the 1990s, later campaigning for his re-election and backing Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.

He was handed management of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, in addition to the Mariinsky Theatre, taking over from a director who signed an open letter against Russia's war.

Gergiev is a state employee, but in 2022 an investigation by Alexei Navalny's team uncovered properties in several Italian cities that they say he never declared.

They also alleged he used donations to a charitable fund to pay for his own lavish lifestyle.

The activists argued that was Gergiev's reward for his public loyalty to Putin.

The BBC has so far been unable to reach the conductor for comment.

A spokeswoman for the European Commission, Eva Hrncirova, has clarified that the Un'Estate da RE festival is not receiving EU cash: it is financed by Italy's own "cohesion funds".

But she added that the commission urged European stages not to give space "to artists who support the war of aggression in Ukraine".

In Campania, the artistic director who crafted this year's festival programme declined to comment. A spokesman was confident Gergiev's performance would go ahead, though – despite the controversy.

"Yes," he assured the BBC. "For sure."

Additional reporting from Rome by Davide Ghiglione.

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.

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.

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."

President Donald Trump has announced that the European Union and Mexico will face a 30% tariff on imports to the US from 1 August.

He warned he would impose even higher import taxes if either of the US trading partners decided to retaliate.

The announcement was made in two letters posted on Trump's Truth Social website. Similar letters were sent this week to several other countries.

The 27-member EU - America's biggest trading partner - said earlier this week it hoped to agree a deal with Washington before 1 August.

In the letter to European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Trump wrote: "We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with the European Union, and have concluded that we must move away from these long-term-large, and persistent, trade deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-tariff, policies and trade barriers."

"Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal," the letter added.

The EU has been a frequent target of Trump's criticism, and in April Washington announced levies of 20% on European goods.

In 2024, the US trade deficit with the bloc was $235.6bn (€202bn; £174bn), according to the office of the US trade representative.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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The Nasser hospital in southern Gaza has said 24 people have been killed near an aid distribution site.

Palestinians who were present at the site said Israeli troops opened fire as people were trying to access food on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said there were "no known injured individuals" from IDF fire near the site.

Separately, an Israeli military official said warning shots were fired to disperse people who the IDF believed were a threat.

The claims by both sides have not been independently verified. Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza.

Footage seen by the BBC later on Saturday showed what appeared to be a number of body bags at Nasser hospital's courtyard surrounded by nurses and people in blood-stained clothes.

In another video, a man said people were waiting to get aid when they came under targeted fire for five minutes. A paramedic accused Israeli troops of killing in cold blood.

The videos have not been verified by the BBC.

Reuters said it had spoken to witnesses who described people being shot in the head and torso. The news agency also reported seeing bodies wrapped in white shrouds at Nasser hospital.

There have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food in Gaza.

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in March, and later resumed its military offensive against Hamas, 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.

In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid.

On Friday, the UN human rights office said that it had so far recorded 798 aid-related 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.

Earlier this month, a former security contractor for the GHF told the BBC he witnessed colleagues opening fire several times on hungry Palestinians who had posed no threat. The GHF said the allegations were categorically false.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' cross-border attack 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 Hamas-run health ministry.

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.'"

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."

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.

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.

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.

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."

A backpacker survived nearly two weeks lost in Western Australia's outback by drinking from puddles and sleeping in a cave, police have said.

Carolina Wilga, 26, from Germany, was rescued on Friday. She had suffered from exhaustion, dehydration, "extensive insect bites" and an injured foot, according to police.

Officers said she walked 24km (15 miles) away from her van in a "confused and disorientated" state after it became stuck in remote bushland.

Ms Wilga had convinced herself she was not going to be found, police said, adding that the backpacker's family was relieved and thankful.

"She spent 11 nights exposed to the elements and survived by consuming the minimal food supplies she had in her possession, and drinking water from rain and puddles," a Western Australia police statement said.

The rescue was down to "sheer luck", acting police inspector Jessica Securo said in a news conference.

Ms Wilga was spotted by a driver and airlifted to a hospital in Perth.

Tania Henley, the driver, told Australia's public broadcaster ABC that she saw Ms Wilga waving her hands by the side of the road, and she appeared to be in a "fragile state".

"Everything in this bush is very prickly. I just can't believe that she survived. She had no shoes on, she'd wrapped her foot up," Ms Henley said.

Before her rescue, Ms Wilga was last seen at a general store in the town of Beacon, Western Australia, in her van on 29 June.

Police found her abandoned van on Thursday in dense bushland north of Beacon.

Securo said it appeared Ms Wilga had lost control of the vehicle, which became mechanically unsound and bogged.

Ms Wilga has had a "good night's sleep" in hospital and is "just taking it one day at a time", Securo said.

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

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.

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.

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.

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."

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."

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.

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.

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.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

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."

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.

• 'Shoot in the leg' - Kenyan leader orders police to curb violent protests
• Why the death of a blogger has put Kenya's police on trial
• New faces of protest - Kenya's Gen Z anti-tax revolutionaries

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.

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."

You may also be interested in:

• Are East African governments uniting to silence dissent?
• BBC identifies security forces who shot Kenya anti-tax protesters
• El Chapo & Deputy Jesus - why Kenya's president has so many nicknames
• 'We live in fear' - forced expulsions taint Kenya's safe haven image

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

A resident of Arizona has died from pneumonic plague, health officials confirmed on Friday.

This was the first recorded death from the disease in the county since 2007, Coconino County Health and Human Services reported. In that case, a person had an interaction with a dead animal infected with the disease.

Plague, known as the "Black Death" in the 14th century, killed up to half of Europe's population. It is now rare in humans and can be treated with antibiotics.

An average of seven human plague cases are reported each year in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

Coconino County government said the risk to the public of exposure remains low.

"Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the deceased," Coconino County Board of Supervisors Chair Patrice Horstman said in a statement. "We are keeping them in our thoughts during this difficult time. Out of respect for the family, no additional information about the death will be released."

Pneumonic plague is a severe lung infection caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium.

There are different forms of plague, such as bubonic plague, which is the most common and is caused by the bite of an infected flea. Pneumonic plague, which spreads to the lungs from other untreated forms of plague, is the most serious and is usually rare.

Symptoms of the bubonic plague in humans typically appear within two to eight days after exposure and may include fever, chills, headache, weakness, and swollen lymph nodes.

Plague is no longer found in the UK and the chance of it occurring in a person returning to the country is "very low", the government says.

Prevention measures include using a DEET-based insect repellent to protect against flea bites, avoiding contact with dead animals, infected tissues or materials, and avoiding close contact with symptomatic patients and crowded areas where cases have been recently reported.

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.

• Trump threatens 35% tariffs on Canadian goods
• Canada will deal with Trump 'on our terms', Carney tells BBC

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".

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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."

Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to keep up with the latest climate and environment stories with the BBC's Justin Rowlatt. Outside the UK? Sign up to our international newsletter here.

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.

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.

For years, from behind a computer screen, Erin Patterson built up a reputation in an online true crime community as a "super sleuth".

Today, she herself has become a true crime obsession.

When three people died – and another fell gravely ill - after eating toxic-mushroom-laced beef Wellingtons at her home in rural Victoria two years ago, her entire life was put under a microscope.

Journalists have descended from around the world to cover her lengthy murder trial, spectators have queued daily to nab a spot in the courtroom, and thousands of people have picked apart details of the case online.

But, despite a jury earlier this week finding her guilty on all charges, the frenzy of speculation and depth of fascination has only intensified.

"It has shades of Macbeth," criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told the BBC.

It was in one of Australia's smallest courtrooms that its biggest trial in recent history took place.

Over 11 weeks, seven documentary-making teams cast their lens on the tiny town of Morwell. Podcasters here were a dime a dozen. Journalists vied for the six seats reserved for media inside the court each day. Even one of Australia's best-loved authors, Helen Garner, frequently dropped by the Latrobe Valley Law Courts, fuelling rumours that she is preparing to write another best-seller.

Waiting with the sea of tripods outside the building most mornings of the trial was a queue of camp chairs.

Come rain, frost or fog, court watchers – predominantly women, often rugged up in beanies and encased in sleeping bags – watched for the moment the glass doors would open.

Once inside, they would lay a line of belongings – scarves, water bottles, notepads, bags – outside the courtroom entry to reserve their spot.

Tammy Egglestone commuted for more than an hour to reach Morwell most days of the trial. "I'm a bit of a true crime fanatic," she explains.

She was in court when it heard evidence that Patterson was once just like her.

Patterson had been an active member in a Facebook group focussed on the crimes of Keli Lane, a woman who was found guilty of killing her two-day-old daughter in one of Australia's most notorious cases.

In 2018, Lane became the subject of a major podcast after writing to a journalist claiming to have been wrongly convicted and begging her to investigate.

At Patterson's trial, one of her online friends Christine Hunt said she was renowned among her peers for her nimble researching and tech skills.

"She was a bit of a super sleuth," she said. "She was highly regarded in that group."

But as her case unfolded in Morwell, Patterson was also put on trial in the court of public opinion.

She became water-cooler talk in workplaces around the country, gossip among friend groups, and the ultimate topic of debate online.

Thousands of people theorised over a motive for the crime, provided commentary on bits of evidence, and even alleged corrupt forces were behind the case – much of the discussion unfounded, almost all of it in breach of laws designed to give defendants a fair trial.

Memes filled social media feeds. On Google Maps, someone created a restaurant listing at Patterson's home address. Others shared trial bingo cards they had created for those following it closely.

Throughout the week the jury was considering their verdict, sequestered in a hotel to protect them from the maelstrom, the question everyone had was: what were they thinking?

"What are they doing in there?" one lawyer was overheard asking in a Morwell café on day four of deliberations.

With jury members bound by strict secrecy requirements, we will never know.

"In the US, they can interview jurors after a trial," criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told the BBC. "We can't get into the heads of jurors in Australia… so it's really hard to know what they're thinking has been and why they've come to that conclusion."

That leaves a massive vacuum for members of the public to fill with their speculation.

People like Ms Egglestone pondered: if the poisoning was intended to kill, wouldn't Patterson have planned and executed it better?

"I've come in here [as] Switzerland," Ms Egglestone clarified, calling the discourse around the case "very pitchforky".

"You know, [it's] she's guilty, she's guilty, she's guilty.

"And a lot of them are using hindsight reasoning. 'If I was in that situation, I wouldn't do this, this and this.' Well, you don't know what you would do in that situation."

But people like her were drowned out by the hordes proclaiming Patterson guilty.

Many said it was her lies that convinced them. Some claimed the evidence showed a clear lack of empathy and concern for those who died.

"What really gave her away was wearing white pants when she had 'gastro' and needed to go to hospital for it!" one person posted, referring to CCTV footage of her movements in the days after the lunch, which was played at the trial.

Already, the case has inspired a television special, a silver screen drama series, a bevy of podcasts, several documentaries and a handful of books.

"It has those typical cliché things that make true crime sell," Ms Egglestone said, explaining why she and flocks of others have become obsessed with the case.

"The fact that she did take out family members... [she's] white, female, financially stable, you know. And they're all church people."

For David Peters, seemingly benign circumstances surrounding the crime – and the fact it was in his local area – drew him in: "The fact that it was a family sitting down to do something you would consider to be safe - have a meal - and then the consequences of that meal..."

Several people tell the BBC the case reminds them of the frenzy over Lindy Chamberlain's notorious trial in 1982. She was falsely convicted of murder after her infant daughter Azaria was taken from an outback campsite by a dingo.

It's no coincidence that both of those cases centre around women, criminology researcher Brandy Cochrane tells the BBC.

The world has long been fascinated by women who kill – in no small part because it contradicts their traditional "caring" gender role, they explain.

Those stereotypes also cast a shadow on Patterson's time in court.

"She's expected to act in a particular way, and she's not," says Dr Cochrane, a lecturer at Victoria University.

"It's like, 'Oh, obviously she's guilty, she's not crying the whole time' or 'Obviously she's guilty, she's lied about this'. The legal system in and of itself treats women very differently."

Away from the ghoulish spectre of the trial, there's anger – albeit dwindling – among the communities where the victims are from over the way the case has been dissected, local councillor Nathan Hersey tells the BBC.

Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson were respected and adored by many in the South Gippsland region, he says, but it feels like they've been forgotten.

"This has been an extremely high-profile case that's brought a lot of attention, often unwanted through to our local community.

"[And] some people haven't had that humanity… they've certainly lost focus that for people, there is a loss, there is grief."

For days, Imtiyaz Ali had been anxiously awaiting the findings of a preliminary report into last month's Air India crash that killed his brother, sister-in-law, and their two young children.

When the report was finally released early on Saturday in India, he read it carefully - only to be disappointed by what he said "reads like a product description".

"Other than the pilots' final conversation, there's nothing in it that really points to what caused the crash."

He hopes more details will be made public in the months to come.

"This matters to us," Ali said. "We want to know exactly what happened. It won't change anything for us now, we continue grieving - just as we have since that day. But at least we'll have some answers."

The London-bound Air India flight 171 crashed into a suburban neighbourhood in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad shortly after take-off on 12 June, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground.

A preliminary investigative report released on Saturday in India said fuel to the engines of the plane cut off just seconds after take-off. The circumstances around how or why that happened remain unclear.

The report said that in recovered cockpit voice recordings, one of the pilots can be heard asking "why did you cut off?" - to which the other pilot replied he "did not do so".

A final report into the crash is expected in 12 months.

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Shweta Parihar, 41, also wants answers. Her husband, Abhinav Parishar, 43, was on his way back to London. He was meant to fly later in the month but decided to come home early and ended up on the ill-fated flight.

She laments that no investigation will ever bring her husband back.

"For those of us that have lost loved ones, we've lost them, they are not coming back," she said.

"What will they do in the investigation, tell us how it happened? The life of how many people, 250 passengers, what will they say, sorry? Everything is done, everything is finished."

Parihar becomes emotional when she talks about the impact of the loss on her 11-year-old son Vihaan.

"He misses his dad badly," she said tearfully. Vihaan tells her that he won't fly Air India ever again.

Badasab Syed, 59, lost his brother, sister-in-law, and their two children in the crash.

He was hoping for answers from the preliminary report, but after watching the news, said he was left with more questions.

"The report mentions the pilots discussing who turned off fuel and a possible issue with the fuel control switch. We don't know, what does that mean? Was this avoidable?"

Badasab Syed says his younger brother, Inayat Syed, 49 was the heart of the family. Losing him, his wife and children, has shattered the entire family. The grief has been especially difficult on his 83-year-old mother, Bibi Sab.

"Losing her son and grandchildren has made her weak. I think she is not able to even tell us how she feels," he said.