Russia's Vladimir Putin has thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the courage of his soldiers who have been fighting in Ukraine on the Russian side.

Kim, in response, said he was willing to do "everything I can to assist" Russia.

The two leaders met on Wednesday in Beijing as China held one of its largest ever military parades, which marked 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Asia.

Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, said bilateral relations between Russia and North Korea are friendly and that Pyongyang's military helped to liberate the Kursk region.

"Your soldiers fought courageously and heroically," Putin told Kim during Wednesday's talks.

"I would like to note that we will never forget the sacrifices that your armed forces and the families of your servicemen have suffered."

Kim expressed his gratitude for the Russian leader's acknowledgement of North Korea's troops and said bilateral relations between the two countries had been "advancing across all areas" - referencing Pyongyang's involvement in the "joint struggle" with Russia in Ukraine.

"If there is any way we can assist Russia, we will certainly do it as a fraternal duty."

According to South Korea, the North has sent some 15,000 troops to aid Russia in its invasion, along with missiles and long-range weapons. In return, it is believed North Korea received food, money and technical help.

These soldiers have been involved in Moscow's efforts to recapture parts of western Kursk - where Ukrainians are defending a small area of territory captured during a surprise incursion in August - and are thought to have sustained heavy losses.

Western officials said in January that at least 1,000 had died in just three months. Two months later, Seoul lawmakers said they believed there were about 4,700 North Korean casualties, including 600 deaths, out of a total deployment of 15,000.

The North Korean troops, none of whom will have any previous combat experience, are believed to have spent their first weeks in Russia in training and then in support roles.

It is the third meeting in two years and at a time when Moscow and Pyongyang are deepening their co-operation.

Last June, Putin and Kim signed a deal pledging that Russia and North Korea will help each other in the event of "aggression" against either country.

At the time, Kim hailed the treaty as the "strongest ever". He reaffirmed this support a few weeks ago when he offered Moscow his "unconditional support" on the war in Ukraine.

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.

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 in June.

Last week during a special ceremony, the North Korean leader met families of soldiers killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine.

During the event, Kim said he was filled with "sorrow" at failing to bring the soldiers back alive, pledging to build a monument in their honour and to look after their children.

"I thought a lot about other martyrs' families who were not present [at the previous ceremony]... So, I had this meeting arranged as I wanted to meet and console the bereaved families of all the heroes and relieve them of their sorrow and anguish even a little," state news agency KCNA reported Kim as saying.

Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing.

In the wake of his abduction on a highway in Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam, social media activist Edgar Mwakabela, better known as Sativa, says he came close to death.

He describes in an interview with the BBC how, after kidnapping him on 23 June last year, his captors interrogated him and then ferried him across the country to the remote Katavi region near the Congolese border, more than 1,000km (600 miles) away.

Sativa says he was handcuffed, blindfolded and brutally beaten, including being struck repeatedly on his head, back and legs with the flat side of a machete.

"It was extremely painful."

He tells the BBC that those who abducted him wanted to know who was facilitating his activism, and why he was criticising the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, in power since 1977.

Sativa believes those who held him were police officers or other operatives linked to the authorities.

However, the government denies that it targets critics of the state.

Sativa says that on the fourth day after being taken, the violence continued as his captors transported him to the Katavi National Park, full of dangerous wild animals, and dragged him towards a river.

He believes it was clear that his captors had no intention of letting him live.

Then, he says, came the chilling order shouted from a vehicle behind them: "Shoot him!"

A trigger was pulled. A bullet went through his skull. His jaw was shattered.

Sativa's captors left - he thought he had been left for dead.

As October's general election edges closer, abductions have become more common, mostly targeting anti-government critics and opposition voices.

Every other week, police or social media posts announce a missing person. Some are never found and others reappear with disturbing accounts of violence or torture – and some have been found dead.

Sativa's case offers a rare account from a survivor.

Despite suffering life-threatening injuries, he regained consciousness and crawled to a road where wildlife rangers rescued him.

He would require long and specialised treatment, and his survival has been described as "extraordinary".

The police did not respond to BBC requests for an interview, but in a video statement released to media houses in June, their spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner David Misime, said they do act on information about those missing and conduct an investigation.

The BBC has spoken to families of people reported missing and those who have died, and they have relayed their agony over missing loved ones.

Portrait artist Shedrack Chaula, 25, is among those still missing.

He has not been seen or heard from in over a year. In June 2024 he posted a TikTok video that went viral of him burning President Samia Suluhu's photo and insulting her.

He was arrested, convicted of cyber-harassment and released after paying a fine. A month later, he was abducted by unknown individuals.

"We don't know when or if he will be found. When he was arrested, at least we knew where he was. Now, even the authorities say they don't know," his father, Yusuf Chaula tells the BBC.

He says that in August 2024, three men arrived in a car with tinted windows and seized him. They did not identify themselves or explain why or where they were taking him.

"We have made every effort. We are exhausted. We visited every detention facility. We went to prisons and police stations at different levels - local, district and regional," he says.

The police have insisted that an investigation is in progress.

"If we knew where he is, or where he is being held, or even if we knew he had died and been buried somewhere, at least we'd have a grave to visit," Mr Chaula says mournfully, grappling with the torment of unanswered questions and the absence of closure.

In June, UN experts reported that over 200 enforced disappearances have been recorded in the country since 2019.

They expressed alarm over the "torture to silence opposition and critics" ahead of the elections, and called on the government to "immediately" stop it.

Rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch recently accused the government of being behind arrests, abuse and forced disappearances.

The authorities have denied the allegations.

The police have identified at least a dozen abduction cases since last year some of which have since been resolved, with many going back to 2019.

On 18 June, the police announced that investigations had led to the discovery of some victims who were still alive.

They added that some cases involved self-staged abductions, while others arose from romantic relationships gone sour, superstitious beliefs and property disputes.

"The police force urges relatives, friends and the public to remain calm as security forces continue their investigations to uncover the facts surrounding these incidents," Deputy Commissioner Misime said.

The president has urged the police force to end the troubling incidents of people going missing – a directive many Tanzanians hope will lead to justice.

In May, activist and opposition politician Mpaluka Nyangali, widely known as Mdude, was abducted from his home in Mbeya, southern Tanzania, in a violent incident witnessed by his wife and young child.

There were blood stains at the scene, showing the brutality of the attack.

Since then, members of the main opposition Chadema party have launched a search across Mbeya and have held prayer vigils demanding answers from the police, whom they suspect to be complicit in the incident.

To date, Mdude's wife, Siji Mbugi, has not heard from him.

"I beg for the release of my husband, I believe he is being held by police and the authorities. Mdude has done nothing. He has never stolen anything from anybody, I beg for his release. If he had issues then take him to court," she says.

On 9 July, the High Court in Mbeya dismissed a case that she filed over her husband's disappearance.

She had testified that armed individuals identifying themselves as police officers had stormed their home late at night and assaulted Mdude, before taking him away.

During the proceedings, Mbeya police admitted they were investigating the possibility that one of their officers may have played a role in the abduction of Mdude.

Activists have described the dismissal of the case as a major setback in the continuing struggle for justice for Tanzania's embattled opposition.

No arrests or prosecutions have been made in connection with incidents, although the police say investigations are under way.

Some activists from other countries in the region have also accused the Tanzanian authorities of targeting them.

Kenyan Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan Agather Atuhaire, have said that they were detained and sexually tortured after they arrived in Tanzania on 19 May to observe the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces treason charges.

Mwangi's and Atuhaire's whereabouts were unknown for several days. Both were abandoned near their countries' borders.

But Jumanne Muliro, the commander of the Dar es Salaam police special zone, told the BBC at the time that their allegations were "hearsay" and asked them to present evidence for investigations. They have since filed a case at the regional East African Court of Justice over the matter.

Their ordeal cast a spotlight on the issue of forced disappearances of government critics, opposition figures and human rights defenders in Tanzania.

"No-one is providing answers," says Maduhu William, an activist at the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), adding that security agencies routinely promise to conduct a thorough investigation but the matter ends there.

"At the end of the day we do not get feedback on what is happening to those [cases]," he says, citing the example of Ali Kibao, a senior Chadema official, who was killed last year after being kidnapped, beaten and doused with acid.

"Even President [Samia] ordered security forces in Tanzania to conduct a thorough investigation and submit a report to her for further action. But up to now, nothing has been heard," he says.

Boniface Mwabukusi, the president of the Tanganyika Law Society, says many people are afraid to come out and share their stories for fear of victimisation.

He says there is no free, independent system that can ensure proper justice.

"If you are in police custody and the same officers ask you to give a statement about your abduction, can you really go to them? You can't," he says.

"Most people, they leave it to God. They are afraid. They say if they pursue the matter, things will get worse".

You may also be interested in:

• Are East African governments uniting to silence dissent?
• 'Struggling to be alive': Kenyan activist speaks of 'sexual torture' in Tanzania
• Could this be the end of the road for Lissu, Tanzania's great survivor?
• Why Samia's hesitant reforms are fuelling Tanzanian political anger
• 'Manhandled and choked' - Tanzanian activist recounts abduction

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

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stood publicly shoulder to shoulder for the first time on Wednesday, ahead of a massive military parade in central Beijing.

That parade, which marked 80 years since China's victory over Japan in World War Two, saw Beijing unveiling a range of new military hardware – including a new nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile, a new road-bound missile for delivering hypersonic weapons, a new laser weapon, and even "robotic dog" drones.

It comes at a time when Xi seeks to project Beijing's power on the international stage - not just as the world's second-largest economy, but also as a counterweight to the United States as Trump's tariffs rock the global economic and political order.

Five BBC correspondents assess the significance of Wednesday's parade – what it means, why it matters, and what the spectacle tells us about the "new world order".

An enduring image for China - and the world

By Laura Bicker, China correspondent

One of the most enduring images of this military parade took place before the first cannon was fired.

President Xi welcoming North Korea's Kim Jong Un with a long handshake, then moving on to greet Russia's Vladimir Putin before all three walked together to watch the parade, was sheer political theatre.

This was the first time all three leaders have been seen in public together, and they really picked their moment.

But it is this meeting, not just the weapons and troops on show, that appears to have grabbed the attention of Donald Trump.

Trump posted on Truth Social earlier, accusing Xi of conspiring against America with the others. The Chinese leader said in this speech that his country is on the right side of history.

Wednesdays parade was a choreographed spectacle of precision, power and patriotism.

Even the choir stood in perfectly even rows as they sang "without the Communist Party, there is no modern China".

The troops goose-stepped past in unison, and each strike of the ground echoed through the stands of 50,000 guests in Tiananmen Square.

Then came the big weapons, and the crowd reached for their phones. A new ICBM, laser weapons, even robotic dogs.

The parade finished on a crowd-pleasing fly past before thousands of doves and balloons were released into the skies over the capital.

This display to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War was not just a look at where China has been, or how far China has come.

It showcased where China is going: Xi playing the role of a global leader prepared to stand alongside two of the most sanctioned leaders in the world.

And at his feet, a military which is being built to rival the West.

Trump's out, Xi's in - and what that means for the West

By James Landale, diplomatic correspondent

China's show of geopolitical and now military power this week will hardly surprise Western leaders.

President Xi has long sought to put himself at the centre of a new world order – one that replaces the crumbling global systems established after World War Two.

But two things will send shivers down western diplomatic spines.

One is the speed with which China is filling the vacuum left by America's withdrawal from international norms and institutions.

A Chinese-led world order, one where territorial integrity and human rights are valued less than raw power and economic development, might prove uncomfortable for many western countries.

The way harsh US tariffs have pushed India, the world's biggest democracy, so quickly into the warm embrace of China, the world's biggest autocracy, will also be of concern.

One small crumb of comfort for the West is that the so-called "axis of upheaval" on show in Beijing is not united - and India, in particular, which was not represented at Wednesday's parade, is still at odds with China over territorial and other disputes.

The bottom line is that the economic nationalism and disruptive diplomacy of Donald Trump's America is giving China a huge diplomatic opportunity – and it's one Xi is seizing with open arms with his summit and parade.

A clear message to Donald Trump

By Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor

All the diplomacy (and the optics) in China this week was designed to send a clear message to the Trump administration.

So, you want to Make America Great Again, do you? It's America First, is it? Well, then, we'll offer an alternative to the US-led order.

That is why we saw the leaders of China, Russia and India smiling together at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on Sunday and Monday.

It is why Vladimir Putin called Xi Jinping "a real friend", and the Chinese leader called his Russian counterpart "old friend" earlier this week.

And it is also why Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un appeared together at the military parade on Wednesday.

In short: in the geopolitical universe different powers are aligning as a counterweight to American domination.

This doesn't mean that all these countries and leaders are on the same wavelength. They are not. Differences remain.

But the direction of travel is clear.

As a headline in news outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda declared this week, in reference to Russia, China and India: "We will build a new world."

The weapons that worry the West

By Frank Gardiner, security correspondent

From massive, underwater torpedoes to state-of-the-art laser weapons that shoot down drones, China's latest military parade will now be broken down and analysed by Pentagon experts and defence officials around the world.

The PLA has embarked on an extensive military modernisation programme that has seen it catching up - and in some areas - overtaking the United States. Hypersonic missiles that travel at more than five times the speed of sound is one area where China leads the world.

Dr Sidharth Kaushal, a leading expert on missiles at the London think tank RUSI, highlights the YJ-17 - a hypersonic glide vehicle - and the YJ-19, a hypersonic cruise missile.

China has also been investing heavily in artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons. One example of these is the AJX002: a giant, 60-foot (18m), underwater nuclear-capable drone.

China's nuclear arsenal - numbering in the hundreds of missiles - still lags far behind those of Russia and the US who both have thousands, but it is rapidly increasing in size as well as finding innovative ways of delivering its warheads.

President Donald Trump says the US has carried out a strike against a drug-carrying vessel in the southern Caribbean, killing 11 "Narcoterrorists".

He posted on social media that Tuesday's US military operation had targeted members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Trump said the vessel was in international waters and was transporting illegal narcotics bound for the US.

The Trump administration has ratcheted up military and political pressure against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks, including through a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to his arrest on drug-trafficking charges. Maduro has vowed Venezuela would fight any attempted US military intervention.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said that US forces had "shot out" a "drug-carrying boat" in the vicinity of Venezuela.

"A lot of drugs in that boat," he said.

Trump added he had been briefed on the incident by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine.

Later the president posted on his Truth Social platform: "Earlier this morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility."

He added: "The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!"

His post was accompanied by a grainy aerial video showing a motor boat speeding across choppy waters before it bursts into flames.

In a social media post, Venezuela's Communications Minister, Freddy Nanez, suggested, without evidence, that the video shared by Trump was created with artificial intelligence.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that "today the US military conducted a lethal strike in the southern Carribean against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organisation".

It is so far unclear what drugs the vessel was believed to have been carrying.

Since returning to the White House in January, the Trump administration has designated several drug-trafficking organisations and criminal groups in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America as terrorist organisations.

Among them are Tren de Aragua and another Venezuelan group the "Cartel of the Suns", which US authorities allege is headed by President Maduro and other high-ranking government officials, some drawn from the country's military or intelligence services.

The US military has moved to bolster its forces in the southern Caribbean over the last two months, including through the deployment of additional naval vessels and thousands of US Marines and sailors.

The Trump administration has repeatedly signalled a willingness to use force to stem the flow of drugs into the US.

"There's more where that came from," Trump said of the strike on the vessel.

Venezuela's government has reacted angrily to the deployments.

On Monday, for example, Maduro vowed to "declare a republic in arms" if the US attacked, adding that the American deployments are "the greatest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years".

Google will not have to sell its Chrome search engine but must share information with competitors, a US federal judge has ordered.

The remedies decided by District Judge Amit Mehta comes after a years-long court battle over Google's dominance in online search.

Last year, Judge Mehta found that Google illegally trampled its competition in search.

This spring, during the second phase of the antitrust case aimed at determining remedies, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) demanded that Google sell Chrome, the world's most popular web browser.

More to come on this story

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A US congressional panel has released a trove of documents related to the federal investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The House of Representatives Oversight Committee published 33,295 pages, including flight logs, jail surveillance video, court filings, audio recordings and emails.

But Republicans and Democrats alike said the files contained little new information and it is unclear if the justice department is withholding other Epstein records.

Pressure has been growing from President Donald Trump's own supporters for more transparency on the probe into the well-connected financier after the justice department said in July there was no "incriminating" Epstein client list.

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican, ordered the documents to be published online on Tuesday.

The Republican-led panel received the files after issuing a legal summons to the Department of Justice last month.

But Comer, a Kentucky congressman, acknowledged there was little fresh information.

"As far as I can see, there's nothing new in the documents," he told NBC News.

The videos released on Tuesday include footage from outside Epstein's New York jail cell on the night of his death.

It includes 13 hours and 41 seconds of video from the facility covering the evening of 9 August to the morning of 10 August 2019, when Epstein died.

This is two hours more of video than what the justice department released two months ago.

But the newly released footage does not include the so-called "missing minute" - a jump in the timecode between 23:00 and 00:00, according to the BBC's US partner CBS.

Attorney General Pam Bondi previously said the "missing minute" was just the jail's camera system resetting each night.

However, the apparent anomaly had stoked conspiracy theories about the official finding that Epstein died by suicide.

The convicted paedophile had once hobnobbed with the likes of Trump, former President Bill Clinton and British royal Prince Andrew.

The tranche of documents also includes several clips from 2006 showing interviews with people who said they were victims of Epstein.

Their faces are blurred and names removed from the audio as they talk about alleged sexual abuse while they were hired for massages.

Other videos show bodycam footage from police in Palm Beach, Florida, as they search a home belonging to Epstein.

Some of the documents date back 20 years, covering an initial criminal investigation into Epstein launched by Palm Beach police.

But Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on House Oversight Committee, said in a statement: "To the American people – don't let this fool you.

"After careful review, Oversight Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public.

"There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims."

Democratic congresswoman Summer Lee said the "only new disclosure" was flight logs taken by US Customs and Border Protection, which show Epstein's travel to and from his private island in the US Virgin Islands.

The release came after backbench Republican rebel Thomas Massie forged ahead on Tuesday with a bipartisan effort to force the House to vote on a bill requiring the justice department to publish all of its Epstein files within 30 days.

The Kentucky congressman said: "People want these files released. I mean, look, it's not the biggest issue in the country.

"It's taxes, jobs, the economy, those are always the big issues. But you really can't solve any of that if this place is corrupt."

Earlier on Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and members of the oversight committee met six Epstein victims behind closed-doors.

Johnson, a Trump ally, told reporters afterwards that "there were tears in the room" as they heard from the Epstein victims.

Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, appeared to leave the meeting crying.

Democrat Melanie Stansbury praised the survivors for speaking out and described the case as a "cover-up of epic proportions".

Lawmakers and victims of Epstein plan to hold a news conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

One of the most famous polar shipwrecks has been filmed in detail on the sea floor for the first time.

The Terra Nova carried Captain Scott and his men on their doomed expedition to reach the South Pole more than a century ago.

The British party lost the race to the pole, and died on their return journey in 1912.

The footage shows the Terra Nova colonised with sea life, but key features of the wooden ship are still visible including its wheel, winch and mast.

The wreck lies 170m down off the coast of Greenland. After the polar expedition with Scott, the ship continued in service and eventually sank in 1943 while carrying supplies to US bases during World War Two.

The Terra Nova was discovered in 2012, but the new expedition has been the first opportunity to record extensive footage of the wreck.

"To be able to see these significant parts of the wreck, it was truly awe inspiring," said Leighton Rolley, Science Systems Manager at REV Ocean.

"The wheel was sat there perfectly intact amongst the debris of the aft section of the wreck.

"When you think of the people who have stood there, manoeuvred the Terra Nova through ice, like Captain Scott… It was like, wow, if that ship's wheel could talk, it could tell an amazing history."

The Terra Nova was one of the finest polar vessels of its time and sailed for 60 years.

The ship was 57m (187ft) long with a wooden hull that was a metre thick in places to help it break through the sea ice.

Captain Scott's men embarked to Antarctica in 1910. A comprehensive scientific programme was planned for the Terra Nova expedition - along with the goal of being the first to reach the South Pole.

Scott, along with Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans, were attempting to make history.

After trekking hundreds of miles, the British party reached the pole in January 1912, but they found they had been beaten by a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen.

A black flag, planted by Amundsen, is now on display at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge along with other items from the Terra Nova.

"Their hearts must have sunk seeing this black flag against the whiteness of Antarctica," said David Waterhouse, curator of the polar museum at SPRI.

The deflated British party began their arduous return journey to their base. But they encountered unusually bad weather, and Edgar Evans died after falling while descending a glacier.

Several weeks later Captain Oates left the men's tent. His last words were recorded in Scott's journal: "I'm just going outside and may be some time." He was never seen again.

Scott, Bowers and Wilson continued on and made a final camp, but trapped by a freezing blizzard with dwindling supplies, all three perished.

A search expedition discovered their last camp just 11 miles from a resupply depot that would have provided them with food and fuel.

The Terra Nova played a crucial role in breaking the news of their death.

"In January 1913, the Terra Nova arrived at Cape Evans in the Antarctic to pick up the shore party, and they were expecting to pick up Captain Scott and his pole party at the same time," explained Naomi Boneham, an archivist at SPRI.

"But when they arrived they found out the sad news."

The ship's log records that the men had died from "exposure and want".

The vessel sailed on to New Zealand, where the tragic end of the Terra Nova expedition was announced to the world.

The new footage from the deep provides another chance to retell Scott's story, says David Waterhouse.

"It's a story that's really got the whole package - the heroism, the tragedy," he said.

"And, I guess, as British people, we like an underdog, and they were so close to being the first to the pole and making it back alive."

The ship that witnessed so much history now has a very different existence lying beneath the waves at the other end of the planet.

It's not in good condition. While the centre of the ship is relatively intact, there is a lot of damage at the stern and the bow has split into two.

But it's become a reef of life, says Leighton Rolley.

"It's full of fish, it's got corals growing on it - it's become one with the ocean."

At least 30 people have died and more than 354,000 have been affected by incessant heavy rains and floods in the north Indian state of Punjab.

Authorities have declared all of the state's 23 districts flood-hit, after rivers and reservoirs swelled to near-danger levels.

Some 20,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying and flood-affected areas, with hundreds of relief camps set up to provide shelter and essential facilities to the affected families.

Appealing to the country to "stand by the state", Punjab's Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said these were the worst floods the state had seen since 1988.

Punjab is often referred to as the "food basket" of India and is a major source for agricultural production, particularly of staples like wheat and rice.

The government says there has been extensive crop damage on some 148,000 hectares of agricultural land, which has been submerged under water.

A quarter of Punjab's 30 million people depend on agriculture, raising immediate concern about rural livelihoods.

Torrential downpours have caused water level in the state's Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers to rise to dangerous levels, putting hundreds of low-lying areas at risk. Many reservoirs are also reported to be nearing full capacity.

Multiple disaster response teams, along with the Indian army, airforce and the navy, are helping with the rescue operations. Some 35 helicopters and more than100 boats have been pressed into service.

On Tuesday, chief minister Mann toured the flood-hit Ferozepur district by boat. He said the situation was grim and sought funds from the federal government to deal with the crisis.

India's weather agency said the floods are being caused by the repeated interactions between monsoon currents and weather systems like westerly disturbances.

This has also brought unusually heavy rains to several other parts of northern India, it said.

Across the Indian border, floods have also devastated Pakistan's Punjab province, affecting some two million people over the past few weeks.

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This article contains details some people may find distressing.

A court in India has given the death penalty to a man for burning alive his wife over her skin colour.

In her statements before her death, Lakshmi had said that her husband Kishandas "routinely taunted her for being dark skinned".

District Judge Rahul Choudhary in the northern city of Udaipur explained the death penalty saying the murder fell in the category of "rarest of the rare" and it was "a crime against humanity".

Kishandas's lawyer told the BBC that his client was innocent and that they would appeal against the order.

Lakshmi's murder eight years back and the judgement, delivered at the weekend, have made headlines in a country where public obsession with colourism is well documented.

The attack on Lakshmi took place on the night of 24 June 2017, according to the court order seen by the BBC.

The judgement quotes from the statements she gave before her death to the police, the doctors and an executive magistrate.

Lakshmi said her husband often called her "kali" or dark skinned and body shamed her since their marriage in 2016.

On the night she died, Kishandas had brought a plastic bottle with a brown liquid - he said it was a medicine to make her skin fairer.

According to the statements, he applied the liquid to her body and when she complained that it smelled like acid, he set her on fire with an incense stick. When her body started burning, he poured the rest of the liquid on her and ran away.

Kishandas's parents and sister took her to hospital where she later died.

"It will not be an exaggeration to say that this heart-rending brutal crime was not just against Lakshmi, but it's a crime against humanity," Judge Choudhary said in his order.

Kishandas, he said, "broke her trust" and displayed "excessive cruelty in throwing the remaining liquid on her" while she burned.

"It's a crime that shocks the conscience of humanity which cannot even be imagined in a healthy and civilised society," the order added.

Public prosecutor Dinesh Paliwal described the order as "historic" and told the BBC he hoped it would act as "a lesson for others in society".

"A young woman in her early 20s was murdered brutally. She was someone's sister, someone's daughter, there were people who loved her. If we don't save our daughters, then who would?" he said.

Mr Paliwal said he had forwarded the order to the high court for confirmation of the death sentence, but added that the convict had 30 days to appeal.

Kishandas's lawyer Surendra Kumar Menariya told the BBC that Lakshmi's death had been accidental and there was no evidence against his client who had been falsely charged.

• Dark is divine: What colour are Indian gods and goddesses?
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The Udaipur court order has once again put the spotlight on India's unhealthy preference for fair skin.

Girls and women with darker skin tones are called derogatory names and face discrimination; and skin lightening products make for big business, earning billions of dollars in profits.

In matrimonial columns, skin colour is almost always emphasised and lighter-skinned brides are more in demand.

The BBC has in the past reported incidents of suicides by women who were taunted by their husbands over their "dark complexion".

In recent years, campaigners have challenged the widely-held notion that fairer is better, but they say it's not easy to counter deeply entrenched prejudices.

Until that changes, such discriminatory attitudes will continue to ruin lives.

Cardi B was cleared of assault by a Los Angeles jury after a security guard sued her for $24 million in a fingernail attack.

Emani Ellis alleged that the US rapper cut her cheek with a 3in (7.5cm) fingernail and spat on her outside an obstetrician's office in 2018. The rapper was pregnant at the time, which wasn't public knowledge.

The civil trial in Alhambra led to a series of viral moments as the rapper took the stand and offered colourful testimony about the incident and her fashion choices.

She told the court that the guard followed her and filmed her on her phone and wouldn't give her space or privacy. Ms Ellis, though, said it left her "traumatised".

The jury took only about an hour to clear the Grammy-winning rapper of the allegations of assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress as well as negligence and false imprisonment.

The case revolved around Cardi B's obstetrics appointment, when she was four months pregnant with her first child. The office closed for the day to shield her privacy, as her pregnancy was not publicly known.

Cardi B acknowledged to the court that she and Ms Ellis had a profanity-laden shouting match after she showed up to the doctor's appointment. She said it was very heated - but she denied ever touching the guard or spitting on her.

The rapper testified about that day, telling the court that when she stepped out of an elevator, Ms Ellis, who was working as a security guard in the building, told someone on the phone about her appointment for a pregnancy that wasn't yet public knowledge.

• 'Which one is your real hair?' Why Cardi B's wigs and nails baffled lawyers in court
• Cardi B denies scratching and spitting on security guard

The performer, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, added that Ms Ellis appeared to record her on her phone and refused to "back up", before a face-to-face "verbal altercation" ensued.

She admitted shouting an obscenity at Ms Ellis while telling her to "get out of my face".

Her lawyer noted how the star had "feared for her unborn baby" and hadn't discussed the news of her pregnancy publicly yet.

Her case was bolstered by testimony from the doctor she was there to see and his receptionist - Tierra Malcolm - who rushed between the arguing women in an attempt to break up the fight.

Ms Malcolm testified that Ms Ellis was the aggressor and that the security guard was swinging her arms in an apparent attempt to hit Cardi B, which resulted in a cut on Ms Malcolm's head.

Cardi B's testimony went viral as she changed wigs and outfits each day of the trial - the length of her fingernails becoming a focus multiple times in the case.

During closing arguments, Cardi B wore a black and white polka dot suit with a red bow, her black hair tied up.

Since this is not a criminal case - but a civil one - the jury had been asked to decide if Cardi B should be held liable for injuring Ms Ellis and, how much, if anything she should pay the security guard for pain and suffering.

Cardi B testified that she's being sued for $24 million and that Ms Ellis was looking for a payout. Ms Ellis' attorney in closing arguments said that it was up to the jury to decide a dollar amount to compensate Ms Ellis.

Ultimately, the jury cleared the rapper entirely in the case.

Outside the courthouse in Los Angeles County, a handful of fans showed up to support the rapper.

Christine Orozco who lives near the court showed up with a hand drawn sign that read, "If the nail don't fit, u must acquit," a pun referencing another Los Angeles celebrity trial - that of OJ Simpson, where the gloves, not the fingernails, were a subject of debate. She said Cardi B read the sign and laughed.

"She had a round tip that day, not a sharp tip," Ms Orozco said of Cardi B's fingernails. "She read the sign. She was squinting to see it. She laughed."

Donald Trump has rejected suggestions that the warming of relations between China, Russia and their allies poses a challenge to the US on the global stage.

The US president told reporters in the Oval Office that he had "a good relationship" with President Xi Jinping and that China "needs us more than we need them".

It comes as Xi prepares to host world leaders at a "Victory Day" parade in Beijing on Wednesday - a showcase of China's military might.

Xi will be joined by North Korea's Kim Jong Un and Russia's Vladimir Putin, viewed by some observers as a message to the Western nations that have shunned them.

• Russia's Putin hails 'unprecedented' ties with China at talks in Beijin
• North Korea's Kim arrives in Beijing with daughter

China has sought to position itself as a possible counterweight to the US since Trump's tariffs rocked the global economic and political order.

Trump has pitched his tariffs as essential to protecting American interests and industry. It appears that any diplomatic cost is something he is willing to pay.

Asked by the BBC if he believed Beijing and its allies were attempting to form an international coalition to oppose the US, Trump said: "No. Not at all. China needs us."

He added: "I have a very good relationship with President Xi, as you know. But China needs us much more than we need them. I don't see that at all."

Separately, in a radio interview on Tuesday, Trump said he was not concerned about the axis forming between Russia and China.

He told the Scott Jennings radio show that America has "the most powerful military forces in the world" and that "they would never use their military forces against us".

"Believe me, that would be the worst thing they could ever do," he said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Trump said he was "very disappointed" in Putin, after they failed to reach a peace deal for Ukraine during their meeting in Alaska last month.

"I'm very disappointed in President Putin, I can say that," Trump said, adding that the US "will be doing something to help people live" in Ukraine. He did not specify.

China has not criticised Putin's full-scale invasion and has been accused by the West of aiding Russia's war effort through its supply of dual-use materials and purchases of Russian oil. Beijing denies this.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was engaged in a new troop build up along certain sectors of the frontline.

"[Putin] refuses to be forced into peace," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

Donald Trump has rejected suggestions that the warming of relations between China, Russia and their allies poses a challenge to the US on the global stage.

The US president told reporters in the Oval Office that he had "a good relationship" with President Xi Jinping and that China "needs us more than we need them".

It comes as Xi prepares to host world leaders at a "Victory Day" parade in Beijing on Wednesday - a showcase of China's military might.

Xi will be joined by North Korea's Kim Jong Un and Russia's Vladimir Putin, viewed by some observers as a message to the Western nations that have shunned them.

• Russia's Putin hails 'unprecedented' ties with China at talks in Beijin
• North Korea's Kim arrives in Beijing with daughter

China has sought to position itself as a possible counterweight to the US since Trump's tariffs rocked the global economic and political order.

Trump has pitched his tariffs as essential to protecting American interests and industry. It appears that any diplomatic cost is something he is willing to pay.

Asked by the BBC if he believed Beijing and its allies were attempting to form an international coalition to oppose the US, Trump said: "No. Not at all. China needs us."

He added: "I have a very good relationship with President Xi, as you know. But China needs us much more than we need them. I don't see that at all."

Separately, in a radio interview on Tuesday, Trump said he was not concerned about the axis forming between Russia and China.

He told the Scott Jennings radio show that America has "the most powerful military forces in the world" and that "they would never use their military forces against us".

"Believe me, that would be the worst thing they could ever do," he said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Trump said he was "very disappointed" in Putin, after they failed to reach a peace deal for Ukraine during their meeting in Alaska last month.

"I'm very disappointed in President Putin, I can say that," Trump said, adding that the US "will be doing something to help people live" in Ukraine. He did not specify.

China has not criticised Putin's full-scale invasion and has been accused by the West of aiding Russia's war effort through its supply of dual-use materials and purchases of Russian oil. Beijing denies this.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was engaged in a new troop build up along certain sectors of the frontline.

"[Putin] refuses to be forced into peace," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

Kim Jong Un's arrival in China for his first ever multilateral meeting was always going to make headlines.

But it was the smartly-dressed girl standing just behind him as he exited his armoured train which caught Korea watchers' attention: Kim Ju Ae, the North Korean leader's daughter.

According to South Korea's spy agency, Miss Kim is her father's most likely successor.

But details - including her exact age - are thin on the ground. So what exactly do we know?

Miss Kim has, for a number of years, been believed to be the second of Kim Jong Un's and his wife, Ri Sol-Ju's, three children. The exact number, and their order, is by no means certain however: Kim is very secretive about his family, only introducing his wife to the public after they had been married for some time.

Kim Ju Ae is their only child whose existence has been confirmed by the country's leadership. No other child has been seen in public.

News of her existence first emerged through an unlikely source: the basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed to The Guardian newspaper back in 2013 that he "held their baby Ju Ae" during a trip to the secretive state.

Little was then heard about her until November 2022, when she appeared alongside her father at the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

By February the next year, she was appearing on postage stamps and attending banquets for top officials - described as Kim Jong Un's "respected" daughter.

The adjective "respected" is reserved for North Korea's most revered. In her father's case, he was referred to as "respected comrade" only after his status as future leader was cemented.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) provided lawmakers with a few extra details on the little girl at around the same time, according to news agency AP.

They said she enjoyed horse riding, skiing and swimming, and was home-schooled in the capital Pyongyang. They suggested she was around 10 years old.

By January 2024, the NIS had come to another conclusion: that the little girl was the "most likely" successor to Kim Jong Un - although they noted there were "many variables" still in play, not least because of her father's young age.

Since then, she has appeared by her father's side on numerous occasions. Standing next to him at ICBM launches and military parades, she has taken centre stage and received military salutes from senior military commanders.

But Tuesday marked the first time she has been seen outside North Korea, and the trip is likely to further fuel speculation she may succeed her father.

The Kim family, who have ruled North Korea since 1948, tell citizens they hail from a sacred bloodline, meaning only they can lead the country.

However, there is speculation that Kim has introduced his daughter at this point to try to overcome prejudice in the deeply patriarchal state, which has never been led by a woman.

Thousands of reservists have begun reporting for duty as the Israeli military presses ahead with its offensive to conquer Gaza City.

Ground forces are already pushing into the outskirts of Gaza's largest urban area, which the military has said is a stronghold of Hamas.

The city is also coming under heavy Israeli aerial and artillery bombardment, with local hospitals saying that more than 50 Palestinians have been killed there since midnight.

The military has ordered residents to evacuate and head south immediately. The UN says an estimated 20,000 have done so over the past two weeks, but almost a million remain.

UN humanitarian officials have warned that the impact of a full-blown offensive would be "beyond catastrophic", not only for those in the city but for the entire Gaza Strip.

Last month, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said about 60,000 reservists would be called up ahead of "Operation Gideon's Chariots II" – the next phase of the ground offensive that it launched in May and has seen it take control of at least 75% of Gaza.

It also extended the service of 20,000 reservists who had already been mobilised.

On Tuesday, an Israeli military official said thousands had begun reporting for duty.

Israeli media said many of the reservists would be deployed to the occupied West Bank and northern Israel to free up active-duty personnel for the offensive.

They also reported that some combat units were seeing lower turnout than for previous call-ups, with reservists who had already served several tours during the 22-month war requesting exemptions for personal or financial reasons.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would conquer all of Gaza after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down in July.

At a government meeting on Sunday, he said the security cabinet had agreed the IDF's objectives were "defeating Hamas and releasing all of our hostages".

The armed group is currently holding 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

The hostages' families fear the new offensive will endanger them and are demanding the prime minister negotiate an agreement that would secure their release.

"Stop the war and bring all the hostages home in a deal - the living and the dead alike - some for rehabilitation in their families' embrace, others for proper burial on Israeli soil," said the daughter of Ilan Weiss, one of the two hostages whose bodies were recovered by Israeli troops in Gaza last week, at his funeral in Kibbutz Be'eri on Monday.

The IDF's Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, has urged Netanyahu to accept a current proposal from regional mediators that would see about half of them released during a 60-day truce. However, the prime minister has said Israel will only accept a comprehensive deal that would see all the hostages freed and Hamas disarmed.

There were reportedly angry exchanges between Zamir and ministers at a meeting on Sunday.

The general warned that their Gaza City plan would put the hostages at risk and lead to Israel establishing a military government there, according to Israeli media. One unnamed senior minister was quoted by the Ynet website as saying that the general "did everything to convince against the plan, but made it clear several times that he would carry it out".

In an address to reservists at Nachshonim base in central Israel on Tuesday, Zamir declared that the IDF was preparing for nothing less than "decisive victory".

"We are going to increase and enhance the strikes of our operation, and that is why we called you," he said. "We will not stop the war until we defeat this enemy."

On the ground in Gaza on Tuesday, hospital officials said Israeli strikes and fire had killed at least 95 Palestinians since midnight.

Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City reported 35 of the deaths, including nine people who were killed in an air strike in the southern Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood and seven others killed in a strike on a house in the northern neighbourhood of Sheikh Radwan.

The UN has warned that forcing hundreds of thousands of people to move further south is "a recipe for further disaster and could amount to forcible transfer", which would be a war crime.

Global food security experts have confirmed that a famine is occurring in Gaza City and projected that it will expand to the central city of Deir al-Balah and the southern city of Khan Younis by the end of September.

The UN has also said tent camps for the displaced in the south are overcrowded and unsafe, and that southern hospitals are operating at several times their capacity.

In Khan Younis on Tuesday, Nasser hospital said it had received the bodies of 31 people killed by Israeli fire, including 13 who died in two strikes in al-Mawasi and Khan Younis camp.

Medics in the hospital's emergency department told the BBC that most of the casualties being treated were children and elderly.

"We can't deal with any more cases due to high pressure on us and lack of supplies. The CT [scanner] is now broken down, so we are working blindly," one doctor said. "The current situation is catastrophic."

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry meanwhile said that 13 Palestinians, including three children, had died as a result of malnutrition across the territory over the past 24 hours. That increased the total reported during the war to 361, including 185 in August alone, it added.

The UN has said the famine is a "man-made disaster" and said Israel is obliged under international humanitarian law to ensure food and medical supplies for Gaza's population.

Israel has said there are no restrictions on aid deliveries and has disputed the health ministry's figures on malnutrition-related deaths.

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

At least 63,633 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

Rescuers on helicopters are searching the ruins of remote villages in eastern Afghanistan for survivors of a powerful earthquake that has killed 800 people and injured 1,800 others.

Many are feared trapped under the rubble of their homes after the magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck on Sunday near the country's border with Pakistan.

Authorities searched by air for the second day on Tuesday as roads blocked with debris and the mountainous terrain in the affected areas made land travel difficult.

The Taliban government has appealed for international help. The UN has released emergency funds, while the UK has pledged £1m ($1.3m) in aid.

Sunday's earthquake was one of the strongest to hit Afghanistan in recent years. The country is very prone to earthquakes because it is located on top of a number of fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

In 2023, more than 1,400 people died after a series of 6.3-magnitude earthquakes hit western Afghanistan, near the city of Herat.

Survivors of Sunday's earthquake were brought to a hospital in Jalalabad, which has been overwhelemed with hundreds of patients daily even before the disaster.

Mir Zaman told the BBC that he pulled his dead children out of the rubble by himself.

"It was dark. There was no light. Someone lent me a lamp, and then I used a shovel and pick axe to dig them out. There was no one to help because everyone was affected. So many people died in my village. Some are still buried. Whole families have died," he said.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Maiwand suffered head injuries and blood loss.

"You can see his situation. It's so tragic. The earthquake was deadly. I want the doctors to treat him, to cure him," said the child's uncle, Khawat Gul.

The most recent earthquake hit Afghanistan when it is reeling under severe drought and what the UN calls an unprecedented crisis of hunger.

The country has also experienced massive aid cuts especially from the US this year which is further reducing the aid that many of these people could have got. This disaster couldn't have come at a worse time.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said aid from the UK will be "channelled through experienced partners", the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Red Cross.

India delivered 1,000 tents to Kabul, its foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar wrote on X after speaking to his Taliban counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi.

The Indian mission is also helping to move 15 tonnes of food from Kabul to Kunar province, which has been badly hit by the earthquake, he said, adding that India would send more relief items.

China and Switzerland have also pledged support.

Survivors will need housing, shelter and blankets, said Amy Martin, who leads the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left Pyongyang for China, where he will be attending a military parade in the capital Beijing, media reports say.

The "Victory Day" parade, which takes place on Wednesday, will see Kim rub shoulders with China's President Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and other world leaders - making it his first multilateral international meeting.

Kim left the North Korean capital on Monday evening onboard his armoured train, which is said to include a restaurant car serving fine French wines and dishes like fresh lobster.

The train's heavy protection means it travels slowly, and Kim's journey is expected to take up to 24 hours, according to South Korea's Yonhap agency.

Kim's attendance marks the first time a North Korean leader has attended a Chinese military parade since 1959. He will be among 26 other heads of states - including leaders from Myanmar, Iran and Cuba - in attendance.

His attendance is an upgrade from China's last Victory Day parade in 2015, when Pyongyang sent one of its top officials, Choe Ryong-hae.

The reclusive leader rarely travels abroad, with his recent contact with world leaders limited to Putin, who he's met twice since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He last visited Beijing in 2019 for an event marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the countries. That trip also saw him travel by train.

The tradition of travelling via train was started by Kim's grandfather Kim Il Sung - who took his own train trips to Vietnam and Eastern Europe.

Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, travelled by train as well as he was reportedly afraid of flying.

According to one South Korean news outlet, the armoured train has around 90 carriages, including conference rooms, audience chambers and bedrooms.

Tens of thousands of military personnel will march in formation through Beijing's historic Tiananmen Square on the day of the parade, which will mark the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two and the end of the conflict.

The 70-minute parade is likely to feature China's latest weaponry, including hundreds of aircraft, tanks and anti-drone systems - the first time its military's new force structure is being fully showcased in a parade.

Most Western leaders are not expected to attend the parade, due to their opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has driven the sanctions against Putin's regime.

But it will see leaders from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam in attendance - further proof of Beijing's concerted efforts to ramp up ties with neighbouring South East Asia.

Just one EU leader will be attending - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico - while Bulgaria and Hungary will send representatives.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left Pyongyang for China, where he will be attending a military parade in the capital Beijing, media reports say.

The "Victory Day" parade, which takes place on Wednesday, will see Kim rub shoulders with China's President Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and other world leaders - making it his first multilateral international meeting.

Kim left the North Korean capital on Monday evening onboard his armoured train, which is said to include a restaurant car serving fine French wines and dishes like fresh lobster.

The train's heavy protection means it travels slowly, and Kim's journey is expected to take up to 24 hours, according to South Korea's Yonhap agency.

Kim's attendance marks the first time a North Korean leader has attended a Chinese military parade since 1959. He will be among 26 other heads of states - including leaders from Myanmar, Iran and Cuba - in attendance.

His attendance is an upgrade from China's last Victory Day parade in 2015, when Pyongyang sent one of its top officials, Choe Ryong-hae.

The reclusive leader rarely travels abroad, with his recent contact with world leaders limited to Putin, who he's met twice since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He last visited Beijing in 2019 for an event marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the countries. That trip also saw him travel by train.

The tradition of travelling via train was started by Kim's grandfather Kim Il Sung - who took his own train trips to Vietnam and Eastern Europe.

Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, travelled by train as well as he was reportedly afraid of flying.

According to one South Korean news outlet, the armoured train has around 90 carriages, including conference rooms, audience chambers and bedrooms.

Tens of thousands of military personnel will march in formation through Beijing's historic Tiananmen Square on the day of the parade, which will mark the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two and the end of the conflict.

The 70-minute parade is likely to feature China's latest weaponry, including hundreds of aircraft, tanks and anti-drone systems - the first time its military's new force structure is being fully showcased in a parade.

Most Western leaders are not expected to attend the parade, due to their opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has driven the sanctions against Putin's regime.

But it will see leaders from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam in attendance - further proof of Beijing's concerted efforts to ramp up ties with neighbouring South East Asia.

Just one EU leader will be attending - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico - while Bulgaria and Hungary will send representatives.

Burkina Faso's unelected transitional parliament has passed a bill banning homosexual acts, a little over a year after a draft of an amended family code that criminalised homosexuality was adopted by the country's cabinet.

The new measure unanimously voted through on Monday imposes punishments of up to five years in jail, and has become part of a broader crackdown on same-sex relationships across the continent.

Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala announced on state-run media that, "the law provides for a prison sentence of between two and five years as well as fines".

He added that foreign nationals caught breaking the law would also be deported.

The next step for the legislation is obtaining the signature of the country's military leader Capt Ibrahim Traoré, the Reuters news agency reports.

Capt Traoré seized power in 2022, after forcing another military ruler, Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba, from office.

The Sahel nation had previously been among just 22 out of 54 African countries that allowed same-sex relations, which are punishable by death or lengthy prison terms in some states.

After gaining independence from France in 1960, Burkina Faso did not inherit anti-homosexuality laws unlike Britain's former colonies on the continent.

The country is socially conservative and religious with less than 10% of people thought to not follow any faith at all.

Burkina Faso's new law is in keeping with increasing crackdowns on LGBT relationships across the continent.

Last year, neighbouring Mali, an ally of Burkina Faso and also ruled by a junta, adopted legislation criminalising homosexuality.

There has been significant backlash and criticism against countries that have toughened their anti-gay stance in recent years, including from the World Bank that had put in place a ban on loaning money to Uganda due to their anti-LGBT stance.

The ban has since been lifted.

Nigeria is also among the countries on the continent that have enacted laws banning homosexuality. Ghana's parliament passed an anti-homosexuality bill last year, but the then-president did not sign it into law.

Of all the countries, Uganda adopted the toughest provisions, making what it describes as "aggravated homosexuality" a capital offense and imposing life sentences for consensual same-sex relations.

More BBC Africa stories about Burkina Faso:

• Why Burkina Faso's junta leader has captured hearts and minds around the world
• Why 'pan-Africanist' influencers pushed rumours of a coup
• How an al-Qaeda offshoot became one of Africa's deadliest militant groups

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 federal judge in California has blocked President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles.

Trump deployed the troops this summer, despite opposition from California's governor, in response to protests against immigration raids.

US District Judge Charles Breyer ruled on Tuesday that the government had violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the power of the federal government to use military force for domestic matters.

Judge Breyer has put the ruling on hold until 12 September and Trump will likely appeal.

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.

Chloe Malle will become the top editor at American Vogue after Dame Anna Wintour stepped aside as editor-in-chief, the publication has announced.

The 39-year-old, daughter of actress Candice Bergen, worked her way up the fashion magazine ranks over the past 14 years to become editor of Vogue.com and host the magazine's podcast The Run Through.

Malle's appointment marks a new era for the magazine, considered one of the most influential and glamorous fashion publications.

Wintour, the British-born fashion magnate, announced she was leaving the role in June after holding the position for 37 years. The magazine said she would retain senior positions at its publisher.

During her tenure at Vogue, Malle has reportedly been responsible for securing the magazine's photoshoot with Naomi Biden for her 2022 White House wedding, as well as an interview with Lauren Sanchez ahead of her wedding to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Before she began at Vogue, Malle covered real estate for the New York Observer. Her next gig as a freelance writer led her to Vogue where she began a full time position as the social editor in 2011.

"I was hesitant when I was interviewing, because fashion is not one of my main interests in life, and I wanted to be a writer more than an editor, but I was so seduced by the Vogue machine that I couldn't resist," Malle told the publication Into the Gloss in 2013.

Like her predecessor, Dame Anna, Malle has not shied away from politics while at Vogue.

Both on her social media and on her podcast she has supported Democratic causes and candidates.

During a 2024 episode of her podcast, which aired after Donald Trump was re-elected as US president, Malle expressed her disappointment with the election result.

It is unclear exactly when the transition from Dame Anna to Malle as chief of the magazine will be, but the 75-year-old is not completely leaving the picture.

Dame Anna will remain publisher Condé Nast's chief content officer, a role she was appointed to in 2020, which means she will still oversee Vogue's content, along with the company's other titles such as GQ, Wired and Tatler.

As many as six candidates for Germany's far-right AfD have died in recent weeks ahead of local elections in the big western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Police have made clear there is no evidence of foul play in the deaths, but it means that new ballots will have to be printed and some postal voters will have to recast their ballots.

North Rhine-Westphalia has a population of 18 million and a reported 20,000 candidates will run for office in its 14 September local elections.

The number of deaths has nevertheless raised questions on social media. The state's interior ministry has pointed out that candidates from other parties, including the Greens and Social Democrats, have also died.

The AfD became Germany's second biggest party in February's federal elections, spreading from its eastern heartland to areas of the west too.

The domestic spy agency classified it in May as a right-wing extremist organisation this year, before placing a pause on that description. In three eastern states, its AfD associations are still listed as extremist.

Initial reports centred on news that four of its candidates had died, and then the deaths of two reserve candidates also emerged, prompting a flurry of conspiracy theories on social media.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel made no effort to quash the speculation, reposting a claim by retired economist Stefan Homburg that the number of candidates' deaths was "statistically almost impossible".

However, asked about the rumours in his party, the AfD's number two figure in North Rhine-Westphalia, Kay Gottschalk, acknowledged on Tuesday that "what I have in front of me - but that's just partial information - that doesn't back up these suspicions at the moment".

He told Politico's Berlin Playbook Podcast that his party wanted the cases to be investigated "without immediately getting into conspiracy-theory territory". He said they had to tread carefully with the families concerned as they had lost a family member.

Police told Germany's DPA news agency that the four initial deaths were either from natural causes or the cause was not being divulged for reasons of family privacy. The two further deaths have been similarly described.

AfD strategists are hoping for gains in North Rhine-Westphalia's local elections, which are seen as the first test of voters since the new federal government came to power.

In the last state elections in May 2022, the AfD polled just 5.4% in a region that is home to Germany's industrial heartland in the Ruhr valley and has suffered from steep job losses.

The AfD polled 16.8% in the state in federal elections last February and polls suggest the party could almost match those numbers.

The party has found support among several leading US figures on the right who have accused the German government of trying to suppress the AfD through bureaucracy.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who endorsed the far-right party's migration policies earlier this year, has repeated his support for the AfD in recent days.

"Either Germany votes AfD, or it is the end of Germany," he claimed.

An Australian man is facing theft charges after police uncovered a "significant" trove of Lego and toys worth $250,000 (£120,800; $163,400) allegedly stolen from department stores in Adelaide.

About 2,500 items, including 1,700 unopened boxes of Lego, were found when South Australian police raided a Royal Park home on Saturday.

The haul - which police say was going to be sold online - was the largest seized during an operation targeting retail theft in the state, and so big that extra officers were called in to help remove the loot, which filled three truck loads.

The 41-year-old man charged over the stash will appear in Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on 30 September.

Apart from the Lego, other stolen items included soft toys, water guns and toy trucks with brands such as Pokémon, Barbie, Hello Kitty and Thomas the Tank Engine.

"The size of the haul is significant and indicates the depth of the alleged offending," John De Candia from South Australia Police said.

He said the operation - which sees shops team up with police to catch alleged thieves - targets repeat offenders as well as those who use violence and threats when stealing.

As the stolen items were believed to be bound for online sales, police urged consumers to not buy cheap goods from the web.

"This type of theft is not victimless," De Candia said. "Those who purchase cheap goods from online sites are unwittingly facilitating this crime and we would urge them to consider this.''

Police said the operation has seen a drop in shop thefts in recent months in South Australia, with officers making about 2,500 arrests.

Retail crime across the globe has surged in recent years, with a survey showing reports by retailers of customer theft in the UK rose by 3.7 million to 20.4 million, in the 12 months to September 2024, costing retailers an estimated £2bn.

Thousands of commuters in one of India's wealthiest suburbs were stuck on roads for six to eight hours due to rain-triggered traffic gridlock on Monday.

The incident has sparked outrage online, with many questioning how a place like Gurugram - known for its futuristic skyscrapers and sprawling corporate offices - could have such poor infrastructure.

Disaster management authorities in the suburb, which is located on the outskirts of capital Delhi, have advised offices, schools and colleges to work from home on Tuesday as more rainfall is predicted.

Torrential rains have wreaked havoc in several parts of India this year, killing hundreds of people in floods and landslides.

Many people took to social media to express their frustration with Gurugram's "nightmarish" traffic, which was more than 10km (6.2 miles) long on one road, according to local media.

A viral video shows a never-ending row of cars clogging at least a dozen lanes of a key highway.

"Gurugram is drowning. You pay exorbitant rent to come home to this," one user said on X.

Some users joked about whether they should just sleep in office and others said they'd probably reach faster on foot.

Gurugram is part of Haryana state, which is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Frustrated residents raised questions about why the state has not been able to improve infrastructure in the city, which houses the regional headquarters of some of the biggest companies, including Google, Meta, American Express and Samsung.

Meanwhile, weather warnings have also been issued in Delhi and surrounding cities.

The Yamuna river, which passes through the city, has crossed the danger mark over the past few days, flooding some low-lying areas. Authorities have been urging people living there to move to safer places.

The Old Railway Bridge, which connects two sides of the river, has been closed due to the rising water level.

In a social media post on Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta assured residents that the situation was being closely monitored.

India regularly witnesses severe floods during the monsoon season, which runs between June and September. But officials say the intensity of rains this season has been significantly higher.

Rains have also battered other states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and parts of Indian-administered Kashmir.

At least 29 people have died due to flooding in Punjab where more rains are predicted on Tuesday.

Data released by Himachal Pradesh's disaster management authority shows that 310 people have been killed in rain-related incidents – like flash floods, landslides, and road accidents - in the state since June 2025.

Last month, at least 46 people were killed in a village hosting Hindu pilgrims in Indian-administered Kashmir.

On 5 August, nearly half of the village of Dharali, in Uttarakhand state, was submerged after it was hit by a massive flash flood.

French actor Gérard Depardieu has been ordered to stand trial over allegations of rape and sexual assault in 2018.

His accuser, actor Charlotte Arnould, said she was relieved the case was going to court, seven years after she filed a complaint.

Depardieu, 76, has denied the charges, insisting his relationship with Arnould was consensual.

He was convicted in May of sexually assaulting two members of a film production crew four years ago - and placed on a list of sex offenders, but not jailed. He had denied their allegations.

"Seven years later, seven years of horror and hell... I think I'm having trouble realising how huge this is. I'm relieved," Arnould wrote in a social media post.

Arnould's lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, confirmed Depardieu had been ordered to stand trial for the alleged assault and rape by digital penetration of Arnould on two occasions at his Paris home in August 2018.

"My client and I are relieved and confident. This is a form of judicial truth for Charlotte while she awaits the criminal trial," she said.

The trial's date has not yet been set.

In a letter published in Le Figaro in 2023, Depardieu denied the allegations, writing: "Never, ever, have I abused a woman."

"There was never any coercion, violence, or protest between us," he said, referring to Arnould.

The case was initially dismissed for insufficient evidence, but after Arnould filed a complaint as a civil party, a judicial investigation was opened in the summer of 2020.

Ghana's President John Mahama has fired the country's Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo following a recommendation by an inquiry.

She had been on suspension since April after complaints were lodged against her in petitions by three individuals, with the president setting up a five-member committee to investigate.

The commission found that "grounds of stated misbehaviour... had been established and recommended her removal from office", the presidency said in a statement on Monday. Ms Torkornoo has dismissed the allegations as unfounded and politically motivated.

The presidency said Mahama was required to act in accordance with the committee's recommendations.

To arrive at its conclusion, the panel reviewed 10,000 pages of evidence from 13 witnesses on behalf of petitioner Daniel Ofori. The chief justice also testified and called 12 other witnesses, including experts.

The two other petitions have not been concluded.

Ms Torkornoo, Ghana's third female chief justice, was nominated in 2023 by former President Nana Akufo-Addo.

She is the first sitting chief justice to be investigated and dismissed.

Chief justices in Ghana enjoy security of tenure - meaning they can only be removed from office on a few grounds, which include incompetence and misbehaviour.

In April, the opposition New Patriotic Party condemned her suspension at the time, describing it as a political witch hunt and an attempt to undermine judicial independence.

Multiple lawsuits challenging the removal process were unsuccessful.

She had previously survived a removal request under Akufo-Addo, who found the petition to have "several deficiencies".

She had been accused of bias in some of her rulings by the current governing party, which was then in opposition.

A former deputy attorney general, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has criticised the decision to remove the chief justice saying it set a "dangerous precedent", the AFP news agency reports.

"The petition that I read showed no proper grounds to warrant her removal… If the threshold is what we read in the petition, then I fear for the future of the judiciary," he is quoted as saying.

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

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A 6.0 magnitude earthquake has struck Afghanistan's mountainous eastern region, with authorities saying hundreds of people have been killed.

The quake hit at 23:47 local time on Sunday (19:17 GMT) with its epicentre 27km (17 miles) away from Jalalabad, the country's fifth-largest city, in eastern Nangarhar province.

It was shallow - only 8km deep - and was felt 140km away in the capital, Kabul, as well as in neighbouring Pakistan. Hundreds of people are thought to have died.

The initial quake was followed by a number of large aftershocks, which are thought to have caused further deaths.

Details are still emerging and it could be some time before the extent of the damage and number of deaths is known.

What we know so far

Initial reports indicate significant casualties and widespread damage across parts of the far western Nangarhar and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan.

These mountainous areas are extremely challenging to reach even at the best of times, which is hampering rescue and relief operations.

• Follow updates on this story

More than 800 people are feared dead, the Taliban's interior ministry has said, but warns that there is still no clear death toll. There are reports that hundreds more have been injured.

The BBC has been told that the road leading to the epicentre has been blocked because of a landslide, so the Taliban government is using helicopters to get people out.

Multiple sources from the government have said that dozens of houses are buried under the rubble. Aid from international organisations has been requested.

Access by road to the worst-hit areas remains blocked, but hundreds of homes are likely to have been destroyed, according to Salam Al Janabi from the UN children's charity Unicef.

The aid organisation World Vision says that entire villages in Chawki and Nurgal regions - both in Kunar province - have been completely or partially destroyed, with homes made of mud and timber collapsing and trapping residents under rubble.

An official in Nurgal told the news agency AFP that many of those living in the quake-hit villages had returned to the country from Iran and Pakistan in recent years. Both nations have stepped up efforts to deport more than a million Afghans - many of whom had initially fled the country to escape violence.

The earthquake came in the wake of flash flooding over the weekend which left at least five dead, according to local media. The flood, which caused landslides and damaged infrastructure, also temporarily disrupted traffic between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Why news is taking time to emerge

As we have reported, the nature of the terrain means it is difficult to access and there are limited communications - meaning it will take longer to get updates on the situation. There is also likely to be damage to infrastructure, making it even harder to reach affected areas.

During previous major earthquakes, the death toll jumped up steeply once access to the affected areas was established.

However, there are other factors that hamper both our ability to get accurate information about the situation and in getting aid into the affected areas.

Since August 2021 the country has been under the control of the Taliban, whose government most of the world does not recognise.

The return of the hardline Islamist group to power sparked an exodus of international journalists, with organisations like the BBC pulling many of their staff from the country.

Several aid agencies and NGOs also suspended their work in Afghanistan as a result - meaning there are fewer ways to verify what is happening there.

However, there are no restrictions on allowing in international aid.

Can Afghanistan cope?

Afghanistan was pushed into economic collapse when the Taliban took over and more than 23 million Afghans are now in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the International Rescue Committee.

Most foreign donations to Afghanistan have been suspended and international sanctions, which date back to when the Taliban were first in power in the 1990s, are still in place - although exemptions have been made for humanitarian relief.

Prior to the Taliban takeover, about 80% of Afghanistan's budget came from foreign donors. This funded nearly all public healthcare, which has since collapsed.

Jalalabad's main hospital - the biggest medical facility close to the epicentre - is already overwhelmed, being right at the centre of the crossing point for the tens of thousands of Afghans being deported from neighbouring Pakistan.

Afghanistan's financial assets abroad (mainly held in the US) have also been frozen, while the abrupt freeze on US Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this year has significantly affected aid delivery.

Why are women and girls particularly at risk?

There are concerns that the health and safety of women and girls could be at greater risk due to the restrictions placed on them by the Taliban government.

These "continue to limit their access to life-saving services, leaving them [women and girls] among the most vulnerable in the aftermath of the quake", said Graham Davison, head of the Afghanistan branch of the international aid group Care.

Kunar is a very conservative area, so for cultural reasons, women might end up being treated later. It is feared some women may have chosen to stay, or wait for daylight to be taken to hospital by their families.

The powerful earthquake in the Paktika province of 2022 saw the number of injured women in hospitals rise two days after the earthquake.

It is also important to note that there are no female rescuers on the ground.

Why are earthquakes particularly damaging in Afghanistan?

Afghanistan is very prone to earthquakes because it is located on top of a number of fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian plates meet.

Earthquakes happen when there is sudden movement along the tectonic plates which make up the Earth's surface. Fractures called fault lines occur where the plates collide.

In 2023, a series of quakes in Herat province killed more than 1,000 people. In 2022, Paktika province was struck by a quake which also killed more than 1,000.

Shallow earthquakes are common in the country and are more destructive, as seismic waves have less of a distance to travel to the Earth's surface and therefore retain much of their power.

Buildings in Afghanistan also tend to be made of timber, mud brick or weak concrete, which are not quake-resistant.

A lot of damage also comes from landslides caused by earthquakes, which can flatten houses in mountain villages and block rivers, causing flooding.

The price of gold has hit a record high as demand for the precious metal remains strong amid global economic uncertainty.

The spot gold price hit $3,508.50 per ounce early on Tuesday, continuing its upwards trend which has seen it rise by nearly a third this year.

The precious metal is viewed as a safer asset for investors during times of economic uncertainty, and its price rose earlier this year after US President Donald Trump announced wide ranging tariffs which have upset global trade.

Analysts say the price has also been lifted by expectations that the US central bank will cut its key interest rate, making gold an even more attractive prospect for investors.

Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, told the BBC's Today programme that the rise in gold prices over the past few months is really down to Trump and "what he's done to geopolitics [and] what he's done to global trade".

"It was really the US election last year that really put a fire under it," he said.

Analysts also cite worries over the independence of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, as another factor driving the gold price.

Trump has launched repeated attacks on the Federal Reserve's chair, Jerome Powell, and recently attempted to fire one of its governors, Lisa Cook.

Derren Nathan from Hargreaves Lansdown said it was Trump's "attempts to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve Bank" that was "driving renewed interest in safe haven assets including gold".

On Monday, the head of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde warned that if Trump were to undermine the independence of the Fed, it would represent a "very serious danger" to the global economy.

She said if the Fed was forced to respond to Trump's politics, it would have a "very worrying" impact on economic stability in the US, and therefore in the rest of the world as well.

Mr Ash added that when the price of gold surges because of investor interest, it was usually tempered by a slowdown in buying from China and India - two of the biggest markets for gold jewellery.

But this time, he said gold was continuing to find demand in China and India as, rather than exiting the market during times of high prices, jewellery buyers turn towards buying investment gold products such as bars or coins.