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Back from the brink, Kashmir families on both sides are processing trauma and loss

BBC Nimra (left) and Sanam (right) pictured in a photomontage in front of Kashmir's mountainous landscape under blue skies. Nimra wears an orange headscarf and a patterned dress, while Sanam on the right wears a red headscarf and cries with her hands covering her face.BBC

Sixteen-year-old Nimra stood outside, rooted to the spot, as the Indian missiles that had woken her a moment ago rained down on the mosque a few metres from her house in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. She watched one tear the minaret off the top of the building. But she failed to realise she, too, had been struck - in the chest.

When the family reached the relative safety of her aunt's house nearby, someone turned on a phone torch. "My aunt gasped. There was blood on my frock. It was pink and white but now soaked in red. I hadn't seen it before." Again they ran. "I was running but my hand was pressed on my chest the whole time. I didn't want to take it off. I thought if I let go, everything inside me would come out." A piece of shrapnel was lodged near her heart, she later discovered.

A few hours later, in Poonch, Indian-administered Kashmir, a different family was dodging shelling which Pakistan had launched in response to India's missile strikes.

"When the firing began, everyone ran for their lives - children clinging to their parents in fear," said MN Sudhan, 72. "Some families managed to leave for Jammu in their vehicles. We also decided to escape. But barely 10 minutes into our journey, a shell landed near our vehicle. The shrapnel tore through the car. My grandson died on the spot."

"Our future was shattered at that [very] moment," Mr Sudhan said of 13-year-old Vihaan's death. "Now we're left with nothing but grief. I have witnessed two wars between India and Pakistan, but never in my life have I seen shelling as intense as this."

Reuters A group of women dressed in traditional clothing and headscarves, standing outdoors with trees and a building in the background. The woman in the centre - Vihaan's mother - is wailing. Reuters
Vihaan's mother (centre) mourns her son at a cremation ground in Poonch

Nimra and Vihaan were among many of the villagers caught up in the deadliest attacks for several years in a decades-long conflict between two of the world's nuclear powers - India and Pakistan. Both sides administer the Himalayan region in part but claim it in full. Both governments deny targeting civilians, but BBC journalists in the region have spoken to families caught up in the violence.

The strike that injured Nimra was part of India's armed response after a militant attack killed 26 people - mostly Indian tourists - last month at a beauty spot in India-administered Kashmir. Police there claimed militants included at least two Pakistan nationals. Pakistan has asked India for evidence of this, and has called for an independent inquiry into who was behind the attack.

What followed was four days of tit-for-tat shelling and drone attacks, intensifying each day and culminating in missile strikes on military bases, which threatened to tip over into full-blown conflict. Then, suddenly, a ceasefire brokered by the US and other international players on 10 May brought the two nuclear powers back from the brink.

TASEER BEYG / BBC Nimra, 16, wearing an orange headscarf and a patterned outfit stands in front of the damaged mosque, mountains visible in the distance.TASEER BEYG / BBC
Nimra still has shrapnel lodged inside her body

Families on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) - the de facto border in Kashmir - told us they had had loved ones killed and property destroyed. At least 16 people are reported to have been killed on the Indian side, while Pakistan claims 40 civilian deaths, though it remains unclear how many were directly caused by the shelling. We also heard from Indian and Pakistani government insiders about the mood in their respective administrations as the conflict escalated.

In Delhi's corridors of power, the atmosphere was initially jubilant, an Indian government source told the BBC. Its missile attacks on targets in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in Pakistan itself - including the Bilal Mosque in Muzaff arabad, which India claims is a militant camp, though Pakistan denies this - were deemed a success.

"The strikes… were not limited to Pakistani-administered Kashmir or along the Line of Control," an Indian government source told the BBC. "We went deep - even into the Pakistani side of Punjab, which has always been Pakistan's red line."

But the Pakistani military had been prepared, a source from the Pakistan Air Force told the BBC. Days earlier, the Pakistani government said it was expecting an attack.

"We knew something was coming, and we were absolutely ready," one officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said Indian fighter jets approached Pakistani territory and the air force was under instructions to shoot down any that crossed into its airspace or dropped a payload.

Pakistan claims to have shot down five Indian jets that night, something India has remained silent on.

"We were well prepared, and honestly, we were also lucky," the source said - his account repeated by two other sources.

But Mr Sudhan, Vihaan's grandfather, said there had been no warning to stay indoors or evacuate. "Why didn't they inform us? We, the people, are caught in the middle."

It is likely that no evacuation orders had been issued because the Indian government needed to keep the military strikes confidential, though the local administration had, following the April militant attack, directed locals to clean out community bunkers as a precautionary measure.

A day after the initial missile strikes, Thursday, both sides launched drone attacks, though they each accused the other of making the first move.

India began to evacuate thousands of villagers along the Indian side of the LoC. Just after 21:00 that evening, the Khan family in India-administered Kashmir decided they must flee their home in Uri, 270km (168 miles) to the north of Poonch. Most of their neighbours had already left.

But after travelling for just 10 minutes, their vehicle was struck by shrapnel from a shell, fatally injuring 47-year-old Nargis. Her sister-in-law Hafeeza was seriously injured. They headed to the nearest hospital, only to find the gates locked.

"I somehow climbed the hospital wall and called out for help, telling them we had injured people with us. Only then did the staff come out and open the gate. As soon as they did, I collapsed. The doctors were terrified by the ongoing shelling and had closed everything out of fear," Hafeeza said.

Hafeeza's sister-in-law Nargis is survived by six children. The youngest daughter Sanam, 20, said the first hospital they went to was not equipped to help, and as they headed to another, her mother died of her injuries.

SYED SHAHRIYAR / BBC A woman wearing a red headscarf with white floral embroidery, standing against a blue background with blurred objects behind her.SYED SHAHRIYAR / BBC
Sanam's mother Nargis was fatally struck by shrapnel

"A piece of shrapnel had torn through her face. My clothes were soaked in her blood… We kept talking to her, urging her to stay with us. But she passed away on the way."

Since a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in 2021 there had been relative peace in the region, locals told the BBC. For the first time in years, they had been able to live normal lives, they said, and now this sense of security was destroyed.

Sanam, who lost her mother, said: "I appeal to both governments - if you're heading into war, at least secure your civilians. Prepare... Those who sit in comfort and demand war - they should be sent to the borders. Let them witness what it really means. Let them lose someone before their eyes."

Sajjad Shafi, the representative for Uri in the regional government, said he had acted as promptly as possible.

"The moment I got the news that India has attacked, I got in touch with people and started moving them out."

After two days of attacks and counter attacks, the Indian government source said there was now a "clear sense in… power corridors that things were escalating but we were ready.

"We were ready because India had spent the last 10 years acquiring and building strategic military assets - missiles, warheads and defence systems."

On the international stage, there had been consternation that the tensions would not be de-escalated by the US, despite its diplomatic overtures during India and Pakistan's previous Kashmir clashes.

US Vice President JD Vance said a potential war would be "none of our business".

This statement came as no surprise, the Indian government source told the BBC. At that stage, "it was clear the US didn't want to get involved".

By the following day, Friday, shelling had become more intense.

Muhammed Shafi was at home with his wife in Shahkot village in the Neelum Valley, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on the LoC.

The 30-year-old was standing in the doorway, just a few steps away from where his son was playing; his wife standing in their courtyard.

TASEER BEYG / BBC Muhammed stands with his two young children in front of his bombed home TASEER BEYG / BBC
Muhammed's wife was killed by a strike very close to their house

"I remember looking up and seeing a mortar shell coming from a distance. In the blink of an eye, it struck her. She didn't even have time to scream. One second she was there, and the next, she was gone. Her face... her head... there was nothing left. Just a cloud of smoke and dust. My ears went numb. Everything went silent. I didn't even realise I was screaming.

"That night, her body lay there, right in our home. The entire village was hiding in bunkers. The shelling continued all night, and I stayed beside her, weeping. I held her hand for as long as I could."

One of those in a bunker was his niece, 18-year-old Umaima. She and her family were holed up in the shelter for four days, on and off, in brutal conditions.

"There were six or seven of us packed into it," she said. "The other bunker was already full. There's no place to lie down in there - some people stood, others sat. There was no drinking water, no food," with people shouting, crying and reciting prayers in the pitch black.

Also in a bunker, in the Leepa Valley, Pakistan-Administered Kashmir - one of the most militarised and vulnerable valleys in the region - was Shams Ur Rehman and family. It is Shams's own bunker, but that night he shared it with 36 other people, he said.

Leepa is surrounded on three sides by the LoC and Indian-administered territory, so Shams was used to living with cross-border tensions. But he was not prepared for the complete destruction of his house.

He left the bunker at three in the morning to survey the scene.

"Everything was gone. Wooden beams and debris from the house were scattered everywhere. The blast was so powerful, the shockwave pushed in the main wall. The metal sheets on the roof were shredded. The entire structure shifted - by at least two inches.

TASEER BEYG / BBC A man in a cap and blue jumper carries a plank of wood, others laid out either side of him and a destroyed house behind him. There is a lush valley in the background.TASEER BEYG / BBC
Shams Ur Rehman's house now has to be rebuilt after it was hit by three shells

"A house is a person's life's work. You're always trying to improve it - but in the end, it's all gone in seconds."

Four hours later, back in the Neelum Valley, Umaima and her family also emerged on Saturday 10 May to a transformed landscape.

"We came out of the bunker at seven in the morning. That's when we saw - nothing was left."

As Umaima surveyed the ruins of her village, India and Pakistan's forces that day were trading ever more destructive blows - firing missiles at each other's military installations, which both sides accused the other of instigating.

India had targeted three Pakistani air bases, including one in Rawalpindi - the garrison city that houses the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters.

"This was a red line crossed," said one Pakistani officer. "The prime minister gave the go-ahead to the army chief. We already had a plan, and our forces were desperately ready to execute it… For anyone in uniform, it was one of those unforgettable days."

TASEER BEYG / BBC A valley scene with a river winding through lush green mountains. A small village with scattered houses lines the riverbanks.TASEER BEYG / BBC
The Neelum valley lies along the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered territory

Pakistan hit back at Indian military installations. On the diplomatic front, this was seen as a moment to highlight the issue of Kashmir on the international stage, an official in the Pakistan foreign office told the BBC.

"It was non-stop. Endless meetings, coordination, and back-to-back calls to and from other countries for both foreign minister and then the prime minister. We welcomed mediation offers from the US, the Saudis, the Iranians, or anyone who could help de-escalate."

On the Indian side, the Pahalgam attack on 22 April had already prompted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to speak to at least 17 world leaders or diplomats, including UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In most of these conversations, he has tweeted, the emphasis had been on the "cross-border terrorist attack" and focused on building a case to hold the perpetrators accountable for the attack.

Then, on Saturday afternoon local time, in the aftermath of the latest missile exchanges, came a diplomatic breakthrough out of nowhere. US President Donald Trump took to social media to reveal that a ceasefire had been agreed.

"After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE.

"Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence," he wrote on social media platform Truth Social.

India has since downplayed Washington's role in the ceasefire and it has rejected that trade was used as a lever to achieve this.

Behind the scenes, US mediators, diplomatic backchannels and regional players, including the US, the UK and Saudi Arabia, had proved critical in negotiating the climbdown, experts say.

"We hit Pakistani strategic bases deep inside their territory and that must have worried the US," the Indian government source believes.

In Pahalgam, the site of the militant gun attack that sparked the crisis, the search is still on for the perpetrators.

Getty Images A mountain landscape featuring a single horse grazing in a lush green meadow.Getty Images
Pahalgam was an area popular with tourists

Vinay Narwal, a 26-year-old Indian Navy officer, was on his honeymoon in Pahalgam when he was killed. He had got married just a week before the attack.

A photo of Vinay's wife Himanshi, sitting near her husband's body following the attack, has been widely shared on social media.

His grandfather Hawa Singh Narwal wants "exemplary punishment" for the killers.

"This terrorism should end. Today, I lost my grandson. Tomorrow, someone else will lose their loved one," he said.

SYED SHAHRIYAR / BBC A man sitting on the side of a street with buildings in the background.SYED SHAHRIYAR / BBC
Rayees used to lead treks in Pahalgam

A witness to the attack's aftermath, Rayees Ahmad Bhat, who used to lead pony treks to the beauty spot where the shootings took place, said his industry was now in ruins.

"The attackers may have killed tourists that day, but we - the people of Pahalgam - are dying every day since. They've stained the name of this peaceful town… Pahalgam is terrorised, and its people broken."

The attack was a huge shock for a government which had begun to actively promote tourism in stunningly picturesque Kashmir, famed for its lush valleys, lakes and snow-capped mountains.

The source in the Indian administration said this might have lulled Delhi into a false sense of security.

"Perhaps we got carried away by the response to tourism in Kashmir. We thought we were over a hump but we were not."

The four-day conflict has once again shown how fragile peace can be between the two nations.

Additional reporting by Vikas Pandey in Delhi

Gove 'in agreement' with Swinney over second independence referendum

PA images A close-up shot of the former MP Michael Gove, a grey-haired man with glasses. He looks off to his right with a serious expression. He is in a suit and tie and the background is completely black.PA images
Michael Gove will take up his seat in the House of Lords next week

There could be a second Scottish independence referendum if the public show "overwhelming support" for one, according to Michael Gove.

The former Conservative minister, who sat in the cabinet for most of the period between 2010 and 2024, told BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show that he didn't think another referendum was necessary.

But he conceded that the UK government may have to change approach if SNP popularity and support for another vote grows.

Last week, First Minister John Swinney said that he wanted to achieve "demonstrable support" for independence.

UK is a 'living thing'

Gove, who held various cabinet positions under three Conservative prime ministers, was often tasked with overseeing relations between the UK and Scottish government.

While he doesn't think Scottish independence is currently on the agenda, he is warning supporters of the union not to "assume any degree of complacency."

Gove described the UK as a "living thing" and added that politicians had to continually demonstrate that the union was working.

The former minister said that he didn't think a second referendum was "necessary at the moment", but added that if there was "an overwhelming desire on the part of the Scottish people for one then we'd have to review the decision."

When pressed on what would trigger such a change in policy, Gove said that was for the Westminster government to decide.

He added that he believed too much focus on the constitution was bad for all political parties and that governments should "retain confidence" by concentrating on the economy, health and transport.

PA Media Michael Gove stands at the dispatch box in the house of Commons, talking to the House. He is wearing a navy suit, white shirt and pink tie.PA Media
Michael Gove has held several cabinet positions under three prime ministers

Gove was part of a government that rejected requests from the Scottish government for a second referendum.

He denied that this was anti-democratic and insisted that Scotland had "more important" issues to deal with.

Gove now suggests that the likelihood of a second independence vote was linked to the SNP's ability to improve public services.

"If, for the sake of argument, the SNP make all of those decisions in government in a way that gives people confidence in them then we might be in a different position [on a second referendum]", he said.

Michael Gove and SNP leader John Swinney do not have much in common politically, but they seem to be delivering a relatively similar message on this topic.

Last week, the first minister talked about securing "demonstrable support" for independence.

Swinney compared this to the 1997 referendum for a Scottish parliament, which was backed by around 74% of Scots.

The message seemed to be that independence will move forward when public support demands it in greater numbers.

Getty Images Scotland's first minister, John Swinney, walks through the Scottish Parliament, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a purple tie.Getty Images
Surprisingly, Mr Gove has found himself sharing the same position as First Minister John Swinney (pictured) on the issue of an independence referendum

But the first minister also told BBC Scotland News that it was "completely unacceptable" for the independence movement "to be thwarted by a Westminster government that just folds it's arms and says 'no'."

Gove is no stranger to disagreements with Scottish government ministers.

He insists that relations were broadly cordial and productive when he was in government. But it's fair to say there were times when relationships soured.

Back in 2023, the UK government made the unprecedented decision to veto Holyrood's Gender Recognition Reform bill.

This legislation would have made it easier for trans people to 'self-identify' and change their legally recognised sex, without a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

Gove chaired a committee of ministers who agreed to enact Section 35 of the Scotland Act.

This allows a UK minister to veto a Holyrood bill if they think it would modify laws reserved to Westminster and have an "adverse effect" on how those laws apply.

This power had never been used before and it has not been used since.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the term 'woman' related to biological sex under the Equality Act.

And Gove believes this proved that deploying the section 35 order was the correct call.

"I think it was absolutely the right decision, and I think it's been vindicated by subsequent events", he added.

Though Mr Gove stressed that the Section 35 provision must remain a "fail safe power" that is "used sparingly".

At the time the Scottish government characterised the veto as a "direct attack" on the Scottish Parliament.

Getty Images An image of a street in Torry, Aberdeen. We see terraced flats and a row of shops with mixed heights. There are hills and high rise flats in the background.Getty Images
The former MP will be known as Lord Gove of Torry in the House of Lords - after the area his family hailed from

Gove stood down as an MP last year and is now editor of the Spectator magazine. He is due to enter the House of Lords this week as Lord Gove of Torry.

His chosen title is a tribute to the Aberdeen suburb where his family's fish processing business was based.

So how concerned is the native Aberdonian about the state of the Scottish Conservatives?

Some polls have suggested that the emergence of the Reform Party could see them drop from second to fourth place in next year's Holyrood election.

Speaking from the leather couches of his editor's office at the Spectator's London HQ, he tells the Scottish wing of his party "don't panic".

The former cabinet minister deploys an Aberdeen Football Club analogy to assess the situation.

For those not following the twist and turns of Scottish football, the Dons have had an up and down season.

But they still find themselves with a shot at silverware in the Scottish cup final next weekend.

He says the important lesson is "not to change the manager" but to "stick together as a team".

That reassurance may go down well with both UK party leader Kemi Badenoch and Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay, who must scale political mountains if they are to deliver success.

But there may yet be a warning contained within Mr Gove's Aberdeen FC comparison.

They have finished the season in fifth place.

That's the sort of fate the Scottish Conservatives are desperate to avoid.

Two dead as Mexican Navy ship crashes into Brooklyn Bridge

Watch: Ship smashes in to New York's Brooklyn Bridge

At least 22 people have been injured and three remain in a serious condition after a tall Mexican Navy training ship crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, the Mexican Navy says.

Footage has emerged showing towering masts of the Cuauhtémoc clipping the bridge as the sailing vessel was passing under the famous structure on Saturday evening.

Parts of the masts reportedly fell on the deck, with US media reporting multiple injuries as members of the crew were standing on the masts at the time of collision.

New York City's Emergency Management (NYCEM) said it was "responding to an incident", without giving any further details. Brooklyn Bridge has not sustained any damage, the mayor of New York said,

The Mexican Navy confirmed that the ship was damaged, saying the incident was being investigated.

Crowds who were watching the ship's trajectory fled from the water's edge as the masts collided with the bridge.

New York City's Fire Department confirmed that authorities were responding to injuries, reports CBS, BBC's US partner.

The department said it had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.

In a statement on X, NYCEM said "the situation is developing and details are not confirmed at this time".

The mayor of New York Eric Adams is at the scene and has been briefed on the situation, CBS reported.

NYPD told residents to avoid the area of Brooklyn Bridge, South Street Seaport in Manhattan, and Dumbo in Brooklyn.

"Expect heavy traffic and a large presence of emergency vehicles in the surrounding area," police said on X.

Media reports say the Cuauhtémoc had more than 200 crew on board.

It was in New York City on a goodwill visit.

Anadolu via Getty Images Damaged masts on the Mexican Navy training ship Cuauhtémoc after it crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge. Photo: 17 May 2025Anadolu via Getty Images
Damaged masts on the Mexican Navy training ship Cuauhtémoc after it crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge

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.

'What the Hell Just Happened' to the UK Eurovision entry?

Getty Images Remember Monday hold aloft a Union flag as they take part in the 2025 Eurovision Song ContestGetty Images
Remember Monday went into the contest with high hopes, but it was not to be

Oh no, not again.

For the third year in a row, the UK has crashed out at Eurovision, taking 19th place out of a possible 26.

It feels particularly cruel this time because our contestants, Remember Monday, got a lot of things right.

Most notably, they could sing – and I mean, really, really sing.

Lauren, Holly and Charlotte hit every harmony in their song, What The Hell Just Happened, with pinpoint precision, drawing on a decade of West End experience that's seen them star in everything from Matilda to Phantom Of The Opera.

After toe-curling performances from Olly Alexander in 2024 and Mae Muller in 2023, their vocals were as strong as a lion's roar. So strong, in fact, that they caught the attention of former Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst.

"Harmonising on the Eurovision stage has hardly worked out in the past, but they're spot on," he enthused before the final.

"Their confidence is incredible. You immediately trust them, because when you feel the artist is nervous, you get nervous as a viewer. But they are just so light and so sharp."

So what went wrong?

Corinne Cumming / EBU Remember Monday pose together as they wait the start of their Eurovision performance in Basel, SwitzerlandCorinne Cumming / EBU
The band's friendship was at the core of their performance, and is certain to be a source of strength as as they return from Basel

The chief culprit, if I'm honest, was the song.

A manic mish-mash of musical styles, it sped up in the verses, and slowed down for the choruses, with all the consistency of a jelly in a heatwave.

That's not to say it's a bad piece of writing. Indeed, all of the UK's 88 points came from professional juries of songwriters, whose job it is to recognise compositional craft.

They'll have recognised all the clever British touches the band crammed in – Elton John-style piano crescendos, a Beatles-esque mellotron riff, and a vocal callback to George Michael's Freedom '90.

The lyrics were clever and witty, too. Reminiscent of Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (TGIF), or If I Were a Bell from Guys and Dolls, it was all about the drunken mistakes you make while trying to get over an ex.

"Broke a heel, lost my keys, scraped my knee / When I fell from the chandelier."

In three short minutes, the trio rattled off half a dozen memorable hooks, endowed with the unbreakable bond of their friendship.

But as seasoned Eurovision watcher Jonathan Vautrey noted in a review last month, the song was simply too busy.

"It's hard to latch on to exactly what they're selling when you're too busy reeling from the constant whiplash of hearing an almost brand new song every 30 seconds," he wrote on the Wiwibloggs fansite.

"Although I've been able to settle into the entry overtime, and now appreciate the theatricality of it all, first impressions matter at Eurovision."

That's an opinion I heard more than once. But still, I had hope.

Catching a tram to Basel's St Jackobshalle arena on Saturday, I was stopped by a Swedish woman who'd spotted my UK media pass.

She wanted to tell me how she'd dismissed Remember Monday's song when auditioning this year's Eurovision songs on Spotify. Then she saw their spirited performance in the semi-final "and I understood".

Good enough for one vote, then. So why didn't more people connect with it?

The staging was put together by Ace Bowerman, who is one of the UK's most respected creative directors – responsible for Blackpink's Born Pink world tour and Dua Lipa's lockdown spectacular, Studio 2054.

Speaking before the final, she told me the performance deliberately made a virtue of the girls' friendship.

"As soon as I met them, I was like, 'Please be my friend!'" she told me,

"They are electric people, they have such a special bond. So the one thing I want everybody to take away from the performance is how much fun they are – because the audience will want to be their friends as well."

It was camp and fun, but lacked the scale of Finland's Erika Vikman, who soared above the audience on a giant phallic microphone, or the drama of Austrian winner JJ, who was tossed around the stage in the stormy sea of his own emotions.

Getty Images JJ stands on a makeshift raft, as part of his winning Eurovision performanceGetty Images
JJ's staging was simple but powerful - did the UK try to do too much?

"The UK's staging wasn't flat at all but, as with the song, it was maybe a bit too much," says Alexander Beijar, Eurovision reporter at Finnish broadcaster Yle.

"It was like, we have three minutes, and we'll show you everything we can do on this stage: We'll start in bed, we'll dance on a chandelier, we'll strut down the catwalk, and we'll end up in the bed again in the end.

"I think maybe tone it down just a nod for next year.

"Then again, as a Finn, with the biggest microphone you can find in the whole of Switzerland, maybe I shouldn't give advice!"

Was it political?

And what about that wrinkly old Eurovision chestnut: Politics?

Vote trading is an age-old tradition at the contest. Since Sweden first took part in 1958, for example, more than one-fifth of its votes have come from Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.

But the situation is complicated. Political tensions persist in the Balkans, "but the cultural connections seem to have trumped the political divisions", Dean Vuletic, author of Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest, recently told the AFP news agency.

"I would say that this is because these countries do share a music industry."

Getty Images Remember Monday dance next to a giant prop chandelier at the 2025 Eurovision Song ContestGetty Images
Remember Monday have a summer of festival appearances and concerts to look forward to, all booked before they were announced as this year's Eurovision act

The UK's music industry isn't particularly well integrated with Europe, tending to ride roughshod over its less influential neighbours.

When it comes to friendly neighbours, our reputation took a hit after Brexit - although Luxembourg has always been a reliable source of votes, for reasons that aren't 100 per cent clear.

But here's the thing: You can only vote for a country in Eurovision, not against it.

Remember Monday were good, but were they good enough to make your personal Top 10?

If so, then great – you'd have given them some points. Otherwise, it's a struggle to accrue any momentum.

In the end, that was Remember Monday's fate: Another zero-point disappointment.

So where does that leave the UK going into next year?

Graham Norton and Scott Mills in the studios of BBC Radio 2
Graham Norton and Scott Mills gave Remember Monday their seal of approval on BBC Radio 2

Well, we laid good foundations. Remember Monday didn't come with a copycat Eurodance hit, or an insipid ballad. The vocals were strong. The staging conveyed personality.

Their energy was infectious and they made friends across Europe, becoming great ambassadors for the UK in the contest.

Their 88 jury points almost doubled last year's score. We just have to find a way to get the public vote back on side.

In other words, we shouldn't be too down on the band themselves, as Scott Mills and Graham Norton discussed on Radio 2 this weekend.

"I thought they were spectacular, so I don't really mind where they place, because it's not embarrassing," said Mills.

"I'm with you," Norton agreed. "They're so likeable. Whatever happens, they walk away heads held high."

Mills cautioned against the creeping allure of cynicism.

"There's a section of fans [who] will complain every year, whatever the UK does: 'Oh, the song's too generic, the vocals aren't great.'

"We could send Adele and they'd have something horrible to say.

"But the whole thing about Eurovision is that it's fun and it's joy through music… so please don't spoil it. Go and be miserable somewhere else."

And that's exactly the attitude we need. The UK's never going to attract world-class talent if all we do is look down on the contest and approach it with a defeatist attitude.

Luckily, three people have already put their names in the ring for next year.

"Listen," said Remember Monday's Lauren Byrne when I bumped into her backstage on Thursday.

"If we do really badly, we're just gonna keep coming back until we win."

We'll remember, Remember Monday.

See you in Vienna next year.

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU Remember Monday are framed by a heart during the TV broadcast of the 2025 Eurovision Song ContestSarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Elton John brands government 'losers' over AI copyright plans

BBC Sir Elton John speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, who is behind the camera. He has ginger hair and blue eyes. He is wearing a black t-shirt, black blazer, and thick, square, black-rimmed glasses.BBC

Sir Elton John described the government as "absolute losers" and said he feels "incredibly betrayed" over plans to exempt technology firms from copyright laws.

Speaking exclusively to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he said if ministers go ahead with plans to allow AI firms to use artists' content without paying, they would be "committing theft, thievery on a high scale".

This week the government rejected proposals from the House of Lords to force AI companies to disclose what material they were using to develop their programmes.

A government spokesperson said that "no changes" to copyright laws would be "considered unless we are completely satisfied they work for creators".

Generative AI programmes mine, or learn, from vast amounts of data like text, images, or music online to generate new content which feels like it has been made by a human.

Sir Elton said the "danger" is that, for young artists, "they haven't got the resources ... to fight big tech [firms]".

"It's criminal, in that I feel incredibly betrayed," he added.

"The House of Lords did a vote, and it was more than two to one in our favour," he said. "The government just looked at it as if to say, 'Hmm, well the old people ... like me can afford it.'"

On Monday, the House of Lords voted by a 147 majority to amend the Data (Use and Access) Bill to add transparency requirements, which aim to ensure copyright holders have to give permission for their work to be used.

But on Wednesday MPs in the House of Commons voted to reject this change, meaning the bill will continue to go back and forth between the two Houses until they reach an agreement on it.

Sir Elton warned the government was on course to "rob young people of their legacy and their income", adding that he thought the government was "just being absolute losers, and I'm very angry about it".

The singer said that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer needed to "wise up" and described Technology Secretary Peter Kyle as "a bit of a moron".

He said if the government does not change its plans, he would be ready to take ministers to court, saying that "we'll fight it all the way".

Sir Elton John and James Graham speak to Laura Kuenssberg.
Sir Elton John spoke to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg alongside playwright James Graham

Speaking alongside the 78-year-old, playwright James Graham said ministers "do understand the value of creativity... but what's frustrating is either the complacency or the willingness to let Silicon Valley tech bros get it all their own way".

The chief executive of UK music, Tom Kiehl, told the BBC that the government is "on the brink" of offering up the country's music industry "as a sacrificial lamb in its efforts to cosy up to American-based tech giants".

He added that the prime minister "must not sell" the next generation of singers, songwriters, musicians, and music creators "down the river and allow all that talent to be crushed by letting soulless AI bots plunder their work".

Ahead of the vote in the House of Lords, Sir Elton joined more than 400 British musicians, writers, and artists in signing a letter calling on the prime minister to update copyright laws in a way that protects them from artificial intelligence.

Beatles singer Sir Paul McCartney, who also signed the letter, previously told the BBC there was a risk AI would create a "Wild West" in which artists' copyright was not properly protected.

A government spokesperson said it wants the UK's creative industries and AI companies to "flourish, which is why we're consulting on a package of measures that we hope will work for both sectors".

The spokesperson said it was "vital" the government worked through responses to a consultation on proposals to allow developers to use creators' content unless rights holders elected to "opt out".

They added that it was "equally important that we put in the groundwork now as we consider the next steps".

"That is why we have committed to publishing a report and economic impact assessment - exploring the broad range of issues and options on all sides of the debate."

The full interview with Sir Elton John will be on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday 18 January at 09:00 BST.

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Fatal blast near Palm Springs fertility clinic 'act of terrorism' - FBI

Getty Images The main sign welcoming visitors to Palm Springs is shown against a blue skyGetty Images

Officials in Palm Springs, California are investigating an explosion on Saturday morning that killed one person and damaged a fertility clinic.

The explosion happened just before 11:00 local time (19:00 BST) less than a mile from downtown Palm Springs, near several businesses including the American Reproductive Centres.

In a statement, the fertility clinic said no one from their facility was harmed but that one person was killed and several were injured.

California governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the state is coordinating with local and federal authorities to respond to the incident.

The American Reproductive Centres in Palm Springs said that a vehicle had exploded in the parking lot near its building.

It is unclear what the cause of the explosion was.

US attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a post on X that the Justice Department was "aware of the explosion that occurred this morning in Palm Springs".

He said the FBI are on the scene and are investigating if "this was an intentional act."

The fertility clinic said their lab, including all eggs and embryos, remain "fully secure and undamaged".

"We are heavily conducting a complete safety inspection and have confirmed that our operations and sensitive medical areas were not impacted by the blast," the fertility clinic said in its statement.

The BBC has reached out to the Palm Springs Police Department for comment.

This is a developing story.

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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Far-right leaders attempting to hijack success of Reform

PA Media Mark Collett during a protest by nationalist group Patriotic Alternative in Tower Gardens in SkegnessPA Media
Mark Collett speaks during a protest by nationalist group Patriotic Alternative in 2023

Two prominent far-right figures have set out plans to hijack the success of Reform UK and push the party towards extremist views.

David Clews, a conspiracy theorist and far-right influencer, and Mark Collett, a Nazi-sympathiser who set up the far-right Patriotic Alternative (PA), have called for supporters to "infiltrate" Nigel Farage's party to push their own "pro-white" and anti-immigration agenda.

In an online broadcast, Clews claimed - without offering evidence - that sympathisers were already active inside Reform, including "branch chairs" and people "on candidate lists".

A Reform spokesman said the far-right would never be welcome in the party and a "stringent vetting process" was in place.

"These people know they are not welcome and never will be," they added.

But Clews said far-right infiltrators would be difficult for Reform to detect because the individuals had no public ties to far-right organisations.

"[They] watch alt media, they know the score, they've got no social media profile and they are members now of Reform and they're going to work their way up within that," he added.

Clews and Collett, who previously worked for the BNP, have signed a "declaration of intent" to "drag Reform to the right".

"We encourage all of our supporters to become active organisers and members of Reform and seek candidacy to become MPs, mayors, councillors, police commissioners, MSPs, researchers, party staffers etc," they wrote, pledging to provide "security and on the ground support" for Reform candidates if necessary.

Under the pair's strategy, small anti-immigration parties would be asked to stand aside to improve Reform's chances of winning and far-right activists would campaign against Reform's opponents.

Some members of PA have been convicted of terrorism and racial hatred offences. Earlier this year, an undercover investigation by the BBC recorded members of the group using racial slurs and saying migrants should be shot.

Mark Collett, who set up the far-right Patriotic Alternative, is pictured looking into the camera with a neutral expression, wearing glasses, a black shirt, black tie and black blazer.
Mark Collett, who set up the far-right Patriotic Alternative, said Reform's success was helping to shift what was considered acceptable for political debate

Clews and Collett have listed the political goals they hope to make part of Reform's platform, which include "ensuring the indigenous people of the British Isles remain a super majority by reducing immigration and beginning the process of mass deportations".

The broadcast this week setting out the strategy on Clews' own United News Network (UNN) channel was first identified by the campaign group Labour Against Antisemitism.

Collett said Reform's success was helping to shift what was considered acceptable for political debate.

He pointed to Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick's recent comments that in Dagenham the "British population has reduced by 50% in the last 25 years" as proof.

"We won't be dropping our policies, our anti-Zionism, our anti-Net Zero," Collett added.

"We won't be dropping our demands for a super majority of white Britons in Britain. So we're not selling anything out. All we're doing is using Reform as a wrecking ball."

The plan could represent a challenge to Reform's vetting process.

The party has previously been dogged by issues with candidates with far-right views. In April, the BBC reported on a number of local election candidates for Reform who had posted hate, pushed far-right conspiracies and praised extremists.

A local organiser for Reform in Staffordshire stood down earlier this year after details of his links to PA emerged and a candidate in Derbyshire was suspended by the party after sharing a post from a PA organiser.

Joe Mulhall, director of research at Hope Not Hate, an anti-racism campaign group, said it was not impossible for political parties to identify those trying to hide their support for the far-right but Reform would struggle "because their vetting is terrible".

"I think it's likely some people from Patriotic Alternative will try to do this at a local level and their dream would be to turn some branches," he said. "Judging by the current standards of Reform's vetting I think there's a strong chance they wouldn't be picked up."

Clews said the strategy had parallels with Momentum's impact on Labour under Jeremy Corbyn and claimed there was a "disconnect between the membership and the leadership of the Reform party".

"We are hoping to achieve a position where we are able to exercise significant influence on the next party of government," he said.

Collett, described on the show by Clews as "Britain's foremost neo-Nazi", told the BBC he would campaign against Reform's rivals but was not endorsing the party.

"I don't support Nigel Farage. I support the destruction of the two-party system and dragging political discourse in a more pro-white direction," he added.

If you have any information on stories you would like to share with the BBC Politics Investigations team, please get in touch at politicsinvestigations@bbc.co.uk

Mexican Navy ship crashes into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge

Watch: Ship smashes in to New York's Brooklyn Bridge

At least 22 people have been injured and three remain in a serious condition after a tall Mexican Navy training ship crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, the Mexican Navy says.

Footage has emerged showing towering masts of the Cuauhtémoc clipping the bridge as the sailing vessel was passing under the famous structure on Saturday evening.

Parts of the masts reportedly fell on the deck, with US media reporting multiple injuries as members of the crew were standing on the masts at the time of collision.

New York City's Emergency Management (NYCEM) said it was "responding to an incident", without giving any further details. Brooklyn Bridge has not sustained any damage, the mayor of New York said,

The Mexican Navy confirmed that the ship was damaged, saying the incident was being investigated.

Crowds who were watching the ship's trajectory fled from the water's edge as the masts collided with the bridge.

New York City's Fire Department confirmed that authorities were responding to injuries, reports CBS, BBC's US partner.

The department said it had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.

In a statement on X, NYCEM said "the situation is developing and details are not confirmed at this time".

The mayor of New York Eric Adams is at the scene and has been briefed on the situation, CBS reported.

NYPD told residents to avoid the area of Brooklyn Bridge, South Street Seaport in Manhattan, and Dumbo in Brooklyn.

"Expect heavy traffic and a large presence of emergency vehicles in the surrounding area," police said on X.

Media reports say the Cuauhtémoc had more than 200 crew on board.

It was in New York City on a goodwill visit.

Anadolu via Getty Images Damaged masts on the Mexican Navy training ship Cuauhtémoc after it crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge. Photo: 17 May 2025Anadolu via Getty Images
Damaged masts on the Mexican Navy training ship Cuauhtémoc after it crashed into New York City's Brooklyn Bridge

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'What the hell just happened' - why did the UK entry crash out of Eurovision?

Getty Images Remember Monday hold aloft a Union flag as they take part in the 2025 Eurovision Song ContestGetty Images
Remember Monday went into the contest with high hopes, but it was not to be

Oh no, not again.

For the third year in a row, the UK has crashed out at Eurovision, taking 19th place out of a possible 26.

It feels particularly cruel this time because our contestants, Remember Monday, got a lot of things right.

Most notably, they could sing – and I mean, really, really sing.

Lauren, Holly and Charlotte hit every harmony in their song, What The Hell Just Happened, with pinpoint precision, drawing on a decade of West End experience that's seen them star in everything from Matilda to Phantom Of The Opera.

After toe-curling performances from Olly Alexander in 2024 and Mae Muller in 2023, their vocals were as strong as a lion's roar. So strong, in fact, that they caught the attention of former Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst.

"Harmonising on the Eurovision stage has hardly worked out in the past, but they're spot on," he enthused before the final.

"Their confidence is incredible. You immediately trust them, because when you feel the artist is nervous, you get nervous as a viewer. But they are just so light and so sharp."

So what went wrong?

Corinne Cumming / EBU Remember Monday pose together as they wait the start of their Eurovision performance in Basel, SwitzerlandCorinne Cumming / EBU
The band's friendship was at the core of their performance, and is certain to be a source of strength as as they return from Basel

The chief culprit, if I'm honest, was the song.

A manic mish-mash of musical styles, it sped up in the verses, and slowed down for the choruses, with all the consistency of a jelly in a heatwave.

That's not to say it's a bad piece of writing. Indeed, all of the UK's 88 points came from professional juries of songwriters, whose job it is to recognise compositional craft.

They'll have recognised all the clever British touches the band crammed in – Elton John-style piano crescendos, a Beatles-esque mellotron riff, and a vocal callback to George Michael's Freedom '90.

The lyrics were clever and witty, too. Reminiscent of Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (TGIF), or If I Were a Bell from Guys and Dolls, it was all about the drunken mistakes you make while trying to get over an ex.

"Broke a heel, lost my keys, scraped my knee / When I fell from the chandelier."

In three short minutes, the trio rattled off half a dozen memorable hooks, endowed with the unbreakable bond of their friendship.

But as seasoned Eurovision watcher Jonathan Vautrey noted in a review last month, the song was simply too busy.

"It's hard to latch on to exactly what they're selling when you're too busy reeling from the constant whiplash of hearing an almost brand new song every 30 seconds," he wrote on the Wiwibloggs fansite.

"Although I've been able to settle into the entry overtime, and now appreciate the theatricality of it all, first impressions matter at Eurovision."

That's an opinion I heard more than once. But still, I had hope.

Catching a tram to Basel's St Jackobshalle arena on Saturday, I was stopped by a Swedish woman who'd spotted my UK media pass.

She wanted to tell me how she'd dismissed Remember Monday's song when auditioning this year's Eurovision songs on Spotify. Then she saw their spirited performance in the semi-final "and I understood".

Good enough for one vote, then. So why didn't more people connect with it?

The staging was put together by Ace Bowerman, who is one of the UK's most respected creative directors – responsible for Blackpink's Born Pink world tour and Dua Lipa's lockdown spectacular, Studio 2054.

Speaking before the final, she told me the performance deliberately made a virtue of the girls' friendship.

"As soon as I met them, I was like, 'Please be my friend!'" she told me,

"They are electric people, they have such a special bond. So the one thing I want everybody to take away from the performance is how much fun they are – because the audience will want to be their friends as well."

It was camp and fun, but lacked the scale of Finland's Erika Vikman, who soared above the audience on a giant phallic microphone, or the drama of Austrian winner JJ, who was tossed around the stage in the stormy sea of his own emotions.

Getty Images JJ stands on a makeshift raft, as part of his winning Eurovision performanceGetty Images
JJ's staging was simple but powerful - did the UK try to do too much?

"The UK's staging wasn't flat at all but, as with the song, it was maybe a bit too much," says Alexander Beijar, Eurovision reporter at Finnish broadcaster Yle.

"It was like, we have three minutes, and we'll show you everything we can do on this stage: We'll start in bed, we'll dance on a chandelier, we'll strut down the catwalk, and we'll end up in the bed again in the end.

"I think maybe tone it down just a nod for next year.

"Then again, as a Finn, with the biggest microphone you can find in the whole of Switzerland, maybe I shouldn't give advice!"

Was it political?

And what about that wrinkly old Eurovision chestnut: Politics?

Vote trading is an age-old tradition at the contest. Since Sweden first took part in 1958, for example, more than one-fifth of its votes have come from Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.

But the situation is complicated. Political tensions persist in the Balkans, "but the cultural connections seem to have trumped the political divisions", Dean Vuletic, author of Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest, recently told the AFP news agency.

"I would say that this is because these countries do share a music industry."

Getty Images Remember Monday dance next to a giant prop chandelier at the 2025 Eurovision Song ContestGetty Images
Remember Monday have a summer of festival appearances and concerts to look forward to, all booked before they were announced as this year's Eurovision act

The UK's music industry isn't particularly well integrated with Europe, tending to ride roughshod over its less influential neighbours.

When it comes to friendly neighbours, our reputation took a hit after Brexit - although Luxembourg has always been a reliable source of votes, for reasons that aren't 100 per cent clear.

But here's the thing: You can only vote for a country in Eurovision, not against it.

Remember Monday were good, but were they good enough to make your personal Top 10?

If so, then great – you'd have given them some points. Otherwise, it's a struggle to accrue any momentum.

In the end, that was Remember Monday's fate: Another zero-point disappointment.

So where does that leave the UK going into next year?

Graham Norton and Scott Mills in the studios of BBC Radio 2
Graham Norton and Scott Mills gave Remember Monday their seal of approval on BBC Radio 2

Well, we laid good foundations. Remember Monday didn't come with a copycat Eurodance hit, or an insipid ballad. The vocals were strong. The staging conveyed personality.

Their energy was infectious and they made friends across Europe, becoming great ambassadors for the UK in the contest.

Their 88 jury points almost doubled last year's score. We just have to find a way to get the public vote back on side.

In other words, we shouldn't be too down on the band themselves, as Scott Mills and Graham Norton discussed on Radio 2 this weekend.

"I thought they were spectacular, so I don't really mind where they place, because it's not embarrassing," said Mills.

"I'm with you," Norton agreed. "They're so likeable. Whatever happens, they walk away heads held high."

Mills cautioned against the creeping allure of cynicism.

"There's a section of fans [who] will complain every year, whatever the UK does: 'Oh, the song's too generic, the vocals aren't great.'

"We could send Adele and they'd have something horrible to say.

"But the whole thing about Eurovision is that it's fun and it's joy through music… so please don't spoil it. Go and be miserable somewhere else."

And that's exactly the attitude we need. The UK's never going to attract world-class talent if all we do is look down on the contest and approach it with a defeatist attitude.

Luckily, three people have already put their names in the ring for next year.

"Listen," said Remember Monday's Lauren Byrne when I bumped into her backstage on Thursday.

"If we do really badly, we're just gonna keep coming back until we win."

We'll remember, Remember Monday.

See you in Vienna next year.

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU Remember Monday are framed by a heart during the TV broadcast of the 2025 Eurovision Song ContestSarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Criminals could fill potholes and clean bins under government plans

PA Media A large pothole is ringed in yellow luminescent spray paintPA Media

The government is understood to be developing plans that could see convicted criminals filling potholes and cleaning bins.

As first reported by the Sun on Sunday, the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is said to want to expand unpaid work, which she believes to be too lenient.

She is understood to want probation teams to work with councils, so that local authorities are able to assign jobs to offenders.

Private companies would also be able to employ those who are on community sentences.

Offenders would not be paid wages, but the money earned would be paid into a fund for victim's groups.

A government source said: "With prisons so close to collapse, we are going to have to punish more offenders outside of prison.

"We need punishment to be more than just a soft option or a slap on the wrist. If we want to prove that crime doesn't pay, we need to get offenders working for free - with the salary they would have been paid going back to their victims."

They added this meant doing the jobs the public "really want them to do - not just scrubbing graffiti, but filling up potholes and cleaning the bins".

Writing for the Telegraph, Ms Mahmood, who describes herself as a "card-carrying member" of her party's "law and order wing", said that "tough community orders work."

PA Media Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, in the No 9 Downing Street Media Briefing Room.PA Media
The scale of the prison crisis requires 'bold, tough' measures Shabana Mahmood says

An independent review of sentencing carried out by the former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke is expected to be published this week.

It was commissioned last year after overcrowding led to the early release of thousands of prisoners.

Gauke is understood to be considering recommending the idea of scrapping short prison terms as part of the sentencing review, and is likely to recommend more community-based sentencing to reduce the reliance on imprisonment.

The review comes as prisons across the country are struggling to deal with overcrowding after the number of offenders behind bars hit a new high.

In an interim report, Gauke warned that unless radical changes were made, prisons in England and Wales could run out of cells by early next year.

Ms Mahmood warned that he would "have to recommend bold, and sometimes difficult, measures".

In her article, she pointed to examples such as the system in Texas, where she said "offenders who comply with prison rules earn an earlier release, while those who don't are locked up for longer".

On Wednesday, she announced more than a thousand inmates will be released early to free up spaces in prisons in England and Wales, and that a £4.7bn investment will be used to fund more prisons.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the announcement was "failing to protect the public" - adding "to govern is to choose, and today she's chosen to release early criminals who've reoffended or breached their licences".

Eurovision 2025: Austria wins with last-minute vote, as the UK comes 19th

Getty Images JJ holds aloft an Austrian flagGetty Images
JJ took a break from his job at the Vienna State Opera to compete at Eurovision

Austrian singer JJ has won the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, after a nail-biting finish that saw him topple Israel from pole position at the very last minute.

The 24-year-old, who is a counter-tenor at the Vienna State Opera, took the title with the song Wasted Love, an tempestuous electro-ballad about unrequited love.

"Thank you so much for making my dreams come true," he said as he accepted the coveted glass microphone trophy. "Love is the strongest force in the world, let's spread more love."

The singer scored 436 points, with Israel in second place on 357 and Estonia third on 356. The UK's act, Remember Monday, placed 19th with 88 points.

For the second year in a row, the UK received zero from the public.

Eurovision 2025: The top five contestants

  1. Austria: JJ - Wasted Love
  2. Israel: Yuval Raphael: New Day Will Rise
  3. Estonia: Tommy Cash - Espresso Macchiato
  4. Sweden: KAJ - Bara Bada Bastu
  5. Italy: Lucio Corsi - Volevo Essere Un Duro
Alma Bengtsson / EBU KAJ perform in front of a fake sauna at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025Alma Bengtsson / EBU
KAJ's song has been number one in Sweden for the last 12 weeks (L-R: Jakob Norrgård, Kevin Holmström and Axel Åhman)

It is the third time Austria has won the contest, with previous victories going to Udo Jürgens' Merci, Cherie in 1966; and Conchita Wurst with Rise Like a Phoenix in 2014. JJ was inspired to take part in Eurovision by Conchita.

JJ had been one of the favourites to win the contest, but the most hotly-tipped contestants were Sweden's KAJ - whose tongue-in-cheek ode to sauna culture, Bara Bada Bastu, ultimately took fourth place.

Speaking after the show, JJ said he was "so pleased" that viewers had connected with his story of heartache.

"I wanted to let them have an insight on my deepest soul [and] how I felt when we wrote the song."

"What I'm trying to commit [to] is that there's no wasted love. There's so much love that we can spread around. It's the strongest force on planet earth."

Asked how he would celebrate, he replied: "Honestly, I need to sleep now. I'm tired."

Corinne Cumming / EBU Yuval Raphael sings for Israel with her arms outstretched at the 2025 Eurovision Song ContestCorinne Cumming / EBU
Yuval Raphael represented Israel, amid protests over the country's involvement

For the second year in a row, there was controversy over Israel's participation, with protestors arguing for the country's dismissal over its military action in Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian protests took place on the streets of Basel in the hours before the contest.

Later, a man and a woman people were prevented from invading the stage during Israel's performance.

"One of the two agitators threw paint and a crew member was hit," said Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR in a statement to the BBC.

"The crew member is fine and nobody was injured.

"The man and the woman were taken out of the venue and handed over to the police."

The performance, by young singer Yuval Raphael, was unaffected.

The 25-year-old is a survivor of the Hamas attacks of 7 October, 2023, an experience which coloured her delicate ballad, New Day Will Rise.

The Israeli delegation said Raphael was left "shaken and upset" by the incident, but that it was "extremely proud" of her performance "which represented Israel in a respectful manner".

Alma Bengtsson / EBU Miriana Conte ended her performance bouncing on a medicine ballAlma Bengtsson / EBU

Elsewhere, Eurovision was its usual explosion of high camp, sexual innuendo and dresses being removed to reveal smaller, tighter dresses.

Malta's Mariana Conte was forced to rewrite her disco anthem Serving Kant to remove what sounded like a swear word - but performed the censored version with a knowing wink, safe in the knowledge the audience would fill in the blanks.

Although it was a fan favourite, Conte could only manage 17th.

Estonia's Tommy Cash, who came third, also kept the innuendo train running, with Espresso Macchiato, a caffeinated disco anthem featuring the unforgettable phrase: "Life is like spaghetti, it's hard until you make it."

Another highlight was Finland's Erika Vikman, who dispensed with double entendres entirely on Ich Komme, a vibrant hymn to sexual pleasure.

The singer ended her performance by taking flight on a giant phallic microphone that shot sparks into the air.

It thrust her into 11th position, and a permanent place in the Eurovision pantheon.

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU Erika Vikman stands atop a giant golden microphone as she performs at the Eurovision Song ContestSarah Louise Bennett / EBU
Erika Vikman's performance suffered several technical hitches in rehearsals, but it all went right on the night

The contest also dealt with more weighty subjects like economic migration (Portuguese rock band Napa) and environmental catastrophe (Latvia's Tautumeitas, who scored 12 points from the UK jury).

Dutch singer Claude delivered a heartfelt tribute to his mother in C'est La Vie - an upbeat anthem that reflected on her positivity as she uprooted the family from their home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo as a child.

In a touching climax, the 21-year-old danced with an image of his childhood self in a mirror on the stage.

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU Louane performs at the Eurovision Song Contest for FranceSarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Also reflecting on their childhood was French singer Louane, whose tearjerking ballad was dedicated to her mother, who died of cancer when she was 17.

In one of the night's most striking performances, she was surrounded by a whirlwind of sand as she hollered the word "mother" over and over again.

One of the favourites to win, it ended the night in seventh place, after receiving a disappointing 50 points from the public.

JJ's performance was similarly dramatic. Shot entirely in black and white, it saw him being tossed around on a rickety boat, as waves (of emotion) threatened to consume him.

An honourable mention also goes to Italy's Lucio Corsi, whose harmonica solo in Volevo Essere Un Duro marked the first time a live instrument has been played at Eurovision since 1998.

Alma Bengtsson / EBU Remember Monday rip off their skirts during a performance at the 2025 Eurovision Song ContestAlma Bengtsson / EBU
Remember Monday's performance included a callback to Bucks Fizz's skirt-shedding performance at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest

The UK spent a third year in the bottom half of the leaderboard, despite a spirited performance from girl group Remember Monday.

A group of friends who met at high school, their inventive pop song What The Hell Just Happened? drew on their many years of experience in West End theatre.

The girls pulled off their tricky three-part harmonies while dancing around a fallen chandelier, but the performance didn't connect with voters.

Despite earning a healthy 88 points from juries - including 12 from Italy - it bombed with viewers.

They ended in 19th place, one below last year's entrant Olly Alexander.

The group laughed off their "nul points" score from the public, holding up peace signs and hugging each other as the score was announced.

Getty Images Remember Monday react to their result at the Eurovision Song ContestGetty Images
The band took their defeat in good grace

The voting was chaotic overall.

Thirteen of the 26 finalists received the maximum of 12 points from at least one jury, leaving the competition completely open before the public vote was counted.

Israel, who had been languishing in the bottom half of the table, then received 297 points from the public (out of a possible maximum of 444). Twelve of those points came from the UK.

For a while, it looked like Yuval Raphael's lead might be unassailable - but Austria's tally of 178 was the last to be announced, leaving the singer empty-handed.

There was disappointment, too, for fans of Canadian singer Céline Dion, who had been rumoured to appear at the contest.

The singer won Eurovision for Switzerland in 1988, and had appeared in a video wishing the contestants good luck at Tuesday's semi-final.

Despite hopes from Eurovision organisers that she might turn up, the moment never came to pass.

Fatal blast near Palm Spring fertility clinic 'act of terrorism' - FBI

Getty Images The main sign welcoming visitors to Palm Springs is shown against a blue skyGetty Images

Officials in Palm Springs, California are investigating an explosion on Saturday morning that killed one person and damaged a fertility clinic.

The explosion happened just before 11:00 local time (19:00 BST) less than a mile from downtown Palm Springs, near several businesses including the American Reproductive Centres.

In a statement, the fertility clinic said no one from their facility was harmed but that one person was killed and several were injured.

California governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the state is coordinating with local and federal authorities to respond to the incident.

The American Reproductive Centres in Palm Springs said that a vehicle had exploded in the parking lot near its building.

It is unclear what the cause of the explosion was.

US attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a post on X that the Justice Department was "aware of the explosion that occurred this morning in Palm Springs".

He said the FBI are on the scene and are investigating if "this was an intentional act."

The fertility clinic said their lab, including all eggs and embryos, remain "fully secure and undamaged".

"We are heavily conducting a complete safety inspection and have confirmed that our operations and sensitive medical areas were not impacted by the blast," the fertility clinic said in its statement.

The BBC has reached out to the Palm Springs Police Department for comment.

This is a developing story.

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Defence deals and palace invites: UK and EU haggle before first summit since Brexit

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock An EU flag blowing in the wind with the clock face of Big Ben visible in the background. The weather is sunny and the sky is light blue. EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

"Don't expect miracles. But do know - everyone wants this to work."

On Monday in London the EU and UK hold their first bilateral summit since Brexit. Symbolically, this is a big moment.

Officials and analysts I speak to, on and off the record, like the individual I just quoted, are quick to point out difficulties that exist between the two sides.

But all acknowledge the bilateral bitterness provoked by Brexit is no more. It's been eviscerated by the gravity of global events.

Concerns about Russia and China, the war in Ukraine, the shock of the US under Donald Trump no longer prioritising European defence, plus a growing sense of voter insecurity is propelling the two powers to work closer together.

"Failure to do so, in the current international context, would not be a good look," says Anand Menon, director of the think tank UK in a Changing Europe.

Most European countries realise that, he adds: "Even the French."

More than most EU countries, France has been playing hardball in pre-summit negotiations.

Is it a coincidence that as talks went to the wire before Monday's summit, the UK announced that France's president has been invited for his first state visit?

King Charles and Queen Camilla will host Emmanuel Macron and his wife at Windsor Palace in July. A UK attempt to butter up the French leader, perhaps?

"It'll be interesting to see if they can agree common language [for a summit agreement]," says Georgina Wright, European policy expert at the Institut Montaigne.

"Everyone in the EU wants closer relations with the UK right now and France doesn't want to be seen as the one country blocking closer UK-EU cooperation. But that does not mean that Paris is willing to give up on core interests."

Interests like fishing rights in UK waters and bidding for EU defence contracts.

The Telegraph/PA King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron talk and walk together. Behind and to the side of them, Queen Camilla and Brigitte Macron do the same. Behind them is the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, France.The Telegraph/PA
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have been invited to the UK for a state visit

Negotiating - or to be more accurate - haggling over the "meat" of the summit will, I'm told, continue till the last moment.

On the day itself, we can expect three separate announcements:

  • A joint declaration that addresses the worrying geopolitical situation and emphasises UK-EU shared foreign policy priorities - such as supporting Ukraine, keeping up pressure on Russia, and ending civilian suffering in Gaza
  • An EU-UK security and defence pact
  • A package of measures targeted at removing some trade barriers between the EU and UK that have come about because of Brexit

Closer economic ties to Europe

These trade measures are the "reset" of relations with the EU that UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised since his party won a general election last summer.

They are far from an economic gamechanger for the UK, though. Hardly what you'd call ambitious.

Destroying all trade barriers with the EU is impossible if the Labour government keeps to its own "red lines" of not rejoining the bloc's customs union or single market.

Despite promising to prioritise UK economic growth, and polls suggesting the majority of Britons want to do more trade with the EU, Labour will feel hemmed in by the increasingly popular, Eurosceptic Reform Party.

It performed well in recent local elections in the UK.

While some in Labour (quietly) admit they are tempted by a customs union with the EU to boost growth, any economic benefits would likely not be apparent to voters before the next UK election.

Party members fear they would risk being punished at the polls, amidst accusations by the opposition Conservatives and Reform that the government would have betrayed Brexit.

These concerns make the Starmer government "more cautious, less bold", says Mr Menon.

So what will be agreed at the summit?

The UK is taking a sector-by-sector approach to try reduce costly trade barriers with the EU.

Many EU-UK negotiating hours have gone into agreeing a plant and animal health deal, known as an SPS agreement.

This will facilitate the export and import of meat and plant products between the EU and UK and help reduce post-Brexit trade complications between Northern Ireland and Britain.

In exchange, the EU insists the UK must agree to following any new SPS rules introduced in the future and accept a role for the European Court of Justice in policing the agreement.

Those conditions will likely be unpopular with ardent Brexit supporters.

They might also put backs up in Washington and complicate the UK doing a wider future deal on agriculture with the US, as the UK would be tied to stringent EU standards.

PA A fishing trawler heading out to sea. Homes can be seen dotted along the shoreline in the distance.PA
A new fishing agreement for UK waters is needed as the current one expires next year

But the Labour government knows public opinion polls suggest most people in the UK prioritise trade with the EU over the US.

Currently the EU counts for 41% of UK exports; the US for 21%.

The UK government will probably insist the SPS agreement is good for the British economy. Though animal and plant exports and imports are, in fact, a small part of overall GDP.

In reality "growth is a bit of a red herring here", says Mr Menon.

On the EU side, the French, backed by other fishing nations like the Netherlands and Denmark, have taken a tough stance in these talks - refusing to sign up unless the UK agrees to long-term EU fishing rights in UK waters.

The current post-Brexit fishing agreement expires next year.

Free-er movement for some

The reset we'll hear about at Monday's summit will also include a "mobility" section.

Starmer will get his ask, for the EU to recognise UK professional qualifications, to encourage cross-border business.

There will also be a reduction in visa restrictions for UK musicians travelling and performing in the EU.

In exchange, the EU - and Germany, most passionately - wants a youth mobility scheme, allowing young EU citizens to travel, study, and even work in the UK.

The UK has similar schemes with Canada, Australia, South Korea and Japan, amongst others. But this has been tricky to agree.

Reducing migration figures is a number one priority for the Labour government.

It's a hot-button issue and the UK Home Office will seek to toughen conditions and limit EU numbers.

Negotiations are ongoing but, according to EU sources, the scheme already has a name: YES, or Youth Experience Scheme.

Some areas of negotiation are more advanced than others. This will be reflected in Monday's announcement.

There will also be talk at the summit of plans to tackle illegal migration, cooperate on carbon border taxes, and simplify energy trading between the EU and UK.

Reducing EU-UK trade barriers on chemicals and pharmaceutical goods is also a UK ambition, as is getting access to EU databases, like the Schengen Information System, to better track down criminals.

But for now, at least, the EU is saying no to that. If it makes an exception for the UK, other non-EU countries will demand the same, it insists.

Of course, it's in the interest of both sides to fight cross-border crime. The UK argues the current state of the world calls for more flexible thinking from Brussels.

Defence and security complications

The case for more flexible thinking is also something the UK is calling for when it comes to Monday's defence and security pact with the EU.

The EU and UK already work closely together on Russian sanctions and defending Ukraine. And the pact isn't a legally binding document, so how complicated can these talks be, you may ask?

The answer is pretty complicated.

The UK wants its defence companies to be allowed to bid for contracts under the EU's new re-armament scheme, SAFE (Security Action for Europe).

"The UK has earned the right to access such a deal because of the leadership it's shown over Ukraine," says international defence expert Sophia Gaston, a visiting fellow at King's College London.

PA Sir Keir Starmer looks at the camera, as do two soldiers standing behind him, during his visit to Estonia. They are all wearing camouflaged jackets.PA
Some believe the UK has earned the right to bid for EU arms contracts due to its leadership over Ukraine

"Britain is a serious player both in traditional defence capabilities, like producing munitions, and in cutting edge defence innovation, where new growth and energy is.

"If the UK has access to the emerging EU defence programmes, it can contribute to mass and pace. [The war in Ukraine] has shown that both are needed."

But Ms Gaston admits, UK companies getting the go-ahead from Brussels is a "messy" process.

"Re-Arm EU", as Brussels dubs its new drive, is still a work in progress, spurred by rapidly changing geopolitics, including fears the US will withdraw at least some of the crucial security support Europe has relied on since World War Two.

This is not yet a fully formed EU strategy that the UK can "pay to play" a part in, as it has done post-Brexit with the EU's research and innovation scheme Horizon, for example.

An agreement with the UK in this defence industrial context will be brand new and bespoke. And it's getting political.

Signing the security pact on Monday is just a step in the process.

France wants to severely restrict non-EU companies bidding for the bloc's defence contracts, including the UK but Canadian and American firms too.

If the EU is spending its taxpayers' money on defence, it argues it should be spent with EU companies to help boost EU economies.

Paris also says, in this rapidly changing world of shifting alliances and allegiances, the EU should be self-reliant, not dependent on suppliers outside the bloc.

Sceptics suspect France, which has a sophisticated defence industry, of wanting to hoover up lucrative EU contracts for itself.

But it looks like it is losing the internal EU argument, with the Nordics, the Baltics, Poland, Italy and the Netherlands favouring more openness on defence contracts, and particularly with the EU's biggest economic power, Germany, championing the UK.

"Germany and France have very different attitudes towards the UK," says German economist Armin Steinbach from think tank Bruegel.

Germany will always put relations with EU heavyweights France and Poland first, says Mr Steinbach.

But he believes the UK will be helped in defence and economic negotiations with the EU by new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who argues "a unified Europe is the absolute priority in the current geopolitical setting".

Huge challenge of defence cooperation

A priority maybe, but it's still a hugely tall order because it's all about compromise.

Political leaders will seek to justify increases in defence spending by insisting to voters that it's for their personal security and in the interest of their national economy, with boosts in revenue for domestic defence industries.

But achieving a pan-European industrial base - built to be efficient, avoid duplication, and to replace much of the US capacity relied on by the continent today - would mean some European countries winning more defence contracts than others.

It would also mean some national businesses shutting down, in favour of better-suited ones elsewhere on the continent.

That's a hard sell for political leaders facing their voters.

As is another big trade-off: Big increases in defence spending will mean governments have less money to spend on public services.

The challenge for Europe is breathtaking. By comparison, Monday's symbolic EU-UK summit, may seem like a walk in the park.

Four days that took India and Pakistan to the brink

BBC Nimra (left) and Sanam (right) pictured in a photomontage in front of Kashmir's mountainous landscape under blue skies. Nimra wears an orange headscarf and a patterned dress, while Sanam on the right wears a red headscarf and cries with her hands covering her face.BBC

Sixteen-year-old Nimra stood outside, rooted to the spot, as the Indian missiles that had woken her a moment ago rained down on the mosque a few metres from her house in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. She watched one tear the minaret off the top of the building. But she failed to realise she, too, had been struck - in the chest.

When the family reached the relative safety of her aunt's house nearby, someone turned on a phone torch. "My aunt gasped. There was blood on my frock. It was pink and white but now soaked in red. I hadn't seen it before." Again they ran. "I was running but my hand was pressed on my chest the whole time. I didn't want to take it off. I thought if I let go, everything inside me would come out." A piece of shrapnel was lodged near her heart, she later discovered.

A few hours later, in Poonch, Indian-administered Kashmir, a different family was dodging shelling which Pakistan had launched in response to India's missile strikes.

"When the firing began, everyone ran for their lives - children clinging to their parents in fear," said MN Sudhan, 72. "Some families managed to leave for Jammu in their vehicles. We also decided to escape. But barely 10 minutes into our journey, a shell landed near our vehicle. The shrapnel tore through the car. My grandson died on the spot."

"Our future was shattered at that [very] moment," Mr Sudhan said of 13-year-old Vihaan's death. "Now we're left with nothing but grief. I have witnessed two wars between India and Pakistan, but never in my life have I seen shelling as intense as this."

Reuters A group of women dressed in traditional clothing and headscarves, standing outdoors with trees and a building in the background. The woman in the centre - Vihaan's mother - is wailing. Reuters
Vihaan's mother (centre) mourns her son at a cremation ground in Poonch

Nimra and Vihaan were among many of the villagers caught up in the deadliest attacks for several years in a decades-long conflict between two of the world's nuclear powers - India and Pakistan. Both sides administer the Himalayan region in part but claim it in full. Both governments deny targeting civilians, but BBC journalists in the region have spoken to families caught up in the violence.

The strike that injured Nimra was part of India's armed response after a militant attack killed 26 people - mostly Indian tourists - last month at a beauty spot in India-administered Kashmir. Police there claimed militants included at least two Pakistan nationals. Pakistan has asked India for evidence of this, and has called for an independent inquiry into who was behind the attack.

What followed was four days of tit-for-tat shelling and drone attacks, intensifying each day and culminating in missile strikes on military bases, which threatened to tip over into full-blown conflict. Then, suddenly, a ceasefire brokered by the US and other international players on 10 May brought the two nuclear powers back from the brink.

TASEER BEYG / BBC Nimra, 16, wearing an orange headscarf and a patterned outfit stands in front of the damaged mosque, mountains visible in the distance.TASEER BEYG / BBC
Nimra still has shrapnel lodged inside her body

Families on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) - the de facto border in Kashmir - told us they had had loved ones killed and property destroyed. At least 16 people are reported to have been killed on the Indian side, while Pakistan claims 40 civilian deaths, though it remains unclear how many were directly caused by the shelling. We also heard from Indian and Pakistani government insiders about the mood in their respective administrations as the conflict escalated.

In Delhi's corridors of power, the atmosphere was initially jubilant, an Indian government source told the BBC. Its missile attacks on targets in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in Pakistan itself - including the Bilal Mosque in Muzaff arabad, which India claims is a militant camp, though Pakistan denies this - were deemed a success.

"The strikes… were not limited to Pakistani-administered Kashmir or along the Line of Control," an Indian government source told the BBC. "We went deep - even into the Pakistani side of Punjab, which has always been Pakistan's red line."

But the Pakistani military had been prepared, a source from the Pakistan Air Force told the BBC. Days earlier, the Pakistani government said it was expecting an attack.

"We knew something was coming, and we were absolutely ready," one officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said Indian fighter jets approached Pakistani territory and the air force was under instructions to shoot down any that crossed into its airspace or dropped a payload.

Pakistan claims to have shot down five Indian jets that night, something India has remained silent on.

"We were well prepared, and honestly, we were also lucky," the source said - his account repeated by two other sources.

But Mr Sudhan, Vihaan's grandfather, said there had been no warning to stay indoors or evacuate. "Why didn't they inform us? We, the people, are caught in the middle."

It is likely that no evacuation orders had been issued because the Indian government needed to keep the military strikes confidential, though the local administration had, following the April militant attack, directed locals to clean out community bunkers as a precautionary measure.

A day after the initial missile strikes, Thursday, both sides launched drone attacks, though they each accused the other of making the first move.

India began to evacuate thousands of villagers along the Indian side of the LoC. Just after 21:00 that evening, the Khan family in India-administered Kashmir decided they must flee their home in Uri, 270km (168 miles) to the north of Poonch. Most of their neighbours had already left.

But after travelling for just 10 minutes, their vehicle was struck by shrapnel from a shell, fatally injuring 47-year-old Nargis. Her sister-in-law Hafeeza was seriously injured. They headed to the nearest hospital, only to find the gates locked.

"I somehow climbed the hospital wall and called out for help, telling them we had injured people with us. Only then did the staff come out and open the gate. As soon as they did, I collapsed. The doctors were terrified by the ongoing shelling and had closed everything out of fear," Hafeeza said.

Hafeeza's sister-in-law Nargis is survived by six children. The youngest daughter Sanam, 20, said the first hospital they went to was not equipped to help, and as they headed to another, her mother died of her injuries.

SYED SHAHRIYAR / BBC A woman wearing a red headscarf with white floral embroidery, standing against a blue background with blurred objects behind her.SYED SHAHRIYAR / BBC
Sanam's mother Nargis was fatally struck by shrapnel

"A piece of shrapnel had torn through her face. My clothes were soaked in her blood… We kept talking to her, urging her to stay with us. But she passed away on the way."

Since a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in 2021 there had been relative peace in the region, locals told the BBC. For the first time in years, they had been able to live normal lives, they said, and now this sense of security was destroyed.

Sanam, who lost her mother, said: "I appeal to both governments - if you're heading into war, at least secure your civilians. Prepare... Those who sit in comfort and demand war - they should be sent to the borders. Let them witness what it really means. Let them lose someone before their eyes."

Sajjad Shafi, the representative for Uri in the regional government, said he had acted as promptly as possible.

"The moment I got the news that India has attacked, I got in touch with people and started moving them out."

After two days of attacks and counter attacks, the Indian government source said there was now a "clear sense in… power corridors that things were escalating but we were ready.

"We were ready because India had spent the last 10 years acquiring and building strategic military assets - missiles, warheads and defence systems."

On the international stage, there had been consternation that the tensions would not be de-escalated by the US, despite its diplomatic overtures during India and Pakistan's previous Kashmir clashes.

US Vice President JD Vance said a potential war would be "none of our business".

This statement came as no surprise, the Indian government source told the BBC. At that stage, "it was clear the US didn't want to get involved".

By the following day, Friday, shelling had become more intense.

Muhammed Shafi was at home with his wife in Shahkot village in the Neelum Valley, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on the LoC.

The 30-year-old was standing in the doorway, just a few steps away from where his son was playing; his wife standing in their courtyard.

TASEER BEYG / BBC Muhammed stands with his two young children in front of his bombed home TASEER BEYG / BBC
Muhammed's wife was killed by a strike very close to their house

"I remember looking up and seeing a mortar shell coming from a distance. In the blink of an eye, it struck her. She didn't even have time to scream. One second she was there, and the next, she was gone. Her face... her head... there was nothing left. Just a cloud of smoke and dust. My ears went numb. Everything went silent. I didn't even realise I was screaming.

"That night, her body lay there, right in our home. The entire village was hiding in bunkers. The shelling continued all night, and I stayed beside her, weeping. I held her hand for as long as I could."

One of those in a bunker was his niece, 18-year-old Umaima. She and her family were holed up in the shelter for four days, on and off, in brutal conditions.

"There were six or seven of us packed into it," she said. "The other bunker was already full. There's no place to lie down in there - some people stood, others sat. There was no drinking water, no food," with people shouting, crying and reciting prayers in the pitch black.

Also in a bunker, in the Leepa Valley, Pakistan-Administered Kashmir - one of the most militarised and vulnerable valleys in the region - was Shams Ur Rehman and family. It is Shams's own bunker, but that night he shared it with 36 other people, he said.

Leepa is surrounded on three sides by the LoC and Indian-administered territory, so Shams was used to living with cross-border tensions. But he was not prepared for the complete destruction of his house.

He left the bunker at three in the morning to survey the scene.

"Everything was gone. Wooden beams and debris from the house were scattered everywhere. The blast was so powerful, the shockwave pushed in the main wall. The metal sheets on the roof were shredded. The entire structure shifted - by at least two inches.

TASEER BEYG / BBC A man in a cap and blue jumper carries a plank of wood, others laid out either side of him and a destroyed house behind him. There is a lush valley in the background.TASEER BEYG / BBC
Shams Ur Rehman's house now has to be rebuilt after it was hit by three shells

"A house is a person's life's work. You're always trying to improve it - but in the end, it's all gone in seconds."

Four hours later, back in the Neelum Valley, Umaima and her family also emerged on Saturday 10 May to a transformed landscape.

"We came out of the bunker at seven in the morning. That's when we saw - nothing was left."

As Umaima surveyed the ruins of her village, India and Pakistan's forces that day were trading ever more destructive blows - firing missiles at each other's military installations, which both sides accused the other of instigating.

India had targeted three Pakistani air bases, including one in Rawalpindi - the garrison city that houses the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters.

"This was a red line crossed," said one Pakistani officer. "The prime minister gave the go-ahead to the army chief. We already had a plan, and our forces were desperately ready to execute it… For anyone in uniform, it was one of those unforgettable days."

TASEER BEYG / BBC A valley scene with a river winding through lush green mountains. A small village with scattered houses lines the riverbanks.TASEER BEYG / BBC
The Neelum valley lies along the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered territory

Pakistan hit back at Indian military installations. On the diplomatic front, this was seen as a moment to highlight the issue of Kashmir on the international stage, an official in the Pakistan foreign office told the BBC.

"It was non-stop. Endless meetings, coordination, and back-to-back calls to and from other countries for both foreign minister and then the prime minister. We welcomed mediation offers from the US, the Saudis, the Iranians, or anyone who could help de-escalate."

On the Indian side, the Pahalgam attack on 22 April had already prompted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to speak to at least 17 world leaders or diplomats, including UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In most of these conversations, he has tweeted, the emphasis had been on the "cross-border terrorist attack" and focused on building a case to hold the perpetrators accountable for the attack.

Then, on Saturday afternoon local time, in the aftermath of the latest missile exchanges, came a diplomatic breakthrough out of nowhere. US President Donald Trump took to social media to reveal that a ceasefire had been agreed.

"After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE.

"Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence," he wrote on social media platform Truth Social.

India has since downplayed Washington's role in the ceasefire and it has rejected that trade was used as a lever to achieve this.

Behind the scenes, US mediators, diplomatic backchannels and regional players, including the US, the UK and Saudi Arabia, had proved critical in negotiating the climbdown, experts say.

"We hit Pakistani strategic bases deep inside their territory and that must have worried the US," the Indian government source believes.

In Pahalgam, the site of the militant gun attack that sparked the crisis, the search is still on for the perpetrators.

Getty Images A mountain landscape featuring a single horse grazing in a lush green meadow.Getty Images
Pahalgam was an area popular with tourists

Vinay Narwal, a 26-year-old Indian Navy officer, was on his honeymoon in Pahalgam when he was killed. He had got married just a week before the attack.

A photo of Vinay's wife Himanshi, sitting near her husband's body following the attack, has been widely shared on social media.

His grandfather Hawa Singh Narwal wants "exemplary punishment" for the killers.

"This terrorism should end. Today, I lost my grandson. Tomorrow, someone else will lose their loved one," he said.

SYED SHAHRIYAR / BBC A man sitting on the side of a street with buildings in the background.SYED SHAHRIYAR / BBC
Rayees used to lead treks in Pahalgam

A witness to the attack's aftermath, Rayees Ahmad Bhat, who used to lead pony treks to the beauty spot where the shootings took place, said his industry was now in ruins.

"The attackers may have killed tourists that day, but we - the people of Pahalgam - are dying every day since. They've stained the name of this peaceful town… Pahalgam is terrorised, and its people broken."

The attack was a huge shock for a government which had begun to actively promote tourism in stunningly picturesque Kashmir, famed for its lush valleys, lakes and snow-capped mountains.

The source in the Indian administration said this might have lulled Delhi into a false sense of security.

"Perhaps we got carried away by the response to tourism in Kashmir. We thought we were over a hump but we were not."

The four-day conflict has once again shown how fragile peace can be between the two nations.

Additional reporting by Vikas Pandey in Delhi

A letter from the M&S hackers landed in my inbox - this is what happened next

BBC A man with brown hair and wearing a light blue shirt looks in contemplation.BBC
Joe Tidy interacted with hackers who claimed to have done the M&S and Co-op hack

Almost daily, my phone pings with messages from hackers of all stripes.

The good, the bad, the not-so-sure.

I've been reporting on cyber security for more than a decade, so I know that many of them like to talk about their hacks, findings and escapades.

About 99% of these conversations stay firmly locked in my chat logs and don't lead to news stories. But a recent ping was impossible to ignore.

"Hey. This is Joe Tidy from the BBC reporting on this Co-op news, correct?" the hackers messaged me on Telegram.

"We have some news for you," they teased.

When I cautiously asked what this was, the people behind the Telegram account - which had no name or profile picture - gave me the inside track on what they claimed to have done to M&S and the Co-op, in cyber attacks that caused mass disruption.

Through messages back-and-forth over the next five hours, it became clear to me that these apparent hackers were fluent English speakers and although they claimed be messengers, it was obvious they were closely linked to - if not intimately involved in - the M&S and Co-op hacks.

They shared evidence proving that they had stolen a huge amount of private customer and employee information.

I checked out a sample of the data they had given me - and then securely deleted it.

A shop fridge with almost empty shelves, and a sign stuck on the window which says "Sorry we are having some availability issues which will be resolved shortly"
Shoppers have been met with empty shelves at some UK Co-op stores in recent weeks

Messages that confirmed suspicions

They were clearly frustrated that Co-op wasn't giving in to their ransom demands but wouldn't say how much money in Bitcoin they were demanding of the retailer in exchange for the promise that they wouldn't sell or give away the stolen data.

After a conversation with the BBC's Editorial Policy team, we decided that it was in the public interest to report that they had provided us with evidence proving that they were responsible for the hack.

I quickly contacted the press team at the Co-op for comment, and within minutes the firm, who had initially downplayed the hack, admitted to employees, customers and the stock market about the significant data breach.

Much later, the hackers sent me a long angry and offensive letter about Co-op's response to their hack and subsequent extortion, which revealed that the retailer narrowly dodged a more severe hack by intervening in the chaotic minutes after its computer systems were infiltrated. The letter and conversation with the hackers confirmed what experts in the cyber security world had been saying since this wave of attacks on retailers began – the hackers were from a cyber crime service called DragonForce.

Who are DragonForce, you might be asking? Based on our conversations with the hackers and wider knowledge, we have some clues.

DragonForce offers cyber criminal affiliates various services on their darknet site in exchange for a 20% cut of any ransoms collected. Anyone can sign up and use their malicious software to scramble a victim's data or use their darknet website for their public extortion.

This has become the norm in organised cyber crime; it's known as ransomware-as-a-service.

The most infamous of recent times has been a service called LockBit, but this is all but defunct now partly because it was cracked by the police last year.

Following the dismantling of such groups, a power vacuum has emerged. Cue a tussle for dominance in this underground world, leading to some rival groups innovating their offerings.

Power struggle ensues

DragonForce recently rebranded itself as a cartel offering even more options to hackers including 24/7 customer support, for example.

The group had been advertising its wider offering since at least early 2024 and has been actively targeting organisations since 2023, according to cyber experts like Hannah Baumgaertner, Head of Research at Silobeaker, a cyber risk protection company.

"DragonForce's latest model includes features such as administration and client panels, encryption and ransomware negotiation tools, and more," Ms Baumgaertner said.

As a stark illustration of the power-struggle, DragonForce's darknet website was recently hacked and defaced by a rival gang called RansomHub, before re-emerging about a week ago.

"Behind the scenes of the ransomware ecosystem there seems to be some jostling - that might be for prime 'leader' position or just to disrupt other groups in order to take more of the victim share," said Aiden Sinnott, senior threat researcher from the cyber security company Secureworks.

Who is pulling the strings?

DragonForce's prolific modus operandi is to post about its victims, as it has done 168 times since December 2024 - a London accountancy firm, an Illinois steel maker, an Egyptian investment firm are all included. Yet so far, DragonForce has remained silent about the retail attacks.

Normally radio silence about attacks indicates that a victim organisation has paid the hackers to keep quiet. As neither DragonForce, Co-op nor M&S have commented on this point, we don't know what might be happening behind the scenes.

Establishing who the people are behind DragonForce is tricky, and it's not known where they are located. When I asked their Telegram account about this, I didn't get an answer. Although the hackers didn't tell me explicitly that they were behind the recent hacks on M&S and Harrods, they confirmed a report in Bloomberg that spelt it out.

Of course, they are criminals and could be lying.

Some researchers say DragonForce are based in Malaysia, while others say Russia, where many of these groups are thought to be located. We do know that DragonForce has no specific targets or agenda other than making money.

And if DragonForce is just the service for other criminals to use – who is pulling the strings and choosing to attack UK retailers?

In the early stages of the M&S hack, unknown sources told cyber news site Bleeping Computer that evidence is pointing to a loose collective of cyber criminals known as Scattered Spider - but this has yet to be confirmed by the police.

Scattered Spider is not really a group in the normal sense of the word. It's more of a community which organises across sites like Discord, Telegram and forums – hence the description "scattered" which was given to them by cyber security researchers at CrowdStrike.

They are known to be English-speaking and probably in the UK and the US and young – in some cases teenagers. We know this from researchers and previous arrests. In November the US charged five men and boys in their twenties and teens for alleged Scattered Spider activity. One of them is 22-year-old Scottish man Tyler Buchanan, who has not made a plea, and the rest are US based.

Crackdowns by police seem to have had little effect on the hackers' determination, though. On Thursday, Google's cyber security division issued warnings that it was starting to see Scattered Spider-like attacks on US retailers now too.

As for the hackers I spoke to on Telegram, they declined to answer whether or not they were Scattered Spider. "We won't answer that question" is all they said.

Perhaps in a nod to the immaturity and attention-seeking nature of the hackers, two of them said they wanted to be known as "Raymond Reddington" and "Dembe Zuma" after characters from US crime thriller The Blacklist which involves a wanted criminal helping police take down other criminals on a blacklist.

In a message to me, they boasted: "We're putting UK retailers on the Blacklist."

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'You start to go crazy': The Australian who survived five years in a Chinese prison

EPA A guard can be seen through bars of a jail door, behind another door. He wears a green uniform with a peaked cap and red on his lapelsEPA
Australian Matthew Radalj was held for five years in a Beijing detention centre, similar to the one pictured above in 2012

Sharing a dirty cell with a dozen others, constant sleep deprivation, cells with lights on 24-hours a day; poor hygiene and forced labour. These are some of what prisoners in Chinese jails are subjected to, according to Australian citizen Matthew Radalj, who spent five years at the Beijing No 2 prison – a facility used for international inmates.

Radalj, who is now living outside China, has decided to go public about his experience, and described undergoing and witnessing severe physical punishment, forced labour, food deprivation and psychological torture.

The BBC has been able to corroborate Radalj's testimony with several former prisoners who were behind bars at the same time he was.

Many requested anonymity, because they feared retribution on loved ones still living inside the country. Others said they just wanted to try to forget the experience and move on.

The Chinese government has not responded to the BBC's request for comment.

A harsh introduction

"I was in really bad shape when I arrived. They beat me for two days straight in the first police station that I was in. I hadn't slept or eaten or had water for 48 hours and then I was forced to sign a big stack of documents," said Radalj of his introduction to imprisonment in China, which began with his arrest on 2 January, 2020.

The former Beijing resident claims he was wrongfully convicted after a fight with shopkeepers at an electronics market, following a dispute over the agreed price to fix a mobile phone screen.

He claims he ended up signing a false confession to robbery, after being told it would be pointless to try to defend his innocence in a system with an almost 100% criminal conviction rate and in the hope that this would reduce the time of his incarceration.

Court documents indicate that this worked at least to some extent, earning him a four-year sentence.

Once in prison, he said he first had to spend many months in a separate detention centre where he was subjected to a more brutal "transition phase".

Matthew Radalj Radalj smiling holding a small dog, wearing an orange t-shirt and a white sweatband with earphones in his ears. Behind him the sky is blue and blocks of flats can be seen.Matthew Radalj
Radalj had lived in Beijing for a number of years when he was arrested in January 2020

During this time prisoners must follow extremely harsh rules in what he described as horrific conditions.

"We were banned from showering or cleaning ourselves, sometimes for months at a time. Even the toilet could be used only at specific allotted times, and they were filthy - waste from the toilets above would constantly drip down on to us."

Eventually he was admitted to the "normal" prison where inmates had to bunk together in crowded cells and where the lights were never turned off.

You also ate in the same room, he said.

According to Radalj, African and Pakistani prisoners made up the largest groups in the facility, but there were also men being held from Afghanistan, Britain, the US, Latin America, North Korea and Taiwan. Most of them had been convicted for acting as drug mules.

The 'good behaviour' points system

Radalj said that prisoners were regularly subjected to forms of what he described as psychological torture.

One of these was the "good behaviour points system" which was a way – at least in theory – to reduce your sentence.

Prisoners could obtain a maximum of 100 good behaviour points per month for doing things like studying Communist Party literature, working in the prison factory or snitching on other prisoners. Once 4,200 points were accumulated, they could in theory be used to reduce prison time.

If you do the maths, that would mean a prisoner would have to get maximum points every single month for three-and-half years before this could start to work.

Radalj said that in reality it was used as a means of psychological torture and manipulation.

He claims the guards would deliberately wait till an inmate had almost reached this goal and then penalise them on any one of a huge list of possible infractions which would cancel out points at the crucial time.

These infractions included - but were not limited to - hoarding or sharing food with other prisoners, walking "incorrectly" in the hallway by straying from a line painted on the ground, hanging socks on a bed incorrectly, or even standing too close to the window.

AFP/Getty Chinese police wait outside the Number Two prison after the release of dissident Wang Xiaoning in Beijing on August 31, 2012. The gates are rusted iron, the road grey and dusty. Several guards look at teh camera, a vehicle moving towards the one open gate.AFP/Getty
The gates to Beijing No. 2 prison, pictured in 2012, where Radlj was held

Other prisoners who spoke about the points system to the BBC described it as a mind game designed to crush spirits.

Former British prisoner Peter Humphrey, who spent two years in detention in Shanghai, said his facility had a similar points calculation and reduction system which was manipulated to control prisoners and block sentence reductions.

"There were cameras everywhere, even three to a cell," he said. "If you crossed a line marked on the ground and were caught by a guard or on camera, you would be punished. The same if you didn't make your bed properly to military standard or didn't place your toothbrush in the right place in the cell.

"There was also group pressure on prisoners with entire cell groups punished if one prisoner did any of these things."

One ex-inmate told the BBC that in his five years in prison, he never once saw the points actually used to mitigate a sentence.

Radalj said that there were a number of prisoners - including himself - who didn't bother with the points system.

So authorities resorted to other means of applying psychological pressure.

These included cutting time off monthly family phone calls or the reduction of other perceived benefits.

Food As Control

But the most common daily punishment involved the reduction of food.

The BBC has been told by numerous former inmates that the meals at Beijing's No 2 prison were mostly made up of cabbage in dirty water which sometimes also had bits of carrot and, if they were lucky, small slivers of meat.

They were also given mantou - a plain northern Chinese bread. Most of the prisoners were malnourished, Radalj added.

Another prisoner described how inmates ate a lot of mantou, as they were always hungry. He said that their diets were so low in nutrition – and they could only exercise outside for half an hour each week – that they developed flimsy upper bodies but retained bloated looking stomachs from consuming so much of the mantou.

Prisoners were given the opportunity to supplement their diet by buying meagre extra rations, if money from relatives had been put into what were called their "accounts": essentially a prison record of funds delivered to purchase provisions like soap or toothpaste.

They could also use this to purchase items like instant noodles or soy milk powder. But even this "privilege" could be taken away.

Radalj said he was blocked from making any extra purchases for 14 months because he refused to work in the prison factory, where inmates were expected to assemble basic goods for companies or compile propaganda leaflets for the ruling Communist Party.

AFP/Getty Images A paramilitary guard stands straight in his green uniform with white gloves in front of a wall of bars. Behind that is a corridor, with a white door and grey wallsAFP/Getty Images
Media were given rare access to see inside another Beijing prison - No 1 - back in 2012

To make things worse, they were made to work on a "farm", where they did manage to grow a lot of vegetables, but were never allowed to eat them.

Radalj said the farm was displayed to a visiting justice minister as an example of how impressive prison life was.

But, he said, it was all for show.

"We would be growing tomatoes, potatoes, cabbages and okra and then – at the end of the season – they would push it all into a big hole and bury it," he added.

"And if you were caught with a chilli or a cucumber in general population you would go straight to solitary confinement for eight months."

Another prisoner said they would occasionally suddenly receive protein, like a chicken leg, to make their diet look better when officials visited the prison.

Humphrey said there were similar food restrictions in his Shanghai prison, adding that this led to power struggles among the inmates: "The kitchen was run by prison labour. Those who worked there stole the best stuff and it could then be distributed."

Radalj described a battle between African and Taiwanese groups in Beijing's Prison No 2 over this issue.

The Nigerian inmates were working in the kitchen and "were getting small benefits, like a bag of apples once a month or some yogurt or a couple of bananas", he said.

Courtesy Matthew Radalj A smiling, bearded Matthew with his arm around his father, who is also smiling, wearing glasses and a cap. Both are dressed in black. Courtesy Matthew Radalj
Radalj, pictured with his father, says he has a responsibility to those still imprisoned

Then the Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese inmates were able to convince the guards to let them take over, giving them control of precious extra food items.

This led to a large brawl, and Radalj said he was caught in the middle of it. He was sent to solitary confinement for 194 day after hitting another prisoner.

Inside solitary, he finally had the lights turned off only to realise he'd be with very little light nearly all of the time, giving him the opposite sensory problem.

His small food ration was also cut in half. There were no reading materials and there was nobody to talk to while he was held in a bare room of 1.2 by 1.8 metres (4ft by 6ft) for half a year.

"You start to go crazy, whether you like it or not, and that's what solitary is designed to do… So you've got to decide very quickly whether your room is really, really small, or really, really big.

"After four months, you just start talking to yourself all the time. The guards would come by and ask 'Hey, are you okay?'. And you're like, 'why?'. They replied, 'because you're laughing'."

Then, Radalj said, he would respond, in his own mind: "It's none of your business."

Another feature of Chinese prison life, according to Radalji, was the fake "propaganda" moments officials would stage for Chinese media or visiting officials to paint a rosy picture of conditions there.

He said, at one point, a "computer suite" was set up. "They got everyone together and told us that we'd get our own email address and that we would be able to send emails. They then filmed three Nigerian guys using these computers."

The three prisoners apparently looked confused because the computers were not actually connected to the internet - but the guards had told them to just "pretend".

"Everything was filmed to present a fake image of prisoners with access to computers," Radalj said.

But, he claims, soon after the photo opportunity, the computers were wrapped up in plastic and never touched again.

The memoirs

Courtesy Matthew Radalj Pages from Radalj's journal side by side on a wooden table. The pages have his writing and drawings., all in black penCourtesy Matthew Radalj
Radalj kept a journal in prison (pictured) detailing his time behind bars

Throughout much of the ordeal, Radalj had been secretly keeping a journal by peeling open Covid masks and writing tiny sentences inside, with the help of some North Korean prisoners, who have also since been released.

"I would be writing, and the Koreans would say: 'No smaller… smaller!'."

Radalj said many of the prisoners had no way of letting their families know they were in jail.

Some had not made phone calls to their relatives because no money had been placed in their accounts for phone calls. For others, their embassies had not registered family telephone numbers for the prison phone system. Only calls to officially approved numbers worked.

So, after word got round that the Australian was planning to try to smuggle his notes out, they passed on details to connect with their families.

"I had 60 or 70 people hoping I could contact their loved ones after I got out to tell them what was happening."

He wrapped the pieces of Covid mask as tight as he could with sticky tape hoarded from the factory and tried to swallow the egg-sized bundle without the guards seeing.

But he couldn't keep it down.

The guards saw what was happening on camera and started asking, "Why are you vomiting? Why do you keep gagging? What's wrong?"

So, he gave up and hid the bundle instead.

When he was about to leave on 5 October 2024, he was given his old clothes which had been ripped five years earlier in the struggle over his initial arrest.

There was a tear in the lining of his jacked and he quickly dropped the notes inside before a guard could see him.

Radalj said he thinks someone told the prison officers of his plan because they searched his room and questioned him before he left.

"Did you forget something?" the guards asked.

"They trashed all my belongings. I was thinking they're gonna take me back to solitary confinement. There will be new charges."

But the guard holding his clothes never knew the secret journal had been slipped inside.

"They were like, 'Get out of here!'. And it wasn't until I was on the plane, and we had already left, and the seat belt sign was switched off, that I reached into my jacket to check."

The notes were still there.

Life After Prison

Courtesy Matthew Radalj Radalj on his wedding day in a dark suit with white flowers, with his wife in a white dress. Behind them are white and blue flowers in front of white curtainsCourtesy Matthew Radalj
Radalj married his long-time girlfriend after finally making it back home

Just before he had boarded the plane in Beijing a policeman who had escorted him to the gate had used Radalj's boarding pass to buy duty free cigarettes for his mates.

"He said don't come back to China. You're banned for 10 years. And I said 'yeah cool. Don't smoke. It's bad for your health'".

The officer laughed.

He arrived back in Australia and hugged his father at Perth airport. The tears were flowing.

Then he got married to his long-time girlfriend and now they spend their days making candles and other products.

Radalj says he is still angry about his experience and has a long way to go to recover properly.

But he is making his way through the contact list of his former inmate friends – "I have spent the best part of six months contacting their families, lobbying their embassies so they might try to do a better job of helping them during their incarceration."

Some of them, he said, haven't spoken to people back home for nearly a decade. And helping them has also helped with the transition back to his old life.

"With freedom comes a great sense of gratitude," Radalj says. "You have a deeper appreciation for the very simplest things in life. But I also have a great sense of responsibility to the people I left behind in prison."

New era beckons for Air Force One after Qatari offer - but what's it like inside?

Getty Images The blue and white Air Force One sits on a airfield tarmac in Qatar. Officials in white outfits stand on either side of a red carpet that rolls out from the plane's door. Getty Images

Most journalists travelling with the US president don't see much of the interior of Air Force One, the presidential jet.

The press cabin is in the back of the plane, accessible by a rear set of steps and a quick turn of a corner.

To reach the presidential suite at the front of the plane would require negotiating with the armed Secret Service agents in the next-door cabin.

On Donald Trump's trip to the Middle East this week, when the future of the famous plane was a huge talking point, Fox News host Sean Hannity had priority seating and access to the president to conduct an in-flight interview.

But the rest of us in the travelling press pool were consigned to our small section of the plane.

It was a whirlwind trip, hitting three nations in three nights, half a world away. The president described it as an "endurance test" - one that his staff and those of us in the press pool had to manage, as well.

The presidential jet is not a bad way to fly, however. The 14 seats are comfortable, roughly on par with a first-class domestic flight.

There's a bathroom and a table with snacks (including the coveted Air Force One-branded M&Ms bearing the president's signature, which aren't available anywhere else).

The cabin has a pair of television monitors - usually tuned to the president's preferred cable news channel (CNN during Joe Biden's term; Fox News for Trump). On occasion, they've been set to a football game or other sporting events.

For longer flights, the on-board kitchen serves plated meals (the president eats from a different, fancier menu). On short hops, there's usually food in a takeaway bag.

Watch: President Trump takes a question from the BBC's Anthony Zurcher on board

But the interior of this famous aircraft could soon undergo a radical refit if, as looks likely, Trump accepts the Qatari offer to supply a new "palace in the sky" - the biggest foreign gift ever received by a US president.

Technically, "Air Force One" is a radio call sign, the designation for any Air Force aircraft with the US president aboard. The small prop plane Lyndon Baines Johnson took from Austin to his Texas ranch in the 1960s was Air Force One, too.

But the Air Force One most people picture, the one featured in the Harrison Ford action film, is the 747-200b with water blue, steel blue and white paint set against a chrome underbody - a colour scheme picked out by First Lady Jackie Kennedy in 1962.

Currently there are two of these 747s in the Air Force passenger fleet, in use since 1990. Needless to say, technology – both in aircraft design and everything else – has come a long way in the ensuing years. The planes have been upgraded, but the costs of maintaining the airframe and engines are growing. The aircrafts are showing their age.

Getty Images In a black and white archival photo, Jackie Kennedy watches Lyndon Johnson being sworn in as president in an airplane cabin after the assassination of her husband, JFK, in 1963. They are surrounded by on-lookers standing in the cabin.Getty Images
Jackie Kennedy watches Lyndon Johnson being sworn in as president on board after the assassination of her husband, JFK, in 1963

This has clearly irked the current White House occupant – the only president to own his own jet, or for that matter, his own airline, prior to taking office.

"I leave now and get onto a 42-year-old Boeing," he said, exaggerating the plane's age during an industry briefing on Thursday in Abu Dhabi. "But new ones are coming."

Coming, but not soon enough for Trump. During his first term, he touted an updated presidential aircraft, made by Boeing, that was in the works. He even picked out his own colour palette, scrapping Kennedy's design for a red-white-and-blue livery. He proudly displays a model of that jet in the Oval Office.

Getty Images President Obama wears a white shirt and sits in a leather chair at a wooden conference table on Air Force One. It is 2012 and he is making phone calls. A person out of view is shown in another seat working at a laptop.Getty Images
President Obama making calls on board in 2012

Originally planned to be delivered by 2021, delays and cost overruns for the estimated $4bn construction programme have made it less likely that the two new planes on order will be available for much, if any, of Trump's second term in office, which expires in January 2029.

He has tasked tech multi-billionaire Elon Musk with speeding up the process and reportedly groused in private that he is embarrassed to travel in such an outdated plane.

That explains why the president has become enamoured with the prospect of a seemingly more immediate solution to his air transport woes – courtesy of the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.

News of Qatar's offer of a lavish $400m 747-8 made headlines last week, but the gift apparently has been in the works for months.

Trump surreptitiously visited the aircraft in question in mid-February, just a few weeks after the start of his second term in office.

Aside from the legal and ethical concerns of such a substantial gift – raised by critics and some allies of the president - converting a foreign 747 for use by an American president creates a number of technical challenges.

The aircraft would have to be made capable of in-flight refuelling and retrofitted with a sophisticated package of communications and security equipment. The current models have systems built to withstand the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion.

A BBC graphic shows the general layout of Air Force One. It holds 26 crew and 70 passengers. Text highlights points of interest on the plane, including the President's suite, a medical facility and the press section.

Such a refitting process, says aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, would take years, until 2030 at least.

"They have to assume the jet has been left unattended in a dangerous place for 13 years," he says. "Which means it's not enough to take the plane apart. You also have to take every single component apart."

The plane would need additional power to run its new systems, and its interior might have to be rearranged. Chances are there's no press cabin in the flying palace as originally designed.

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Defense and Security Department, says the costs of such retrofitting could easily run to $1bn.

He adds, however, that Trump could waive some, or all, of the security modifications if he so chooses.

"He's the president," he said.

When the Air Force ultimately does retire its current crop of 747s, it will put to pasture an aircraft that have been part of fabric of American history for decades. One that transported President Bill Clinton, along with former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W Bush, to Israel for Yitzhak Rabin's funeral in 1995.

After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, George W Bush took to the skies in Air Force One and stayed aloft for hours, refuelling mid-air, until his security team determined it was safe for him to land and address the nation, before ultimately returning to Washington.

Getty Images George W Bush looks out the window of Air Force Once, gesturing as he speaks on the phone hours after 9/11 attacksGetty Images
President George W Bush directing the 9/11 response from Air Force One hours after the attacks

Six US presidents have travelled on these jets, criss-crossing the US and visiting all corners of the globe. One took Biden to Israel just days after the 7 October attack by Hamas.

Trump has effectively employed the aircraft as a campaign device, holding political rallies at airfields and making low-speed passes over the crowds before landing and using Air Force One as a dramatic backdrop for his speeches.

On Trump's recent Mid East trip, military fighters from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE accompanied Air Force One as it flew through their national airspace.

Aging though it may be, Air Force One is still one of the most recognisable signs of American presidential authority and power in the world - a military aircraft that serves a higher purpose.

"It's not made for luxury," says Aboulafia. "It's a flying command post. You're not there to throw parties."

Additional reporting by Max Matza

Pop culture re-invented the Menendez brothers - but can it set them free?

Getty Images The Menendez brothers sit in prison suits inside a courtroom. In between them, their defence attorney sits at the wooden table. Getty Images

It was once unthinkable that Lyle and Erik Menendez, the men who murdered their wealthy parents by shooting them 16 times, would get the sympathy and forgiveness of the masses.

Their claims of sexual abuse at the hands of their father were mocked by prosecutors and comedians alike, from late-night TV to jokes at the Academy Awards.

But 35 years later - thanks in part to TikTok, Netflix and stars like Kim Kardashian - the Menendez brothers have a new generation of supporters - many who were not even born in 1989, the year the brothers ambushed their parents with shotguns in their Beverly Hills mansion.

At the time of their trials, the brothers were portrayed as greedy, entitled monsters who went on a $700,000 (£526,0000) spending spree in the weeks after the murders. Now, with a growing understanding of trauma and sexual abuse, many are more sympathetic - and that might just give the brothers a chance at freedom.

This week, a Los Angeles judge reduced the brothers' sentence to include the possibility of parole, which could be granted at a hearing next month.

Their fate will then be in the hands of California's Parole Board and, ultimately, Governor Gavin Newsom, who will be weighing the shifting public opinion about the divisive case with his own political ambitions.

Watch: "Redemption is possible" - Family and attorney of Menendez brothers react to resentencing

How did we get here?

In 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez burst into their Beverly Hills living room, both toting loaded shotguns, and opened fire on their parents, who were watching television. The crime would go unsolved for months.

They got tickets for the James Bond film License to Kill as an alibi and told law enforcement and members of the news media, who were covering the execution of the wealthy, high-powered couple in their mansion, that perhaps the mafia was to blame.

Meanwhile, they bought a new Porsche, Jeep, Rolex watches and other luxury items with cash from their parents' estate.

They weren't caught until police got word of their admissions to a psychologist.

Even at the time, their crime was divisive - the first trial ended un a mistrial after the jury couldn't reach a verdict. After the second, they were sentenced to life without parole.

During both trials, the brothers were characterised as bad boys and spoiled children who were motivated to kill their parents out of hatred and hopes to acquire their $14 million estate.

Saturday Night Live and other late-night shows mocked the pair's defence in court – including tearful testimony about their alleged sexual abuse, which prosecutors dubbed the "abuse excuse" - and documentary titles from that decade included phrases like "the bad sons" and "American sons, American murderers".

Appeal after appeal was denied but last year, everything seemed to change. New evidence about the alleged sexual abuse had surfaced and Netflix released a drama that captured the attention of a whole new generation. Soon, documentaries about the case included titles with words like "misjudged" and "boys betrayed".

TikTokers discussed the case with their followers. Reality star Kim Kardashian, a criminal justice advocate who has helped free imprisoned people, penned an opinion piece publicly backing their bid for freedom.

"Back then, there were limited resources for victims of sexual abuse, particularly for boys," Kardashian wrote in the NBC piece.

In the 1990s, society did not have the same understanding we do today of trauma, sexual abuse and harassment, Whitney Phillips, a University of Oregon professor who studies true crime, told the BBC. That gap in understanding was especially pronounced for boys who were abused, she added.

But after the MeToo movement, there was more cultural space created for people to speak about these experiences, she said.

"Not only does it create a permission structure," Prof Phillips said of people feeling encouraged to speak out about harassment and abuse, "in some ways it creates an incentive structure to feature stories about trauma".

Adding to that is the change in how the public views criminal justice, with more emphasis on rehabilitation and reducing prison populations instead of the tough-on-crime mentality that dominated Los Angeles at the end of the 20th Century.

"The lock people up forever attitude of the 1990s is fortunately long gone," said Robert Rand, a journalist who met and interviewed the brothers before they were arrested and uncovered new evidence in 2018 - a letter Erik had written as a teenager to a cousin about his father's sexual abuse.

In a documentary Mr Rand produced about the killings, released in 2023, a former member of the boy band called Menudo, alleged the Menfather - who was an executive at RCA Records - had raped him when he was 14 years old, which further bolstered their claims.

The new testimonies helped give new life to the brothers' claims, and provided a catalyst for what Prof Phillips called a "hurricane" of interest and support, from the Netflix drama to Kardashian's op-ed.

"The things that get really big online are things that have lots of sources of energy," she said.

Even Lyle Menendez noted the sea change.

"The followers who are younger that are on that sort of TikTok social media generation, they really have tremendous hope," Lyle Menendez said at a court hearing.

"I'm not as hopeless as I was as a 21-year-old, that's for sure. Obviously, I feel more hope when society seems to be understanding these experiences and sex abuse better."

Getty Images Gavin Newsom speaks at a podium outside with blue skies behind him. He is wearing a black shirt and gesticulating with his left armGetty Images
The fate of the brothers rests with California Gov Gavin Newsom, who is thought to be a potential US presidential contender

Where do the Menendez brothers go from here?

The fate of the brothers – regardless of what social media, the courts or California's parole board recommends – ultimately rests with one man: Governor Newsom, who has the power to accept or reject any parole recommendation.

And many believe that man is considering a run for president in 2028.

Since the last election, Newsom has been undergoing a political transformation, shifting from crusading liberal pushing universal healthcare to a more moderate, pragmatic approach, most recently proposing freezing healthcare for undocumented immigrants.

Weighing in on such a divisive case could be "risky", said Pennsylvania-based Republican political strategist Sam Chen.

"Can you imagine a reality TV show of the Menendez brothers while Newsom is trying to run for president? Talk about free campaign airtime," he said. "That would be the worst thing for him."

Although no one knows which way he is leaning, Newsom has mentioned the case several times on social media and on his podcast.

"The question for the board is a rather simple one," Newsom said in February on TikTok. "Do they pose a current, what we call 'unreasonable' risk to public safety."

Mr Rand acknowledged the case is "risky" politically for Newsom.

"You can't get around the elephant in the room: They brutally murdered their parents," Rand told the BBC. "But if you do believe that they were abused and that they suffered from a lifetime of abuse - and there actually is evidence that supports their story - it's a very different situation."

The brothers have not committed violent crimes while in prison, a fact the judge in their resentencing hearing considered, although they did have infractions for using cell phones smuggled into prison.

They've also led productive lives while incarcerated, with Erik founding a hospice programme to help elderly and disabled inmates while Lyle has been working on prison beautification.

Remarkably, every single surviving member of their family – from cousins to aunts and uncles - want the Menendez brothers released, including the surviving siblings of Jose and Kitty Menendez.

"They chose to live their lives with clarity and a purpose of service," their cousin Anamaria Baralt said outside the court after they were resentenced.

If the board recommends parole in June, the governor has 30 days to accept or reject the recommendation. If they are paroled, the brothers will be released likely within five months, according to the California Department of Corrections.

The fact that Gov Newsom ordered the state parole board to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment before the brothers were even deemed eligible for parole has many thinking he's open to releasing them.

"He wants the political cover" of the parole board and court recommendations, said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who has been following the brothers' legal saga but is not representing any of the participants.

A year ago, Mr Rahmani never would have predicted the Menendez brothers could be released. Now he thinks they will be free within the next few months.

But it wouldn't be unprecedented for Gov Newsom to reject a high-profile parole recommendation.

Several times he blocked the release of a Manson Family member. And in 2022, Newsom blocked the release of Sirhan Sirhan, the man who assassinated Sen Robert F Kennedy.

As far as the Menendez brothers go, Gov Newsom said on his podcast that he's mulling over the case and he's not planning to watch any of the documentaries or true crime dramas about the case.

"I'm obviously familiar with the Menendez brothers just through the news over the course of many decades, but not to the degree that many others are because of all of these documentaries and all of the attention they've received," he said. "So that won't bias my independent and objective review of the facts."

The best photos from Eurovision Song Contest 2025

EPA Austria's JJ performs the song "Wasted Love"EPA
Austria's JJ won with a dramatic performance with Wasted Love

The Eurovision Song Contest brought the drama as 26 countries battled it out for the trophy.

The night saw wacky songs, fabulous outfits and high-tempo dancing.

It eventually came down to tense stand off during the results between Austria and Israel, with Austria eventually taking the Eurovision trophy.

Here are the best photos from the night:

Reuters Tommy Cash, representing Estonia, performs "Espresso Macchiato"Reuters
Tommy Cash, representing Estonia, showed off his fancy footwork with Espresso Macchiato
Reuters Erika Vikman, representing Finland, performs "ICH KOMME"Reuters
Finland's Erika Vikman hovered over the stage on a giant microphone stand
EPA Israel's Yuval Raphael performs the song "New day will rise" EPA
Israel's delegation said its singer Yuval Raphael - who won the public vote and came second overall - was left upset when protesters tried to storm the stage
EPA United Kingdom's Remember Monday perform "the song "What the hell just happened?"EPA
The UK's Remember Monday perform What The Hell Just Happened?
EPA Latvia's Tautumeitas perform the song "Bur man laimi"EPA
Latvia's Tautumeitas performed beautiful harmonies
Reuters Louane, representing France, performs "Maman"Reuters
France's performance included ambitious staging, which saw the singer Louane swept up in a tornado of actual sand.
EPA Switzerland's Zoe Me performs the song 'Voyage'EPA
Switzerland's Zoë Më performed to a home crowd and came 10th
Reuters JJ, representing Austria, wins during the Grand FinalReuters
JJ put his head in his hands with joy as he is announced winner of Eurovision
EPA Supporters of Spain watch a broadcast in the Eurovision VillageEPA
Fans without grand final tickets watched on a big screen in Eurovision Village in Basel
EPA Two people come in a bathrobeEPA
People dressed up inspired by their favourite act, including these two fans of Sweden's sauna-fuelled act KAJ
EPA Baby Lasagna (C-L) and Kaarija (C) performEPA
Eurovision icons from past years came back for guest performances including Baby Lasagna and Kaarija

Inside the therapy room: BBC watches as three lives change

BBC / Twenty Twenty Productions Ltd Nicole in therapy, long blonde hair, wearing a striped knitted top, against a blurred interior backgroundBBC / Twenty Twenty Productions Ltd
Nicole went to therapy because she has a fear of driving

Nicole enters the therapist's room and clutches what she calls her hugging pillow. She admits to being nervous about sitting down with a stranger to discuss her mental health.

She is 31, lives in London and works as chiropractic assistant. She suffers from anxiety when she drives.

"There are so many things that so quickly go through my head," she says.

"How far away is it? What is the route? I somehow forget how to drive."

She suffers from panic attacks and her fear of driving means she is constantly cancelling plans.

But, over the course of six sessions with psychotherapist Owen O'Kane, it becomes clear her problems are much deeper than just a fear of driving.

Digging around in the mind

Every week, one in six of the UK population experience mental health problems such as depression and anxiety and every year more than 1.2 million people seek help from the NHS talking therapies service, with many more paying for support privately.

This form of therapy is most commonly used for anxiety and depression, but can also help with a range of other problems, including body image dysmorphia, obsessive compulsive disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. It does not work for everyone: research suggests one-third of people do not benefit.

The BBC has followed 12 people, featured in the series Change Your Mind, Change Your Life, who each received six support sessions from therapists.

The therapists have used a combination of different talking therapy approaches, including cognitive behavioural therapy which focuses on changing the way we think and behave, alongside other techniques to improve relationships and process trauma.

What it reveals is striking: How understanding and learning to manage the mind has the power to transform lives.

BBC / Twenty Twenty Productions Ltd Owen O'Kane, a therapist, wearing blue denim shirt, against blurred interior backgroundBBC / Twenty Twenty Productions Ltd
Owen O'Kane says being a therapist is a bit like being a detective

"You're not stuck with the brain you've got," says Owen O'Kane, who has worked in the field for 25 years.

He describes his job as like detective work: "People come with what seems to be a reasonable story, but the interesting thing is that very often the story and emotions don't match. I guess what we are doing is digging around a little bit."

'I completely hated myself'

Over their sessions, Owen digs deeper into Nicole's anxiety. At one point she weeps. She admits in the past she has "completely hated" herself. She worries about what people think of her and is socially anxious: "I don't feel good enough to be there. I might say something wrong. I need people to like me."

Owen questions why she feels like this: "As human beings we like the nice emotions. We like feeling happy, joy, being in love." but he says some people try to avoid or suppress emotions like fear, dread and sadness, and that can cause anxiety. Instead, he says it is healthier to accept them and accept them as safe.

When people get to that point, he says, they start to feel empowered: "They realise they're not going to be overwhelmed."

Speaking outside the therapy room, Nicole says: "I'm shocked. He got my number straight away. I would see vulnerability as a negative thing, but it's not."

Asked to describe herself she uses words such as kind, thoughtful, determined and enthusiastic: "I am not a bad person," she tells Owen.

She says she has learned a lot: "Most importantly I found I wasn't being kind to myself. That was really eye-opening."

Owen says this is typical of many people he treats: "When people get to these crossroads, when they wake up and realise what they are doing, that's a gold dust moment for me."

'I had stroke in my early 30s'

James likewise learned to think about himself differently thanks to therapy.

A 39-year-old father-of-one who works in finance, he struggles with anxiety and, in particular, worries about making mistakes at work. That fear is so debilitating he doesn't make it to work sometimes.

He has been supported by Prof Steve Peters, a psychiatrist who explains perfectionism is at the root of his problems: "If we think it's the end of the world if we make a mistake, it paralyses you."

James was once an athlete, playing semi-professional football and competing in athletics before specialising in the bobsleigh.

He was training for trials for the Great Britain team when he had a stroke eight years ago: "With a flick of a switch, I lost everything," he says.

"It made me feel a lesser man."

Now he fears under-performing at work and losing his job.

BBC / Twenty Twenty Productions Ltd James in a therapy session, wearing a white knitted top, against a blurred interior backgroundBBC / Twenty Twenty Productions Ltd
James had a stroke in his early 30s

Over the course of the sessions, Prof Peters explains the key is James's belief system.

First, he gives some seemingly simple advice: "Put your feet on the floor, stand up and walk," he says.

Focusing on the basic task of moving, in James's case moving so he can get to work, enables someone caught up in catastrophic thinking to block out the negative thoughts that stop them doing something.

In later sessions, James and Prof Peters explore what could be behind his problems. James tells Prof Peters about his childhood and how his father would criticise him to push him to improve.

Prof Peters explains how James believes that to please you cannot make errors and then the devastating stroke he suffered at a young age has triggered an absolute desire for things to never go wrong again.

He tells James he needs to make "peace with himself" by defining himself not by performance but by values and behaviours. He too asks James to describe himself and James replies he is hard-working, honest, engaging, friendly and as someone who would put others first.

Over the course of his sessions, James's way of thinking changes: "I can look at myself in the mirror and feel my value and my worth," he explains.

'My mum died when I was 15'

Anjalee's struggles are somewhat different. They relate to one traumatic event in childhood – her mother died suddenly when she was 15.

Now a mother herself, with three children under five, she has struggled emotionally.

She has sleepless nights, a tight chest and feels emotionally disconnected. It is worse than any physical pain, says the 34-year-old: "Becoming a mother has reopening everything I've tried to suppress."

Her first birth was particularly traumatic. She developed sepsis – the condition her mother died from: "I thought I was not going to survive," she says.

Her psychotherapist, Julia Samuel, explains to Anjalee she has not been able to process what has happened and, as a result, the trauma has stayed with her.

When her mother died, Anjalee was in the middle of exams and had two younger siblings, leaving her without time to grieve.

BBC / Twenty Twenty Productions Ltd Anjalee in therapy, long brown hair, against a blurred interior backgroundBBC / Twenty Twenty Productions Ltd
Anjalee felt emotionally disconnected before she went to therapy

Julia suggests eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy, which uses movement to help people process and recover from distressing events.

Julia asks Anjalee for her worst memory and she describes how her father tried to save her mother's life by performing chest compressions in their home until the paramedics arrived. Her mother was rushed out with Anjalee hoping she would return. She never did.

Anjalee says she has never talked about this within anyone. Julia asks Anjalee to cross her arms against her chest and start deep breathing and tapping, mimicking a butterfly's wings flapping. She talks through the memory and how the images in her head are changing to more positive ones.

Julia says this type of treatment is particularly effective when dealing with one single traumatic event. One memory, she says, can act as a block on everything.

Afterwards, Anjalee speaks about how her symptoms have eased and the contentment she now feels.

"My therapist helped me reconnect with the 15-year-old girl I'd silenced. I began to process the trauma that haunted me. I now understand grief as the other side of love."

During May, the BBC is sharing stories and tips on how to support your mental health and wellbeing.

Go to bbc.co.uk/mentalwellbeing to find out more.

The Papers: Starmer's 'surrender summit' and Post Office 'justice choir'

The front page of the Observer with the headline 'Kiss and Make up' against a full page photo of Sir Keir Starmer greeting President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
A cover picture of Sir Keir Starmer embracing Ursula von der Leyen splashes the front of the Observer, leading on the forthcoming UK-EU summit. Starmer's spokesperson has said it will lead to a new deal with the bloc.
The front page of the Telegraph which is headlined with "Starmer: EU  reset 'good for borders.'
Also leading on the EU summit, the Telegraph reports Sir Keir Starmer has promised that plans to reset the UK's relationship with the EU will be "good for our borders". Conservatives who spoke the paper say this will "open the floodgates" to tens of thousands of people. An image of Princess Eugene, who has given an interview about her scoliosis condition, illustrates the front.
The front page of the Mail on Sunday titled with Brexit? What Brexit?
The Mail on Sunday reports Britain could be forced to pay "hundreds of millions" to the EU as part of the deal, set to be inked on Monday. Calling it a "surrender summit", the deal will also permit EU trawlers to fish in British waters, the paper says.
The Sunday Express front page reads "Betray Britain at your peril."
"Betray Britain at your peril" booms the headline of the Sunday Express. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says the prime minister has been warned he will "face the wrath" of voters if he "surrenders" to the EU at the meeting. He is expected to back a scheme to allow young Europeans to live and work in the UK.
Front page of the Sunday Mirror which reads "I still wake up in panic about Barbara.£
Scott Mitchell tells the Sunday Mirror he still wakes up in "panic" after his wife and EastEnders star Dame Barbara Windsor died from Alzheimer's in 2020.
Front cover of Sunday People, headlined with "Singing for Justice."
Sunday People splashes with a choir made up of victims of the Post Office scandal telling the paper they want to sing for the King, "in their quest for justice".
The front page of the Sunday Times which reads "Home Guard to protect UK against attacks."
The government will deploy a "home guard" to protect against attacks to power plants and airports, the Sunday Times reads. Elsewhere a photo of Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze celebrating his team's victory, and the story of three Iranian migrants charged with targeting UK-based journalists make the front page.
The Daily Star front page, which carries a seagull with boxing gloves states "Raging Gulls".
And finally the Daily Star issues a dire warning, complete with seagulls clad in boxing gloves, that rising temperatures mean Britons can expect to be "divebombed" by the "beserk birds". The paper claims attacks are set to rise for a fifth year.
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Two dead in Swiss mountain avalanche

BBC Breaking news graphicBBC

A rescue mission is under way to reach several people buried in an avalanche on the Eiger mountain in the Swiss Alps, local police say.

The "ice avalanche" took place shortly after midday on Saturday, Bern police said in a statement on social media.

They said they had launched a large-scale operation involving several rescue teams who were looking for people.

The Eiger is a 3,967m (13,000 ft) peak near the tourist resorts of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, and Wengen.

Map

Hamas proposes releasing some hostages in fresh talks after new Israel offensive

Anadolu/Getty Images A huge smoke cloud rises above buildings in Gaza City. Anadolu/Getty Images
Smoke rises after an Israeli attack on Tel al Zaatar, Gaza City on 15 May, 2025.

Israel's military has announced the launch of a major offensive aimed at defeating Hamas and securing the freedom of remaining hostages in Gaza.

The Israeli Defense Forces said on its Hebrew X account that it had mobilised troops for "Operation Gideon's Chariots" to seize "strategic areas" of the strip.

The Hamas-run health ministry said that Israeli attacks had killed around 50 people on Saturday, adding to the reported toll of around 300 since Thursday.

Israel imposed an aid blockade on the strip in March after the breakdown of a two-month ceasefire. Donald Trump, the US president, said on Friday that "a lot of people were starving" in Gaza.

The Israeli military did not use the operational name in similar posts on its English-language X account.

It said it would not stop operating "until Hamas is no longer a threat and all our hostages are home", and had "struck over 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip" in 24 hours.

Israel has intensified its bombardment and built up armoured forces along the border despite growing international pressure to resume ceasefire talks and end its blockade. The launch of the operation appears to suggest all efforts have failed.

The Times of Israel said that "Gideon's Chariots" - a reference to a biblical warrior - would see the IDF take and control territory, move civilians to the south of the strip, attack Hamas and prevent it from taking control of aid supplies.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, earlier this month said that Israel was preparing an "intense entry into Gaza" to capture and hold territory.

His government said that it would not commence until Trump had completed a tour of the Middle East. The US president left the region on Friday.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has warned that Israel's recent escalation could be considered a breach of international law.

"This latest barrage of bombs, forcing people to move amid the threat of intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighbourhoods, and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing," he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was "troubled" by the situation.

A UN-backed assessment published on Monday found Gaza's population to be at "critical risk" of famine.

The Israeli government has repeatedly rejected claims there is a food shortage in Gaza.

Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Hamas still holds 57.

At least 25 dead after tornadoes sweep through US Midwest

Reuters The back of a two-storey house is completely exposed after a tornado completely tore off the back wall in St Louis, Missouri, on 16 May 2025. Two residents can be seen in an upper room, one with a broom in her hands.Reuters

At least five people have died and more than 5,000 buildings were damaged after a tornado tore through St Louis in Missouri.

The tornado swept along a major road, tearing roofs off houses, uprooting trees and knocking down power lines on Friday evening.

About 100,000 properties were left without power and the fire department said house-by-house searches were conducted in the worst-affected areas.

The US National Weather Service reported at least six other tornadoes in Missouri and neighbouring Illinois, with more severe weather conditions stretching eastwards to the Atlantic coast.

Reuters Bricks from a collapsed wall can be seen on the ground as two residents carry belongings away from a heavily damaged home in St Louis, Missouri, on 16 May 2025. The roof and several rooms on the upper floor are damaged and exposed.Reuters

National Weather Service radar suggested the tornado touched down shortly after 14:30 local time in the west of the city close to Forest Park - home to St Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 Olympic Games.

St Louis Fire Department said three people had to be rescued after part of the nearby Centennial Christian Church collapsed. One of those people died.

A curfew was imposed from 21:00 to 06:00 local time in the two areas where most of the damage took place, to prevent injuries from debris and reduce the potential for looting.

St Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said: "Our city is grieving tonight. The loss of life and the destruction is truly, truly horrendous.

"We're going to have a lot of work to do in the coming days. There is no doubt there, but tonight we are focused on saving lives and keeping people safe and allowing our community to grieve."

Reuters Two young residents stand in the street after a a tornado caused damage in St Louis, Missouri on 16 May 2025. Bricks, wood and other material are scattered around.Reuters

Police investigate fatal explosion near fertility clinic in California

Getty Images The main sign welcoming visitors to Palm Springs is shown against a blue skyGetty Images

Officials in Palm Springs, California are investigating an explosion on Saturday morning that killed one person and damaged a fertility clinic.

The explosion happened just before 11:00 local time (19:00 BST) less than a mile from downtown Palm Springs, near several businesses including the American Reproductive Centres.

In a statement, the fertility clinic said no one from their facility was harmed but that one person was killed and several were injured.

California governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the state is coordinating with local and federal authorities to respond to the incident.

The American Reproductive Centres in Palm Springs said that a vehicle had exploded in the parking lot near its building.

It is unclear what the cause of the explosion was.

US attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a post on X that the Justice Department was "aware of the explosion that occurred this morning in Palm Springs".

He said the FBI are on the scene and are investigating if "this was an intentional act."

The fertility clinic said their lab, including all eggs and embryos, remain "fully secure and undamaged".

"We are heavily conducting a complete safety inspection and have confirmed that our operations and sensitive medical areas were not impacted by the blast," the fertility clinic said in its statement.

The BBC has reached out to the Palm Springs Police Department for comment.

This is a developing story.

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.

New round of ceasefire talks after Israel launches major offensive

Anadolu/Getty Images A huge smoke cloud rises above buildings in Gaza City. Anadolu/Getty Images
Smoke rises after an Israeli attack on Tel al Zaatar, Gaza City on 15 May, 2025.

Israel's military has announced the launch of a major offensive aimed at defeating Hamas and securing the freedom of remaining hostages in Gaza.

The Israeli Defense Forces said on its Hebrew X account that it had mobilised troops for "Operation Gideon's Chariots" to seize "strategic areas" of the strip.

The Hamas-run health ministry said that Israeli attacks had killed around 50 people on Saturday, adding to the reported toll of around 300 since Thursday.

Israel imposed an aid blockade on the strip in March after the breakdown of a two-month ceasefire. Donald Trump, the US president, said on Friday that "a lot of people were starving" in Gaza.

The Israeli military did not use the operational name in similar posts on its English-language X account.

It said it would not stop operating "until Hamas is no longer a threat and all our hostages are home", and had "struck over 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip" in 24 hours.

Israel has intensified its bombardment and built up armoured forces along the border despite growing international pressure to resume ceasefire talks and end its blockade. The launch of the operation appears to suggest all efforts have failed.

The Times of Israel said that "Gideon's Chariots" - a reference to a biblical warrior - would see the IDF take and control territory, move civilians to the south of the strip, attack Hamas and prevent it from taking control of aid supplies.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, earlier this month said that Israel was preparing an "intense entry into Gaza" to capture and hold territory.

His government said that it would not commence until Trump had completed a tour of the Middle East. The US president left the region on Friday.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has warned that Israel's recent escalation could be considered a breach of international law.

"This latest barrage of bombs, forcing people to move amid the threat of intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighbourhoods, and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing," he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was "troubled" by the situation.

A UN-backed assessment published on Monday found Gaza's population to be at "critical risk" of famine.

The Israeli government has repeatedly rejected claims there is a food shortage in Gaza.

Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Hamas still holds 57.

Trump says he will call Putin to discuss stopping Ukraine 'bloodbath'

Reuters Donald TrumpReuters

Donald Trump says he will be speaking to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Monday about ending the war in Ukraine, saying the call at 10:00 EDT (14:00 GMT) would be about "stopping the 'bloodbath'".

In a post on Truth Social, the US president said he would then speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and leaders of some Nato countries.

Russia and Ukraine were unable to reach any breakthrough when they held their first face-to-face talks in three years in Istanbul on Friday, although a prisoner swap was agreed.

The US president had offered to attend the talks in Turkey if Putin would also go, but his Russian counterpart did not take up the offer.

Trump's comments come after he suggested on Thursday that progress on ending the war would only happen if he and Putin held face-to-face talks.

"Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end," Trump wrote on Saturday.

Nato leaders have been calling for Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire in the conflict.

Following the talks in Istanbul, Ukraine reiterated its call for a full and unconditional ceasefire.

The head of the Russian delegation, Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky, said the Russian delegation was satisfied with the talks and ready to continue contact.

Hours later, a Russian drone hit a passenger bus in the Sumy region, killing nine people - prompting Zelensky to demand stiffer sanctions on Moscow.

He said the attack on the bus was "a deliberate killing of civilians". Russia has not commented, but state media reported that forces had hit a "military staging area" in Sumy province.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Police rescue everyone buried in Swiss mountain avalanche

BBC Breaking news graphicBBC

A rescue mission is under way to reach several people buried in an avalanche on the Eiger mountain in the Swiss Alps, local police say.

The "ice avalanche" took place shortly after midday on Saturday, Bern police said in a statement on social media.

They said they had launched a large-scale operation involving several rescue teams who were looking for people.

The Eiger is a 3,967m (13,000 ft) peak near the tourist resorts of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, and Wengen.

Map

At least 21 dead after tornadoes sweep through US Midwest

Reuters The back of a two-storey house is completely exposed after a tornado completely tore off the back wall in St Louis, Missouri, on 16 May 2025. Two residents can be seen in an upper room, one with a broom in her hands.Reuters

At least five people have died and more than 5,000 buildings were damaged after a tornado tore through St Louis in Missouri.

The tornado swept along a major road, tearing roofs off houses, uprooting trees and knocking down power lines on Friday evening.

About 100,000 properties were left without power and the fire department said house-by-house searches were conducted in the worst-affected areas.

The US National Weather Service reported at least six other tornadoes in Missouri and neighbouring Illinois, with more severe weather conditions stretching eastwards to the Atlantic coast.

Reuters Bricks from a collapsed wall can be seen on the ground as two residents carry belongings away from a heavily damaged home in St Louis, Missouri, on 16 May 2025. The roof and several rooms on the upper floor are damaged and exposed.Reuters

National Weather Service radar suggested the tornado touched down shortly after 14:30 local time in the west of the city close to Forest Park - home to St Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 Olympic Games.

St Louis Fire Department said three people had to be rescued after part of the nearby Centennial Christian Church collapsed. One of those people died.

A curfew was imposed from 21:00 to 06:00 local time in the two areas where most of the damage took place, to prevent injuries from debris and reduce the potential for looting.

St Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said: "Our city is grieving tonight. The loss of life and the destruction is truly, truly horrendous.

"We're going to have a lot of work to do in the coming days. There is no doubt there, but tonight we are focused on saving lives and keeping people safe and allowing our community to grieve."

Reuters Two young residents stand in the street after a a tornado caused damage in St Louis, Missouri on 16 May 2025. Bricks, wood and other material are scattered around.Reuters
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