Gaza City and its surrounding area is now experiencing famine, a UN-backed body of food security experts has confirmed.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which is used by governments and international bodies to identify hunger levels around the world, has raised its classification to Phase 5 - the highest and most severe.

It says that over half a million people across the Gaza Strip are facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".

Israel said the IPC report was based on "Hamas lies". It continues to restrict the amount of aid entering Gaza and has previously denied there is starvation in the territory.

This denial is in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, and multiple UN bodies have said.

The IPC report describes the famine as "entirely man-made" and says that an "immediate, at-scale response" is needed or there will be an "unacceptable escalation" in famine-related deaths.

It predicts that between mid-August and the end of September, famine will expand across the strip to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

During this period, almost a third of the population - nearly 641,000 people - are expected to face "catastrophic conditions" in IPC Phase 5, while the number of people to face "emergency" conditions in IPC Phase 4 will likely increase to 1.14 million - or 58% of the population.

The report also projects that up to June 2026, malnutrition will "threaten" the lives of 132,000 children aged under five.

Since the start of the war, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has reported that 271 people have died of "famine and malnutrition" - including 112 children.

The IPC cannot officially declare famine - that is usually done by governments or the United Nations.

In response to the report, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory "because of systematic obstruction by Israel".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: 'famine'."

He described it as "not a mystery," but rather "a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself".

He added that Israel has "unequivocal obligations under international law - including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population".

Phillipe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), said: "This is starvation by design & man-made by the Government of Israel".

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk described the famine as "the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government", which has "unlawfully restricted" the entry of aid.

In recent months, Israel has come under widespread international condemnation for the aid situation in the Gaza Strip.

Last month, after weeks of mounting pressure, the Israeli military said it had airdropped humanitarian aid into Gaza - a move that was criticised at the time by aid agencies as a "grotesque distraction".

Other aid drops have since taken place - but warnings have been issued about their safety, with reports that civilians were hit and killed by the falling pallets.

Earlier this week, BBC Verify found 10 separate occasions where aid was dropped into an area that the Israeli military has explicitly warned people not to enter.

In addition to airdrops, Israel said it would designate humanitarian corridors for UN convoys. However, on Tuesday the UN warned that the "trickle of aid" entering Gaza was insufficient to "avert widespread starvation".

Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of aid, says roughly 300 aid trucks are entering daily, but the UN says 600 trucks of supplies a day are needed.

The IPC report comes as Israel prepares to launch a new military offensive aimed at occupying Gaza City.

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

At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; and the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed.

Famine is taking place in Gaza - just a short drive away from hundreds of trucks of aid sitting idly outside its borders.

How did we get here?

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), backed by the United Nations, is the world's leading hunger monitor.

Its assessment that half a million people – a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are suffering from famine is shocking for many reasons.

Primary among them is the report's acknowledgement that this situation is "entirely man-made", with aid organisations today accusing Israel of the "systematic obstruction" of food entering the Gaza Strip.

• 'My youngest child doesn't know what fruit tastes like': Gaza residents on famine

The IPC report says that it has found that people living in the Gaza City area are experiencing famine conditions of "starvation, destitution, and death".

It also finds that starvation is spreading rapidly – with famine expected to be in much of the rest of Gaza in September, on current trends.

The report has reached its conclusion via three key indicators:

• Starvation: At least 1 in 5 households face an extreme shortage in their consumption of food
• Malnutrition: Roughly 1 in 3 children or more are acutely malnourished
• Mortality: At least 2 in every 10,000 people are dying daily because of outright starvation or the combination of malnutrition and disease

When two of these three "thresholds" are met, the IPC recognises that famine is taking place.

The IPC says the "mortality" indicator is not showing in the available data because of a breakdown of monitoring systems. It believes most non-traumatic deaths are not being recorded.

Based on the evidence that does exist, and expert judgement, the IPC has concluded that the "mortality" threshold for famine has been met.

The report was published as Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry recorded two new deaths from malnutrition, bringing the total number to 273 deaths, including 112 children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied starvation is taking place in Gaza and has said that where there is hunger, it is the fault of aid agencies and Hamas.

Israel has accused international aid agencies like the UN of not picking up aid waiting at Gaza's border, pointing to the hundreds of trucks sitting idle.

'Entirely man-made'

After weeks of the world seeing images of starving children, with distended stomachs and protruding bones, many will feel like the signs that a famine was imminent were a long time coming.

The ability of Palestinians to access food has been complicated throughout the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

Israel has long placed restrictions on goods entering Gaza, those restrictions increased after the beginning of the war on 7 October 2023, triggered by the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel.

However, since March 2025, the situation has deteriorated rapidly after Israel introduced a nearly three-month total blockade on goods entering Gaza.

Under significant international pressure, Israel began allowing a limited amount of goods back into Gaza in late-May.

It also introduced a new system of food distribution operated by a controversial American group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to replace the previous UN-led system of food distribution.

The GHF has four food distribution sites in militarised zones that Palestinians must walk long distances at risk, replacing the 400 distribution points in the community under the UN's system.

Finding food has become a deadly endeavour for Palestinians and they have regularly told us that they have to choose between starvation and death, referring to the near-daily shootings of people trying to get aid at GHF distribution sites.

The United Nations has recorded the killing of at least 994 Palestinians in the vicinity of GHF sites, since late May, some of the 1,760 killed trying to access aid.

The UN says the majority killed were shot by Israeli troops, something corroborated by eye-witnesses we have spoken to and medics in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly rejected the allegations.

Under this system, overseen by Israel, starvation in Gaza has expanded.

As pressure continued to grow on Israel to allow more food in, in late July it began allowing more trucks of aid into Gaza each day and introducing "tactical pauses" in fighting to allow more aid convoys to move through the territory.

More aid has entered in recent weeks and the astronomical prices of some goods in the markets reduced somewhat – though for many Palestinians, prohibitively expensive. At times the price of flour reached above $85 for a kilo, though that figure began to reduce.

The UN and aid organisations say that despite Israel loosening some of its restrictions on food getting into the Gaza Strip, it still places significant impediments and obstructions in being able to collect and distribute aid.

The organisations say what's needed is 600 trucks a day bringing goods into Gaza for people to meet their basic needs – currently no more than half of that is being allowed in.

Israel also began allowing airdrops of aid, something criticised as inefficient, dangerous, and ultimately a distraction by humanitarian organisations.

Israel's accusation that Hamas is responsible for the hunger crisis has also been criticised. Multiple reports, including an internal US government report, found there is no evidence of systematic diversion of aid by Hamas.

There is indeed widespread looting of trucks entering Gaza – but aid agencies say most of the looting is by crowds of desperate Palestinians and some organised groups trying to make a resale profit.

Ultimately, aid agencies have been repeating for months that in order to avert starvation and famine, Gaza needs to be flooded with aid entering by road and currently Israel still imposes restrictions.

Israel's response

A number of Israeli government officials have today rejected the IPC's report.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused the IPC of publishing a "tailor-made fabricated report to fit Hamas's fake campaign".

The Israeli army body called Cogat (the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), which is responsible for managing crossing into Gaza, called the IPC report a "False and Biased Report, Based on Partial Data Originating From the Hamas Terrorist Organization".

Among other criticisms, Israel says that the IPC "changed its own global standard", halving a threshold of those facing famine from 30% to 15% as well as "totally ignoring its second criterion of death rate".

The IPC rejected the accusations and said that it has used long-established standards that have been used previously in similar situations.

Israel's accusation that the IPC has used "Hamas data" appears to reference that some of the reporting about malnutrition in Gaza comes from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health there.

However, the ministry's data on deaths and injuries has widely been seen as reliable throughout the war.

Responses to the report from UN agencies and international leaders has been strong.

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Israel, as the occupying power, "has unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population. We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity".

The UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said the famine was the direct result of Israel's "systematic obstruction" of aid entering Gaza.

Meanwhile the UK's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "The Israeli government's refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is a moral outrage."

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said it was "a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of wilful killing".

Gaza City Invasion

Israel has this week authorised the call-up of tens of thousands of reservist troops to conduct its controversial invasion and occupation of Gaza City, the area where the IPC has declared famine is taking place.

Netanyahu says a takeover is the best option to defeat Hamas, end the war and to return the Israeli hostages from Gaza.

The invasion would forcibly displace an estimated one million Palestinians living in Gaza City and the areas around it. Israel has already told medics and aid agencies to make preparations to make plans to evacuate the area.

A joint statement from a number of UN organisations including Unicef, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization expressed alarm about the planned offensive, saying "it would have further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist.

"Many people – especially sick and malnourished children, older people and people with disabilities – may be unable to evacuate."

Multiple people have died after a tour bus crashed on the New York State Thruway in western New York, according to New York State Police.

Police said the group was returning from Niagara Falls on the US-Canada border to New York City when witnesses saw the vehicle lose control and turn over. Most of the victims are from India, China and the Philippines, according to police.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said local officials "are working to rescue and provide assistance to everyone involved".

Ambulances and medical helicopters were sent to the crash site, near the town of Pembroke, 30 miles (48km) east of the city of Buffalo.

"As we're progressing through this, we're losing more people unfortunately," the trooper told reporters, adding: "Most people on the bus did not have a seatbelt on."

Some victims were thrown from the vehicle when it crashed, the trooper added.

Several people are still believed to be trapped inside the wreckage.

Translators are being brought to the scene to assist in the investigation.

The crash took place approximately 40 miles from Niagara Falls, a major tourist destination on the US-Canada border.

According to police, there were 52 people on board at the time of the crash.

The bus was heading eastbound and lost control, veering into the median and then into a ditch, according police.

Officials said that "multiple people are dead" and that there are "multiple entrapments, and multiple injuries". Authorities have yet to release the total number of fatalities.

Multiple children were on board at the time of the crash, police say.

At least 21 patients have been admitted to local hospitals.

One witness told The Buffalo News that he saw a bus laying on its side and items strewn on the roadway following the crash.

"There was glass all over the road and people's stuff all over the road," said Powell Stephens, who drove past the crash site.

"Windows were all shattered. Everyone seemed conscious and OK, but I only saw the scene for about 15 seconds."

ConnectLife, an organisation that provides blood to hospitals in the region, has issued an emergency appeal for blood donations.

"Our community is facing a crisis," said spokeswoman Sarah Diina.

"This is one of those moments when your action can directly save lives," said Diina. "Please donate. If you can't, help us by spreading the word."

Authorities are requesting drivers with dashcam footage of the crash to come forward to aid in their investigation.

When Chappell Roan toured the UK last autumn, she was playing small, club-level shows.

On Friday, she headlined the Reading Festival, taking no prisoners with a dazzling, jubilant set that capped her incredible rise to fame over the past 18 months.

Backed by a gothic fairytale castle and a powerful all-female band, she added a crunchy rock edge to hits like Hot To Go and Casual, bringing her debut album to stadium-sized life.

"Thank you for loving me and standing with me," she told the 90,000-strong audience. "This is a dream come true, seriously."

Roan was booked for Reading after emerging as the biggest break-out star of 2024, but her journey to success has been anything but smooth.

She spent years honing her style and fighting sceptical record labels before her campy, singalong anthems found their intended audience.

Her first (and so far only) album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess was a slow-burning hit that chronicled the singer's search for identity: Leaving small-town Missouri for California, ditching the "hyper mega bummer boys" she'd dated in her teens and embracing queer love.

The songs were tightly written, embracing everything from country to 80s synth pop, but it was the lyrics – full of solitary yearning and thwarted romance - that really connected.

At Reading, devoted fans screamed every word, frequently threatening to drown out Roan's own vocals, powerful though they were.

"You'd be forgiven for thinking it's the world's biggest hen party," said Radio 1's Jack Saunders, surveying the multitude of pink cowboy hats in the audience.

Roan emerged on stage shortly after 7pm in an ornate crimson outfit, topped with black "bat wing" fascinator that fans immediately dubbed "Chappell Crow-an".

Skipping across the stage, she opened with three of her most upbeat songs – Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl, Femininomenon and After Midnight – only pausing to shed layers of her elaborate costume.

Over the next 90 minutes, she played practically every song she's released, including the early release Love Me Anyway and this year's standalone tracks The Giver and Subway.

Normally, the reliance on album tracks and deep cuts would be a bad sign for a festival headliner – but Roan wasn't stretching out thin material.

Somehow, nearly every song from Midwest Princess has become a modern anthem, elevating the album to the status of classics like Thriller, Rumours and Back To Black.

Highlights included Hot To Go, with its viral YMCA-style dance routine; and the snarky comeuppance anthem My Kink Is Karma, which Roan dedicated "to my ex who is in the crowd tonight".

But it was ballads like Casual, Coffee and Picture You that really showcased the star's voice – all country twang and breathy vocal flips, that puts her on a higher plane than her pop contemporaries.

The constrictions of the festival slot meant sadly there was no room for Roan's trademark banter.

A highlight of her current tour has frequently come during The Giver – where she pauses the song to read out messages from audience members about their hopeless exes. (Last week in Oslo, she got fans to boo a man called Daniel, who had cheated on his partner "twice in the same Burger King parking lot".)

Sadly, there was no repeat at Reading, but the singer's charisma and stage presence were never in doubt.

As the sun set over Little John's Farm, she strode to edge of the catwalk for her breakout single, Good Luck Babe, silhouetted by spotlights and looking every inch like a superstar.

She sealed the deal with Pink Pony Club, blowing kisses and high-kicking her way across the stage, as fireworks rained down on her and fans happily lost their minds.

From the first note to the final bow, it was a perfect pop set.

Roan will do it all over again in Leeds on Saturday night, before two headline shows at Edinburgh's Royal Showground next week.

And then? With her summer festival run over, Roan has a handful of dates in Ireland and the USA before she faces the unenviable task of following up the femininomenal success of her debut.

Speaking to Apple Music's Zane Lowe earlier this month, she said that task could take as long as five years.

"The second project doesn't exist yet," she said. "There is no album. There is no collection of songs."

"I want to write music whenever I feel settled. I haven't felt settled," she continued. "It's been a very unsettling year and a half, and I think once I really feel calm in a new house and have a routine... Then I can think about writing a song."

Let's hope she gets that rest soon – because we need her back as soon as possible.

Chappell Roan's Reading Festival setlist

• Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl
• Femininomenon
• After Midnight
• Naked in Manhattan
• Guilty Pleasure
• Casual
• The Subway
• Hot To Go!
• Barracuda (Heart cover)
• Picture You
• Love Me Anyway
• The Giver
• Red Wine Supernova
• Coffee
• Good Luck, Babe!
• My Kink Is Karma
• Pink Pony Club

Serena Williams, one of the most successful athletes of all time, has spoken out about using weight loss drugs - she says, to lift the "stigma" around using such medication.

Will her outspoken comments instil a new sense of confidence in those using the drugs? And could her honesty quieten the critics?

The 43-year-old tennis star, who broke records and won 23 grand slam titles through her career, was the embodiment of fitness and athletic prowess. But, after having kids, even she, like so many of us, has admitted to struggling to shift those extra pounds.

In the end, Williams told the Today Show in the US, that she had to look at her extra weight as "an opponent". Despite "training five hours a day" and "running, walking, biking, stair climbing," she couldn't pulverise this adversary like she did to her opponents on the tennis court - so in the end, she says, she had no other choice but to "try something different".

Many of her friends were using GLP-1 - the group of medications which help with weight loss, so she decided to try it.

Williams is adamant that the medication route - she won't say which brand she is taking - wasn't easy, and certainly not a shortcut to her losing 31lb (14kg) over the past eight months.

There is scepticism about the timing of the tennis star's recent transparency - she has just become a spokesperson for Ro, a company which sells GLP-1 brands like Wegovy and Zepbound (known as Mounjaro in the UK) through its weight-loss programme, and her husband is also an investor.

Despite this and the potential side effects of taking the medication, her honesty will hit a nerve for many - she says she is speaking out to take away the shame that so many women feel when it comes to using drugs to help them lose weight.

Caleb Luna, assistant professor of feminist studies at the University of California, says having someone like Serena Williams speaking out is "a breakthrough".

They say it helps silence the critics of how "weight loss is achieved" who say that "people are taking the easy way out" by using weight loss drugs.

"It gets rid of the stereotype that these drugs are for fat people who are being lazy and incompetent.

"In that respect it's maybe a good thing."

But Caleb also says the revelation about her need to resort to using GLP-1 medication is slightly "terrifying" and makes them feel "a little bit sad". They worry that all it does is belittle hard work and dedication, instead, focussing on appearance and the pressure to look a certain way.

"She has achieved things that so few people, in our time and throughout history have achieved.

"But now it just shows how all those accomplishments can be undermined by body size.

"Scarily, weight loss seems to outshine all those record-breaking achievements."

'Healthy weight'

Williams' weight and her looks have been scrutinised throughout her life. The burden, the pressure to fit in with society's expectations does not diminish no matter how much sporting success an athlete has in their career.

And while she may be the most high profile sports star who openly uses weight loss medication, there are many others in the public eye who have spoken out.

Oprah Winfrey says she uses GLP-1 as a tool, along with exercise and healthy eating, to stop herself "yo-yoing" with her weight.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg says she lost the weight of "two people" after taking the drug, and singer Kelly Clarkson, who says she was "chased" by her "doctor for two years" before she agreed to take it, are among the dozens of stars who have been open about taking the medication.

Williams left the world of tennis behind back in 2022, when she played the final match of her career in the US Open, but she is still a powerhouse of strength and has wanted to reach what she describes as her "healthy weight" since the birth of her second child, Adina.

In her interview with the Today Show, says she felt like her "body was missing something" and she wasn't able to get down to what she felt comfortable with - despite intense training.

Dr Claire Madigan, a senior research associate in behavioural medicine at the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, says elite athletes can find it hard to lose weight.

"They are used to consuming a lot of calories and when they leave the sport they can find it difficult - it needs a change in behaviour."

Dr Madigan said it was good to see that Williams mentioned her weight loss was not just down to the drug - "she did have to focus on the diet and physical activity".

She added: "It's great she is talking about how difficult it is to lose weight after having a baby."

But she wonders if Williams's message might be lost and even demotivate some women. "The drugs are quite expensive and the average person may think here is an elite athlete, she's got access to the gym, she's got time, she has a nutritionist… and she's had to use GLP-1s".

Dr Madigan also expressed concern that the potential side effects of taking the drugs - which can include gastrointestinal problems like vomiting and diarrhoea, and in rare cases, gallbladder and kidney problems - may not have been widely discussed in the publicity surrounding Williams' announcement.

Williams says she did not experience any side effects, and told Women's Health magazine that she is finally seeing the benefits of all her hard work at the gym.

"My joints are a lot better," she says, "I just had my check-up, and the doctor said everything - including my blood sugar levels - looked great."

And, even though, she's no longer breaking new ground on the tennis courts, she is still smashing her own records, with the help, she says of weight loss drugs. She's currently training for a half marathon.

"I am running farther than I ever have," she says proudly.

Additional reporting by Alex Kleiderman

A woman who was jailed for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers has said she was made to be "Sir Keir Starmer's political prisoner".

Lucy Connolly, from Northampton, was released on Thursday after serving 40% of her 31-month prison sentence.

The 42-year-old wife of a Tory councillor had called for people to "set fire" to hotels housing asylum seekers in the wake of the Southport attack in July 2024.

Number 10 declined to comment, but earlier this year Sir Keir appeared to defend the prison term in the House of Commons, saying he was "against incitement to violence".

In her first newspaper interview since her release, Connolly told the Telegraph she considered herself and "several other people" to "absolutely" be political prisoners of the prime minister.

"I, for some reason, seem to have had the most coverage, but there are people that are in equally awful situations that shouldn't be in there," she said, speaking to journalist Allison Pearson, who had campaigned for Connolly's release.

"I think with Starmer he needs to practise what he preaches.

"He's a human rights lawyer, so maybe he needs to look at what people's human rights are; what freedom of speech means; and what the laws are in this country."

On 29 July last year - the day of the Southport attack - she had posted on X that there should be "mass deportation now" and said "if that makes me racist, so be it".

Connolly's post had been deleted before she was arrested on 6 August, but it had already been viewed 310,000 times.

She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing "threatening or abusive" written material on X.

She is a former childminder whose husband is a Conservative member of Northampton Town Council.

Connolly also told the Telegraph she was "upset and angry beyond belief" after the murders in Southport, and that she knew "how that feels because I've lost a child".

"Of course,[the tweet] wasn't my finest moment and I don't, I definitely don't advocate violence or burning anything down or anything of the sort."

She said she was considering legal action against the police over a statement that was released by the Crown Prosecution Service after her sentencing, which claimed she had told police in an interview that "she did not like illegal immigrants" and "that children were not safe from them".

Her comments had been "massively twisted and used against me", she claimed.

'Volatile situation'

When questioned about the sentence at Prime Minister's Questions in May, Sir Keir said: "I am strongly in favour of free speech; we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely.

"But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe."

At Connolly's sentencing in October, Judge Melbourne Inman KC said: "When you published those words you were well aware how volatile the situation was.

"That volatility led to serious disorder where mindless violence was used."

Connolly will remain on licence until the end of her sentence.

A Northamptonshire Police spokesperson said the force was aware of comments made by Connolly after her release.

"We hope to contact Mrs Connolly in the coming days to understand the issues she has raised around Northamptonshire Police," they said.

Number 10 declined to comment.

Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said on Friday that the federal government will take a 10% stake in Intel.

"This historic agreement strengthens US leadership in semiconductors, which will both grow our economy and help secure America's technological edge," Lutnick wrote on X in a post accompanied by a photo of himself with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.

Shares of the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker soared in after-hours trading, rising more than 5%.

President Donald Trump revealed the deal earlier on Friday during remarks in the Oval Office, calling it a "great deal for them". The BBC has reached out to Intel seeking confirmation of the agreement with the White House.

Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.

In the affluent Seoul neighbourhood of Daechi, Hyun Sung-joo has a dilemma.

His cafe is sometimes visited by Cagongjok, a term for mostly young South Koreans who love to study or work at cafes, but there's a limit.

He says one customer recently set up a workspace in his cafe which included two laptops and a six-port power strip to charge all their devices - for an entire day.

"I ended up blocking off the power outlets," the cafe owner of 15 years tells the BBC.

"With Daechi's high rents, it's difficult to run a cafe if someone occupies a seat all day."

The cultural phenomenon of Cagongjok is rampant in South Korea, especially in areas with large numbers of students and office workers. They dominate cafes often on a much greater scale than other Western countries like the UK, where those studying are often surrounded by others there to socialise.

And Starbucks Korea warned this month that a minority of people are going further than just laptops, such as bringing in desktop monitors, printers, partitioning off desks or leaving tables unattended for long periods.

The chain has now launched nationwide guidelines aimed at curbing "a small number of extreme cases" where elaborate setups or prolonged empty seats disrupt other customers.

Starbucks said staff would not ask customers to leave, but rather provide "guidance" when needed. It also cited previous cases of theft when customers left belongings unattended, calling the new guidelines "a step toward a more comfortable store environment".

It doesn't seem to be deterring the more moderate Cagongjok though, for whom Starbucks has been somewhat of a haven in recent years and continues to be.

On a Thursday evening in Seoul's Gangnam district, a Starbucks branch buzzes quietly with customers studying, heads down over laptops and books.

Among them is an 18-year-old student who dropped out of school and is preparing for the university entrance exam, "Suneung".

"I get here around 11am and stay until 10pm," she tells the BBC. "Sometimes I leave my things and go eat nearby."

We have seen no bulky equipment during our visits to Starbucks since the new guidelines were issued on 7 August, though we did see one man with a laptop stand, keyboard and mouse. Some customers still appear to be leaving their seats unattended for long periods, with laptops and books spread across tables.

When asked whether its new restrictions have led to visible changes, Starbucks Korea told the BBC it was "difficult to confirm".

Reactions to Starbucks' move have been mixed. Most welcome the policy as a long-overdue step toward restoring normalcy in how cafes are used.

This is particularly so among those who visit Starbucks for relaxation or conversation, who say it has become difficult to find seats because of Cagongjok, and that the hushed atmosphere often made them feel self-conscious about talking freely.

A few have criticised it as overreach, saying the chain has abandoned its previously hands-off approach.

It reflects a wider public discussion in South Korea over Cagongjok that has been brewing ever since it started taking off in 2010, coinciding with the growth of franchised coffee chains in the country. That has kept growing, with the country seeing a 48% increase in coffee shops over the past five years, according to the National Tax Service, nearing 100,000.

Some 70% of people in a recent survey of more than 2,000 Gen Z job seekers in South Korea by recruitment platform Jinhaksa Catch said they studied in cafes at least once a week.

'Two people would take up enough space for 10 customers'

Dealing with "seat hogging" and related issues is a tricky balance, and the independent cafes grappling with a similar thing have deployed a range of approaches.

While Hyun has experienced customers bringing multiple electronic devices and setting up workstations, he says extreme cases like this are rare.

"It's maybe two or three people out of a hundred," he said. "Most people are considerate. Some even order another drink if they stay long, and I'm totally fine with that."

Hyun's cafe, which locals also use as a space for conversation or private tutoring, still welcomes Cagongjok as long as they respect the shared space.

Some other cafe franchises even cater to them with power outlets, individual desks and longer stay allowances.

But other cafe owners have taken stricter steps. Kim, a café owner in Jeonju who asked the BBC to remain anonymous, introduced a "No Study Zone" policy after repeated complaints about space being monopolised.

"Two people would come in and take over space for 10. Sometimes they'd leave for meals and come back to study for seven or eight hours," he says. "We eventually put up a sign saying this is a space for conversation, not for studying."

Now his cafe allows a maximum of two hours for those using it to study or work. The rule does not apply to regular customers who are simply having coffee.

"I made the policy to prevent potential conflicts between customers," Kim says.

'Cagongjok' - here to stay?

So what's behind the trend and why do so many in South Korea feel the need to work or study in cafes rather than in libraries, shared workspaces or at home?

For some, the cafe is more than just an ambient space; it's a place to feel grounded.

Yu-jin Mo, 29, tells the BBC about her experience growing up in foster care. "Home wasn't a safe place. I lived with my father in a small container, and sometimes he'd lock the door from the outside and leave me alone inside."

Even now, as an adult, she finds it hard to be alone. "As soon as I wake up, I go to a cafe. I tried libraries and study cafes, but they felt suffocating," she says.

Later Ms Mo even ran her own cafe for a year, hoping to offer a space where people like her could feel comfortable staying and studying.

Professor Choi Ra-young of Ansan University, who has studied lifelong education for over two decades, sees Cagongjok as a cultural phenomenon shaped by South Korea's hyper-competitive society.

"This is a youth culture created by the society we've built," she tells the BBC. "Most Cagongjok are likely job seekers or students. They're under pressure - whether it's from academics, job insecurity or housing conditions with no windows and no space to study.

"In a way, these young people are victims of a system that doesn't provide enough public space for them to work or learn," she adds. "They might be seen as a nuisance, but they're also a product of social structure."

Professor Choi said it was time to create more inclusive spaces. "We need guidelines and environments that allow for cafe studying - without disturbing others - if we want to accommodate this culture realistically."

Last month, award-winning singer Emily Portman got a message from a fan praising her new album and saying "English folk music is in good hands".

That would normally be a compliment, but the Sheffield-based artist was puzzled.

So she followed a link the fan had posted and was taken to what appeared to be her latest release. "But I didn't recognise it because I hadn't released a new album," Portman says.

"I clicked through and discovered an album online everywhere - on Spotify and iTunes and all the online platforms.

"It was called Orca, and it was music that was evidently AI-generated, but it had been cleverly trained, I think, on me."

The 10 tracks had names such as Sprig of Thyme and Silent Hearth - which were "uncannily close" to titles she might choose. It was something that Portman, who won a BBC Folk Award in 2013, found "really creepy".

When she clicked to listen, the voice - supposedly hers - was a bit off but sang in "a folk style probably closest to mine that AI could produce", she says. The instrumentation was also eerily similar.

While AI-generated music is rife online, it's often released under fictitious names, or imitates big stars, but it doesn't normally appear on their official streaming pages.

There's now a growing trend, though, for established (but not superstar) artists to be targeted by fake albums or songs that suddenly appear on their pages on Spotify and other streaming services. Even dead musicians have had AI-generated "new" material added to their catalogues.

Portman doesn't know who put the album up under her name or why. She was falsely credited as performer, writer and copyright holder. The producer listed in the credits was Freddie Howells - but she says that name doesn't mean anything to her, and there's no trace online of a producer or musician of that name.

As for the music itself, while it was enough to convince some fans, the lack of actual human creative input made it sound "vacuous and pristine", she says.

"I'll never be able to sing that perfectly in tune. And that's not the point. I don't want to. I'm human."

A few days later, another album popped up on Portman's streaming pages. This time, less effort had been made to emulate her. It was "20 tracks of instrumental drivel", she says. "Just AI slop."

She filed copyright complaints to get the albums taken down, and says the episode has redoubled her "belief in the importance of real creativity, and how it moves people".

"I hope that the AI music didn't do that for people," she continues. "Although I did get an email from somebody saying, 'Where's Orca? That's been on repeat.' So people have been hoodwinked by it."

Whoever posted the albums online will receive any royalties, but no song on Orca had more than 2,000 plays on Spotify - so the revenue wouldn't have exceeded $6 (£4.40) per track.

According to music industry analysts Luminate, about 99,000 songs are uploaded to streaming services every day, usually via dozens of distribution services, which ask the uploader to submit the artist's details.

If that information is incorrect, and a song wrongly gets listed under an existing artist's name, it's down to them or their label to complain and get it removed.

Portman says some platforms were quick to remove Orca from their platforms, but Spotify took three weeks, and she still hasn't regained control of her Spotify artist profile.

In a statement, Spotify said: "These albums were incorrectly added to the wrong profile of a different artist by the same name, and were removed once flagged."

Portman questions that. Although there is another singer of the same name on Spotify, the albums didn't sound like her and haven't since been added to her profile.

She says the "distressing" experience feels like "the start of something pretty dystopian" - and also highlights a lack of legal safeguards for artists.

She suspects independent artists are being targeted because star names have more protection and more power to get fraudulent releases removed swiftly.

'Signature of our soul'

Like Portman, New York-based musician, producer and songwriter Josh Kaufman, who played on Taylor Swift's Folklore album, was alerted to fake new material by his listeners.

"I just started getting messages from fans and friends about some new music I just released, and how much of a shift it was [stylistically]," he says.

"I think most people were hip to the fact that it was somebody else just using my artist profile as a way to release some strange music that clearly was computer generated."

In Kaufman's case, his identity had been used to release a track called Someone Who's Love Me, which sounded like "a Casio keyboard demo with broken English lyrics".

"It was embarrassing and then just kind of confusing," he adds. "This [music] is the thing that we do, right? This is the signature of our soul, and that someone else can walk in there and just have access like that..."

He's one of a number of Americana and folk-rock artists who have had fake tracks posted using their names in recent weeks - apparently all from the same source.

Others include Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, J Tillman (now known as Father John Misty), Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine), Teddy Thompson and Jakob Dylan.

All the releases used the same style of AI artwork and were credited to three record labels, two with apparently Indonesian names. Many listed the same name as a songwriter - Zyan Maliq Mahardika.

That name has also been credited on other songs mimicking real US Christian musicians and metalcore bands.

Spotify said it had flagged the issue with the distributor and removed these tracks as they "violated our policy against impersonating another person or brand."

It added it would "remove any distributor who repeatedly allows this type of content on our platform".

Kaufman made a playlist of all the tracks he could find and gave it a derogatory name. "It's more fun to laugh about it than to feel bad about it," he says. "But it is disconcerting that this can happen."

And it was strange to him, as a musician and producer who generally goes "under the radar", to be targeted. "Why not go for someone big?" he asks. "If you're trying to accumulate royalties of some kind."

Where any royalties may have gone, he has no idea. "I don't even know what the enemy is, to be honest," he says. "Is it a computer? Is it a person sitting somewhere developing this music to just mess with someone?"

One thing is for sure - he wants companies such as Spotify to be more proactive about preventing fraudulent music appearing on their platforms.

Tatiana Cirisano from media and technology analysis company Midia Research says AI is "making it easier for fraudsters" to fool listeners, who are also more "passive" in the algorithmic age.

She thinks bad actors posing as real-life artists are hoping their fraudulent tracks will "rack up enough streams" – hundreds of thousands - to earn them a nice payday.

"I would think that the AI fakes are targeting lesser-known artists in the hopes that their schemes fly under the radar, compared to if they were to target a superstar who could immediately get Spotify on the line," she notes.

But streaming services and distributors are "working hard" and getting better at spotting it, she stresses, "ironically, also by using AI and machine learning!

"I think it's clear to everyone that every stakeholder must do their part," she says. "But it's complicated."

Three chords and the mistruth

When a new song appeared last month on US country singer Blaze Foley's verified artist page, it came as a big surprise to Craig McDonald, owner of Foley's record label - not least because Foley died in 1989.

The "AI schlock", as McDonald puts it, was evidently not in Foley's "Texas singer-songwriter from the heart" style.

"Blaze had a songwriting talent but along with that talent, a total authenticity," he says. "As they say, three chords and the truth. And this clearly wasn't it."

McDonald, who runs Lost Art Records, is concerned AI dupes could damage the credibility of artists like Foley, especially for people who don't know their sound.

What would Foley have made of all this? "Blaze might have liked it because the photo that accompanied it really slimmed him down, it took off about 30lb and also gave him a modern haircut," McDonald laughs.

"But he would also say, 'I want that 10% of a penny that Spotify is collecting. Send that my way'."

Considering how the streaming era has already made a big dent in many artists' incomes, Emily Portman says this affair has felt like a "very low blow".

As well as attempting to tackle her faceless AI impostor, she is now recording her first (real) solo album for 10 years - which, unlike AI, takes time, money and deep personal creativity. She says it will cost at least £10,000 to make, to pay the people who play on, produce, release and promote it.

But the result, she enthuses, will be something genuine and human.

"I'm really looking forward to bringing some real music into the world!"

FBI agents searched the home and office of Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser John Bolton on Friday, as part of an apparent investigation into the handling of classified information.

The high-profile Republican aide has been a vocal critic of Trump since quitting his first administration in 2019, and was previously accused by the White House of misusing classified information in his 2020 account of working with the president.

The FBI has not commented in detail but sources familiar with the search told CBS News it was related in part to classified documents.

Bolton - who is yet to comment on the investigation - has not been detained and no criminal charges have been filed.

Asked by reporters what the investigation was about, Trump said he did not "want to get involved" in the matter, but referred to Bolton as a "sleazebag". The president said he had not directly ordered the searches.

In an interview with NBC News, Vice President JD Vance said classified documents are "certainly part of [the investigation]" and also alluded to "broad concern" about Bolton, without offering further detail.

He said the FBI would only bring a case against Bolton if "they determine that he has broken the law" and said the investigation was not politically motivated, as Democratic politicians have claimed.

Police vehicles and FBI personnel were seen at Bolton's home in the Washington DC suburb of Bethesda, Maryland on Friday morning, some of whom were seen taking boxes inside the property.

In a statement sent to CBS, the FBI said it was conducting "authorised activity in the area".

FBI agents were also seen at Bolton's office in Washington DC.

Bolton returned to his Maryland home on Friday afternoon but did not speak to reporters outside.

In 2020, Bolton authored The Room Where it Happened, a memoir recounting his time working in the first Trump administration between 2018 and 2019, which was fiercely critical of the president.

In it, he wrote that "a mountain of facts demonstrates that Trump is unfit to be president".

The justice department accused Bolton of a "flagrant breach" of an agreement to not disclose classified matters, but the lawsuit was dropped in June 2021, by which time Joe Biden was president.

Around the time the searches began, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X "no one is above the law". The post did not refer to Bolton specifically.

Attorney General Pam Bondi shared the post and added: "America's safety isn't negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always."

Bolton - who served as George W Bush's UN ambassador - had his Secret Service protection stripped by the Trump administration in January, along with several other former officials who have clashed with the president.

Bolton has also publicly questioned the administration's handling of the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Trump has been highly critical of Bolton in public, accusing him of pushing for US military intervention overseas during his time as national security adviser.

Other Trump adversaries - including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff - have also been subjected to investigations since he returned to office.

Gaza City and its surrounding area is now experiencing famine, a UN-backed body of food security experts has confirmed.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which is used by governments and international bodies to identify hunger levels around the world, has raised its classification to Phase 5 - the highest and most severe.

It says that over half a million people across the Gaza Strip are facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".

Israel said the IPC report was based on "Hamas lies". It continues to restrict the amount of aid entering Gaza and has previously denied there is starvation in the territory.

This denial is in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, and multiple UN bodies have said.

The IPC report describes the famine as "entirely man-made" and says that an "immediate, at-scale response" is needed or there will be an "unacceptable escalation" in famine-related deaths.

It predicts that between mid-August and the end of September, famine will expand across the strip to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

During this period, almost a third of the population - nearly 641,000 people - are expected to face "catastrophic conditions" in IPC Phase 5, while the number of people to face "emergency" conditions in IPC Phase 4 will likely increase to 1.14 million - or 58% of the population.

The report also projects that up to June 2026, malnutrition will "threaten" the lives of 132,000 children aged under five.

Since the start of the war, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has reported that 271 people have died of "famine and malnutrition" - including 112 children.

The IPC cannot officially declare famine - that is usually done by governments or the United Nations.

In response to the report, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory "because of systematic obstruction by Israel".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: 'famine'."

He described it as "not a mystery," but rather "a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself".

He added that Israel has "unequivocal obligations under international law - including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population".

Phillipe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), said: "This is starvation by design & man-made by the Government of Israel".

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk described the famine as "the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government", which has "unlawfully restricted" the entry of aid.

In recent months, Israel has come under widespread international condemnation for the aid situation in the Gaza Strip.

Last month, after weeks of mounting pressure, the Israeli military said it had airdropped humanitarian aid into Gaza - a move that was criticised at the time by aid agencies as a "grotesque distraction".

Other aid drops have since taken place - but warnings have been issued about their safety, with reports that civilians were hit and killed by the falling pallets.

Earlier this week, BBC Verify found 10 separate occasions where aid was dropped into an area that the Israeli military has explicitly warned people not to enter.

In addition to airdrops, Israel said it would designate humanitarian corridors for UN convoys. However, on Tuesday the UN warned that the "trickle of aid" entering Gaza was insufficient to "avert widespread starvation".

Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of aid, says roughly 300 aid trucks are entering daily, but the UN says 600 trucks of supplies a day are needed.

The IPC report comes as Israel prepares to launch a new military offensive aimed at occupying Gaza City.

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

At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; and the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed.

Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelensky has accused Russia of "doing everything it can" to prevent a meeting with Vladimir Putin to try to end the war.

US President Donald Trump has sought to bring the two leaders together, but he said on Friday "that's like oil and vinegar... they don't get along too well".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Putin was ready to meet Ukraine's leader "when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all", accusing Zelensky of saying "no to everything".

After an intensive week of diplomacy, in which Trump first met Putin in Alaska and then Zelensky with European leaders in Washington, the US president said the war was turning out to be the most difficult he had tried to stop.

Trump said after a call with the Russian leader on Monday that he had begun arrangements for a Putin-Zelensky summit that he would join afterwards.

Ukraine's president has backed the move, but he has sought security guarantees from Western allies to prevent any future Russian attack in the event of a peace deal: "Ukraine, unlike Russia, is not afraid of any meetings between leaders."

On a visit to Kyiv, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said Trump was aiming to "break the deadlock" and the alliance was working on robust security guarantees with the US and Europe to ensure Putin "will never ever try to attack Ukraine again".

• Proposed Ukraine land concessions are Putin trap, warns EU top diplomat
• If a Putin-Zelensky summit takes place, where could it be?

Speaking alongside Rutte, Zelensky said he wanted Ukraine's security guarantees to reflect Nato's Article 5, which considers an attack on one member of the alliance an attack against all Nato members.

"This is the beginning of a big undertaking, and it is not easy, because guarantees consist of what our partners can give Ukraine, as well as what the Ukrainian army should be like, and where we can find opportunities for the army to maintain its strength," Zelensky said.

Rutte said the alliance was working with Ukraine to define the guarantees, explaining that they would focus on making Ukraine's military as strong as possible and involve Western security commitments. It was "too early to exactly say what will be the outcome", he added.

Russia's foreign minister appeared to dent hopes of any potential summit, telling NBC News that "there is no meeting planned".

Sergei Lavrov said Russia had agreed to show flexibility on a number of issues raised by Trump at the US-Russia summit in Alaska last week.

He went on to accuse Ukraine of not showing the same flexibility in subsequent talks in Washington, blaming Ukraine for hindering progress toward a peace deal.

Lavrov said it was "very clear to everybody that there are several principles which Washington believes must be accepted".

He said this included no Nato membership for Ukraine and discussions of territorial issues: "Zelensky said no to everything," Lavrov said.

He was speaking after EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the BBC that Putin was seeking territorial concessions from Ukraine that were a "trap that Putin wants us to walk into".

"We are forgetting that Russia has not made one single concession and they are the ones who are the aggressor here," Kallas said.

Despite latest efforts to broker a peace deal, Russia launched one of its heaviest attacks on Ukraine in weeks on Thursday, launching 574 drone and 40 missiles in one night.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone blew up an oil pumping station in the Russian region of Bryansk, halting oil deliveries along the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia - the third attack on the pipeline in nine days.

Hungary and Slovakia are largely dependent on the Druzbha pipeline for their oil supplies, and Budapest says it could take at least five days before operations resume. The two EU member states have complained to the European Commission.

The European Union sought to cut Russia's energy supplies after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and aims to phase out Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote to President Trump to complain about the attack on the pipeline, and his officials posted Trump's handwritten response.

"Viktor - I do not like hearing this - I am very angry about it. Tell Slovakia."

"You are my great friend," he added.

Postal services around the world are pausing deliveries to the US over confusion around new import taxes that must be paid on parcels from the end of the month.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month ending the global import tax exemption on low-value parcels, which takes effect from 29 August.

While gifts worth less than $100 will remain duty-free, the changes mean all other packages will face the same tariff rate as other goods from their country of origin.

Postal services, including Royal Mail and Germany's DHL, said they would suspend deliveries until they had proper systems in place to deal with the new rules.

Royal Mail said it was withdrawing its current US export services, but added it hoped to have a new system up and running within two days to allow it to comply with the new rules before the new rules kick in.

"Royal Mail is working closely with the US authorities and international partners to manage the impact of these changes which will affect everyone who sends goods to the USA," the company said.

The US had a so-called de minimis exemption on packages worth up to $800, which allowed consumers to buy cheap clothing and household goods from sites such as Shein and Temu without paying import duties.

But the duty-free rule ended on Chinese goods ended on 2 May, and is now being extended to the rest of the word.

The White House said ending the duty-free exemption would combat "escalating deceptive shipping practices, illegal material, and duty circumvention", claiming some shippers had "abused" the exemption to send illicit drugs into the US.

The Trump administration said de minimis shipments had skyrocketed from 115 million in the 2023/24 financial year, to 309 million by 30 June this year.

Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany said it was temporarily suspending parcel delivery for business customers to the US from Saturday, as "key questions remain unresolved" about how duties would be paid, and by whom.

DHL sad it was "closely monitoring the further developments" and remained in contact with US authorities, and said shipping via its DHL Express services "remains possible".

"The company's goal is to resume postal goods shipping to the US as quickly as possible," it said.

Earlier this week PostNord announced it was also suspending services as the US authorities only provided details about the required changes on 15 August.

"This decision is unfortunate but necessary to ensure full compliance of the newly implemented rules," said Bjorn Bergman, PostNord's head of group brand and communication.

In Trump's "big beautiful bill", passed by Congress on 3 July, the change to de minimis was due to come into effect on 1 July 2027, but a recent executive order sped up the process by two years.

The new rule does not affect personal items Americans carry with them from foreign travel valued at $200 or less and it does not affect gifts valued at $100 or less.

Girls are more likely to pass their GCSEs than boys.

This year, like every year, that remained the case - with 70.5% of girls' grades across England, Wales and Northern Ireland at 4/C or above, compared to 64.3% of boys'.

But this year the girls' pass rate dropped, while boys' rose very slightly.

The result? The gap between the two was its narrowest on record.

Meanwhile, boys have taken the lead in getting top marks at A-level.

It's prompted warnings that there's something odd happening with girls, which needs to be addressed before their grades slip further and it's "too late".

There has been a lot of focus on boys' attainment recently. The Netflix series Adolescence sparked renewed interest in their academic struggles and fears they are "being left behind".

MPs have honed it on it, and the Department for Education (DfE) in England says it wants to ensure that "white working-class pupils - especially boys - are supported to thrive".

Natalie Perera, chief executive of the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank, said: "It doesn't need to be an either or with girls and boys, we should be looking at what's driving low attainment for both."

But she added: "But we do need to start looking at what's driving the decline in girls attainment before it gets too late."

EPI analysis suggests girls' performance has been "declining in absolute terms" since the Covid pandemic, and is linked to "worrying trends around girls' wellbeing" such as worsening mental health, a lack of sleep and social media use.

EPI points to NHS data from 2023, which suggests a higher percentage of girls and women aged between 17 and 19 in England had a "probable" mental health disorder, compared to boys and men.

"You can draw a reasonable hypothesis, which suggests that if girls aren't getting enough sleep, if they're experiencing that their anxiety or even things like eating disorders, that is likely to affect their attendance, how well they're able to concentrate in school and how well they're able to concentrate and perform on exam day," said Ms Perera.

"If their attainment continues to decline and that follows through to A-levels and participation in university, then that could have an effect on both labour market participation and pay disparity as well, or pay equality."

The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent from school in England (missing 10% or more) has grown for both boys and girls since the pandemic - but there's been a greater rise among girls.

Girls are now more likely to be persistently absent. According to DfE figures 21.9% of girls were persistently absent from secondary schools last year, compared to 20.3% of boys.

An international study in March suggested that girls lagged further behind boys in maths and science than they had in 2020.

Dr Jennie Golding, UCL professor and co-author of the report, said the improvement in boys' GCSE results this year could be seen as a "good news story", particularly as these students were "significantly impacted by Covid, and had a rubbish experience of transfer to secondary school".

But she said challenges that many students face, such as social media use, disproportionately affected girls.

"We know that all sorts of aspects of emotional wellbeing impact academic performance - they are all interrelated," she said.

She called for greater emphasis on "belonging and emotional security" to help girls in schools.

"Start measuring those in your Ofsted inspections, and you very quickly turn around priorities in schools," she said.

Girlguiding, which works with more than 300,000 girls between the ages of four and 18, is especially worried about the impact of misogyny on girls.

"Mounting societal pressures and misogyny are having a devastating impact on girls, their mental wellbeing and confidence," said acting chief executive Amanda Azeez.

"Girls as young as seven say they feel lonely with no one to talk to which is also adversely impacting their confidence. Girlguiding is urging schools to listen to girls about their experiences of misogyny and how it impacts their learning and wellbeing."

Girls are also more likely to get top grades (7/A and above) at GCSE than boys. That gap reached its widest in 2021, the second year that exams were cancelled and grades were based on teachers' assessments. It has shrunk since.

In 2021, England's exams regulator Ofqual looked into whether there was evidence of "systematic divergence between teacher-based results and test-based results". It found gender bias was "mixed" but there was "a slightly bias in favour of girls".

Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College leaders and former head teachers, said more research was needed into why girls were falling behind.

He hoped the curriculum review, due this autumn, would "look at how best we can move assessment methods forward so that every student has the ability and the opportunity to be assessed in a way that enables them to best show all their greatest attributes".

The UK government has agreed to pay compensation to thousands of Kenyans who were affected by a fire caused by a British military training exercise four years ago.

The out-of-court settlement follows a lengthy legal battle in which 7,723 claimants said they had lost property and suffered health complications because of the 2021 fire in the Lolldaiga conservancy in Kenya's Rift Valley.

A spokesperson from the British High Commission in Nairobi said the fire was "extremely regrettable" and that the UK had devoted "considerable time, effort and resource" to resolve claims.

The British government has not confirmed how much was paid out, but the lawyer in the case told the BBC it was £2.9 million.

Kevin Kubai called it the "best possible outcome" despite complaints from his clients that the sums they received were much too small to compensate their losses.

He said the alternative "would have been to continue litigation for another period of nearly seven years to be able to prove these cases on a case-by-case analysis", which would be difficult because much of the evidence had been lost after four years.

Mr Kubai acknowledged that his clients did not have medical records backing up their claims of health damage due to smoke inhalation from the Lolldaiga fire, and that they were also exposed to smoke because they used firewood for cooking.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in 2022 that the fire was likely caused by a camp stove knocked over during the training exercise in the conservancy. It found that around 7,000 acres of private land were damaged, but no community land was directly affected.

The legal action argued there had been environmental damage in surrounding communities because of the smoke, and the destruction of property because of stampeding wild animals.

The British government has helped the conservancy with restoration of the burnt area and the military exercises still take place there.

The Lolldaiga conservancy - about 49,000 acres of hilly bushland with a backdrop of the ice-capped Mount Kenya - is part of the Laikipia plateau, where hundreds of thousands of acres were seized by the British during the colonial era, leading to land disputes which continue to this day.

It is just 70km (45 miles) from the Lewa conservancy, where the Prince of Wales proposed to Kate Middleton in November 2010.

A few kilometres to the south are the newly-refurbished Nyati Barracks, a £70 million facility which is part of the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk).

It hosts thousands of British troops every year for massive exercises in locations such as Lolldaiga, which offers ideal conditions for harsh environment training.

BATUK contributes tens of millions of pounds to the Kenyan economy annually.

But over the years controversy surrounding the behaviour of some of the soldiers has attracted media attention, including allegations of fatal hit-and-runs, murder and sexual exploitation of Kenyan women.

Pathrycia Mendonça never has to worry about jet lag.

The 26-year-old has just jetted into London, where she's about to play 10 nights at Wembley Stadium with Coldplay as part of Venezuela's Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.

The flight took 12 hours and meant leaving her beloved 10-month-old daughter at home with her mother – but the violinist is bursting with energy as she arrives for rehearsals at the iconic Air Studios in north London.

That's probably because, as a 12-year-old student in Venezuela, she endured long, overnight bus journeys just to attend her lessons in Caracas.

"I am from Barquisimeto, which is a small town, and it is eight hours on the bus, because it's so slow," she explains.

"So when I started my classes, I would leave Barquisimeto at midnight to arrive in Caracas at dawn.

"I'd go to my classes then, at midday, I'd go back to my city with my mum. She was always with me, because I was a child. And I'd do it every week.

"For me, that was the key to being part of the orchestra here, now."

In other words, sleep deprivation means nothing to her.

Speaking to Mendonça, you'd be forgiven for feeling inadequate. As well as her position in the world-famous orchestra, she is also a violin teacher, a mother and a chef, and recently completed a Master's degree in music.

But she wouldn't be anywhere else in the world for the next three weeks.

"I don't know if I can say this, but I'm a crazy fan of Coldplay, so when they said, 'Do you want to come and play?' I was like, 'No way!'" she laughs, sheepishly.

"When I listen to the band in my house, I always dreamt about playing Viva La Vida. It's so iconic, and it has strings all the way through. So this is a dream that came true. Totally a dream."

Like her fellow players in the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Mendonça is a beneficiary of Venezuela's El Sistema programme, which offers free music education throughout the country.

It was established in 1975 by visionary musician José Antonio Abreu, who saw it as an antidote to the crime and poverty that gripped the nation.

Those problems persist despite the country's vast oil wealth – but El Sistema ("the system") has earned Venezuela's musicians a place on the world stage.

To the players, it's about more than learning an instrument.

"El Sistema teaches you about the discipline of the community," says Humberto Jiminez, a violinist who also made weekly six-hour journeys to Caracas for his studies.

"You have to learn when to be part of the team, and when to be a leader – and how to integrate all those differences into one intention."

"It gave me everything," adds Mendonça. "My whole life, I think. It gives me motivation."

El Sistema's most famous graduate is Gustavo Dudamel, a seven-time Grammy winner who has been called "the happiest conductor in America" and "the closest thing to a rock star" in the world of classical music.

The 44-year-old is currently musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and artistic director of the Simón Bolívar Orchestra. Next year, he will become the first Latin American to lead the New York Philharmonic, the oldest symphony orchestra in the US.

But for the next three weeks, he's in London too – summoned by Chris Martin to open every night of Coldplay's record-breaking residency at Wembley Stadium.

"Chris is very into social action through music," says Dudamel. "When he plays music, his will is to help, to heal and to transform - and that connects with our values.

"I think he wanted to give something to the orchestra. A gift, a very generous gift, of having all of us together, celebrating the power of music."

Martin first met Dudamel in 2007, after the Simón Bolívar Orchestra made their BBC Proms debut playing Mambo from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story.

Their appearance was a sensation – combining sheer technical skill with a thrilling joie de vivre, as they span their double basses, twirled their trumpets and clattered their cowbells, all while clad in Venezuelan-flag jackets.

Not long afterwards, Martin invited the conductor to be part of Coldplay's 2016 Super Bowl half-time show, and their friendship was sealed. (Martin's mum, also a fan, frequently attends the conductor's rehearsals).

Breaking borders

Their partnership fits perfectly with Dudamel's urge to push the boundaries of classical music.

Earlier this year, he took the LA Philharmonic to the Coachella Music Festival, playing Wagner and Beethoven in a 50-minute set that also included guest stars such as Dave Grohl, Cynthia Erivo and LL Cool J.

"You think, 'Maybe this is something crazy', but it was the most natural thing," he says, recalling the way the audience chanted the opening "da-da-da-dum" of Beethoven's 5th like it was the riff from Seven Nation Army.

"We live in a world of walls and borders - and that happens with music, too," says Dudamel. "But it's been one of my goals to break that down.

"I think young people are hungry for culture and for us, in the orchestra, [Coachella] was a historical moment of embracing another audience and that audience connecting with what we do."

He's hopeful the Wembley shows – where the orchestra will again play Beethoven's 5th, alongside John Williams' Star Wars theme and Vivaldi's Spring – will have the same effect.

"I want the audience to walk away embraced by love," he says.

"It's not naïve to say we're living in a crisis of empathy. Music is not about that. Music is about making harmony together. It's the best example of how to behave as a community."

The conductor's optimism is infectious. As he leads the orchestra in rehearsals at London's Air Studios, they whoop and cheer, enjoying themselves in a way that orchestras rarely do.

It's proof of El Sistema's importance, as it turns 50 – an anniversary that's being marked with a mini-residency at London's Barbican, and a new album, called Odyssey, that mixes Latin American traditions with orchestral music.

But the organisation has come in for criticism. Some have accused it of being a political organisation, pointing out that it sits under the office of president Nicolás Maduro – who has repeatedly been accused of repressing opposition groups and silencing dissent, including with the use of violence.

Dudamel has criticised Maduro, calling for an end to "bloodshed" after an 18-year-old musician was killed at a protest in Caracas. But some have called for him to go further, saying his continued involvement with El Sistema makes him the president's "puppet and henchman".

But the conductor says his priority will always be the children whose lives are transformed by the programme.

"In the super-politicised world that we live in right now, you have to say, you have to do, you have be against.

"It's difficult because everybody is screaming – but we need more of these programmes that motivate you to find the best of people.

"For me, the most important thing is that this new generation has the opportunities that I had."

More than three million children have passed through El Sistema over the last five decades, with the programme replicated in dozens of countries around the world.

Over the next three weeks, almost one million people will see the results on stage at Wembley.

"It's the biggest number of people that I ever played. It's a lot," marvels Mendonça.

"It's a way to represent my country and, in my particular case, it's a way to give hope to all the children I've had the opportunity to teach.

"Sometimes, when you're growing up, you don't know why you are doing the things you do... But when you see someone close to you doing something like this, you say, 'If she can, why can't I?'"

Erik Menendez's lengthy parole hearing in California on Thursday contained several insights into his time behind bars - some of which factored into the board's decision to refuse his request for release.

Along with his brother Lyle, Erik has spent decades behind bars for the shotgun killings of his wealthy parents in 1989, which was also discussed at the hearing. The brothers claimed self-defence, and have long pushed for their freedom.

Lyle has a hearing of his own on Friday. Here is some of what we learned about the killings and Erik's time in prison, based on Thursday's hearing, which he attended virtually.

Prison behaviour, not killings, prompted refusal

The parole commissioner, Robert Barton, said the main reason for his denial was not the killings themselves, but Menendez's behaviour in prison.

Barton rejected any notion that Menendez had been a "model prisoner", though he said he was "gaining insight". There was discussion of Menendez's involvement in fights, drug use and even a tax-fraud scam while linked to a gang.

Menendez earned Barton's censure over his possession of prohibited materials - in particular his repeated illicit use of a mobile phone.

"What I got in terms of the phone and my connection with the outside world was far greater than the consequences of me getting caught with the phone," Menendez explained. But he said he had later rethought this view.

• Full story: Erik Menendez denied parole
• The brothers' three paths to freedom
• Brothers' family members call for their release

Menendez saw father and mother 'as one person'

Menendez, who was 18 at the time of the crime, was asked why he and brother shot dead their parents rather than simply leave home.

He and his brother have long claimed the killings were a matter of self-defence, as their father was sexually abusing them.

"When I look back at the person I was then and what I believed about the world and my parents, running away was inconceivable," Menendez responded. "Running away meant death."

Asked why they killed their mother as well as their father, Menendez said he "saw them as one person" after he learned that his mother was aware of the abuse.

Contraband art materials also caused trouble

As well as the mobile phone, the other contraband goods that Menendez was revealed to have stashed included candles, ingredients for making wine, and art materials.

The art supplies had been used to decorate his cell, the LA Times reported.

Commenting on the smuggled goods, Barton said Menendez's "institutional misconduct showed a lack of self-awareness".

More than a dozen relatives back brothers' release

Acknowledging the impact of his crimes on his relatives, Menendez told the hearing: "I just want my family to understand that I am so unimaginably sorry for what I have put them through."

The number of relatives who want to see the brothers released is now known to be more than a dozen. The group gave statements to that effect.

One of them, the brothers' aunt Teresita Menendez-Baralt, tearfully said she forgave the pair for killing her brother. Explaining that she had late-stage cancer, she spoke of her wish to welcome Erik into her home to "wrap my arms around" him before it was too late.

Barton acknowledged the support, but told Menendez: "Two things can be true. They can love and forgive you, and you can still be found unsuitable for parole."

Postal services around the world are pausing deliveries to the US over confusion around new import taxes that must be paid on parcels from the end of the month.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month ending the global import tax exemption on low-value parcels, which takes effect from 29 August.

While gifts worth less than $100 will remain duty-free, the changes mean all other packages will face the same tariff rate as other goods from their country of origin.

Postal services, including Royal Mail and Germany's DHL, said they would suspend deliveries until they had proper systems in place to deal with the new rules.

Royal Mail said it was withdrawing its current US export services, but added it hoped to have a new system up and running within two days to allow it to comply with the new rules before the new rules kick in.

"Royal Mail is working closely with the US authorities and international partners to manage the impact of these changes which will affect everyone who sends goods to the USA," the company said.

The US had a so-called de minimis exemption on packages worth up to $800, which allowed consumers to buy cheap clothing and household goods from sites such as Shein and Temu without paying import duties.

But the duty-free rule ended on Chinese goods ended on 2 May, and is now being extended to the rest of the word.

The White House said ending the duty-free exemption would combat "escalating deceptive shipping practices, illegal material, and duty circumvention", claiming some shippers had "abused" the exemption to send illicit drugs into the US.

The Trump administration said de minimis shipments had skyrocketed from 115 million in the 2023/24 financial year, to 309 million by 30 June this year.

Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany said it was temporarily suspending parcel delivery for business customers to the US from Saturday, as "key questions remain unresolved" about how duties would be paid, and by whom.

DHL sad it was "closely monitoring the further developments" and remained in contact with US authorities, and said shipping via its DHL Express services "remains possible".

"The company's goal is to resume postal goods shipping to the US as quickly as possible," it said.

Earlier this week PostNord announced it was also suspending services as the US authorities only provided details about the required changes on 15 August.

"This decision is unfortunate but necessary to ensure full compliance of the newly implemented rules," said Bjorn Bergman, PostNord's head of group brand and communication.

In Trump's "big beautiful bill", passed by Congress on 3 July, the change to de minimis was due to come into effect on 1 July 2027, but a recent executive order sped up the process by two years.

The new rule does not affect personal items Americans carry with them from foreign travel valued at $200 or less and it does not affect gifts valued at $100 or less.

Residents of the Gaza Strip have described to the BBC the effects that a lack of food is having on their bodies, after a UN-backed report confirmed famine in the territory for the first time.

Reem Tawfiq Khader, 41, a mother of five from Gaza City, said: "The declaration of famine came too late, but it is still important.

"We haven't eaten any protein for five months. My youngest child is four years old -he doesn't know what fruit and vegetables look or taste like."

The UN says Israel has heavily restricted the amount of aid entering Gaza, which Israel denies.

Israel also denies there is starvation in the territory, in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, and multiple UN bodies say.

On Friday, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said there was an "entirely man-made" famine in Gaza City and its surrounding areas.

It warned that more than half a million people across the Gaza Strip were facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".

Rajaa Talbeh, 47, a mother of six, said she had lost 25kg (55lbs) in weight. She fled her home in Gaza City's Zeitoun district a month ago and now lives in a makeshift tent near the beach.

She suffers from gluten intolerance and said she could no longer find food she could eat.

"Before the war, a charity used to help me get gluten-free products, which I could never afford myself," she said.

"Since the war began, I can't find what I need in the market, and even when I do, I can't afford it. Isn't it enough to face daily bombardment, displacement and living in a tent that shields us neither from the heat of summer nor the cold of winter - and now famine on top of it?"

More than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli military began its operation, in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Since the start of the war, at least 271 people, including 112 children, have died of "famine and malnutrition", according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Another woman, Aseel, who lives in Gaza City, said: "Five months ago, I weighed 56kg (123lbs). Today, I weigh only 46kg (101lbs)."

She said she hadn't eaten a single piece of fruit or meat in months and had spent nearly her entire savings on basic ingredients to survive.

Aseel's sister-in-law - who she lives with - has a one-month-old baby.

"She's been desperately searching for baby formula at a reasonable price," Aseel said.

She said that when they can find it, it costs as much as 180 shekels (£39) per can.

"I have no food stockpile, not even enough to last a week or two," she added.

"Like thousands of people, we live day by day."

Additional reporting by Freya Scott-Turner

The government is seeking to appeal the High Court's refusal to allow it to intervene in the case of a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Epping.

Earlier this week, Epping Forest District Council was granted a temporary injunction to stop people being placed at the Bell Hotel.

The court refused a last minute effort from Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to get the council's case dismissed.

If successful in its new appeal to be an interested party, the government is then expected to consider a further appeal against the ruling itself.

Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis said the government was committed to closing all asylum hotels, but added "we need to do that in a managed and ordered way".

"And that's why we'll appeal this decision," he said.

A senior Home Office source said it was a matter of "democracy" and that the judiciary should not be able to tell the government where it can and can't place asylum seekers.

In recent weeks, thousands of people have gathered near the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex to protest after an asylum seeker living there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the town.

Bringing its case, Epping Council argued that the presence of the hotel "poses a clear risk of further escalating community tensions already at a high, and the risk of irreparable harm to the local community".

Before the judgement was handed down, the Home Office asked to intervene in the case, warning that the court's decision could "substantially impact" its ability to house asylum seekers in hotels across the UK.

The court ruled in favour of Epping Council and said the 140 asylum seekers would have to leave the hotel by 16:00 BST on 12 September.

Since the ruling, more than half a dozen councils have said they were considering taking similar legal action.

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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TikTok is planning to lay off hundreds of staff in the UK which moderate the content that appears on the social media platform.

According to TikTok, the plan would see work moved to its other offices in Europe as it invests in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to scale up its moderation.

"We are continuing a reorganisation that we started last year to strengthen our global operating model for Trust and Safety, which includes concentrating our operations in fewer locations globally," a TikTok spokesperson told the BBC.

But a spokesperson for the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the decision was "putting corporate greed over the safety of workers and the public".

"TikTok workers have long been sounding the alarm over the real-world costs of cutting human moderation teams in favour of hastily developed, immature AI alternatives," CWU National Officer for Tech John Chadfield said.

He added the cuts had been announced "just as the company's workers are about to vote on having their union recognised".

But TikTok said it would "maximize effectiveness and speed as we evolve this critical function for the company with the benefit of technological advancements".

Impacted staff work in its Trust and Safety team in London, as well as hundreds more workers in the same department in parts of Asia.

TikTok uses a combination of automated systems and human moderators. According to the firm, 85% of posts which break the rules are removed by its automated systems, including AI.

According to the firm, this investment is helping to reduce how often human reviewers are exposed to distressing footage.

Affected staff will be able to apply to other internal roles and will be given priority if they meet the job's minimum requirements.

'Major investigation'

The move comes at a time when the UK has increased the requirements of companies to check the content which appears on their platforms, and particularly the age of those viewing it.

The Online Safety Act came into force in July, bringing with it potential fines of up to 10% of a business' total global turnover for non-compliance.

TikTok brought in new parental controls that month, which allowed parents to block specific accounts from interacting with their child, as well as giving them more information about the privacy settings their older teenagers are using.

But it has also faced criticism in the UK for not doing enough, with the UK data watchdog launching what it called a "major investigation" into the firm in March.

TikTok told the BBC at the time its recommender systems operated under "strict and comprehensive measures that protect the privacy and safety of teens".

"We decided pretty much straight away that he was going to be our ring bearer," Brad says. "He had to be involved in some way."

He is talking about Newton, Ellie and Brad's pet dog. When the couple recently got married, having the sheepadoodle at the ceremony was never debated.

In fact, he had several roles on their special day - meeting and greeting all of the guests and being present in all of the family portraits.

"He brought so much joy being there. It felt so nice to go over to him and give him a cuddle," Brad told the BBC's Morning Live.

"He was just amazing," Ellie added.

They aren't the only couple who have chosen to include their pooch in their big day, with dogs increasingly seen as a member of the family.

Nearly nine in 10 people described their dog as their best friend in a recent survey by charity Dog's Trust, while 89% said that their dog provides emotional support.

Emma and Ade Cartlich are the owners of dog chaperone service Precious Pets Weddings. Situated in the East Midlands, the couple say they have now expanded their services to Wales and London due to demand.

Emma says they first do a consultation call with couples to find out all about their dog, before an in-person meeting to understand the dog's temperament.

"You have to find out all the temperaments, the couple's ideas, how well this would match and then put your plan together."

Then when the big day arrives, the couple get the dog over to the venue, walk him or her, and practise the role assigned to them.

"We then spruce the doggy up with a mini groom, doggy perfume, tuxedo, flower colours. And then normally most dogs will be at the meet and greet as the guests are arriving."

Jane and Darryl Marsh run a similar chaperone service called Paws2Party, in Solihull. They say the demand for bookings means they are now considering franchising the business so they can expand.

They have worked on ceremonies where dogs have been used as "flower girls" and bridesmaids, as well as ring bearers.

"Every wedding is different, we're guided by the dog and their behaviour," says Jane. "The dog usually steals the show, everybody ends up taking pictures of the dog and not the bride and groom."

Bethan and Charlie, who recently married, had their own dog Fergus at the wedding, but also allowed family members to bring their dogs too.

"Having Fergus at the wedding was the only thing we were absolutely certain about from the get-go," Bethan says.

On the day Fergus did a "first look" with Bethan, being the first person, or in this case pet, to see the bride in her dress.

"By the time I arrived at the church, he was waiting for me. It was really nice to pull up and see him there."

Fergus wasn't just a guest, he also had a special role as ring bearer.

"It was lovely being able to have Fergus as part of the day, but having him as part of the actual wedding ceremony was really special."

Bethan says she has seen dogs at weddings featured on social media, with thousands sharing photos.

"I'm absolutely obsessed with Fergus, and so is Charlie, so I don't think anybody would have expected him not to feature on our wedding day.

"Anybody who has a dog knows they are literally like having a child."

For some, like Angharad, having a dog at a wedding is a necessity. Her guide dog Tudor was there to walk her down the aisle.

Angharad was matched with Tudor in 2018 by sight loss charity Guide dogs, and he has been a fundamental part of her life ever since.

"There were four guests with guide dogs at our wedding. Tudor got really excited because his favourite people were in the room."

Angharad says if you want to involve your dog in your wedding, then researching venues thoroughly is essential.

"Finding a venue that was at the scale we wanted it to be at and was wheelchair friendly, accessible for stairs and dogs was actually very difficult."

• Morning Live will be back on air from 1 September.

Tips for a dog-friendly wedding

• Make sure that the wedding venue is dog friendly
• Check your photographer is okay with dogs if you want to feature them in photos
• Consider your dog's temperament. There are different roles a dog can play but it is important to understand how they may behave to prevent any issues
• Selecting the right outfit for a dog is key. Harnesses can work well as they prevent the dog from jumping up at guests
• Do some research on the type of flowers you would like, as some can be poisonous to dogs
• Let your guests know in advance that dogs will be present. Some people may be allergic to or scared of dogs

Tips provided by the chaperone services the BBC spoke to

A British Airways flight attendant was found naked in an onboard toilet while under the influence of drugs, a court has heard.

Haden Pentecost, 41, was working on a flight from California to London when he started to become agitated and was described as "sweating" and "babbling".

A blood test later revealed Pentecost had methamphetamine and amphetamines in his system.

Pentecost, who has been sacked, pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court to performing an aviation function while impaired by drugs.

The court heard Pentecost had to be stood down by his manager when he failed to help with any pre-flight safety checks.

After complaining of cramps and saying he had to change his clothes, he locked himself in one of the toilets - where a colleague later found him naked and oblivious to the fact, the court was told.

He had dilated pupils, a high heart rate, and had to be checked every 20 minutes until the plane arrived at Heathrow. Paramedics then took Pentecost to hospital.

Pentecost, of Basingstoke, was granted bail and will be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court at a later date.

British Airways has been approached by the BBC for comment.

Residents of the Gaza Strip have described to the BBC the effects that a lack of food is having on their bodies, after a UN-backed report confirmed famine in the territory for the first time.

Reem Tawfiq Khader, 41, a mother of five from Gaza City, said: "The declaration of famine came too late, but it is still important.

"We haven't eaten any protein for five months. My youngest child is four years old -he doesn't know what fruit and vegetables look or taste like."

The UN says Israel has heavily restricted the amount of aid entering Gaza, which Israel denies.

Israel also denies there is starvation in the territory, in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, and multiple UN bodies say.

On Friday, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said there was an "entirely man-made" famine in Gaza City and its surrounding areas.

It warned that more than half a million people across the Gaza Strip were facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".

Rajaa Talbeh, 47, a mother of six, said she had lost 25kg (55lbs) in weight. She fled her home in Gaza City's Zeitoun district a month ago and now lives in a makeshift tent near the beach.

She suffers from gluten intolerance and said she could no longer find food she could eat.

"Before the war, a charity used to help me get gluten-free products, which I could never afford myself," she said.

"Since the war began, I can't find what I need in the market, and even when I do, I can't afford it. Isn't it enough to face daily bombardment, displacement and living in a tent that shields us neither from the heat of summer nor the cold of winter - and now famine on top of it?"

More than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli military began its operation, in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Since the start of the war, at least 271 people, including 112 children, have died of "famine and malnutrition", according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Another woman, Aseel, who lives in Gaza City, said: "Five months ago, I weighed 56kg (123lbs). Today, I weigh only 46kg (101lbs)."

She said she hadn't eaten a single piece of fruit or meat in months and had spent nearly her entire savings on basic ingredients to survive.

Aseel's sister-in-law - who she lives with - has a one-month-old baby.

"She's been desperately searching for baby formula at a reasonable price," Aseel said.

She said that when they can find it, it costs as much as 180 shekels (£39) per can.

"I have no food stockpile, not even enough to last a week or two," she added.

"Like thousands of people, we live day by day."

Additional reporting by Freya Scott-Turner

The government is seeking to appeal the High Court's refusal to allow it to intervene in the case of a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Epping.

Earlier this week, Epping Forest District Council was granted a temporary injunction to stop people being placed at the Bell Hotel.

The court refused a last minute effort from Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to get the council's case dismissed.

If successful in its new appeal to be an interested party, the government is then expected to consider a further appeal against the ruling itself.

Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis said the government was committed to closing all asylum hotels, but added "we need to do that in a managed and ordered way".

"And that's why we'll appeal this decision," he said.

A senior Home Office source said it was a matter of "democracy" and that the judiciary should not be able to tell the government where it can and can't place asylum seekers.

In recent weeks, thousands of people have gathered near the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex to protest after an asylum seeker living there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the town.

Bringing its case, Epping Council argued that the presence of the hotel "poses a clear risk of further escalating community tensions already at a high, and the risk of irreparable harm to the local community".

Before the judgement was handed down, the Home Office asked to intervene in the case, warning that the court's decision could "substantially impact" its ability to house asylum seekers in hotels across the UK.

The court ruled in favour of Epping Council and said the 140 asylum seekers would have to leave the hotel by 16:00 BST on 12 September.

Since the ruling, more than half a dozen councils have said they were considering taking similar legal action.

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.

One hundred people have been arrested and dozens of weapons seized ahead of this weekend's Notting Hill Carnival, the Metropolitan Police has said.

The arrests, which led to 21 people being recalled to prison, are "intended to disrupt and deter those who the police have reason to believe pose the greatest risk to public safety at carnival", Scotland Yard said.

As part of the operation, officers seized 11 firearms and more than 40 knives with 266 people being given police bail or probation licence conditions not to come to carnival this year.

Cmdr Charmain Brenyah said the arrests would act as "a significant deterrent" for those wanting to "engage in violence and other criminality".

Millions of people are expected at Europe's largest street party which runs from Saturday to Monday.

Cmdr Brenyah said: "The vast majority come to have fun and enjoy themselves, to celebrate Caribbean culture, to dance, to eat and to go home with nothing but good memories.

"Regrettably we know a minority come with less positive intentions and in recent years this has played out in the form of serious violence including three tragic incidents where lives have been taken."

She added: "Our policing plan makes tackling serious violence a priority which is why we've carried out intelligence-led interventions against those groups and individuals who we have reason to believe pose the greatest risk to the safety of other carnival-goers."

The Met Police commissioner has defended Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology - which captures people's faces in real-time CCTV cameras - as a tool that helps officers locate people on watch lists, ahead of its use this weekend.

LFR will be used on the approach to and from the carnival as well as outside the boundaries of the event.

Alongside the use of LFR technology, the Met also plans to install screening arches at some of the busiest entry points to the carnival, where stop-and-search powers will be used in a bid to keep weapons out.

Last year, Cher Maximen, 32, was murdered with a zombie knife in front of her three-year-old daughter at the carnival.

Chef Mussie Imnetu was also killed near the carnival.

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A new species of dinosaur that had an "eye-catching sail" along its back has been named after sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur.

The dinosaur, unearthed on the Isle of Wight, has been given the name Istiorachis macaruthurae with the first word meaning "sail spine" and the second referring to Dame Ellen's surname.

The record-breaking round-the-world yachtswoman said it was a "huge honour", adding: "The fact that the Istiorachis 'sail' could be likened to the sails I have spent so much of my life below was very touching."

After being analysed it has now been officially named and described by island-based scientist Jeremy Lockwood, and is now on display at Dinosaur Isle Museum in Sandown.

The medium-sized herbivore once roamed the floodplains of what is now the island's south-west coast.

Its remains, which date back 125 millions years, were originally discovered by fossil hunter Nick Chase, who died of cancer in 2019.

Before Dr Lockwood's analysis the fossils were assumed to have belonged to one of the two known iguanodontian dinosaur species from the Isle of Wight.

He said: "While the skeleton wasn't as complete as some of the others that have been found, no-one had really taken a close look at these bones before.

"It was thought to be just another specimen of one of the existing species, but this one had particularly long neural spines, which was very unusual.

"It may have been used for display, much like a peacock's feathers, possibly to attract mates or intimidate rivals."

For the study, researchers compared the fossilised bones with a database of similar dinosaur back bones which allowed them to see how these sail-like formations had evolved.

Dame Ellen, founder and patron of the East Cowes based charity the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, said: "It is certainly not an everyday occurrence to be asked if a newly discovered dinosaur could reference your name in its title.

"I was somewhat taken aback when this conversation began, but felt hugely privileged to be asked.

"The fact that the Istiorachis 'sail' could be a-likened to the sails I have spent so much of my life below was very touching.

"It is both extraordinary and a huge honour that a creature living 125 million years ago could possibly be linked to my family name."

She became the fastest person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 2005.

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