Two men wrongly convicted in separate trials in the 1970s following allegations made by a corrupt police officer have had their names cleared by the Court of Appeal.

Errol Campbell, who died in 2004, was jailed for 18 months for theft and conspiracy to steal while Ronald De Souza, who was part of the group known as the Stockwell Six, was detained for six months for attempted robbery.

Both were convicted based on evidence given by British Transport Police (BTP) officer Det Sgt Derek Ridgewell, who was responsible for racist miscarriages of justice. So far, all 13 referred cases have been overturned.

Lord Justice Holroyde said it was with "regret" the court could not undo Mr Campbell's suffering.

In April 1977 Mr Campbell was found guilty of theft and conspiracy to steal from the Bricklayers Arms Goods Depot, where he was a British Rail employee. He was sentenced to a total of 18 months' imprisonment.

Ridgewell led the case against Mr Campbell and several others, but along with colleagues DC Douglas Ellis and DC Alan Keeling, later pleaded guilty to stealing from the same goods depot.

In August 2023, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred the convictions of Mr Campbell's co-defendants, Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin, after it tracked down their family members.

Their convictions were both quashed in January 2024.

'Bore the burden'

The CCRC reviewed Mr De Souza's conviction after the convictions of his co-defendants Paul Green, Courtney Harriot, Cleveland Davidson and Texo Johnson were quashed in 2021.

The sixth member of the so-called Stockwell Six, Everet Mullins, was acquitted because it was shown that his reading ability was not good enough for him to have read and fully understood his signed statement, which was written for him by Ridgewell.

In his ruling on Thursday, Lord Justice Holroyde said that Mr De Souza, who did not attend court, "bore the burden of his wrongful conviction throughout his adult life".

"We regret this court cannot put right all that he has suffered over half a century," he said.

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Several people have been injured at the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, with some unconfirmed reports that it was hit by Israeli artillery shells.

Catholic Church leaders referred only to it being "struck by a raid" in a statement, but Italy's prime minister blamed Israeli forces.

The Israeli military said it was aware of the reports of damage and casualties at the church, adding that "the circumstances of the incident are under review".

Many displaced Christian families from the small local community have been living in the Roman Catholic church since the war began after their own homes were destroyed. While he was alive, the late Pope Francis called them on a near-daily basis.

The Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem said the Argentine parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, was among those injured and denied initial reports of fatalities.

It added that the church had been damaged.

A video and photos shared with the BBC showed the roof was hit, close to the cross, and that windows were broken.

The Latin Patriarchate said it would provide additional details when they were confirmed.

A video aired on Arab TV showed Father Gabriel walking unsteadily and checking on a man on a stretcher at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, where those injured are being treated.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed Israel, saying: "The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable."

"No military action can justify such an attitude," she added.

The Vatican has so far not responded to a request for comment.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem condemned the strike, which it called a "flagrant violation of human dignity and a blatant violation of the sanctity of life and the sanctity of religious sites, which are supposed to provide a safe haven in times of war".

It estimated that 600 displaced people were sheltering inside at the time, the majority of whom were children as well as 54 people with special needs.

The Holy Family Church falls within part of Gaza City that the Israeli military has previously told locals to leave.

Israel launched its war in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 others being taken hostage.

Israeli attacks have since killed more than 58,500 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry's figures are quoted by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available on casualties.

Ariana Grande says she has no plans to abandon her music career after announcing she was working on another film project.

After starring alongside Cynthia Erivo in Wicked, the Positions singer confirmed on Wednesday she'd been cast in the film adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book, Oh, The Places You'll Go.

But posting on socials, Ariana reassured fans that more acting roles doesn't mean an end to her music career, insisting there's room for both.

Singing and music "is and has always been my lifeline", she says. "There will need to be room made for all of it."

The US singer released her latest album, Eternal Sunshine, in 2024 but fans haven't had the opportunity to see her perform it live yet.

She hasn't toured since her Sweetener World Tour in 2019, but also teased she may have plans to be back on the road soon.

"I'm working on a plan to sing for you all next year," she posted. "Even if it's just for a little."

Ariana also has a make-up business and says balancing her other projects means her music career "may not look exactly like it did before but I much prefer how it looks in my head".

"I feel grateful and excited and inspired. Finding a balance between many projects and endeavours I love and doing it my own way."

Super fan Michael Rodrigues De Jesus says he "internally screamed really loudly" when he saw the post and the hint of a tour.

But he thinks if Ariana does go on the road, it would be "a mini tour" and "a lot of fans might be upset".

"I've seen different discourses online where people are really upset that she's doing movies," the 23-year-old from Luton says.

Michael also thinks the fandom is split with some disappointed music isn't the star's sole focus.

"I did feel a bit of that same sentiment," he says.

"Like are we ever going to get another tour? Has she found a home in acting that she wants to stay in forever? What's my personality going to be if not an Ariana music lover?"

But overall, Michael says he "doesn't think anyone's missed out".

"As a fan it's exciting to see an artist you like doing a lot of things. You get to experience their talent in a lot more ways."

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is to cut up to 500 management jobs, with experts blaming US trade tariffs for the move.

Last week, the carmaker revealed a drop in sales in the three months to June caused partly by it pausing exports to the US because of tariffs and also due to the planned wind-down of older Jaguar models.

JLR said it would launch a voluntary redundancy scheme, and that the reduction was not expected to exceed 1.5% of its British workforce. The firm described the move as "normal business practice".

The company warned last month that US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 10% tariff on British cars exported to the US would hit its profits.

Car industry expert Professor David Bailey of the Birmingham Business School said the tariffs "play a big role in this".

"It wasn't that long ago that JLR was reporting bumper profits - £2.5bn profit to the year ending in March - which was its best results in a decade," he told the BBC's Wake Up to Money programme.

The firm has also been taking on workers in preparation for producing more electric cars so the tariffs "have definitely had an impact", he said.

Although tariffs UK carmakers face have come down from 27.5% to 10%, that is still "a big increase" from the previous tariff of 2.5%, he said, adding that one of its best selling cars, the Defender, is made in Slovakia and that still faces a 27.5% tariff.

US President Donald Trump has brought in a number of the taxes, which are paid by importers.

JLR initially stopped shipments of its vehicles to the US earlier this year after Trump announced a raft of tariffs.

The import tax was later reduced after the UK reached a deal with the US and JLR restarted shipments.

JLR is a large employer in the UK automotive sector with more than 30,000 workers.

Speaking before JLR made its announcement about job cuts, Preet Kaur Gill, Labour MP for Edgbaston in Birmingham, highlighted the importance of the UK's recent trade deal with the US which cut tariffs on UK cars from 27.5% to 10%.

She told BBC Politics Live that it had helped preserve jobs at the company.

"In my region, Jaguar Land Rover is a really important employer. The fact that we've managed to save 12,000 jobs, bring tariffs down... this is an ongoing relationship and our commitment is to make sure we continue that," she said.

JLR has sites in Solihull, Wolverhampton and Halewood on Merseyside, and builds Range Rover SUV models in the UK.

The voting age will be lowered to 16 across the UK before the next general election, the government has said.

The move is part of wider changes to election rules, which also include expanding the range of voter ID and moving towards automatic voter registration.

What is the plan to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote?

The changes mean around 1.5 million 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in the next general election, which must be held by 2029 but could be earlier.

The government says the change will give young people a chance to have a say in how the UK is run.

"At 16, a young person can work, they pay taxes, they can join the Army. So there's no reason why from that age, they shouldn't have a say in who governs our country," said Democracy Minister Rushanara Ali.

The commitment to lower the voting age was in Labour's 2024 election manifesto.

It represents the biggest change to the make-up of the electorate since voter age was reduced from 21 to 18 in 1969.

It means 16-year-olds will be able to vote in all elections across the UK. As is the case in Scotland, young people will also be able to register to vote from age 14.

The minimum voting age is already 16 for local council elections in Scotland and Wales, as well as for elections to the Welsh Parliament and Scottish Parliament.

However, you currently need to be 18 to vote in UK parliamentary elections, local elections in England and all elections in Northern Ireland.

You will still need to be 18 to stand as a candidate.

• LIVE: Follow reaction to the voting rules changes

What ID will voters be able to use?

In future, voters will be able to prove their ID with a UK-issued bank card showing their name, the govenment says.

Since May 2023, voters in England, Scotland and Wales have to show valid photo ID to vote in person in all general, local and national elections.

There are currently more than 20 acceptable forms of ID, including passports, driving licences, bus passes and Armed Forces Veteran Cards.

Anyone without valid ID can apply for a free document called a voter authority certificate.

However, some 4% of people who did not vote in the 2024 general election said it was because of voter ID rules, according to the Electoral Commission, which monitors UK elections.

The rules are different in Northern Ireland where voters have had to show photo ID since 2003.

How could voters be automatically registered?

At the moment eligible adults in the UK need to register in order to vote, which can be done online or using a paper form.

The Electoral Commission estimates that around seven million people are incorrectly registered or missing from the electoral register entirely, which means they cannot vote.

It says this disproportionately affects private renters and young people.

The government says it will work towards creating an automated voter registration scheme over the coming years. It says there will be safeguards so that people are aware of their registration status and can opt-out if they wish.

Voters will have to opt-in to be included in the open electoral register, which is made publicly-available. Nobody under 16 will appear on the open register.

A 2023 Electoral Commision report suggested automated registration could involve organisations like the Passport Office providing Electoral Registration Officers with the names and addresses of people eligible to vote.

The government says it will look closely at a number of automatic registration systems being piloted by the Welsh government for local council elections and elections to Senedd Cymru.

When is the next general election?

The latest a Parliament can be dissolved for a general election is on the fifth anniversary of the day it first met.

However, 25 working days are then allowed to prepare for the election.

The current Parliament began on 9 July, which means the next general election must be held by August 2029.

However, the prime minister can call an election at a time of their choosing, within the five-year period.

How do general elections work?

The UK is divided into 650 areas, called constituencies.

In a general election, voters in each constituency choose a Member of Parliament - or MP - to represent them in the House of Commons.

Most candidates belong to a particular political party, but some are independent.

Each person has one vote. Under a system called "first past the post", the candidate with the most votes becomes the MP for that area.

The party with the most MPs typically forms the next government, and its leader usually becomes the prime minister.

The 2024 general election used new constituency boundaries, redrawn to reflect population changes and to even out voter numbers.

Police in India are trying to piece together the story of a Russian woman who was found living in a cave in the southern state of Karnataka with her two young daughters.

Nina Kutina was rescued on 9 July by policemen who were on a routine patrol near Ramteertha hills in the Gokarna forest, which borders the tourist paradise of Goa.

Authorities say the 40-year-old and her daughters - six and five years old - do not have valid documents to stay in India. They have been lodged in a detention centre for foreigners near Bengaluru, the state capital, and will be deported soon.

Kutina has defended her lifestyle in two video interviews to Indian news agency ANI, saying she and her children were happy living in the cave and that "nature gives good health".

But even a week after they were found, there is very little clarity on how the woman and her children came to be in a forest infested with snakes and wild animals; how long they had been living there and who they really are.

Police stumble on the cave dwelling

"The area is popular with tourists, especially foreigners. But it has a lot of snakes and it's prone to landslides, especially during the rainy season. To ensure the safety of tourists, we started patrolling the forests last year," M Narayana, superintendent of police for Uttara Kannada district, told the BBC.

A second policeman who cannot be named and was part of the patrol party that stumbled on the cave dwelling said they walked down a steep hill to investigate when they saw bright clothes that had been hung outdoors to dry.

When they got closer to the cave - the entrance to which had been curtained off with brightly coloured saris - "a little blonde girl came running out". When the shocked policemen followed her inside, they found Nina Kutina and the other child.

Their possessions were meagre - plastic mats, clothes, packets of instant noodles and some other grocery items - and the cave was leaking.

Videos shot by the police at the cave dwelling which the BBC has seen, show the children dressed in colourful Indian clothes, smiling into the camera.

"The woman and her children appeared quite comfortable in the place," Mr Narayana said. "It took us some time to convince her that it was dangerous to live there," he added.

Police said when they told her that the cave was unsafe because of the presence of snakes and wild animals in the forest, she told them: "Animals and snakes are our friends. Humans are dangerous."

Kutina and her daughters were taken to a hospital for a check-up after their rescue and were certified to be medically fit.

Who is Nina Kutina?

An official in India's Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) has told the BBC that she's Russian and that she will be repatriated once the formalities are completed.

He says they have reached out to the Russian consulate in Chennai - the BBC has also written to the Russian embassy in Delhi but they are yet to respond.

In video interviews with India's ANI and PTI news agencies, Kutina said she was born in Russia but hadn't lived there for 15 years and travelled to "a lot of countries, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Bali, Thailand, Nepal, Ukraine".

In her interviews with both agencies, Kutina said she had four children between the ages of 20 and 5 years. She talked about the eldest - "my big son" - who died in a road accident in Goa last year.

Officials say her second son is 11-years-old and is in Russia - and that they have shared the information with the consulate.

On Tuesday night, the FRRO said they had tracked down the father of the girls - Dror Goldstein - and that he was an Israeli businessman. They said he was in India at the moment and that they met him and were trying to persuade him to pay for Kutina and her daughters' repatriation.

On Wednesday, Goldstein told India's NDTV channel that Kutina had left Goa without informing him and that he had lodged a missing complaint with the police there.

He said he wanted joint custody of his daughters and would do everything to prevent the government from sending them to Russia.

When did she come to Gokarna?

There is no clarity on how and when Kutina and her daughters reached the forest in Karnataka.

Police said she told them that they had been living in the cave for a week. They added that she had bought some vegetables and groceries, including a popular brand of instant noodles, from a local store, a week ago.

They said she told them that she arrived in Karnataka from Goa where she also claimed to have lived in a cave. She also said that one of her daughters was born in a Goa cave.

In her interview to PTI on Wednesday, she complained about the detention centre where she's been lodged with her daughters saying "it is like jail".

"We lived in a very good place. But now we cannot be alone. We cannot go outside. Here it's very dirty, and there's not enough food," she added.

It's not clear when and how Kutina came to India.

Police say she told them she had lost her passport, but they were able to find an older expired passport among her belongings which showed that she had come to India on a business visa which was valid from 18 October 2016 to 17 April 2017.

But she overstayed, was caught a year later, and the Goa office of the FRRO issued her "an exit permit" to leave India. According to immigration stamps in her passport, she entered Nepal on 19 April 2018 and exited three months later.

It's not clear where she went after that, but Kutina told ANI that overall she had "travelled to at least 20 countries" - at least "four of them since leaving India in 2018".

It's also not clear when she returned to India next, although some reports say she's been back since February 2020. She told PTI that she returned because "we really love India".

Kutina admitted that her visa expired a few months back. "We don't have our visa, valid visa, our visa finished," she said, adding that the lapse happened because she was grieving for her dead son and couldn't think of anything else.

Why was Kutina living in a cave?

After an idol of Panduranga Vittala, a form of Hindu god Krishna, was found in her cave dwelling, it was reported that she had gone there to do meditation and for spiritual reasons.

But in her interview to ANI, she rejected the narrative. "It is not about spiritually. We just like nature because it gives us health... it's very big health, it's not like you live in a home."

She added she had "big experience to stay in natural, in jungle" and insisted that her daughters were happy and healthy there. The cave she had chosen was "very big and beautiful" and it was "very close to a village" so she could buy food and other necessities.

"We were not dying, and I did not bring my children, my daughters, to die in jungle. They were very happy, they swam in the waterfall, they had a very good place for sleeping, a lot of lessons in art making, we made from clay, we painted, we ate good, I was cooking very good and tasty food," she told ANI.

Kutina also rejected suggestions that living in the forest exposed her children to danger.

"For all the time we lived there, yes we saw a few snakes," she said, but added that it was similar to people reporting finding snakes in their homes, kitchens or toilets.

Diane Abbott says she stands by comments she made about racism that led to a year-long suspension from the Labour Party.

In a wide-ranging interview with James Naughtie for BBC Radio 4's Reflections, the veteran Labour MP was asked about a letter she sent to the Observer in April 2023 in which she suggested people of colour experienced racism in a different way to Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Although she withdrew her comments at the time and apologised, saying "errors" arose in a draft that was sent, she was suspended from the party and only re-admitted just before last year's general election.

Asked by the BBC's James Naughtie if she looked back on the incident with regret, she said: "No, not at all."

She added: "Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know.

"You don't know unless you stop to speak to them or you're in a meeting with them.

"But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they're black. They are different types of racism."

Asked if she believed she had done anything wrong or had said something in her Observer letter that she did not believe in, she said: "I just think that it's silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

"I just... I don't know why people would say that."

Naughtie asked the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP if she would condemn antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would racist behaviour against someone because of the colour of the skin.

She replied: "Well of course, and I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I've spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds and in particular fighting antisemitism, partly because of the nature of my constituency."

The exchanges came as Abbott discussed her life and career in politics, including her own experiences of racism, as Britain's first black woman MP and her years of campaigning with other radical left wingers including Jeremy Corbyn.

She entered Parliament in 1987 and is now the Mother of the House, the honorary title given to the longest-serving female MP.

In her 2023 letter to the Observer, Abbott wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice" that is "similar to racism".

She added: "It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism."

Abbott was quick to withdraw the remarks, which were heavily criticised by Jewish and Traveller groups, and apologised "for any anguish caused".

But she was suspended by the Labour Party pending the outcome of an investigation, with leader Sir Keir Starmer saying her letter "was antisemitic" and should be condemned.

Abbott was readmitted to the Labour Party in May 2024, just in time for her stand as a Labour candidate in the general election, even though an internal inquiry into her conduct had concluded four months earlier.

The former shadow home secretary was given a "formal warning" for engaging in conduct that was in the opinion of Labour's National Executive Committee "prejudicial and grossly detrimental to the Labour Party". She also completed an online antismetism awareness course.

Asked by Naughtie if she had been "hung out to dry" by the Labour leadership, who had continued to say she was subject to a disciplinary process after it had finished, she said: "In the end, Keir Starmer had to restore the whip to me.

"I got tremendous support locally. We had a big rally on the steps of Hackney Town Hall. And in the end Keir Starmer and the people around him had to back off because of the support I had from the community."

She said she was sure that the Labour leadership had been "trying to get me out" and there were "hints" that she would be offered a seat in the House of Lords if she stepped down as an MP.

"I was never going to that. And I'm a Labour MP today, and I'm grateful," she said.

Reflections is on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 17 July at 09:30 BST.

Listen here on BBC Sounds.

One of four rebel MPs suspended by Labour for defying party orders has said it will not silence her - but she will continue to support the government as an independent.

Rachel Maskell told the BBC she had been expelled from the party in Parliament for her role in a rebellion against disability benefit cuts, which forced Sir Keir Starmer into a U-turn on a key piece of legislation.

Maskell said the welfare bill fell apart ahead of a crucial Commons vote because the government did not listen to its backbenchers when the reforms were being drawn up.

Minister Jess Phillips said the suspended MPs should not be surprised after their "persistent" rebellions and "slagging off" of the government.

On Wednesday Labour withdrew the whip from four MPs - meaning they will now sit as independents in the House of Commons - and stripped three more of their role as trade envoys - unpaid jobs handed out to backbench MPs.

Maskell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday that the chief whip had made it "very clear" to her that her "work on the disabled people reforms were the reason" for her suspension.

The MP for York Central said she had not been a "ringleader" of a rebellion but that she had sought to "advocate" for her constituents, including disabled people who "are very invisible in our society".

Now sitting as an independent, she said she would do "all that I can to support the Labour government".

"But that doesn't mean that I'm silenced," she told BBC Breakfast, adding that she did not believe the prime minister had "got it right".

"If my constituents are telling me something, I want to be able to advocate," she said.

The welfare bill broke down because backbenchers weren't listened to in the early stages, she said, and this must change "because ultimately backbenchers bring vast experience with them".

But Labour minister Phillips said that, from what she could see, "this is nothing to do with someone voting against a particular bill".

Ministers were forced to water down their plans after 47 Labour MPs rebelled against the government's proposed cuts to welfare, but only four were suspended Philips pointed out.

The suspensions were instead for people "constantly going on the airwaves, slagging off your own government," she said.

She also dismissed the idea that MPs could not raise concerns with the government.

"There is absolutely no reason why people cannot speak up about the things that they care about, but we do have to work as a team," Philips told BBC Breakfast.

It further undermined the prime minister's authority after a series of policy reversals, including restoring the winter fuel allowance to millions of pensioners.

A senior Labour MP said the suspensions had left some backbenchers in a "state of shock".

Toby Perkins told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight late on Wednesday: "There's a number of colleagues who voted against that (welfare) legislation who are wondering if they're phone is going to ring."

While he said some MPs would now think "very, very carefully" before voting against the government, he said there would be others "who feel this is an overreaction."

The other MPs suspended Wednesday - Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff - were all elected to the House of Commons for the first time in 2024.

Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, had organised a letter warning the government's welfare changes were "impossible to support" without a "change of direction".

After his suspension, he said he remained committed to Labour's values and that it was "business as usual" for his constituents.

Leishman, the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, said in a statement that he wished to remain a Labour MP and added:"I firmly believe that it is not my duty as an MP to make people poorer, especially those that have suffered because of austerity and its dire consequences."

North East Hertfordshire MP Hinchliff likewise said he hoped to return to the Labour benches and would continue to "fight every day for the needs of my constituents".

Three other Labour MPs - Rosena Allin Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin - were stripped of their roles as trade envoys.

Tens of thousands of campers have arrived at Tomorrowland in Belgium, a day after a fire destroyed the festival's main stage.

Festival organisers have insisted that the event in the town of Boom, south of Antwerp, will continue without the stage, adding that they are "focused on finding solutions".

Nobody was injured in Wednesday evening's blaze and experts are working to determine a cause.

The electronic dance music festival is due to start on Friday, with 400,000 people expected to attend over two weekends.

Hundreds of artists, including David Guetta, Lost Frequencies, Swedish House Mafia and Charlotte De Witte are expected to perform.

The local fire service has declared the site safe and a decision will now be made about whether to demolish the structure before the festival begins on Friday.

The campsite, known as DreamVille, has opened and so far organisers say this weekend's event will continue.

In its latest post on Instagram on Thursday, Tomorrowland said: "It is impossible to put into words what we're feeling."

It added that the Orbyz main stage "wasn't just a stage... it was was living breathing world."

Organisers said they had worked through the night to come up with solutions. A meeting was held with safety experts and members of local government on Thursday morning to discuss a contingency plan.

The mayor of Rumst, just north of Boom, told local media that another meeting discussing more ideas for an alternative to the main stage would be discussed in the afternoon.

"Cancelling the festival completely is the last thing we want to do," Jurgen Callaerts said.

There are 14 other stages at the festival, all much smaller than the main stage.

The fire started around 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on Wednesday. Videos posted on social media showed thick grey smoke engulfing the stage.

Some residents were evacuated as firefighters worked to stop the flames from reaching neighbouring homes and woodland.

One employee who had been working on the site described "an apocalyptic scene" as the fire broke out.

"We suddenly heard bangs and saw fire near the stage, a huge amount of fire," the unnamed individual told Het Nieuwsblad newspaper.

"We were just putting the finishing touches on it. One more day and it would be finished. Four weeks of work... gone in half an hour."

Tomorrowland began in 2005 and has become the biggest electronic dance festival in the world, attracting music fans from every continent.

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West Pittston, just outside of the industrial centre of Scranton, Pennsylvania, has a classic smalltown-American look.

There are clapboard houses, a main drag with businesses bearing charming vintage patina and lampposts bearing flags of the town's military veterans.

And MAGA faithful.

On Wednesday, in 85F (30C) weather, they lined the streets outside Don's Machine Shop where JD Vance spoke, touting President Donald Trump's recent legislative victory, what he calls his Big Beautiful Bill.

But a lawn sign nearby as the US vice-president spoke pointed to an additional priority on their minds - a rare backlash against the Trump presidency from his own supporters.

"WHERE IS THE LIST???" the sign read - a reference to the release of the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files, a purported tranche of government documents on the disgraced financier and sex offender.

There is a rumoured "client list" of Epstein's famous friends that has fixated conspiracy theorists.

But the Justice Department recently threw cold water on the theory, releasing a memo saying it found no evidence that a client list exists.

Among those attending the Vance event, some put their faith in Trump.

"When he's ready, he'll let them out," Ed DeLucca, 72, told the BBC, saying he hoped Trump would bring the documents to light.

For Mr DeLucca, the rumoured files would ultimately be delivered much like any other Trump promise, such as closing the border or mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Epstein was charged by federal prosecutors for sex trafficking of minors and other crimes in 2019. He died by suicide in jail later that year, sparking continued rumors and conspiracies about his death and - most recently - about possible "clients" named in government files.

Yet, according to the president and his top law enforcement officials, the documents may not be forthcoming - and some may not exist at all.

That concession has thrown Trump's Make America Great Again movement into chaos, with even staunch supporters calling for the removal of Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino.

The resulting online storm also has threatened to overshadow the budget bill, a major legislative win Trump just clawed from Congress.

• Trump's Epstein strategy could pit him against loyal supporters
• Prosecutor in Diddy and Epstein cases fired by justice department

"We put you in office, you ran on this platform," Steven Taylor, a local truck driver and Trump supporter who was in West Pittson on Wednesday, told CBS News, BBC's US partner. "We didn't ask for it. And now we want it. We demand it."

"There needs to be accountability. There needs to be justice," he said.

But others like Mr DeLucca were more sanguine. "There's a reason for it. They'll come out," he said.

"They got to make peace," he said of the MAGA factions warring over Epstein.

"They can't exist without Pam, or Dan Bongino," he said of the administration. "It's like the Avengers assembled, the Justice League of America."

But voters in the eastern Pennsylvania town, who have slowly and steadily united behind Republicans during the Trump era, may split over whether to accept the president's strategy on Epstein.

Trump has tried to quell the storm, posting on Truth Social that the alleged hidden Epstein files were actually a "hoax" concocted by Democrats.

"Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this [expletive] hook, line, and sinker," he wrote on Wednesday.

• Trump says US attorney general should release any 'credible' information on Epstein

Chrissy Matticks echoed Trump's assessment, pinning the blame for the Epstein debacle on Democrats.

"I don't care. Democrats should have released it when Biden was president," she told BBC on Wednesday. "Democrats are just using it as a political football."

She was far more focused on Trump's performance in passing the budget bill and deporting undocumented immigrants in a sweeping crackdown.

"I'd say, to our MAGA base: Have faith in President Trump."

The Duke of Sussex has followed in the footsteps of his mother, Princess Diana, as he visited a charity clearing landmines in Angola.

"Children should never have to live in fear of playing outside or walking to school," said Prince Harry, about the continuing threat of mines to the civilian population.

Prince Harry was in Angola supporting the work of the Halo Trust, the charity that had been backed by Princess Diana on her high-profile visit to the Central African country in 1997.

The image of the princess walking through a minefield, in a visor and body armour, had brought worldwide attention to the danger caused by mines left behind after wars had ended.

Prince Harry visited a village near to a minefield and met children who are given lessons in how to avoid detonating the explosives.

The Halo Trust has cleared 120,000 landmines in Angola, left over from years of civil war.

An estimated 60,000 people have been killed or injured by mines in the country since 2008 and about a thousand minefields are still to be cleared.

"The remnants of war still threaten lives every day," said Prince Harry, patron of the Halo Trust.

He also spent time with the British charity during a visit to Angola in 2019 when he walked through a partially-cleared minefield and set off a controlled explosion.

Earlier this week, Prince Harry met Angola's President Joao Lourenco, where the prince welcomed the government's renewed support for the charity's work.

James Cowan, the Halo Trust's chief executive, said: "We will continue our work in solidarity with the Angolan people until every last mine is cleared."

In January 1997, Princess Diana had been photographed in Angola in what became a symbolic image of the efforts to stop the harm to civilians from landmines.

She had walked on a path cleared through a minefield and had given her support to calls for an international ban on the use of landmines.

That had sparked a row, with the princess being criticised by some politicians for her views.

But the minefield where she had walked in 1997 was cleared and the site is now a thriving community, with local children attending the Princess Diana School.

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More than half of Britain's busiest airports have raised "kiss-and-fly" fees for cars dropping off passengers close to terminals, according to research from the RAC.

The motoring group found 11 out of 20 UK airports had put up prices since last July, with Gatwick, Bristol, Leeds Bradford and Southampton joining Stansted in charging the top rate of £7 to park for a matter of minutes.

In contrast, at nine of the 10 busiest airports in the European Union there are no drop-off fees.

Airports UK, which represents the industry, said all hubs offer free drop-off options further from the terminals, such as "park and ride" facilities where people can leave their car and take a bus to the airport.

London Heathrow, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Liverpool all raised their prices by £1 to £6 for between 10 and 20 minutes.

The RAC also found that Cardiff airport had introduced a fee for the first time, asking £3 for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, London Luton and Manchester airports are the most expensive on a cost-per-minute basis, the research showed, with drivers paying £5 to stop for five minutes.

Rod Dennis, senior policy officer at the RAC, said: "Drivers are a captive audience and that's why we think airports are so keen on these sorts of fees. But honestly, £7 for a stop that could be no more than 10 minutes does seem a little steep.

"And the fact that these costs keep going up year after year I think is going to be a huge source of frustration for anyone dropping off a friend or loved one this summer."

In the RAC's survey of European airports, hubs including Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle charged nothing. Only Schipol in the Netherlands asked for €2.50 (£2.17) to kiss-and-fly.

Karen Dee, chief executive of Airports UK, said: "Where fees are charged, this helps airports manage and reduce congestion, noise, carbon emissions and air pollution for local communities, something that they are mandated to do by the Government and local authorities.

"These charges are a part of the airport business model and help enable the provision of the widest variety of flights from the airport."

London City airport was the only one on the list which charges no fee.

A spokesperson for Gatwick, said: "The drop off charge helps to limit the number of cars and reduces congestion at the entrance to our terminals and funds a number of sustainable transport initiatives."

It added that holders of a Blue Badge, which is a parking permit for people with disabilities or health conditions affecting mobility, remain exempt from the charge.

Belfast and Southampton also said Blue Badge holders remain exempt from the fees.

On lifting its kiss-and-fly prices, a spokesperson for Southampton, said: "All of the funds generated through our parking facility are reinvested into the airport and play an important role in securing new routes for the region."

The BBC has contacted other airports for comment.

Diane Abbott says she stands by comments she made about racism that led to a year-long suspension from the Labour Party.

In a wide-ranging interview with James Naughtie for BBC Radio 4's Reflections, the veteran Labour MP was asked about a letter she sent to the Observer in April 2023 in which she suggested people of colour experienced racism in a different way to Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Although she withdrew her comments at the time and apologised, saying "errors" arose in a draft that was sent, she was suspended from the party and only re-admitted just before last year's general election.

Asked by the BBC's James Naughtie if she looked back on the incident with regret, she said: "No, not at all."

She added: "Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know.

"You don't know unless you stop to speak to them or you're in a meeting with them.

"But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they're black. They are different types of racism."

Asked if she believed she had done anything wrong or had said something in her Observer letter that she did not believe in, she said: "I just think that it's silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

"I just... I don't know why people would say that."

Naughtie asked the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP if she would condemn antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would racist behaviour against someone because of the colour of the skin.

She replied: "Well of course, and I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I've spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds and in particular fighting antisemitism, partly because of the nature of my constituency."

The exchanges came as Abbott discussed her life and career in politics, including her own experiences of racism, as Britain's first black woman MP and her years of campaigning with other radical left wingers including Jeremy Corbyn.

She entered Parliament in 1987 and is now the Mother of the House, the honorary title given to the longest-serving female MP.

In her 2023 letter to the Observer, Abbott wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice" that is "similar to racism".

She added: "It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism."

Abbott was quick to withdraw the remarks, which were heavily criticised by Jewish and Traveller groups, and apologised "for any anguish caused".

But she was suspended by the Labour Party pending the outcome of an investigation, with leader Sir Keir Starmer saying her letter "was antisemitic" and should be condemned.

Abbott was readmitted to the Labour Party in May 2024, just in time for her stand as a Labour candidate in the general election, even though an internal inquiry into her conduct had concluded four months earlier.

The former shadow home secretary was given a "formal warning" for engaging in conduct that was in the opinion of Labour's National Executive Committee "prejudicial and grossly detrimental to the Labour Party". She also completed an online antismetism awareness course.

Asked by Naughtie if she had been "hung out to dry" by the Labour leadership, who had continued to say she was subject to a disciplinary process after it had finished, she said: "In the end, Keir Starmer had to restore the whip to me.

"I got tremendous support locally. We had a big rally on the steps of Hackney Town Hall. And in the end Keir Starmer and the people around him had to back off because of the support I had from the community."

She said she was sure that the Labour leadership had been "trying to get me out" and there were "hints" that she would be offered a seat in the House of Lords if she stepped down as an MP.

"I was never going to that. And I'm a Labour MP today, and I'm grateful," she said.

Reflections is on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 17 July at 09:30 BST.

Listen here on BBC Sounds.

One of four rebel MPs suspended by Labour for defying party orders has said it will not silence her - but she will continue to support the government as an independent.

Rachel Maskell told the BBC she had been expelled from the party in Parliament for her role in a rebellion against disability benefit cuts, which forced Sir Keir Starmer into a U-turn on a key piece of legislation.

Maskell said the welfare bill fell apart ahead of a crucial Commons vote because the government did not listen to its backbenchers when the reforms were being drawn up.

Minister Jess Phillips said the suspended MPs should not be surprised after their "persistent" rebellions and "slagging off" of the government.

On Wednesday Labour withdrew the whip from four MPs - meaning they will now sit as independents in the House of Commons - and stripped three more of their role as trade envoys - unpaid jobs handed out to backbench MPs.

Maskell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday that the chief whip had made it "very clear" to her that her "work on the disabled people reforms were the reason" for her suspension.

The MP for York Central said she had not been a "ringleader" of a rebellion but that she had sought to "advocate" for her constituents, including disabled people who "are very invisible in our society".

Now sitting as an independent, she said she would do "all that I can to support the Labour government".

"But that doesn't mean that I'm silenced," she told BBC Breakfast, adding that she did not believe the prime minister had "got it right".

"If my constituents are telling me something, I want to be able to advocate," she said.

The welfare bill broke down because backbenchers weren't listened to in the early stages, she said, and this must change "because ultimately backbenchers bring vast experience with them".

But Labour minister Phillips said that, from what she could see, "this is nothing to do with someone voting against a particular bill".

Ministers were forced to water down their plans after 47 Labour MPs rebelled against the government's proposed cuts to welfare, but only four were suspended Philips pointed out.

The suspensions were instead for people "constantly going on the airwaves, slagging off your own government," she said.

She also dismissed the idea that MPs could not raise concerns with the government.

"There is absolutely no reason why people cannot speak up about the things that they care about, but we do have to work as a team," Philips told BBC Breakfast.

It further undermined the prime minister's authority after a series of policy reversals, including restoring the winter fuel allowance to millions of pensioners.

A senior Labour MP said the suspensions had left some backbenchers in a "state of shock".

Toby Perkins told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight late on Wednesday: "There's a number of colleagues who voted against that (welfare) legislation who are wondering if they're phone is going to ring."

While he said some MPs would now think "very, very carefully" before voting against the government, he said there would be others "who feel this is an overreaction."

The other MPs suspended Wednesday - Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff - were all elected to the House of Commons for the first time in 2024.

Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, had organised a letter warning the government's welfare changes were "impossible to support" without a "change of direction".

After his suspension, he said he remained committed to Labour's values and that it was "business as usual" for his constituents.

Leishman, the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, said in a statement that he wished to remain a Labour MP and added:"I firmly believe that it is not my duty as an MP to make people poorer, especially those that have suffered because of austerity and its dire consequences."

North East Hertfordshire MP Hinchliff likewise said he hoped to return to the Labour benches and would continue to "fight every day for the needs of my constituents".

Three other Labour MPs - Rosena Allin Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin - were stripped of their roles as trade envoys.

A fire that tore through a shopping centre in the Iraqi city of Kut has left dozens dead and injured, state media has reported.

The blaze at the mall, which had reportedly opened five days ago, broke out on Wednesday night and has since been brought under control.

"The number of victims has reached about 50 people," Wasit province governor Mohammed al-Miyahi told Iraqi news agency INA.

Most of the victims in the fire were women and children, he said, adding that legal action would be brought against the shopping centre's owner.

Videos on INA's news channel show flames ripping through several floors of a multi-storey building as firefighters try to douse them.

Other clips circulating on social media appear to show a small number of people on the roof during the fire, as well as the burned out insides of the centre.

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As Donald Trump continues to be dogged by questions about his administration's handling of possible files related to deceased sex offenderJeffrey Epstein, he is relying on a tried and true strategy.

The problem for the president, however, is that his plan of attack may inadvertently pit him against some of his most loyal supporters.

In a lengthy Truth Social post on Wednesday morning, Trump began in a familiar way – by blaming the Epstein controversy on "radical left Democrats". This episode, he said, is just the latest in a long line of "hoaxes" fabricated by his political opponents to bring him down.

"These Scams and Hoaxes are all the Democrats are good at," he wrote. "They are no good at governing, no good at policy, and no good at picking winning candidates."

In the past, Trump has used this kind of us-against-them rhetoric to rally his supporters to his side – casting himself as the embattled champion of the outsiders and disaffected who faces off against the privileged and the wealthy.

The potential flaw in the president's strategy this time became apparent halfway through his post, however, as he turned to blame his own party and his own supporters for falling for what he said was a leftist scheme.

"My PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker," he wrote. "They haven't learned their lesson, and probably never will."

During remarks later in the Oval Office, Trump continued to blame his own side, saying that "some stupid Republicans, some foolish Republicans, have fallen into the net".

The president is drawing battle lines on the Epstein issue that divides his own side. It also risks cutting through the foundations on which his political strength is built.

Trump's success has been powered by two central messages to his supporters – that he's an outsider who fights against a corrupt establishment and that he tells it like it is. At a time when many voters say they are tired of polished politicians with shifting views, Trump's base sees him as authentic – unvarnished and controversial, yes, but honest.

Trump, never one to shy away from wild conspiracy theories or those who embrace them, now finds himself arguing that there is no "credible" evidence implicating the rich and powerful in the Epstein case and that those believing otherwise are suckers or fools.

His shifting comments – that the Epstein files should be released, that there are no files, that any possible files are hoaxes – also make him seem less like a straight-shooter and more like a man with something to hide.

He's left with the problem of trying to prove a negative. And for the moment, some of his supporters aren't buying it.

In an interview with Politico, conservative firebrand Laura Loomer warned that if Trump did not change course, the Epstein story could "consume" his presidency. Her advice to appoint an independent investigator to handle the case is one Trump would be loath to follow, given how he has railed against past special counsels.

But the success of his strategy to blame political opponents may only work if Democrats take the bait.

Dan Pfeiffier, who worked as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, recently wrote they can avoid this trap by amplifying divisions in Trump's "Make America Great Again" ranks.

"If the issue becomes too associated with a Democratic effort to hurt Trump, it will polarise the issue along party lines and push the dissatisfied Maga voters back into Trump's camp," he wrote in his most recent newsletter.

For the moment, calls for the government to share more information about Epstein is a rare source of consensus among the American public. A YouGov poll indicated that 79% of Americans want the government to release "all documents it has". That included 75% of Republican respondents and 85% of Democrats.

An internal Democratic poll obtained by Politico found 58% of respondents believed Trump "maybe was or definitely was" involved in a cover-up.

If the polls are decidedly tilted against Trump, Republican officeholders – the men and women who owe their professional livelihoods to staying in the president's good graces – mostly continue to stick by his side.

Congressional Republicans are backing the president's legislative agenda despite their narrow majorities in key votes this week. And while some have called for more transparency, conservatives in the House of Representatives have repeatedly squelched Democratic attempts to mandate the release of all remaining Epstein files.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who oversaw those efforts, walked back earlier comments calling for more Epstein files to be disclosed, saying that he was misquoted and that he only wanted the public to see "credible" information – the same language Trump has used.

For the moment, the Epstein story is a frustrating distraction for a president used to bending the news cycle, and national attention, to his will. With Republicans in control of Washington, the controversy will only consume his presidency if Trump's own allies allow it to.

If the grumbling and disaffection in Trump's faithful persist, however, it could exact a high toll on the Republican party in next year's midterm congressional elections, when voter enthusiasm typically determines which party prevails.

And if Democrats wrest control of one or both chambers of Congress - and gain their accompanying investigatory powers - the Epstein files, and Trump's connection to them, could go from a political sideshow to centre-ring spectacle.

This July, just like last July, the prime minister has decided to kick some of his MPs out of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

A year ago, just weeks after winning the general election, seven Labour MPs had the whip removed, to use the Westminster jargon, having voted against the two-child benefit cap.

Here we are 12 months later, just as MPs may have thought things were quietening down before Parliament's summer break starting next week, and here we go again.

Four MPs have had the party whip removed, meaning they will sit as independents in the House of Commons.

Three other Labour MPs have been stripped of their trade envoy roles.

The logic last summer was it would act as a marker and a big disincentive for other Labour MPs to contemplate rebellion.

Perhaps it worked, at least for a bit, but then came those colossal benefits rebellions earlier this summer.

The four MPs who have been given the heave-ho were called in one at a time to see the Chief Whip Sir Alan Campbell just after Prime Minister's Question Time.

The three now former trade envoys were rung by a senior figure in Downing Street to be told their (unpaid) services were no longer required.

One of those to lose the whip told me they were "emotional" and "devastated" – barely a year into their time as a Labour MP, they are no more, sitting instead now as an independent.

But I detect a defiance from them too - and from other Labour MPs as well.

"Ridiculous," "petty," "vindictive," "weak" are just four of the words I have scribbled into my notebook while listening down the phone to some Labour MPs.

Downing Street wants to show authority and squash any potential future rebellions, such as on changes to special educational needs provision in England, before they begin.

Senior figures attribute the timing of these suspensions to giving themselves time to reach a considered decision.

The suspensions, they insist, weren't for an individual act of rebellion but for repeatedly organising against the government.

Too right say some Labour MPs, this is still a new-ish government and those elected on a Labour ticket ought to be more loyal.

Others witness the spectacle with a wry smile.

"They're public executions!" one said. "It is quite something seeing them removed one by one from the various WhatsApp groups."

One suspended rebel said the 20-minute conversation with the chief whip was "frank but cordial".

One of the sacked trade envoys told me "I understand why they did it" but described it as "petty and a bit pointless".

They had each received a call from the prime minister's political director Claire Reynolds, who, as it happens, is married to the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.

They were told voting against the government on welfare was incompatible with continuing as a government trade envoy.

It is not lost on those who have been sacked as envoys that they are all minority ethnic and the government has Liberal Democrats as trade envoys too - who are not expected to vote with the government, but nonetheless they are expected to.

"It is greatest sacking of a role with no salary I have ever known," one told me.

"Morale is already down in the dumps among the base, among members and councillors. How is this going to help?" another Labour figure said.

"I can't imagine Harold Wilson or Tony Blair doing this. It shows weakness and pettiness," said a frustrated Labour MP still in possession of the whip.

The prime minister has been stepping up the amount of time he spends with his MPs, having been bruised by accusations that he is too detached from them.

He spent a couple of hours in parliament after Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday afternoon, and had lunch with a group of his colleagues.

His MPs had expected this more softly softly approach, and greater outreach, to be the noticeable difference after the bumpy last few weeks.

It turns out it is part of the approach, but only part.

Sir Keir Starmer has to hope this splash of discipline helps soothe and calm his party, rather than relitigating these recent rows.

Let's see how that turns out.

Syria's interim president has said it is his "priority" to protect the country's Druze citizens, after Israel vowed to destroy government forces it accused of attacking members of the religious minority in Suweida province.

In his first televised statement since Israel's air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Ahmed al-Sharaa also warned that Syrians were not afraid of war.

Syrian state media reported that the military was withdrawing from Suweida under a ceasefire agreement with Druze leaders. But it is not clear whether that will hold.

More than 350 people are reported to have been killed since sectarian clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes erupted in the province on Sunday.

The government responded by deploying its forces to the predominantly Druze city of Suweida for the first time Sharaa's Sunni Islamist group led the rebel offensive that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war.

However, the fighting escalated and government forces were accused by residents and activists of killing Druze civilians and carrying out extrajudicial executions.

The Druze religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs. In addition to Syria, there are sizeable communities of Druze in Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.

Syrian Druze and other minorities have remained suspicious of Sharaa since he took power because of his jihadist past. His Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN.

Their fears have been heightened by several outbreaks of deadly sectarian violence, including one in May between Druze militias, security forces and allied Islamist fighters that also prompted to Israel intervene militarily.

In his speech early on Thursday, Sharaa stressed that the Druze were "a fundamental part of the fabric of this nation", and that he rejected any attempt for them to be dragged into the hands of what he called "an external party".

The president said government forces deployed to Suweida had "succeeded in restoring stability and expelling outlawed factions despite the Israeli interventions", which he said caused a "significant complication of the situation" and "a large-scale escalation".

"We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction," he said.

Responsibility for security in Suweida would now be handed to religious elders and some local factions "based on the supreme national interest", he added.

Sharaa ended the speech by promising that the government was "keen on holding accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people".

On Wednesday, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told the country's own Druze citizens on that Israeli forces were "acting to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the gangs of the regime".

The Israeli military said its aircraft struck the Syrian military's headquarters in Damascus and a military site near the presidential palace, as well as armoured vehicles on their way to Suweida, and firing posts and weapons storage facilities in southern Syria.

"We are acting decisively to prevent the entrenchment of hostile elements beyond the border, to protect the citizens of the State of Israel, and to prevent the harming of Druze civilians," the military's chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said during a visit to the Golan Heights.

"We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold," he warned.

The general also said there was "no room for disorder near the border fence", after hundreds of Druze crossed the heavily fortified frontier with Syria on Wednesday.

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said it was speaking to all of the parties involved and had "agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end".

"This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do," he added, without giving any details.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, says more than 350 people have been killed since Sunday.

They include 79 Druze fighters and 55 civilians, 27 of whom were summarily killed by interior ministry and defence ministry forces, according to the group.

At least 189 members of the government forces and 18 Bedouin tribal fighters have also been killed in the clashes, it says.

It was not immediately possible to verify the SOHR's casualty figures, but Syrian security sources also said Wednesday that the death toll was close to 300.

The UK jobs market has weakened further as the number of job vacancies continues to fall and wage growth slows, according to official statistics.

The annual rate of pay growth in the three months between March and May was 5%, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show, down from the previous figure of 5.2%.

Meanwhile, the number of vacancies has fallen again to 727,000, marking three continuous years of falling job openings.

The ONS said survey data suggested that some firms may not be recruiting new workers or replacing ones who have left.

Diane Abbott says she stands by comments she made about racism that led to a year-long suspension from the Labour Party.

In a wide-ranging interview with James Naughtie for BBC Radio 4's Reflections, the veteran Labour MP was asked about a letter she sent to the Observer in April 2023 in which she suggested people of colour experienced racism in a different way to Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Although she withdrew her comments at the time and apologised, saying "errors" arose in a draft that was sent, she was suspended from the party and only re-admitted just before last year's general election.

Asked by the BBC's James Naughtie if she looked back on the incident with regret, she said: "No, not at all."

She added: "Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know.

"You don't know unless you stop to speak to them or you're in a meeting with them.

"But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they're black. They are different types of racism."

Asked if she believed she had done anything wrong or had said something in her Observer letter that she did not believe in, she said: "I just think that it's silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

"I just... I don't know why people would say that."

Naughtie asked the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP if she would condemn antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would racist behaviour against someone because of the colour of the skin.

She replied: "Well of course, and I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I've spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds and in particular fighting antisemitism, partly because of the nature of my constituency."

The exchanges came as Abbott discussed her life and career in politics, including her own experiences of racism, as Britain's first black woman MP and her years of campaigning with other radical left wingers including Jeremy Corbyn.

She entered Parliament in 1987 and is now the Mother of the House, the honorary title given to the longest-serving female MP.

In her 2023 letter to the Observer, Abbott wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice" that is "similar to racism".

She added: "It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism."

Abbott was quick to withdraw the remarks, which were heavily criticised by Jewish and Traveller groups, and apologised "for any anguish caused".

But she was suspended by the Labour Party pending the outcome of an investigation, with leader Sir Keir Starmer saying her letter "was antisemitic" and should be condemned.

Abbott was readmitted to the Labour Party in May 2024, just in time for her stand as a Labour candidate in the general election, even though an internal inquiry into her conduct had concluded four months earlier.

The former shadow home secretary was given a "formal warning" for engaging in conduct that was in the opinion of Labour's National Executive Committee "prejudicial and grossly detrimental to the Labour Party". She also completed an online antismetism awareness course.

Asked by Naughtie if she had been "hung out to dry" by the Labour leadership, who had continued to say she was subject to a disciplinary process after it had finished, she said: "In the end, Keir Starmer had to restore the whip to me.

"I got tremendous support locally. We had a big rally on the steps of Hackney Town Hall. And in the end Keir Starmer and the people around him had to back off because of the support I had from the community."

She said she was sure that the Labour leadership had been "trying to get me out" and there were "hints" that she would be offered a seat in the House of Lords if she stepped down as an MP.

"I was never going to that. And I'm a Labour MP today, and I'm grateful," she said.

Reflections is on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 17 July at 09:30 BST.

Listen here on BBC Sounds.

A fresh wave of deadly sectarian violence has rocked Syria, putting into focus the country's fragile security landscape as the new government attempts to impose its authority over the fractured territory.

On Sunday 13 July, the reported abduction of a merchant from the Druze minority sparked days of deadly clashes between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin fighters in southern Syria.

Later on Tuesday 15 July, Israel intervened militarily, saying its forces were seeking to protect the Druze and to eliminate pro-government forces accused of attacking them in Suweida. At least 300 people are reported to have been killed in Suweida since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The violence is the first in the Druze-majority province of Suweida since fighting in April and May between Druze fighters and Syria's new security forces killed dozens of people. Prior to this, clashes in Syria's coastal provinces in March were said to have killed hundreds of members of the Alawite minority, to which former ruler Bashar al-Assad belongs.

The deadly unrest, along with the violent Israeli strikes, have re-ignited fears of a security breakdown in Syria, as the country grapples with the fallout from over a decade of civil war, and the recent Islamist-led rebel takeover of Damascus in December 2024. Syria's current leader, former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa, has vowed to protect Syria's minorities.

Who are the Druze?

The Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethno-religious minority in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. The Druze faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs.

Half of its roughly one million followers live in Syria, where they make up about 3% of the population. The Druze community in Israel is largely considered to be loyal to the Israeli state, owing to its members' participation in military service. There are some 152,000 Druze people living in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.

They have historically occupied a precarious position in Syria's political order. During Syria's almost 14-year civil war, the Druze operated their own militias in southern Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, the Druze have resisted state attempts to impose authority over southern Syria. While the Druze factions in Syria are divided in their approach to the new authorities, ranging from caution to outright rejection, many object to official Syrian security presence in Suweida and have resisted integration into the Syrian army - relying instead on local militias.

Despite the Syrian government condemning the recent attacks on Druze people and vowing to restore order in southern Syria, its forces have also been accused of attacking the minority - with the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor documenting "summary executions" of Druze people by government forces. Such reports have fuelled mistrust among some members of the Druze community towards the authorities in Damascus.

After Assad's sudden fall, Israel has been reaching out to the Druze community near its northern border in a bid to forge alliances with Syria's minorities. It has increasingly positioned itself as a regional protector of minorities, including the Kurds, Druze and Alawites in Syria, while attacking military sites in Syria and government forces.

During the sectarian clashes in May, Israel carried out strikes near the presidential palace in Damascus, saying it was a warning against attacks on the Druze. However, some Druze figures in Syria and Lebanon have accused Israel of stoking sectarian divisions to advance its own expansionist aspirations in the region.

Why is Israel attacking Syria now?

The most recent strikes have primarily acted as a warning and a deterrent against the Syrian army deploying to southern Syria, with Israel seeking to create a demilitarised zone in the area. In particular, Israel fears the presence of Islamist fighters near its northern border, along the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

While the Israeli air strikes on 15 July were limited to targeting security forces and vehicles in Suweida, the Israeli military expanded the scope of its attacks on 16 July, striking the Ministry of Defence and the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus. Syria has condemned the attacks.

The strikes represented the most serious Israeli escalation in Syria since December 2024, when it obliterated hundreds of military sites across the country and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights. Israel has struck Syria multiple times, with the intention of preventing the new authorities from building its military capacities - viewed as a potential threat to Israeli security.

"The warnings in Damascus have ended - now painful blows will come," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on social media on 16 July, shortly after Israeli strikes on Damascus began.

The targeting of the Syrian military headquarters was broadcast live by the leading Syria TV channel, from its studios located across from the building - with the presenter captured on air fleeing the studio.

How has the rest of the world reacted?

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US was "very concerned" about the violence and announced on 16 July: "We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight."

Several Arab states, including Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Kuwait, have condemned the Israeli strikes targeting Syrian government and security forces. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry denounced what it described as "Israel's blatant attacks" on Syria, while Iran described the attacks as "all too predictable".

Turkey, a key stakeholder in post-Assad Syria, described the strikes as "an act of sabotage against Syria's efforts to secure peace, stability and security".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned Israel's "escalatory" strikes in Suweida and Damascus.

What could happen next?

The violence has underlined the fragility of Syria's post-war security and political landscape, with the most recent spate of violence fuelling fears of renewed sectarian attacks across Syria.

As Sharaa attempts to establish control over Syria and to unite its various groups, it remains to be seen whether his Islamist-dominated government will be able to reconcile Syria's deep-rooted sectarian divisions, stoked by years of civil war. The sectarian clashes, along with the Israeli strikes, threaten to derail attempts at state-building and post-war recovery.

Israel, for its part, is likely to continue to perceive the new authorities, and its affiliated Islamist fighters in the south, as a significant security threat - pushing it to pursue alliances with groups that may feel alienated by the new authorities.

More than half of Britain's busiest airports have raised "kiss-and-fly" fees for cars dropping off passengers close to terminals, according to research from the RAC.

The motoring group found 11 out of 20 UK airports had put up prices since last July, with Gatwick, Bristol, Leeds Bradford and Southampton joining Stansted in charging the top rate of £7 to park for a matter of minutes.

In contrast, at nine of the 10 busiest airports in the European Union there are no drop-off fees.

Airports UK, which represents the industry, said all hubs offer free drop-off options further from the terminals, such as "park and ride" facilities where people can leave their car and take a bus to the airport.

London Heathrow, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Liverpool all raised their prices by £1 to £6 for between 10 and 20 minutes.

The RAC also found that Cardiff airport had introduced a fee for the first time, asking £3 for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, London Luton and Manchester airports are the most expensive on a cost-per-minute basis, the research showed, with drivers paying £5 to stop for five minutes.

Rod Dennis, senior policy officer at the RAC, said: "Drivers are a captive audience and that's why we think airports are so keen on these sorts of fees. But honestly, £7 for a stop that could be no more than 10 minutes does seem a little steep.

"And the fact that these costs keep going up year after year I think is going to be a huge source of frustration for anyone dropping off a friend or loved one this summer."

In the RAC's survey of European airports, hubs including Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle charged nothing. Only Schipol in the Netherlands asked for €2.50 (£2.17) to kiss-and-fly.

Karen Dee, chief executive of Airports UK, said: "Where fees are charged, this helps airports manage and reduce congestion, noise, carbon emissions and air pollution for local communities, something that they are mandated to do by the Government and local authorities.

"These charges are a part of the airport business model and help enable the provision of the widest variety of flights from the airport."

London City airport was the only one on the list which charges no fee.

A spokesperson for Gatwick, said: "The drop off charge helps to limit the number of cars and reduces congestion at the entrance to our terminals and funds a number of sustainable transport initiatives."

It added that holders of a Blue Badge, which is a parking permit for people with disabilities or health conditions affecting mobility, remain exempt from the charge.

Belfast and Southampton also said Blue Badge holders remain exempt from the fees.

On lifting its kiss-and-fly prices, a spokesperson for Southampton, said: "All of the funds generated through our parking facility are reinvested into the airport and play an important role in securing new routes for the region."

The BBC has contacted other airports for comment.

A new photograph of Queen Camilla has been released to mark her 78th birthday on Thursday.

In the photo by Chris Jackson, the Queen is pictured smiling as she leans on a metal gate in a field at her private Wiltshire home, Raymill.

She is wearing gold drop earrings and a turquoise dress made from fabric featuring a rainforest of monkeys, toucans and lemurs.

The Queen was on duty on her birthday last year when she attended the State Opening of Parliament with King Charles III, but she is expected to spend this year's birthday privately.

The photo, taken earlier this month, also features her wedding band, her five carat emerald cut diamond engagement ring, and a gold ring composed of circular plaques on her little finger.

In April, the Queen also celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary to King Charles, who is still being treated for cancer.

Since then, the pair have had a busy few months of high profile engagements, including hosting a state visit by the French President Emmanuel Macron last week, attending Trooping the Colour in June, and visiting Canada for the opening of the country's parliament in May.

This week, the Queen also visited a children's hospice in Devon and HMS Astute, a nuclear-powered submarine, in Plymouth.

There, the Commander of HMS Astute, Christopher Bate, gifted the Queen a roll of clingfilm in a special holder for her birthday.

The wrapping was used to fix a defect in the main engines of the submarine, Bate explained.

"There's nothing more useful, brilliant, how wonderful," the Queen said of the present, which also featured a plaque with the words: "Clingflim keeping nuclear submarines at sea".

The Queen was also appointed a Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom, in recognition of her support of the Royal Navy, it was announced on the same day.

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The Duke of Sussex has followed in the footsteps of his mother, Princess Diana, as he visited a charity clearing landmines in Angola.

"Children should never have to live in fear of playing outside or walking to school," said Prince Harry, about the continuing threat of mines to the civilian population.

Prince Harry was in Angola supporting the work of the Halo Trust, the charity that had been backed by Princess Diana on her high-profile visit to the Central African country in 1997.

The image of the princess walking through a minefield, in a visor and body armour, had brought worldwide attention to the danger caused by mines left behind after wars had ended.

Prince Harry visited a village near to a minefield and met children who are given lessons in how to avoid detonating the explosives.

The Halo Trust has cleared 120,000 landmines in Angola, left over from years of civil war.

An estimated 60,000 people have been killed or injured by mines in the country since 2008 and about a thousand minefields are still to be cleared.

"The remnants of war still threaten lives every day," said Prince Harry, patron of the Halo Trust.

He also spent time with the British charity during a visit to Angola in 2019 when he walked through a partially-cleared minefield and set off a controlled explosion.

Earlier this week, Prince Harry met Angola's President Joao Lourenco, where the prince welcomed the government's renewed support for the charity's work.

James Cowan, the Halo Trust's chief executive, said: "We will continue our work in solidarity with the Angolan people until every last mine is cleared."

In January 1997, Princess Diana had been photographed in Angola in what became a symbolic image of the efforts to stop the harm to civilians from landmines.

She had walked on a path cleared through a minefield and had given her support to calls for an international ban on the use of landmines.

That had sparked a row, with the princess being criticised by some politicians for her views.

But the minefield where she had walked in 1997 was cleared and the site is now a thriving community, with local children attending the Princess Diana School.

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Thousands of people who own flats are seeking millions of pounds in compensation as part of planned legal action against the companies that own their apartment blocks.

Legal letters, seen by BBC News, allege freeholders - those who own the blocks of flats - took secret commission fees for arranging buildings insurance policies.

The letters claim the commission was then added to the service charges paid by the owners of the flats – or leaseholders – without their knowledge.

Lawyers suggest each flat owner could get up to £2,000 in compensation. The companies all deny they broke any rules.

The fees were paid to the freeholders by insurance companies for buying their products.

Leaseholders allege they were then added to the cost of the buildings insurance by the freeholder or their agents, and the total amount was charged to them in the form of service charges. They say this was done without their knowledge.

For instance, if the insurance on a block of flats cost £80,000, the insurer might pay £20,000 in commission to the freeholder for buying its product.

But they claim the entire £100,000 would then be charged to the leaseholders, without them knowing the total included the commission fee.

Legal firm Velitor Law has written to four large freeholders – E&J Estates, Consensus Business Group, Long Harbour and Ground Rents Income Funds – on behalf of 2,500 flat owners.

They allege the companies received commissions for arranging insurance policies that were "unlawful because it amounts to a secret commission received without our clients prior informed consent".

They are seeking not just the return of the commission, but also interest and any Insurance Premium Tax their clients have paid.

As insurance costs on blocks of flats have spiralled since the Grenfell Tower fire, and commissions are usually a percentage of the insurance costs, the lawyers allege that property owners have benefitted as a result of the disaster.

More companies are likely to be targeted, says Liam Spender, from Velitor Law, as 20,000 leaseholders have already signed up to the class action lawsuit.

"We started with those [four] for a variety of reasons – the number of claimants and to get the best spread across the country. But we think there might actually be 20 different landlord groups we could potentially go after."

A report from the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which was published in April 2023, found that commission rates on insurance could be as high as 62%.

The FCA found the average commission paid to an insurance broker increased from £1,785 per policy in 2019, to £2,595 in 2022.

"Most of the brokers in our sample," it wrote, "did not give us adequate evidence to show that they deliver fair value consistently for multi-occupancy buildings products."

Since January 2024, insurers and brokers are required to disclose how much insurance commission they are paying to freeholders.

David Walsh, who owns a flat in south-west London, is one of those who has joined the lawsuit.

The annual buildings insurance costs for his apartment block, which contains 144 flats, have tripled in recent years, he says, to more than £150,000 mainly because the building is assessed as having dangerous cladding. The service charge this year is almost £5,000.

Despite asking the freeholder, E&J Estates, how much commission it is receiving, Mr Walsh, 50, says he's still waiting for a response.

"They just ignored us for months, then they declined to comment, then they said 'no, that's not how we see it,'" he told the BBC.

"So I've never got to the bottom of the commissions. I've now signed up to the class action lawsuit but I was unaware until very recently that that's how the game was played."

The BBC approached the freeholders who are subject to the planned legal action. A spokesperson for Ground Rents Income Funds told the BBC that "we do not consider there to be any valid basis for a claim against GRIF."

Penult Capital Partners, which arranges insurance for E&J Estates, said "the various claims made by Velitor are fundamentally misconceived".

Consensus Business Group said any legal action "will be vigorously defended."

Homeground, which provides insurance products for Long Harbour, said its services are "subject to the Financial Conduct Authority's regulatory regime" and that "it receives commission in line with that strict regulatory framework".

Summer holiday clubs to cover Britain's six-week school break now cost parents an average of £1,076 per child, new figures suggest.

The price varies by region with some areas seeing hikes of up to 13% on last year, according to research by children's charity Coram.

High demand and a lack of cheaper council-run activities are driving up prices, it found.

"It's the amount you'd spend going on holiday, but you're working and you don't get to see your child," says mother Chiara Del Vescovo.

Most families depend on some form of childcare for part of the school holidays as an increasing number of households have two parents in full-time work and it is less common to live close to relatives.

That's true for Manchester mum Chiara as she and her partner try to juggle work alongside looking after their seven-year-old daughter.

"We are trying to co-ordinate with her friends so they can spend a few days in a holiday club together, but it's difficult and expensive, especially if you go for the full day," she says.

Last year, the average cost for a child in full-time holiday clubs for six weeks was £1,045, Coram found.

This year, Wales has seen a 6% increase and has the most expensive holiday clubs at £209.60 per week.

Yorkshire and the Humber recorded the biggest jump in price, up 13% this year to £194.41 per week.

Gilly Balfour is in charge of free holiday activities at Z-arts Children's Centre, in Manchester and says she understands why costs have had to increase for many providers.

"Art materials have gone up, food for lunches is up, we want to make sure that we're paying people well and have to get the correct ratios in terms of adults to children," she says "so you've got to factor in the whole cost."

In every area, childminders play a crucial role in plugging gaps in care, especially outside of normal school hours, but this data shows that they are, on average, £55 a week more than holiday clubs.

Stretch to pay upfront

For parents on Universal Credit, help is available through the childcare element of the benefit - but not in time to pay for clubs upfront.

The benefit is paid in arrears, so many families find it a stretch to pay for holiday clubs in advance before their childcare payment arrives four weeks later.

Rasheeda Anwar works part-time as a nurse in Reading and says paying for summer childcare for her two children simply isn't an option.

She is taking annual leave to cover as much as she can, and feels fortunate to have got her 14-year-old daughter into a free camp run by the organisation Sport in Mind.

"They're getting out in the fresh air. It's good for them so they're not glued to their phones. That's always my worry. I want her to experience different things, and they provide fruit and a healthy lunch," she says.

Lack of places

In England, that free care is paid for by the Holiday Activities and Food programme. It funds local authorities to provide holiday clubs for children on free school meals.

However, places on council-run schemes are often oversubscribed, and these figures suggest that on average private holiday clubs cost 21% more than those run by councils.

There are fewer holiday club places for children over seven, and availability drops significantly for children over 11.

Those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) of any age have even fewer options available. Just 9% of local authorities in England said they had enough provision for 75% of children with SEND in their area.

'Year-round reality'

The Local Government Association says: "While councils recognise the importance of ensuring there is sufficient provision available for children with SEND, it can be difficult to ensure the right provision is available, particularly given the challenging situation that many providers face at the moment."

Lydia Hodges is head of Coram Family and Childcare, and says that for many families, there are no other options.

"It's absolutely vital for parents to take work, to stay in work, and for children to be engaged in something positive during the school holidays," she says.

"So we think it's vital that we address the true reality of the situation of working childcare and that reality is a year-round one."

Ways to save money on childcare

• Flexible working All employees have a right to ask for it and if granted changing your hours could save you money on childcare
• Unpaid leave It's not ideal to lose pay but many of us would pay more in childcare through the holidays than we would earn at work
• Pooling childcare Agreeing a rota with other parents might be a handful but could save you all money and be fun for the children.
• Universal credit childcare funding Working families with this benefit can claim up to £1,031.88 a month for one child or £1,768.94 for two or more
• Holiday activities and food programme Local authorities offer free summer clubs for children in England who receive benefits-related free school meals
• Tax-free childcare accounts These can be used to pay for many registered Ofsted holiday clubs, and the government adds £2 for every £8 you put in.
• Read more: What childcare help is available?

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Israel's military struck the Syrian defence ministry in Damascus and government forces in southern Syria on Wednesday, as deadly sectarian fighting in the mostly Druze province of Suweida continued for a fourth day.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its forces were "working to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the regime's gangs". The Syrian foreign ministry accused Israel of "treacherous aggression".

More than 300 people are reported to have been killed in Suweida since Sunday, when clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes erupted.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was "very worried" about the violence in the south but believed it would end within hours.

"We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight," he wrote on X on Wednesday evening.

Syria's foreign ministry said the country "welcomes the efforts made by the US and Arabian sides" to "resolve the current crisis" peacefully.

Israel has not yet commented on the ceasefire bid.

Earlier the Syrian interior ministry announced that it had reached a ceasefire agreement with Druze leaders "as part of efforts to restore security and stability". It said military operations would end immediately, police would set up checkpoints in Suweida city, and that the province would be "fully integrated" into the Syrian state.

One Druze leader, Sheikh Yousef Jarbou, confirmed the agreement. But another who supports Israel's intervention, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, called for Druze fighters to continue fighting until the "total liberation of our province from gangs".

The Israeli military began striking Syrian security forces and their weapons on Monday, after they were deployed to the city of Suweida for the first time since Sunni Islamist-led rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Minority groups including the Druze - whose religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs - are suspicious of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his government, despite his pledges to protect them.

Their fears have been heightened by several outbreaks of sectarian violence over the past eight months, including one in May in which dozens of people were reportedly killed in clashes between Druze, security forces, and allied Islamist fighters in Damascus and Suweida.

In the wake of that fighting, the government reached an agreement with Druze militias to hire local security forces in Suweida province from their ranks.

Netanyahu has said he is committed to preventing harm to the Druze in Syria because of their deep ties to those living in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday afternoon that "the warnings in Damascus" had ended and that the Israeli military would "continue to operate vigorously in Suweida to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until they withdraw completely".

He later posted that "the painful blows have begun", above a video clip showing a TV presenter diving under a desk live on camera as an Israeli air strike hit the nearby entrance to the Syrian defence ministry in Umayyad Square, in central Damascus.

Fadi Al Halabi, a London-based Syrian filmmaker who is visiting Damascus, said he was nearby when he heard the Israeli fighter jets approach.

"People's faces were so afraid. Everyone started running [in] the street. No-one knew where to go. Suddenly the air strike[s] began, targeting some of the most crowded areas, including the ministry of defence," he told the BBC.

The Israeli military said it also struck a "military target in the area" of the presidential palace in the capital, as well as armoured vehicles loaded with heavy machine guns and weapons on their way to Suweida, and firing posts and weapons storage facilities in southern Syria.

Syria's foreign ministry said the strikes targeted government institutions and civilian facilities in Damascus and Suweida and killed "several innocent civilians".

"This flagrant assault, which forms part of a deliberate policy pursued by the Israeli entity to inflame tensions, spread chaos, and undermine security and stability in Syria, constitutes a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law," it added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, meanwhile reported that the humanitarian situation in Suweida city had rapidly deteriorated.

It cited sources as saying there were clashes in several area of the city and that tanks had attacked the national hospital, causing panic among the scores of casualties from the fighting being treated there. They also said there were acute shortages of water and medical supplies.

Later, the Syrian health ministry said government forces had entered the hospital and found "dozens of bodies" after "outlaw groups withdrew", according to the official Sana news agency.

A man named Hosam told the BBC he was in the centre of Suweida city and had witnessed civilians coming under fire from artillery and snipers.

"I lost my neighbour today on the street. One of the snipers shot him. We tried to [get an] ambulance [to take] him to hospital, but we couldn't," he said.

The SOHR says more than 300 people have been killed since Sunday in Suweida province.

They include 69 Druze fighters and 40 civilians, 27 of whom were summarily killed by interior ministry and defence ministry forces, according to the group.

At least 165 members of the government forces and 18 Bedouin tribal fighters have also been killed in the clashes, while 10 members of government forces have been killed in Israeli strikes, it says.

The BBC is not able to verify the SOHR's casualty figures.

The fighting between Bedouin tribes and Druze militias in Suweida is said to have been sparked by the abduction of a Druze merchant on the highway to Damascus last Friday.

On Sunday, armed Druze fighters reportedly encircled and later seized a neighbourhood of Suweida city that is inhabited by Bedouin. The clashes soon spread into other parts of Suweida province, with tribesmen reportedly launching attacks on nearby Druze towns and villages.

Syria's interior ministry later announced that its forces and those of the defence ministry would intervene and impose order, saying the "dangerous escalation comes in light of the absence of relevant official institutions".

Earlier this year, Israel's prime minister demanded the complete demilitarisation of Suweida and two other southern provinces. He said Israel saw President Sharaa's Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as a threat. HTS is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN and UK, but no longer by the US.

The Israeli military has already carried out hundreds of strikes across Syria to destroy the country's military assets since the fall of the Assad regime.

And it has sent troops into the UN-monitored demilitarised buffer zone between the occupied Golan Heights and Syria, as well as several adjoining areas and the summit of Mount Hermon.