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Fears of Boko Haram comeback stir in Nigerian birthplace of Maiduguri

Children play under the shade of trees

On the road running from Maiduguri’s airport to the city, the freshly repainted walls of a girls’ college stood in defiant opposition to a years-long campaign by the jihadists of Boko Haram to make good on their name, which translates as “western education is forbidden”.

At a nearby roundabout on the outskirts of the capital of Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state, three uniformed men sprinted after a cement truck, hoping to collect a road levy. As the driver sped away, they slowed down in the 42C heat, smiled regretfully, and waited for the next heavy duty vehicle to pass.

At the peak of Boko Haram’s 15-year insurgency, bombs went off with frightening regularity at the popular Monday market. But the city – known as the birthplace of Boko Haram – has not suffered a major attack since February 2021, and the low-key security atmosphere reflected its relative tranquility.

The group was founded in 2002, but its campaign of terror took off in 2009, after the killing of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, by police in July of that year. More than 36,000 people were killed and 2.2 million others displaced. In one particularly notorious incident 11 years ago this month, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a school in the town of Chibok.

Many outside the region assumed the insurgency had been extinguished, but on 8 April this year Borno’s governor, Babagana Zulum, issued a troubling warning: Boko Haram was staging a comeback. Zulum told a meeting of security agents that renewed attacks and kidnappings were occurring “almost on a daily basis without confrontation”, in a sign that the state’s authorities were “losing ground”.

Zulum made the warning less than a month after gunmen raided two military bases in Borno and his security convoy reportedly intercepted a Boko Haram ambush attempt. The number of fatalities in both cases remains unclear.

In response to Zulum, a spokesperson for the military authorities said: “The military is sacrificing a lot, and our efforts should be appreciated.”

Nigeria’s information minister, Mohammed Idris, also said the armed groups have been “largely dissipated”, toeing the tone of his predecessor Lai Mohammed, who in 2015 said they had been “technically defeated”.

“We’re not saying that we have 100% exterminated Boko Haram,” Idris said after the security meeting. “But I think that we’ve degraded Boko Haram significantly for them to pose any kind of significant challenge for us as a country.”

Zulum fired back: “I believe he is naive about what is happening in the country.”

In recent years, a multinational coalition between Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria has reclaimed territory controlled by Boko Haram and helped to secure garrison towns from attacks. The group has simultaneously been weakened by a split into two factions that often fight among themselves.

In January 2024, Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s president, promised to “stamp out the remaining vestiges of Boko Haram, Ansaru, banditry and kidnapping gangs”.

“We won’t rest until every agent of darkness is completely rooted out,” he added.

However, analysts have said troops are struggling to contain jihadists in the “Timbuktu Triangle” – a term referencing the Malian city, a former jihadist stronghold – and used to denote an area stretching from eastern Yobe state into western Borno.

Beyond the attacks on army bases, local reports said 40 farmers were reportedly killed and several others kidnapped by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in January. The latter faction split to ally with Islamic State and has taken on a different style, taxing some villages and small towns that they control and remitting taxes to commanders.

There are also fears that thousands of displaced households sent from camps back to their villages under a resettlement scheme may now be under threat.

As long as ago as 2023 the International Crisis Group warned of the resettlement scheme: “The hasty process is endangering displaced people’s lives – putting them closer to the fighting and cutting them off from support. By exposing civilians to hardship, the government risks giving jihadist groups an opportunity to forge ties with relocated communities and draw benefits from their economic activities.”

The situation in Yobe is tense. In September 34 people were killed in an attack, then in March a pro-Tinubu media outlet reported that villagers in Gujba, where more than 40 students were massacred in 2013, had been given eviction notices by Boko Haram for helping the army defeat the jihadists in a recent battle. The authorities claimed there was “no credible intelligence” backing the report.

In late March, Niger withdrew from the military coalition, prompting concerns about intelligence sharing and the capacity to keep jihadists at bay after the exit of French and American troopsfrom the Sahel. A new and much bigger regional force, established this year, is yet to get on its feet.

In Maiduguri, some say the Tinubu administration has been complacent and accuse the national security adviser of being more focused on political matters.

In a clinic in the city, an aid worker who wanted to remain anonymous watched student nurses roam the hallways. “Everybody has forgotten Maiduguri,” they said.

Babagana Zulum talking into a microphonePeople sit on mats under the shade of an outdoor structure

普京感谢朝鲜士兵为收复库尔斯克做出贡献


2025-04-28T10:08:39.618Z
普京2024年6月访问平壤时同金正恩为二战红军烈士纪念碑献花圈

(德国之声中文网)​俄罗斯总统普京周一(4月28日)正式确认,朝鲜士兵在俄罗斯境内参与了战斗,并感谢他们在收复库尔斯克地区中的贡献。​普京在一份声明中表示,这些部队的作战行动是基于俄朝之间的战略伙伴关系协议,因此符合国际法。​

这份由克里姆林宫公布的声明称,“朝鲜朋友的行动出于团结、公正和真正的战友情谊。”普京强调,俄罗斯将永远铭记在战斗中牺牲的朝鲜士兵,但他并未透露朝鲜部队是否已全部撤出。

​俄罗斯军方于上周六宣布,对库尔斯克地区的收复已经完成。​然而,俄乌边境地区的局势仍不明朗。​乌克兰军方称,乌军仍控制着俄罗斯领土上数平方公里区域。​

周一早些时候,朝鲜方面也首度确认其部队曾在俄罗斯作战。朝鲜领导人金正恩首次公开将派遣到俄罗斯的士兵称为“英雄”,计划在平壤为战死的士兵建立纪念碑。 ​

韩国是最早透露朝鲜向俄罗斯派兵的国家,去年秋季,平壤向莫斯科派遣了约11000名士兵,据韩国情报部门的消息,今年朝鲜增派了3000人,他们主要在库尔斯克地区作战,遭受了重大损失,伤亡4000余人,部分朝鲜士兵被乌克兰军队俘虏。​

国际社会对朝鲜军事介入战争支援俄罗斯表示谴责,认为这违反了联合国安理会的相关决议,并加剧地区紧张局势。

(德新社等)

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视奸了前女友,发现她过的并不幸福

Heimerdinger:

分手十多年,双方早已删除了对方的联系方式,我无意间点开早已卸载的 Q 宠大乱斗,才发现游戏中我们还挂着 “夫妻” 标识

顺着游戏拿到了绑定的 QQ ,再通过 QQ 找到了她的手机和地址信息,发现她在南方某个地级市,把她的电话导入通讯录后,抖音推荐列表跳出她的账号,一个三四岁的小女孩在游乐场滑梯上笑得见牙不见眼。

注册了新 QQ 潜入她的空间,相册权限设置的是回答问题可见,只是看了一眼提问便猜到了答案,相册里除了生活照,还躺着大量聊天记录截图,其中一张标题为 “陪着我的时候想着她”

原来她早在 18 年就已结婚,老公是个二流子, 两人一直在电子厂上班,照片里的她眼角已爬上细纹,眼神疲惫。如今又怀上了二胎,聊天记录里是她老公和出轨对象讨论带她产检的事,对方也是个快 40 岁的有夫之妇,估计是同车间的女工。其余聊天记录里夹杂着保证书和争吵,其中一张照片上,电视屏幕已经被砸烂。

最讽刺的是她的 QQ 昵称依然焊接着她和她老公两人的姓名,空间里第一篇日记标题是 “相识十周年”。我看完了所有的照片退出页面时,突然意识到:在电子厂永不停歇的流水线上,她的婚姻就像台老化的机器,在出轨、原谅、再出轨的死循环里。

中国利用社交账号创造台湾民众分身 学者示警可预测民意成统战利器

中国学者和小红书工程师发布可利用一千万个虚拟分身进行互动并模拟台湾民意的论文,有学者示警可用来对台进行认知作战。

论文网站arXiv刊登题为〈由 LLM 代理和 1000 万个真实用户池提供支援的社交模拟世界模型〉论文,宣称其推出的SocioVerse,可用于社会模拟的大型语言模型( LLM) 代理驱动的世界模型,针对政治、新闻、经济三大领域大规模模拟验证,可反应大规模人口动态,确保多样、可信和代表性。

美国内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校政治系副教授王宏恩24日在“思想坦克”网站以〈当开放资料被拿来模拟整个国家〉文章示警,此研究突破过去算力不足、资讯量不够大、模型不够复杂等限制,创造出上千万个虚拟分身,并让这些虚拟分身互动,如同模拟一整个千万人口的国家。

虚拟分身模拟、预测民意 成对台统战利器

王宏恩文中提到,中国厦门大学台湾研究院自2018年成立“两岸融合发展与国家统一政策模拟实验室”,宣称要“实现祖国完全统一的重大战略需求”,借由台湾的资料进行电脑模拟,预测两岸统一的各种可能状况,与这篇论文的研究在做一样的事。

王宏恩表示,此研究使用X平台和小红书的一千万个使用者过去的活动资料,利用Llama、通义千问、Deepseek等演算法,创造出一千万个AI虚拟分身,回答美国总统选举投票意向、美国经济状况等传统民调问题时,接近真实世界答案,不输电话民调。连过去不涉政治的小红书都能成为AI模型,让中国可在取得更完善台湾资料的情况下,针对全台湾人进行模拟,规划不同统战策略、不同涉台策略、不同话术所造成的影响进行直接模拟,这无疑地强化了中国对台统战的能力。

台湾粉丝专页“高雄好过日”也质疑,中共正建立全台网路用户大模型,预测与操弄民意。文中提及,这群以复旦大学为主的一群中国学者和小红书工程师,捞了X平台上100万个公开帐号,及小红书900万个帐号的大量发文,利用LLM标注15个向度的人口学标签,经过人工微调后,产生这1000万人的“数位孪生(Digital Twin)”,即作者所称SocioVerse。再用社会结构、新闻动态、个人化内容架构出来的“社会环境”、模拟民调、访谈等的“情境”、让一千万“数位孪生”彼此互动。

“高雄好过日”指出,此模型可怕之处在收集的社会资料、个人资料越多,越能做出真实的模拟结果,就可轻易地丢素材进去,模拟认知作战对于民调、甚至投票行为的变化。

王宏恩文中进一步指出,厦门大学“两岸融合发展与国家统一政策模拟实验室”下的数据中心和资讯中心2022年的对外招标文件显示,该中心系统性收集台湾资料如经贸、政治、军事、文化等领域“信息流”,进行分析,形成决策,包括台湾政治人物势力分布、政商关系、台湾军舰巡航信息展示,涵盖国防军事、两岸交流等内容。

“高雄好过日”粉丝页也提及,2024年,厦门大学海峡两岸城市规划研究所发表题为“尽快启动台湾接管准备”的文章,包含“凝聚岛内反台独力量”、“建立台湾治理试验区”、让“引进台湾退休军公教人员协助制定接管细节”。对比中国积极进行“统战AI”与“渗透AI”的开发,迫在眉睫的资讯作战需求,台湾的相应措施远远不足。

AI主权资料的建立与保护

王宏恩也呼吁台湾应建立AI主权资料的概念,对于重要且影响国安的资料,应该尽量保护于国内自由使用、国外严格查核,相关保护措施也应随着资料收集以及编译方式与时具进。

抨击中共、六四真相 会否被屏蔽?

台湾智库、国家安全研究院网路安全与决策推演研究所副研究员曾怡硕接受自由亚洲电台采访指出,厦门大学台湾研究所收集的是公开资料,是否进一步创造虚拟个人分身去进行互动,以模拟社会脉动,以及是否已过滤掉很多内容,必须被考虑。

曾怡硕说:“他们内部对一些语言的忌讳会进行屏蔽。比如台湾抨击中共的言论、台湾讨论六四,也是社会脉动的一部份,也会被放进厦门大学台研所的模拟吗?如果他们可以跨越内部自我设限的鸿沟,当然可更贴近台湾脉络,未必不是好事,避免误判,而不是用自以为是的想法,或只取用台湾部份人士的看法,再加上公开资料,坐在键盘前天马行空。”

两岸政策协会研究员吴瑟致接受自由亚洲电台采访指出,台湾是民主社会,政府公开言论或研究调查都是开放的,容易遭专制政权使用。中共对台也会调整修正以使统战效果更精准。

吴瑟致说:“台湾必须更在意反统战作为是不是能够超前部署,即时因应的对策,这是所有民主国家面对的问题,对这些资料管制作边界使用,需要政府单位、相关专业人士研拟。”

吴瑟致认为,完全封闭、禁止使用在台湾等民主国家有困难,该思考当中共模拟过程中使用小红书或相关的APP,大数据所涉及的个资、人民使用软件的习惯被掌握,台湾民众应有危机意识,防范外泄。台湾政府如何强化台湾的韧性是努力方向。

据厦门大学官网,“两岸融合发展与国家统一政策模拟实验室”,在原大数据和民调中心、文献信息中心等基础上组建,围绕国家统一形势分析与预测、国家统一情境仿真模拟、两岸融合发展政策模拟分析、“一国两制”台湾方案模拟分析等方向开展研究和教学,通过人工智能、虚拟仿真、实验教学、案例教学等方式,力图构建能够增进祖国大陆、海峡两岸和港澳地区、国际社会对“两岸融合发展政策”和“国家统一政策”理解和支持的政策模拟平台。

本台28日多次拨打该实验室主任、政治所所长陈先才及教授刘国深专线,均无人接听。

责编:陈美华 许书婷

© Reuters

中国利用小红书账号创造台湾民众分身,可预测民意成统战利器。

Ukraine Pinning War Hopes on Expanded Drone Program

With uncertainty looming over cease-fire talks and U.S. support, the Ukrainian military is relying more than ever on domestically produced drones.

© Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Flying a drone in Ukraine last week. The technology gives the pilot the video equivalent of a front-row seat as bombs hurtle into Russian soldiers, cars, tanks or bunkers.

Josh Hawley and the Republican Populists, at War With Their Party

The conservative senator from Missouri, better known for his raised fist in solidarity with Trump supporters on Jan. 6, is embracing a key rhetorical theme in the president’s political ascendancy.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

Since his arrival to the Senate in 2019, Josh Hawley has charted two seemingly parallel courses: as a full-throttle champion of socially conservative causes and as a populist.

Kurdish Distrust of Syria’s New Government Runs Deep

The Kurdish-led force that runs northeast Syria has agreed to integrate into a new national army, but some of its supporters remain wary.

© Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times

Coffins display deceased family members’ photographs as mourners gather to grieve the loss of a couple and their eight children, killed by a Turkish forces attack on their home days before, during a funeral last month in Kobani, Syria.

Girl, 5, among Vancouver dead as suspect charged

Reuters Police officers work at the scene, the morning after a vehicle was driven into a crowd at a Filipino community Lapu Lapu Day block party, in VancouverReuters

Vancouver's Filipino community has been left in shock and mourning after a car ramming attack left 11 people dead on Saturday.

The attack, which took place at the annual Lapu Lapu festival which celebrates Filipino culture, also left dozens wounded.

The event's organisers said the city's tight-knit Filipino community is "grieving" and that the attack's impact will be felt for years to come.

A 30-year-old suspect - who police said has a history of mental health issues - has been taken into custody.

Police have yet to reveal a motive for the attack, but said they do not believe it was an act of terrorism.

The attack took place at approximately 20:14 local time on Saturday (03:14 GMT) at East 43rd Avenue and Fraser in the south of Vancouver.

At the scene on Sunday, people began laying flowers and paying their respects.

One woman doubled over sobbing before walking off. Another woman, named Donna, said she lived in the neighbourhood for more than 50 years.

She was at the festival and said it was packed with young people and families.

"People were here to celebrate and have fun," she told the BBC. "This is tragic."

Speaking at a news conference the following day, RJ Aquino, the head of the Filipino BC organisation, said that "last night was extremely difficult and the community will feel this for a long time."

"We know that there's a lot of questions floating about and we don't have all the answers, but we want to tell everybody that we're grieving," he added.

Mr Aquino said that the attack caused considerable confusion and chaos in the city's tight-knit Filipino community, with many residents calling one another to check on their loved ones.

"I don't think my phone has buzzed that much in my entire life," he said. "There was a lot of panic and, you know, relief, when somebody answers."

Reuters A man places tributes on a fence, the morning after a vehicle was driven into a crowd at a Filipino community Lapu Lapu day block party, in Vancouver.Reuters
Community members began laying flowers near the scene on Sunday

At a separate news briefing on Sunday, acting Vancouver police chief Steve Rai said it was the "darkest day" in the city's history.

He said "dozens" of people were injured in the attack, some seriously.

"The number of dead could rise in the coming days or weeks," he told reporters, adding that men, women and young people were among the victims.

The suspect - who has not been named - was taken into custody by police officers after being detained by bystanders at the scene.

While Rai declined to specify any potential motive, he said that he "can now say with confidence that the evidence in this case does not lead us to believe this was an act of terrorism."

The suspect, he added, has "a significant history of interactions with police and healthcare professionals related to mental health".

Formal criminal charges have not yet been filed.

The festival in Vancouver - home to over 140,000 Canadians of Filipino descent - takes place every year to commemorate Lapu-Lapu, a national hero who resisted Spanish colonisation in the 1500s.

Tens of thousands of people were in attendance at the event.

According to Rai, police had conducted a threat assessment ahead of the festival, and had partially closed a road on a street behind a school where the bulk of the festivities were taking place.

There was nothing to indicate a higher threat level for the event, he added.

The street where the attack took place was largely being used by food trucks and there were no barriers in place.

Rai said that the incident would be a "watershed moment" for city officials and first responders.

The attack came just before Canada's federal election on 28 April, prompting Prime Minister Mark Carney to cancel large gatherings of Liberal Party supporters in Calgary and Richmond.

Smaller community-focused events in Saskatoon and Edmonton were expected to continue as planned.

In a televised address to Canadians, Carney said he was "heartbroken" and "devastated" by the attack.

The main opposition candidate, Pierre Polievre, continued campaigning as the candidates sought to make final pitches to voters before they head to the polls.

One Canadian political leader, the New Democrats' Jagmeet Singh, was among those who attended the Lapu Lapu festival on Saturday, and subsequently changed his planned events on Sunday.

He said it was "heart-breaking" to see that "such joy can be torn apart so violently.

"I saw families gathered together, I saw children dancing, I saw pride in culture, in history and community," he added.

Top-brand baby food pouches lack key nutrients, lab-testing by BBC finds

Getty Images A toddler with blondey-brown hair sucking a pouch of baby food, which she is holding with both hands. She is wearing a burgundy top and dungarees. Getty Images

Baby food pouches from six of the UK's leading brands are failing to meet key nutritional needs of babies and toddlers - with parents being "misled" by their marketing - BBC Panorama has been told.

Laboratory testing of 18 pouches made by Ella's Kitchen, Heinz, Piccolo, Little Freddie, Aldi and Lidl found many to be low in vitamin C and iron, while some contained more sugar in a single pouch than a one-year-old should have in a day.

There are more than 250 of these products on the multi-million pound baby pouch market - they have become a staple for many households with babies and children up to the age of two or three. They are convenient and have long shelf lives.

Experts have told the BBC the products should only be used sparingly, are not replacements for homemade meals, and can cause children health problems if used as their main source of nutrition.

When we put this to the brands, the market leader Ella's Kitchen said it agreed with all three points.

All of the brands said their products were intended as a complementary part of a child's varied weaning diet.

The brands also told the BBC they are committed to infant health, and they provide quality, nutritional products that meet UK regulations.

18 baby food pouches lined up in three rows, against a white background. There is a selection of savoury, fruit and yoghurt.

Young children should be protected from commercial interests, experts told us - while the government said existing laws already set nutritional requirements for baby foods.

A laboratory approved by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service was commissioned by Panorama to independently test the nutritional value of a fruit, yoghurt and savoury pouch from each of the six leading brands.

Our investigation found:

  • Savoury pouches, used by some families as replacements for main meals, containing less than 5% of the key nutrient, iron, that an infant needs each day
  • A fruit pouch in which virtually all the vitamin C had been lost during the manufacturing process
  • Fruit pouches marketed as having "no added sugar" containing about four teaspoons of so-called "free sugars" (created when fruit is blended) - something that experts say is "intentionally misleading"
  • Pouches being marketed to babies as young as four months old, against the clear recommendations of the UK government and the World Health Organization (WHO)

'Misleading' nutrition claims

"You think they are going to be nutritionally good for your child," said one parent, Hazel, during a focus group on baby food pouches at Leeds University.

"You trust the brands… it's really, really concerning."

However, public health experts have been unified in telling the BBC that no parent should feel guilty for using the products.

The nutritional claims of baby food pouches are misleading, according to Dr Alison Tedstone, who spent nine years as chief nutritionist to the UK government.

"You think as a parent it is a healthy product, and it just isn't," she said.

Many of the biggest brands use "halo-marketing" - surrounding products with healthy words or phrases - according to Dr Tedstone.

Ella's Kitchen, for example, describes savoury products as "perfectly balanced for growing babies", while Piccolo claims many pouches are "packed with goodness".

Some Little Freddie pouches come branded as "Good for Brains" and Heinz claims some of its fruit products are "as nutritionally good as homemade".

Piccolo and Little Freddie told us their packaging accurately represented the key ingredients and flavours contained in their products, while Ella's Kitchen said it "would never use" misleading claims. Heinz did not address our questions on marketing.

'Very, very low in iron'

Savoury pouches are often used by parents as a main meal - but of the six such products sent for laboratory testing, none could provide a significant contribution to the 7.8mg of iron an infant needs in a day.

Iron is a key nutrient for a healthy immune system, growth and brain development - but levels are not shown on the products' labelling.

By seven months old, "babies' iron stores are starting to run out, so we now need to get that from food," explained Bahee Van de Bor, a paediatric dietitian from the British Dietetic Association.

A bar graph of the iron levels in six popular baby food pouches. All six provide 1mg or less of iron, when the recommended daily amount for infants is 7.8mg.

Our lab results found that none of the pouches came close to the 3mg of iron that Ms Van de Bor would want an infant to be having from a main meal.

Of the four pouches that contained meat - known to be a good source of iron - Heinz's Sweet Potato, Chicken and Veggies contained the lowest, with just over 0.3mg of iron.

"That's really low. Very, very low," Ms Van de Bor told the BBC. "That doesn't meet even 5% of [an infant's] daily requirements."

The ingredients list on the back of the pouch says it contains 12% chicken - "so the iron-rich food is a very tiny amount," she said.

All the companies stressed they were committed to providing nutritious products for babies, and that their products were intended as a complementary part of a child's varied weaning diet. Little Freddie added that its products were not intended to be meal replacements for one-year-olds.

Bahee Van de Bor, a paediatric dietitian from the British Dietetic Association, looking pensively into the camera. She has shoulder-length dark brown wavy hair and is wearing a purple top.
Paediatric dietician Bahee Van de Bor says she was "surprised" by the lab results

Sugar and tooth decay

Alongside savoury products, companies also sell pouches containing only fruit, which are leaving dentists concerned about the potential for tooth decay.

The NHS says an infant should have as little sugar as possible, and that a one-year-old child should have no more than 10g of free sugars a day.

Free sugars occur when fruit is pureed, as is the case with the pouches. Unlike eating fresh fruit - which is much better for a child - pureeing releases sugar from inside fruit cell walls and can be absorbed much more quickly.

A recent British Dental Association (BDA) report, shared exclusively with the BBC, indicated that 37 of 60 fruit pouches found on supermarket shelves contained more free sugar than this 10g guideline.

The NHS says eating too many free sugars can also lead to weight gain.

Children who are "barely out of weaning" are coming to hospital for multiple tooth extractions because of tooth decay caused by their diets, said Eddie Crouch, BDA chief executive.

"It's obviously not all down to these pouches," he added. "But clearly, regular use and feeding with these pouches with such high levels of sugar cause serious problems to the general health of children as they're growing up."

Some pouches contain higher levels of sugar than some fizzy drinks. The highest found by the BBC was Ella's Kitchen's Bananas and Apples, which has 19.6g of sugar - equivalent to more than four teaspoons.

At the same time, Ella's Kitchen - as well as Lidl, Aldi, Piccolo and Heinz - label their products as containing "no added sugar".

While such claims are truthful and not breaking any guidelines, Mr Crouch believes "the wording itself is intended to mislead".

Piccolo said it develops "recipes that combine fruits with vegetables" to reduce sugar levels, while Ella's Kitchen said that, "the sugar content would be the same if you pureed the ingredients yourself at home" and that it has "a dedicated sugar reduction pathway for 2025".

Heinz, Aldi, Little Freddie and Lidl all said their products contained "no added sugars".

Vitamin C lost

The BBC found that nearly all the vitamin C in one of the fruit pouches tested had been lost during the manufacturing process.

Vitamin C is important for immune systems and an infant needs 25mg a day, the government says. But the Pure Mango pouch from Piccolo had, in effect, no vitamin C left - less than 0.1mg. This is despite the same amount of fresh mango (70g) containing 18.2mg of vitamin C.

"That is a huge surprise for me," said paediatric dietitian Ms Van de Bor. What's left is "free sugars, sadly, and fluids", she said, plus a "small amount" of fibre.

A bar graph chart showing the Vitamin C levels in six baby food fruit pouches from leading brands. All pouches fall below the recommended daily amount of Vitamin C, apart from an apple pouch by Heinz, which adds Vitamin C during production.

Vitamin C is heat sensitive, which means it degrades because the food inside pouches is heated to ensure safety and increase shelf life.

We tested three separate production batches of the mango pouch, and all came back with the same result.

However, not all the pouches had low results. Heinz's Apple pouch - which has vitamin C added - and Ella's Kitchen's Bananas pouch tested high in vitamin C.

Piccolo said vitamins degrade during processing, so it boosts many of its fruit pouches with ingredients rich in vitamin C. Ella's Kitchen said it keeps the loss of vitamin C to a minimum.

None of the other brands commented directly on our vitamin C results.

Ignoring expert guidance

We also found that the six companies had failed to implement some NHS, Public Health England and WHO recommendations.

Piccolo, Aldi and Ella's Kitchen currently promote their fruit pouches to babies as young as four months, despite the NHS and WHO saying babies should not be given solid food until about the age of six months.

Introducing products at four months old, added Dr Tedstone, is "a whole eight weeks of extra product sales".

"I think we should put our babies' health ahead of commercial incentives to sell more product," she said.

Dr Kremlin Wickramasinghe from the World Health Organization, who has short dark hair and wire-rimmed glasses, sits at a table with his hands clasped together. Some upturned glasses are in front of him on the table and he is wearing a white shirt and suit jacket.
Dr Wickramasinghe would like to see the UK government bring in mandatory legislation

Dr Kremlin Wickramasinghe from the World Health Organization (WHO) told the BBC that companies promoting foods to parents of four-month-olds were acting "against the best interest of the babies".

Companies are now making changes to the age recommendations on their products. Since we began our investigation Ella's Kitchen has announced that by March next year it will only recommend pouches for babies older than six months to align with UK guidance. Piccolo told us it has begun relabelling all four-month packets to six-months. And since we contacted Aldi, it has said it will make that change too, "in line with other brands and retailers".

Babies should not feed from the spout

Baby food pouches are topped off with a little spout, but both the NHS and the World Health Organization say it should not be used to suck directly from the pouch. It means babies can eat too fast and it can cause dental decay.

None of the companies we looked at used front-of-pack labelling to advise parents against feeding children directly from the spout, despite this being a Public Health England recommendation made in 2019.

We also found that Piccolo was promoting the "convenience" of eating directly from the pouch on its website, which said: "There is no need for extra utensils because food pouches can be squeezed right into a baby's mouth."

Since the BBC contacted the company, this has been removed - but the brand does have multiple videos on social media showing children eating from pouches through the spout.

Piccolo didn't respond when asked about its social media images.

All the other brands say their labelling - on the back of pouches - either recommends parents use a spoon, or to not let babies eat directly from the spout.

'We need to protect our babies'

Mandatory legislation is what is needed, said Dr Tedstone and the WHO's Dr Wickramasinghe.

The current UK regulations that cover baby food were written in 2003, before baby food pouches came to market. They provide some guidelines for labelling, prohibit the use of pesticides and set out the minimum and maximum levels of some nutrients. But campaigners say they are outdated and do not ensure products are nutritionally appropriate or stop them being promoted to four month olds.

"I would hope that ministers, when they think about the baby food industry, recognise that we need to protect our babies," said Dr Tedstone.

"[Businesses] are not going to [change] unless they are forced to."

Lidl said it welcomed clear government guidelines, while Little Freddie said it actively participated in policy consultations. Ella's Kitchen said it would "never, ever" put profit above the health of children.

Voluntary guidelines for manufacturers aimed at improving standards were drawn up for the government by Public Health England in 2020, but haven't been published by either the Conservative or Labour administrations.

Existing laws already ensure that the safety and quality of baby foods and the claims made on packaging are clear and accurate, the Department of Health and Social Care told the BBC.

It added that it was "committed to tackling the childhood obesity crisis and improving children's health through our Plan for Change".

Brands, said Dr Wickramasinghe "will always come up with the argument why we shouldn't introduce these regulations."

"But we never really quantify the cost [of inaction] to the children... and to the NHS."

School uniforms to change for millions of pupils under plans to reduce branded items

Kate McGough / BBC Inside a uniform exchange in Darlington, there are rows of professionally-cleaned school sweatshirts, blazers and summer dresses hanging up in a rainbow of different colours.Kate McGough / BBC

Planned changes to school uniform policy will affect over four million pupils across England, according to new estimates from the Department for Education (DfE).

The government says seven in 10 secondary schools and 35% of primary schools in England will have to reduce the number of compulsory branded items to three, plus a branded tie for secondary students.

The new rule is part of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which still has several parliamentary stages to go through before becoming a law.

The government says families will save money, but school wear manufacturers warn the plans could end up costing them more.

The average cost of a full school uniform and PE kit for a child at secondary school is £442, and is £343 for a primary school pupil, according to the latest DfE data.

Existing statutory guidance, introduced by the previous government, requires schools to consider the cost of their uniform so that it is not a deciding factor for parents when choosing schools.

The current government wants to go further, by limiting the number of items unique to a school that have to be bought from designated suppliers.

The government claims parents will save around £50 per child through the school uniform measures, which it hopes to introduce in September 2026.

But uniform retailers warn that the planned changes might increase costs for families. The Schoolwear Association says the plans could mean parents spend more on replacing lower-quality generic garments which might not last as long as branded items.

They say branded uniforms also play a role in reducing inequality in schools and improving behaviour.

Kate McGough / BBC Inside a uniform exchange in Darlington, there are rows of professionally-cleaned school summer dresses hanging up in a rainbow of different colours.Kate McGough / BBC
Full school uniforms can cost parents hundreds of pounds

Many parents rely on uniform exchanges to afford the full list of items required by their children's schools.

At Darlington Borough Council's exchange, located on the ground floor of a multi-storey car park, all the uniforms have been donated and are free to local parents, who are able to stock up on branded items from over 25 schools in the area.

The exchange has been running for five years and has given out approximately 12,000 items to 4,000 customers.

Volunteer Kay says she is worried some school uniform policies will still be too strict even after the government's planned limit on logos comes into force.

"Some of the schools are particular about a certain skirt, a certain style from a certain supplier - so that can cause problems and be quite expensive for parents," she says.

But she says it is a good thing that more parents will be able to buy more of their uniforms from other retailers, like supermarkets.

Kate McGough / BBC Kay is smiling at the camera inside the uniform exchange. She is stood in front of a rail of green uniforms, with boxes of shoes in the background. She has short brown hair and is wearing a striped blue shirt underneath a black vested jumper.Kate McGough / BBC
Volunteer Kay provides free uniforms for local families from the ground floor unit of Feethams car park in Darlington

In Darlington town centre, one mum with two sons at primary school and a daughter in secondary said she was worried about the jump in uniform costs coming when her sons join secondary school.

"It's just a nightmare," she said.

"My daughter's school is really strict on the uniform. You can't get black trousers, it's got to be grey, or pleated skirts. For their shoes alone I'm looking at £60 a year, and there's three of them. That's not including blazers, PE kits or anything else.

"It's a lot of money when it all adds up."

Matt Perry, head teacher at The Halifax Academy in West Yorkshire, says he makes sure pupils follow the school's rules on uniform, but also wants to ensure it is affordable for parents.

The school gives its pupils ties for free, and parts of the PE kit and a school blazer are the only compulsory items with branding on.

The school may cut back further if limits to branded items are brought in.

Kate McGough / BBC Matt Perry smiles into the camera stood outside the Halifax Academy. He is bald and wearing a dark suit jacket over a white shirt. The school building is behind him on the left side of the image, with a school field on the right. He is stood under a blossom tree and the pink ends of the branches are just visible at the top of the image.Kate McGough / BBC
Halifax head teacher Matt Perry says uniforms are important, but they can be flexible with the rules where necessary

The school is in an area of Halifax with high deprivation, and has a uniform bank as well as a laundrette to wash pupils' uniforms.

Mr Perry says branded school uniform can bring a sense of pride and inclusion, but that tough uniform policies can be a barrier to attendance.

"There are so many different factors that children have to face in order to have clean and correct uniform that is used daily," he says.

"As long as we see the families really trying to adhere to the uniform policy that we've got, we can be flexible with how we interpret that. So if it is in the right colours but it's not branded, that doesn't matter to us."

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill is due to go through its second reading in the House of Lords later this week.

Trump's first 100 days - and the rapid remaking of a nation

BBC President Trump in a suit, holding a red cap in front of graphic of White House with red and blue vertical lines on either side.BBC

During last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump constantly repeated his intention to bring about dramatic change as soon as he returned to the White House.

But few expected it to come at such breakneck speed.

In the three months since he took the oath of office, the 47th president has deployed his power in a way that compares to few predecessors.

In stacks of bound documents signed off with a presidential pen and policy announcements made in all caps on social media, his blizzard of executive actions has reached into every corner of American life.

To his supporters, the shock-and-awe approach has been a tangible demonstration of an all-action president, delivering on his promises and enacting long-awaited reforms.

But his critics fear he is doing irreparable harm to the country and overstepping his powers - crippling important government functions and perhaps permanently reshaping the presidency in the process.

Here are six turning points from the first 100 days.

Day 20 - Presidential Power

A social media post sets off a constitutional firestorm

For once, it wasn't a Trump social media post that sparked an outcry.

Three weeks into the new term, at 10.13am on a Sunday morning, Vice-President JD Vance wrote nine words that signalled a strategy which has since shaped the Trump administration's second term.

"Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power," he declared on X.

In the media frenzy that followed, legal experts lined up to challenge that assertion, pointing to a 220-year-old principle which lies at the heart of American democracy.

Courts have the power to check and strike down any government action - laws, regulations and executive orders - they think violates the US Constitution.

Vance's words represented a brazen challenge to judicial authority and, more broadly, the system of three co-equal branches of government crafted by America's founders.

But Trump and his team remain unapologetic in extending the reach of the executive branch into the two other domains - Congress and the courts.

Getty Images Mount Rushmore features four U.S. presidents carved into the granite: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.Getty Images
Three co-equal branches of government - legislative, executive, and judicial - were crafted by America's founders

The White House has moved aggressively to wrest control of spending from Congress, unilaterally defunding programmes and entire agencies.

This erosion of its power has been largely met by silence on Capitol Hill, where Trump's Republicans hold slim majorities in both chambers.

The courts have been more resistant, with well over 100 rulings so far halting presidential actions they deem to be unconstitutional, according to a tally by the New York Times.

Some of the biggest clashes have been over Trump's immigration crackdown. In March, more than 200 Venezuelans deemed a danger to the US, were deported to El Salvador, many under sweeping wartime powers and without the usual process of evidence being presented in court.

A Republican-appointed judge on a federal appeals court said he was "shocked" by how the White House had acted.

"Now the branches come too close to grinding irrevocably against one another in a conflict that promises to diminish both," Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote.

Trump and White House officials have said they will obey court rulings, even as the president lambasts many of the judges who issue them and the administration at times moves slowly to fully comply.

It all amounts to a unique test of a constitutional system that for centuries has operated under a certain amount of good faith.

While Trump has been at the centre of this push, one of his principle agents of chaos is a man who wasn't born in the US, but who built a business empire there.

Day 32 - Government cuts

Brandishing a chainsaw, dressed in black

Elon Musk, dressed in black from head to toe and wearing sunglasses, stood centre stage and basked in the adulation of the Conservative Political Action Conference crowd.

The richest man in the world, who wants to cut trillions of dollars from the federal government, said he had a special surprise.

Argentinian President Javier Milei, known for his own budget-slashing, emerged from backstage and handed him a shiny gold chainsaw.

"This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy," Musk exclaimed. "CHAINSAW!!"

Getty Images Elon Musk holding a chainsaw above his head with both hands. He is wearing a black hat, a black jacket, and a black t-shirt.Getty Images
Elon Musk leaves the stage holding a chainsaw after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference

It was a dramatic illustration not only of Musk's enthusiasm for his "Department of Government Efficiency" (Doge) assignment, but also of the near rock-star status that the South African-born technologist has developed among the Trump faithful.

Since that appearance, Musk has dispatched his operatives across the federal government, pushing to access sensitive government databases and identify programmes to slash.

Although he has not come anywhere near to finding the trillions of dollars of waste he once promised, his cuts have drastically reduced dozens of agencies and departments - essentially shutting down the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and attempting to dismantle the Department of Education.

While pledges to cut "waste, fraud and abuse" in government and trim the ballooning federal deficit typically have broad appeal, the manner in which Musk has used his metaphorical chainsaw has led to conflict with senior government officials and stoked anger among some of the American public.

Some Trump supporters may approve of the administration's aggressive budget-cutting but other constituents have berated Republican legislators at town hall events.

Hecklers have expressed fear that the cuts will adversely affect popular government programmes like Social Security retirement plans, veterans benefits, and health insurance coverage for the poor and elderly.

Their concerns may not be entirely misplaced, given that these schemes make up the bulk of federal spending.

If these programmes are not cut back, sweeping tax cuts that Trump has promised would further increase the scale of US government debt and put at risk arguably his biggest election promise - economic prosperity.

Day 72 - Economy

'I had to think fast as billions was lost before my eyes'

When trader Richard McDonald saw Trump hold up his charts in the White House Rose Garden showing a list of countries targeted by US tariffs, he knew he had to act fast.

"I jumped to my feet because I wasn't expecting a board [of charts] - I was expecting an announcement," he says.

McDonald expected tariff cuts of 10% or 20%, but says "nobody expected these huge numbers".

He raced to understand which companies might be worst hit. Then he sold.

"There are billions being wiped off share prices every second, so it's really 'fastest finger first'."

He is one of the many traders who were at the coal face of global markets when share prices plunged everywhere following Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariff announcement.

The S&P 500 index of the largest firms listed in the US was hit particularly hard - and even though the White House has reversed course on some of the highest tariffs, it hasn't fully recovered since.

Getty Images New York Stock Exchange trading floor with multiple monitors displaying stock market data. In the foreground a trader has his hand to his face.Getty Images
The US stock market plummeted after President Trump announced "Liberation Day" tariffs

The economy was the biggest concern for US voters in November's election, and Trump rode a tide of deep unhappiness over Biden's handling of inflation all the way to victory.

His pledge to cut prices, pare back government regulation and boost homegrown industry was a pro-business message warmly welcomed on Wall Street and by many working Americans.

But as Trump tries to follow through on his promise of new tariffs, the economic costs, at least in the short term, have become painfully apparent.

The stock market is sinking, interest rates - including for home mortgages - are rising, and consumer confidence is down. Unemployment is also ticking up, in part due to the growing number of federal employees forced out of their jobs.

The Federal Reserve Bank, along with economic experts, warn Trump's plan will shrink economic growth and possibly lead to a recession.

While the president's approval ratings on his handling of the economy have tumbled, many of his supporters are sticking with him. And in former industrial areas hollowed out by the loss of manufacturing jobs, there are hopes that tariffs could even the global playing field.

"Trump has earned back the respect," says truck driver Ben Maurer in Pennsylvania, referring to tariffs on China. "We are still the force to be reckoned with."

Economic concerns have contributed to Trump's overall decline in the polls, but in one key area, he is still largely on solid ground in the public's eye - immigration.

Immigration

Spotted in a photo - 'My son, shackled in prison'

"It's him! It's him! I recognise his features," says Myrelis Casique Lopez, pointing at a photo of men shackled and cuffed on the floor of one of the most infamous prisons in the world.

She had spotted her son in the image, taken from above, of a sea of shaven heads belonging to men in white T-shirts sat in long, straight rows.

At home in Maracay, Venezuela, Ms Casique was shown the photograph, first shared online by the El Salvador authorities, by a BBC reporter.

When she last had contact with her son, he was in the US and facing deportation to Venezuela but now he was 1,430 miles (2,300 km) away from her, one of 238 men sent by US authorities to a notorious mega-jail in El Salvador.

Reuters A group of people dressed in white shirts and shorts, sitting on the ground in an organized formation, viewed from above.Reuters
US deports alleged members of the Venezuela gang Tren de Aragua to Cecot prison in El Salvador

The Trump administration says they are members of the Tren de Aragua gang - a powerful, multi-national crime operation - but Ms Casique insists her son is innocent.

A tough stance on immigration was a central plank of Trump's re-election campaign, and the president has used his broad powers of enforcement to deliver that pledge.

Illegal border crossings were falling at the end of the Biden presidency, but are now at their lowest monthly total for more than four years.

A majority of the US public still backs the crackdown, but it has had a chilling effect on communities of foreign students who have found themselves caught up in the blitz.

Some, including permanent residents, have been detained and face deportation because of their role in pro-Palestinian campus protests. They have rejected accusations that they support Hamas.

Civil rights lawyers warn that some migrants are being deported without due process, sweeping up the innocent among the "killers and thugs" that Trump says are being targeted.

While so far there haven't been the level of mass deportations that some hoped for and others feared, newly empowered immigration enforcement agents have taken action across the US in businesses, homes and churches.

They have been active in universities too, which have become a prominent target of President Trump in several other ways.

Day 91 - War on institutions

A clash with academic, media and corporate worlds

On 21 April, Harvard University's president, Alan Garber, decided to confront the White House head-on.

In a letter to the university community, he announced a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's move to freeze billions of dollars in federal grants.

It was, he said, an illegal attempt to "impose unprecedented and improper control" over Harvard's operations.

The White House said it had to take action because Harvard had not tackled antisemitism on campus - an issue that Garber said the university was taking steps to address.

But the Ivy League college's move was the most prominent display of resistance against Trump's use of presidential power to target American higher education, a longstanding goal energised by pro-Palestinian protests that engulfed campuses in 2024.

The president and his officials have since impounded or threatened to withhold billions of dollars in federal spending to reshape elite institutions like Harvard, which the president and many of his supporters think push a liberal ideology on students and researchers.

Getty Images A group of people holding a large banner with the word "HARVARD" written on it in bold, dark green letters.Getty Images
Protesters gather inside Harvard University

Earlier in the month, Columbia University in New York City had agreed to a number of White House demands, including changes to its protest policies, campus security practices and Middle Eastern studies department.

A similar dynamic has played out in the corporate and media worlds.

Trump has used the withholding of federal contracts as a way to pressure law firms to recruit and represent more conservatives.

Some of the firms have responded by offering the Trump administration millions of dollars in free legal services, while two firms have filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the administration's punishments.

A defamation lawsuit Trump brought against ABC News has led to the media company contributing $15m (£11m) to Trump's presidential foundation.

CBS is also in talks to settle a separate lawsuit over a Kamala Harris interview, as its parent company Paramount seeks federal approval for a merger with Skydance Media.

The Associated Press, by contrast, has resisted administration pressure to accept Trump's "Gulf of America" name change despite the White House's efforts to block the news agency from coverage of the president.

On the campaign trail, Trump warned about the runaway power of the federal government. Now in office, he is wielding that power in a way no previous modern president has attempted.

Nowhere, however, have the impacts of his efforts been more visible than within the federal government agencies and departments that he now controls.

Day 9 - Diversity projects
Diversity projects

A retreat on race and identity

The press conference at the White House began with a moment's silence for the victims of an aircraft collision over the Potomac River.

Within seconds of the pause coming to an end, however, Trump was on the attack.

A diversity and inclusion initiative at the Federal Aviation Agency was partly to blame for the tragedy, the president claimed, because it hired people with severe intellectual disabilities as air traffic controllers. He did not provide any evidence.

It was a startling moment that was emblematic of the attack his presidency has launched against inclusivity programmes that have proliferated in recent years across the US government and corporate world.

Getty Images A crane removes plane wreckage from the Potomac River, where American Airlines flight 5342 collided with a US Army military helicopter.Getty Images
A crane removes plane wreckage from the Potomac River

Trump has directed the federal government to end its diversity and equity (DEI) programmes and investigate private companies and academic institutions thought to be engaged in "illegal DEI".

His directive has accelerated moves among leading global companies like Meta and Goldman to cut back or eliminate these programmes.

First introduced in the 1960s in the wake of civil rights victories, early forms of DEI were an attempt to expand opportunities for black Americans. They later expanded to take in women, LGBT rights and other racial groups.

Efforts were stepped up and embraced by much of corporate America in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matters protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police officers.

But to its critics, DEI was putting politics and race above talent, creating division and was no longer needed in modern America.

While Trump's directive seems to have support from a narrow majority of voters, some of the unexpected consequences have raised eyebrows.

Arlington National Cemetery scrubbed from its website all mentions of the history of black and female service members. And the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan was initially flagged for removal from Pentagon documents, apparently due to the word "gay".

Graphic: Divider

Donald Trump's first 100 days have been an unprecedented display of unilateral power exercised by a modern American president.

His efforts to dismantle large swaths of the federal government will take years, if not decades, for subsequent presidents to restore - if they so desire.

In other ways, however, Trump's efforts so far may end up being less permanent. Without the support of new laws passed by Congress, many of his sweeping reforms could be wiped away by a future president.

And so to what extent this whirlwind start leads to lasting change remains an open question.

Later this year, the narrow Republican majorities in Congress will attempt to provide the legislative backing for Trump's agenda, but their success is far from guaranteed.

And in next year's mid-term congressional elections, those majorities could be replaced by hostile Democrats bent on investigating the administration and curtailing his authority.

Meanwhile, more court battles loom - and while the US Supreme Court has a conservative tilt, its decisions on a number of key cases could ultimately cut against Trump's efforts.

The first 100 days of Trump's second term have been a dramatic show of political force, but the next 1,361 will be the real test of whether he can carve an enduring legacy.

Additional reporting by Mitch Labiak, Nicole Kolster, Gustavo Ocando Alex and Madeline Halpert.

Ministers face above projected teacher and NHS pay deals

PA Media Students in school uniforms sit at desks with hands raised, while a teacher writes on a whiteboard at the front of the classroom.PA Media

Millions of public sector workers should be given pay rises of as much as 4%, pay review bodies have told ministers - significantly higher than ministers wanted.

The pay review body for teachers in England has recommended a pay rise of about 4% this year, while its NHS equivalent has recommended about 3%, according to figures first reported by The Times.

Both figures are higher than the 2.8% the government had budgeted for in their proposals to the pay bodies, and are likely to place further strain on public finances.

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said the government will give "careful consideration" to pay rise recommendations for NHS workers but must make sure to balance the books.

Speaking on Sky News, Kinnock said: "We are all about putting more money into the pockets of working people, but we do also have to ensure that we are balancing the books, and we have got to work in terms of public sector pay within fiscal constraints.

"We will give these recommendations careful consideration.

"But I would, of course, also urge our colleagues in the trade union movement to engage constructively with us and recognise the reality of the financial position."

The government could reject the pay recommendations and stick to 2.8%.

But it is more likely that ministers say the higher pay will have to be funded by existing budgets and efficiency savings.

That would set ministers on a collision course with trade unions and - government insiders privately concede - make a new wave of strikes possible.

But the British Medical Association (BMA) previously said the government's approach "indicates a poor grasp of the unresolved issues from two years of industrial action".

Last year the government accepted the recommendations of the pay review bodies in full, handing workers raises of between 4.75% to 6% - a move that ended widespread industrial action.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has cited ending strikes as a key part of his plan to improve the NHS, arguing it is one of the reasons waiting lists have been falling for the past six months.

Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson said the government will face "tough" trade-offs when considering how to award pay.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has set "very, very tight budgets" so any pay increase risks the government being "forced into tax rises or other spending cuts", Johnson said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Johnson said: "If you're increasing pay then you can't do other things.

"You can't employ more teachers or open breakfast clubs or have more doctors and nurses."

Public anger over pay, squeezed public services and potential strikes could play a major role in local elections this week - the government's first major test since last year's landslide general election victory.

Sir Keir is spending Monday touring hospitals promoting reforms to the NHS app - which he said will haul the health service out of the "dark ages", saving it money and cutting waiting lists.

The salaries of NHS staff, as well as other public-sector workers such as police officers, teachers and the members of the armed forces, are recommended by eight pay review bodies (PRBs).

They cover 2.5 million workers - about 45% of public-sector staff - and a pay bill of around £100bn.

The PRBs are made up of economists and experts on human resources, with experience in both the public and private sector and are appointed by the relevant government department.

The independent pay review bodies take overall earnings, both public and private sector, and the forecast rate of inflation into account when they make their recommendations.

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They vowed to stop bombing after Myanmar's earthquake. I saw the air strikes continue

BBC/Lee Durant Widow and sonBBC/Lee Durant
The husband of Mala, 31, pictured here with her four-year-old son, was killed in a military artillery strike during the ceasefire

Days after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake shook Myanmar at the end of March, killing at least 3,700 people, the country's ruling junta agreed to a halt in its devastating military campaign.

It then violated that ceasefire, again and again.

I went inside rebel-held territory in the eastern Karenni state for 10 days from mid-April. I witnessed daily violations by the junta, including rocket and mortar attacks which killed and injured civilians and resistance fighters.

One of those was Khala, a 45-year-old father killed in a strike by military warplanes, in a place his wife Mala said should have been safe.

When the ceasefire was announced, on 2 April, Mala and Khala sensed an opportunity to return to their home for the first time in years.

With their four-year-old child, they headed from the camp where they'd taken refuge to their village, Pekin Coco. They found it abandoned, with buildings shattered from drawn-out fighting. Almost everyone there had moved to farmland further away from the junta's weapons.

But as the young family was about to leave Pekin Coco again, their car loaded with their possessions, the shelling started.

"We were all at the front of the house. Then, shells landed near us. We hid at the back of the house. But he [Khala] stayed where he was," said Mala. "The artillery shell landed and exploded near him. He died in the place where he thought he was safe.

"He was a good man," she said and began to cry.

Later that afternoon, the junta's warplanes attacked a house on the same street, killing four more men.

"I hate them," Mala said. "They always attack people without reason. I don't feel safe here. Jet fighters are flying over the sky often but there is no place to hide."

Mala is 31 and seven months pregnant. When we spoke she was back in a displaced people's camp, grieving. Her son Zoe, missing his father, wouldn't leave her side.

BBC/Lee Durant Kareni countrysideBBC/Lee Durant
BBC/Lee Durant AmputeeBBC/Lee Durant
One of the many injured in Myanmar's brutal civil war

Before the earthquake, Myanmar was in the midst of a nationwide civil war.

After decades of military rule and brutal repression, ethnic groups, along with a new army of young insurgents, brought the dictatorship to crisis point. As much as two-thirds of the country has fallen to the resistance.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed, including many children, since the military seized power in a coup in 2021. The UN says the earthquake has pushed a further two million people into need, some 2.5 million were already displaced before the quake.

Karenni, or Kayah, state is far from the earthquake's epicentre. Its remoteness is both a blessing and a curse. Its thick jungle provides cover for those who oppose military rule, but it is difficult to get around, the roads are poor and main highways remain in range of the army's guns. Most of the state is now controlled by rebel and armed ethnic groups.

On 28 March when the quake hit, there were no reported deaths in Karenni - but the hospitals still filled quickly with people suffering spinal and crush injuries.

A 30m (100ft) sinkhole had appeared in the forests around the town of Demoso. Locals who heard the ground open up thought it was another air strike. For many weeks, the sinkhole continued to expand with the aftershocks.

A map showing the impact of an earthquake in Myanmar
BBC/Lee Durant Damage from earthquake to a churchBBC/Lee Durant

The UN noted that the Myanmar military continued operations after the earthquake and beyond the ceasefire, and called for them to end. The State Administration Council, the ruling junta, has not commented on the alleged violations but has claimed that it was attacked by resistance groups. During the ceasefire all sides in the conflict have reserved the right to respond if attacked.

During my 10 days in Mobeye, Karenni, I witnessed daily attacks by the junta.

I met Stefano there, a 23-year-old fighting the military dictatorship with the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF).

He leads a platoon of young fighters who have set up trenches around the base.

From a dugout just 100m (330ft) from the junta's positions, he explained the army had continued attacks "using all means" during the ceasefire - soldiers on the ground, drones and jets.

"They usually attack with drones and heavy artillery on this side. When it rains, they advance by taking advantage of the weather."

He called the ceasefire a "joke".

"We did not believe the military council from the beginning. We don't believe it now, and we won't believe it in the future."

BBC/Lee Durant KNDF commander StefanoBBC/Lee Durant
Stefano, 23, who's fighting against the military junta, describes the ceasefire as a "joke"
BBC/Lee Durant Shrapnel held by a villager BBC/Lee Durant
A villager holds up bent metal from army air strikes

The day after we spoke, the military launched a full-scale assault with heavy weapons and men, attacking rebel lines. As we made our way to the front lines, small-arms fire could be heard nearby, along with mortar strikes. The ground was pitted with fresh hits from armed drones.

Nearby lay the corpse of a junta fighter who had tried to breach the rebel positions. The resistance forces say they have suspended all offensive activities during the ceasefire, but they have said they will respond if attacked. Yi Shui, the commander of another resistance group, the Karenni National Army, showed me pictures on his phone. "When we saw them, we shot them. One of them got hit" and another ran away, he said.

And again, the military wasn't just targeting the resistance forces. Its rockets hit farmland beyond, killing a 60-year-old woman. We arrived at fields where four rockets had landed, children were playing with the bent metal and shrapnel from the strikes.

The injured were taken to local hospitals, which are hidden deep in the jungle to avoid air strikes from junta warplanes.

In one, a young fighter was being treated in a wooden ward with a dirt floor. He had a shrapnel wound to his shoulder and was losing a lot of blood.

The doctor in charge, 32-year-old Thi Ha Tun, said he'd treated around a dozen patients for war-related injuries since the ceasefire was declared. Two of the patients, resistance fighters, died.

BBC/Lee Durant a man lies in a hospital bed, covered in a blanket, as another man sits to the side watching himBBC/Lee Durant

He dismissed what he called the junta's lies. "They only care about their own interests," he said. "They will only care about their own organisation. They will not care about the rest of this country, their own generation, the youth, the children, the elderly, anything."

The only solution is to keep fighting, he said.

High on a hilltop in the rebel-controlled areas is the church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The earthquake brought down the church steeple and part of the roof. The bell from Rome now sits in a temporary cradle. Repairs have been made, but the church will probably need to be rebuilt.

They are still feeling the aftershocks here weeks later.

But for Father Philip, the local priest, the greatest threat to his congregation, many of whom are the war displaced, comes from above, not below.

"No place is safe. When we have jet fighters flying in the sky… you never know what will come falling from the sky."

Back at the Mobeye front, Stefano and his men pass the hours between attacks, cleaning their weapons and singing songs. "I can hear the people's prayers, cries, and cries. We will overthrow the dictatorship," they sing in unison. They say the only ceasefire they will trust will come with the junta's defeat.

The truce will finish at the end of the month, but for most of the people here, it's as if it never existed at all.

Woman seriously hurt in Leeds attack involving crossbow 'stable'

BBC/ Cathy Killick A police cordon, manned by officers and vans, at Beckett park in Headingley.BBC/ Cathy Killick
Police remain at the scene of the incident on Saturday

A community is in "shock", after two women were seriously injured in an attack involving a crossbow in Leeds.

Counter-terrorism police are investigating the incident, which happened on Otley Road, in the Headingley area, at about 14.47 BST yesterday.

Three people were found injured and taken to hospital - including the suspected attacker - on the popular Otley Run pub crawl route.

A 38-year-old man who suffered a "self-inflicted injury" was arrested and two weapons - a crossbow and a firearm - were recovered from the scene.

Headingley resident Vasileios Balampanos described seeing the aftermath of what had happened on Saturday.

"When I arrived, I drove down St Anne's Road and there were cordons and quite a few police cars," he said.

"I walked further down to have a look and there were a couple of ambulances."

BBC/ Trudy Scanlon A man with glasses in a t-shirt stands on a residential street.BBC/ Trudy Scanlon
Vasileios Balampanos says the area is usually quiet, apart from students doing the Otley Run

He said he saw somebody being treated by paramedics further up Otley Road and said he saw "a couple of distressed individuals, students mostly, talking about somebody being hurt".

Mr Balampanos added the ambulance then left the scene with blue lights on and the area was cordoned off.

"It was quite scary," he said.

"Generally, this is a quiet area but we have plenty of people doing the Otley Run and going to the pub. It can get busy sometimes."

BBC/ Cathy Killick Police cars and a van are parked either side of a cordon, which closes a street.BBC/ Cathy Killick
Cordons remain in place in the Headingley area of Leeds while enquiries continue

Headingley councillor Abdul Hannan shared his thoughts with the victims and said the council were working closely with the police and reassuring the community.

"It's horrific," he said.

"There is a lot of footfall in that area, it is a busy stretch especially on a Saturday.

"It is a tragedy what has taken place."

The Church of England has also issued a response to the attack, thanking emergency services and people who stayed at the scene to support victims.

The Right Reverend Arun Arora, the Bishop of Kirkstall, who oversees the City of Leeds for the Church of England said: "There is an understandable sense of shock and numbness for people hearing news of Saturday's events.

"Prayers were offered in church services this morning close to where the attack occurred and space was made in chapels for silent prayer following the services.

"We will continue to pray for those who were injured in the attack and those who witnessed it."

YappApp Weapons on the ground at the scene.YappApp
Two weapons were recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm, police say

Det Ch Supt James Dunkerley said on Saturday there was no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved in the attack and they "were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident".

A Counter Terrorism Policing North East spokesperson added extensive inquiries were continuing to establish "the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation".

West Yorkshire's Assistant Chief Constable Carl Galvin also said on Saturday: "Clearly this has been a shocking incident and we fully realise the concern it has caused.

"Due to the enquiry being active we are limited in what we can say, but I do want to reassure residents that everything possible is being done to investigate and understand what took place."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

Related Internet links

Dozens of African migrants killed in US strike on Yemen, Houthis say

EPA A screenshot from a video released by Houthis-run al-Masirah TV shows flames and smoke rising from Yemen's fuel port of Ras Isa following US air strikes. Photo: 18 April 2025EPA
Houthi-run media released images of the aftermath of a US strike on a port earlier this month

The US military says it has hit more than 800 targets since launching sustained air and naval strikes against the Houthi movement in Yemen on 15 March.

In a statement on Sunday summarising recent operations, US Central Command said it had "killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders".

Washington has said it is acting to end the threat the Iran-backed Houthis pose to shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

In Yemen, the Houthis - who control large swathes of the country - said the latest US attack on the capital Sanaa on Sunday killed at least eight people, including women and children.

Earlier this month, the Houthi-run health ministry said US air strikes on a Red Sea coast controlled by the Houthis killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others.

Last month, Trump ordered large-scale strikes on areas controlled by the Houthis and threatened that they would be "completely annihilated".

He has also warned Iran not to arm the group - something it has repeatedly denied doing.

On Sunday, the US military said weapons storage and manufacturing facilities had been among targets it had struck, but said it would not "reveal specifics" about ongoing operations.

The US said it "would continue to ratchet up the pressure" until Houthi attacks on vessels are halted.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They have sunk two vessels, seized a third, and killed four crew members.

The Houthis have said they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and have claimed - often falsely - that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.

The Houthis were not deterred by the deployment of Western warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to protect merchant vessels last year, or by multiple rounds of US strikes on military targets ordered by former President Joe Biden.

After taking office in January, Trump redesignated the Houthis as a "Foreign Terrorist Organisation" - a status the Biden administration had removed due to what it said was the need to mitigate the country's humanitarian crisis.

Over the last decade, Yemen has been devastated by a civil war, which escalated when the Houthis seized control of the country's north-west from the internationally-recognised government, and a Saudi-led coalition supported by the US intervened in an effort to restore its rule.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 150,000 people dead and triggered a humanitarian disaster, with 4.8 million people displaced and 19.5 million - half of the population - in need of some form of aid.

Could Wrexham really reach the Premier League?

Could Wrexham really reach the Premier League?

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Wrexham set for 'huge' Championship challenge

For those wondering what next for Wrexham, the message from one half of the Hollywood ownership is unequivocal.

"Not. Done. Yet."

Rob McElhenney had been asked to sum up events at the Stok Cae Ras on Saturday as the north Wales club celebrated reaching the second tier of English football for only the second time in their history.

It is quite the statement, given the rapid rise under McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds has already seen Wrexham go from the lower end of the non-league fifth tier to one step away from the Premier League.

But the story appears far from over given the plans for the next steps, some taking place within hours of Phil Parkinson's side sealing an unprecedented third successive promotion.

"Four years ago, this man [McElhenney] said our goal is to make it to the Premier League," Reynolds told Sky Sports after the win over Charlton Athletic.

"And there was understandably a lot of titters, laughter and giggles - but it's starting to feel like a tangible thing that could actually come to fruition."

The success so far has long shown the A-list backed ambition is no joke.

But as they prepare to head to the Championship, do Wrexham have what it takes to compete with new rivals such as Leicester City, Southampton and West Bromwich Albion?

And can Wrexham really go up another level and make it to the Premier League?

Wrexham wing-back James McCleanImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

James McClean has scored four goals in League One for Wrexham this season

Playing squad

"We always had the ambition to go as high as we could, but we have probably outstripped expectations – certainly in terms of the speed in which we have got here," says director Humphrey Ker.

"But that's testament to [manager] Phil Parkinson."

And the 'In Phil we Trust' mantra from the ownership looks set to continue after the 57-year-old sealed a sixth career promotion, now behind only Graham Taylor, Dave Bassett and Jim Smith (seven promotions) and Neil Warnock (eight) in the number of times he has taken teams up a division.

The former Bolton Wanderers boss has overseen a steady, stealth-like evolution of his squad each season – with the starting XI against Charlton only containing three who featured in League Two – all the while maintaining a team spirit that Ker says "has permeated through everything we've done in four years".

Some signings made over the past season were with the future in mind in terms of age and potential, such as ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo.

"They are Championship-ready players who can grow and develop," adds former Wrexham player and manager Andy Morrell, who also played Championship football with Coventry City and Blackpool.

"Ryan Longman, Max Cleworth, Lewis Brunt – and then added on that you have a sprinkling of players like Matty James and James McClean. Players who know what it takes – and also how to deal with the pressure and the spotlight that comes to playing for Wrexham these days."

Rather than ripping up the side, Morrell believes "three to five signings" could ensure Wrexham compete and try to gauge whether they need to invest more in the playing squad.

"They won't rush it, they will give players who won promotion a chance and use that momentum," he says.

"But they have the resources that if they find themselves with an opportunity, they can push the button to go again like they did in signing Sam Smith."

Budget

Smith – whose acrobatic goal helped deliver promotion and earn lavish praise from Reynolds – became Wrexham's record signing for a reported £2m in January.

Big money for a side operating on frees and non-contracts not so long ago, but small fry when it comes to pushing for the Premier League.

"Money talks in football," says former Wales and Wrexham captain Barry Horne. "The league table tends to tie itself to income and there's a correlation with the wage bill.

"But Wrexham already have that ability to compete."

That is because the club's most recent accounts – covering their season in League Two – show their revenue is already comparable to top-half Championship clubs.

And there's room for more, without much worry of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) affecting things.

Though clubs with parachute payments from the Premier League will stand above, Wrexham will expect an uplift on the £26m that came through the doors in 2023-24.

Increased TV monies alone should boost that by £8m, before increased sponsorship revenue following yet another promotion.

High profile deals are expected to continue with the club making the most of their unique marketing model: a globally-screened documentary and the profile their ownership brings.

Shirt sales are already on a Premier League scale and reported pre-season games in Australia show ambitions to expand beyond just the US where every Wrexham game is screened live and attracts top-level audiences.

Talks have already outlined the kind of playing budgets required next year (they operated on around £11m in 23-24) and an acceptance that it will begin to edge towards the Championship average of around double that figure.

But there is also the fact that players are attracted to Wrexham not by just money, but by the ambition and excitement around the club.

So it does not mean Wrexham are about to spend silly money.

"People will talk about the money, but it's never been about blank cheques," adds Ker.

"The aim has always been to live within our means so the club doesn't suffer when Rob and Ryan move on, which will eventually happen even if it's decades from now."

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Reynolds lauds Smith's 'kung fu' finishing

Financial backing

Still, Wrexham are about to enter a world where annual eight-figure losses come as standard.

But Reynolds and McElhenney do have support on that front, as well as in terms of investing in other projects as the club tries to keep pace with its growth.

New director Kaleen Allyn and father Eric Allyn – whose entrepreneurial family sold the Welch Allyn medical diagnostic business for more than $2bn in 2015 – were among those celebrating at the Stok Cae Ras on Saturday and are excited for the club's future having become minority shareholders with a stake thought to be between 10-15%.

With a history of philanthropy and community investment around their New York State home, they also have the means to provide a crutch for the club's grand plans with Ker saying they have "warmly embraced the team and the town".

Further investment and equity from others if needed in time is not being ruled out, but only from those – like the Allyns – who will be emotionally, as well as financially, invested.

Off the field

Such money will be needed as the turbo-charged rise means Wrexham have their work cut out to catch up with the growth of the club.

Investment has been pushed towards improving the off-the-field workings of a club run by supporters less than five years ago, boosting staff and expertise on the business and commercial side of things.

Key infrastructure projects have been addressed, with a new training ground much-needed; the club currently utilise the Football Association of Wales' Colliers Park venue, but accept it is not sustainable.

There is a real awareness too of the necessity to improve the academy to speed up a production of home grown players to supplement signings and make more of the 'Wrexham-mania' among youngsters in a catchment area that has traditionally been a hotbed of talent - think Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Neville Southall, and more recently, Harry Wilson and Neco Williams.

Wrexham fans in the Stok Cae Ras' temporary Kop StandImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Wrexham unveiled plans for a 5,500-capacity new Kop Stand in February 2025

Stadium

All that will take a little time to come to fruition, but supporters will soon be able to witness the first steps of the priority project at Wrexham.

Wrexham's attendances will be the lowest in the Championship next season, with the Stok Cae Ras' capacity reduced to below 10,000 as work begins on a new Kop.

Removal of the temporary stand is due to begin imminently with a new 5,500-seater end due to be completed in time for the start of the 2026-27 season.

Designed by Populous - the same firm behind Wembley, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and even Las Vegas' Sphere - it will open the door for greater revenue from surrounding amenities.

There is scope to add a further 2,000 seats, but also open up the possibility for redeveloping other sides of the grounds to match and ticking all the boxes of a Premier League venue in the same way Bournemouth have done.

And with international demand for tickets genuine - with tourists even attending on non-matchdays to get a glimpse of the club made famous by its high-profile documentary - the club are keen to be in a position to accommodate a growing fanbase.

Work has begun on the playing surface too - a new seven figure investment into a hybrid pitch with undersoil heating to meet elite level standards and possible international fixtures.

Wrexham players celebrate earning promotionImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Wrexham lost just two of their 23 home league games during the 2024-25 season

Is it possible?

It is all new ground for the club.

In March 2020, they were being held at home by Eastleigh to stay within two points of the National League relegation places.

Covid hit, the season was suspended, and McElhenney was told by Ker to watch Sunderland Till I Die. The rest is football history, with Wrexham preparing to compete against as many as 21 teams who have previously played in the Premier League, including two former champions.

But there have been examples of teams jumping from League One to the Premier League: Watford (1999), Manchester City (2000), Norwich City (2011), Southampton (2012) and Ipswich Town (2024) all achieving the feat.

"There's no reason why they won't have another go," says Horne.

No-one at Wrexham on Saturday night would be tempted into saying a fourth in a row could happen, but no-one is ruling it out either.

As Ker says: "Our greatest success has been taking one step at a time and saying 'Right, what's next?'"

The football world is eager to find out.

Dozens of African migrants killed in US strike on Yemen, Houthis say

EPA A screenshot from a video released by Houthis-run al-Masirah TV shows flames and smoke rising from Yemen's fuel port of Ras Isa following US air strikes. Photo: 18 April 2025EPA
Houthi-run media released images of the aftermath of a US strike on a port earlier this month

The US military says it has hit more than 800 targets since launching sustained air and naval strikes against the Houthi movement in Yemen on 15 March.

In a statement on Sunday summarising recent operations, US Central Command said it had "killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders".

Washington has said it is acting to end the threat the Iran-backed Houthis pose to shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

In Yemen, the Houthis - who control large swathes of the country - said the latest US attack on the capital Sanaa on Sunday killed at least eight people, including women and children.

Earlier this month, the Houthi-run health ministry said US air strikes on a Red Sea coast controlled by the Houthis killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others.

Last month, Trump ordered large-scale strikes on areas controlled by the Houthis and threatened that they would be "completely annihilated".

He has also warned Iran not to arm the group - something it has repeatedly denied doing.

On Sunday, the US military said weapons storage and manufacturing facilities had been among targets it had struck, but said it would not "reveal specifics" about ongoing operations.

The US said it "would continue to ratchet up the pressure" until Houthi attacks on vessels are halted.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They have sunk two vessels, seized a third, and killed four crew members.

The Houthis have said they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and have claimed - often falsely - that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.

The Houthis were not deterred by the deployment of Western warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to protect merchant vessels last year, or by multiple rounds of US strikes on military targets ordered by former President Joe Biden.

After taking office in January, Trump redesignated the Houthis as a "Foreign Terrorist Organisation" - a status the Biden administration had removed due to what it said was the need to mitigate the country's humanitarian crisis.

Over the last decade, Yemen has been devastated by a civil war, which escalated when the Houthis seized control of the country's north-west from the internationally-recognised government, and a Saudi-led coalition supported by the US intervened in an effort to restore its rule.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 150,000 people dead and triggered a humanitarian disaster, with 4.8 million people displaced and 19.5 million - half of the population - in need of some form of aid.

Critical week for US's future in Ukraine-Russia talks, Rubio says

Getty Images Ukrainian soldiers aiming rifles in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.Getty Images
Reports suggest the recent US proposal includes American legal acceptance of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and de facto recognition of Russian control of other occupied areas

Germany's defence minister has warned Ukraine not to agree to a deal which involves sweeping territorial concessions in return for a ceasefire with Russia.

Boris Pistorius said Ukraine "should not go as far as the latest proposal by the American president", which he said would amount to a "capitulation".

US President Donald Trump said this week that "most of the major points [of the deal] are agreed to". Reports suggest that Ukraine could be asked to give up large portions of land seized by Russia, including Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected territorial concessions, saying issues about land can be discussed once a ceasefire has been agreed.

On Sunday, Pistorius told German public broadcaster ARD that Kyiv knew that it might have to part with some territory to secure a ceasefire.

"But they will certainly not go as far - or should not go as far - as the latest proposal by the American president," he said.

"Ukraine could have got a year ago what was included in that proposal, it is akin to a capitulation. I cannot discern any added value."

The BBC has not seen the exact details of the latest US plan. On Friday, Reuters news agency reported that it had seen proposals from the US that included American legal acceptance of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and de facto recognition of Russian control of other occupied areas, including all of Luhansk in the east of the country.

Reuters has also seen a counter-proposals from Europe and Ukraine, which reportedly says they will only discuss what happens to occupied Ukrainian territory once a ceasefire had come into effect.

The US plan also rules out Ukraine's membership in the Nato military alliance and sees a UK-France led "coalition of the willing" providing a security guarantee once a ceasefire is in force without the involvement of the US.

The Europeans want the US to give "robust" guarantees in the form of a cast-iron Nato-style commitment to come to Ukraine's aid if it is attacked.

The US proposes to take control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant - currently occupied by Russia - which would then provide electricity to both Russia and Ukraine. The counter-plan makes no mention of giving Russia power.

In an interview with Time magazine this week, Trump blamed Kyiv for starting the war, citing its ambitions of joining Nato.

The US president also told Time: "Crimea will stay with Russia."

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Russia and Ukraine to move forward to secure a peace deal.

"It needs to happen soon," Rubio told NBC. "We cannot continue to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it's not going to come to fruition."

The US has recently warned it would walk away from negotiations if progress was not made.

It follows a one-on-one meeting between Zelensky and Trump at the Vatican on the sidelines of the Pope's funeral on Saturday.

The White House described the meeting as "very productive" while the Ukrainian president said it had the "potential to become historic".

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls almost 20% of Ukrainian territory.

10秒内未接节假日值班电话被通报,“没苦硬吃”式值班加重基层负担

新华社

值班值守制度是有效发现紧急情况、应对突发问题的必要举措,是各地各部门的重要工作方式之一。然而,记者近期在基层走访调研发现,一些部门和地区的值班制度出现泛化、僵化、应付化等异化苗头,空耗基层精力却难以匹配实际工作需求。

泛化、僵化、应付化

——不管事多事少,一律值班。对于公安、应急、医院等部门单位,值班值守工作能有效应对各类突发状况。而在不少基层干部看来,对于诸如妇联、文联、科协等部门而言,在周末、假日值班不涉及相关工作,值班并无太大必要。

中部某县一名基层干部反映,按照上级要求,所有县级部门在周末节假日都必须安排工作人员值班,“即便像团委、老干局等一些可能什么事情都没有的部门,值班也一分钟都不能少”。

——有的值班一个月,结果没见几个人。为了应对“村干部走读”等不良现象,一些地方出台村干部值班、坐班制度。有村干部告诉记者,乡镇要求村两委干部每天有人在村委会接访或接待群众办事,实际情况却是,他们经常值班一个月也见不到人来办事。

“这两年为基层减负力度大,盖章证明等事项少了很多,加上村里有网格员,老百姓平时有什么生产生活需求,直接就找网格员反映了,网格员处理不了的再反馈给村干部,一般也是一个电话就解决了。”一名村党支部书记说,他们现在值班除了需要报个数字填个表,坐在村委会打打字以外,其他时候只能干坐着。

节日“守望者”  傅晓宁 作

——10秒没接值班电话,连累单位挨了批评。中部某市一名小学教师向记者透露:“学校领导曾在一次开会时强调值班纪律,要求我们必须在值班电话响起5秒内接听,并举出反面案例——另一学校一名教师在节假日值班期间未能在10秒内接起教育局检查人员打来的电话,被点名批评。”

造成人力浪费,加重基层负担

基层干部反映,基层人少事多,“赶上年底、春节等时候,经常半个月甚至一个月都难以回家休息”。与之相对,加班权益难以保障、值班调休难以落实,平时一些“没苦硬吃”式值班进一步加重基层负担。

一方面,“为值班而值班”难以匹配实际工作需要。一些干部坦言,目前基层治理模式和事务处理方式已经发生显著变化,过去“守在电话机旁等铃响”的工作模式已不适配信息化条件下的工作模式和需求。一名基层宣传部门工作人员不解,他们部门作为需要24小时值班的三级值班单位,工作处理都是在网上、手机上,守着电话机有什么必要呢?一名受访村支书直言:“村干部的主要工作是服务联系群众,本应走到田间地头、村民家里,听取他们的声音和需求,而不是坐在办公室里等人来。”

另一方面,“没苦硬吃”造成基层人力物力的浪费。“报告领导,操场干净整洁,学校无可疑人员,楼道、台阶一个不少,教室桌椅都在……”每年寒暑假,社交媒体上总能刷到一些教师发布的吐槽视频。一名小学教师表示,节假日期间学校一般会安排领导、老师等值班值守,而除了接受上级部门可能安排的检查外,他们的任务仅仅是巡视校园、检查卫生、来访人员登记等简单工作。

万无一失 傅晓宁 作

对一些部门和基层干部而言,“应付检查”成了值班的最大意义。有的受访干部反映,尽管多数时候都无所事事,但他们还是不得不按照要求安排值班,因为“上面有检查,必须在办公室坐着”。

压减基层不合理值班

中国人民大学公共管理学院教授许光建等专家分析,一些地方不合理值班过多,一是由于上级要求欠科学,二是问责用力过猛,少数领导要求加码。受访干部坦言,他们不反对值班,也并非不愿值班,而是希望值有意义、有实质工作内容、真正需要值的班。

当前全党上下正在开展深入贯彻中央八项规定精神学习教育,集中整治违反中央八项规定及其实施细则精神的突出问题,驰而不息纠正形式主义、官僚主义等“四风”顽疾,应将治理不合理值班作为调查研究的一项重要内容,与时俱进、实事求是地优化值班制度。

一是破除“一刀切”式值班,根据实际需要,分层分类“按需”优化值班制度设计。受访者建议,加强调查研究,根据实际工作内容和需求,制定差异化的“按需值班”举措。

二是摒弃“值班就是等在办公室、守在电话旁”的旧认知,采取灵活多样、“适销对路”的新型值班方式。如值班人员保持手机畅通,以不耽误事务处理为标准即可,将形式回归内容,同时利用大数据预警等信息化手段,发现新情况,应对新问题。

三是规范、优化节假日值班检查,减少对程序、形式等的过度苛责。在确保值班人员对重大突发事件等真正需要响应的情况保持高度警惕的同时,明确禁止以摊派工作、滥用属地管理等为形式的响应式值班行为。

四是给予节假日依然坚守岗位的基层干部职工更多关心关爱。如建立健全补偿机制,通过补休、补贴等方式弥补值班期间的付出。

网络编辑:澍生

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