The “Correct the Map” resolution –– put forward by African Union member states, as well as the Bahamas –– passed with overwhelming support: 164 member states voted in favor, six abstained and only the United States voted against it.

The resolution aims to give an “equitable” representation of the globe’s regions, particularly Africa, arguing that the distortions in the current world map mean the continent has undergone a “symbolic minimization” in people’s collective imagination.

At present, many of the world’s maps are based on the Mercator projection, created by European cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It is widely used for navigation since the north-south lines have constant true bearings relative to the equator.

Detailed political world map in Mercator projection BardoczPeter/Getty Images

However, it is less useful as a world map since the scale is distorted, with countries further from the equator appearing disproportionately larger than those closest. For example, on the Mercator, Greenland appears larger than the continent of South America and appears similar in size to Africa.

In reality, Greenland is roughly the size of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Africa is 14 times the size of Greenland.

Some critics of the Mercator projection suspect it has remained widely used because it enlarges and centers Europe, as well as other Western regions such as North America, perpetuating ideas of European superiority.

The UN resolution notes “with concern that this distortion contributes to minimizing the perceived sizes of Africa, Latin America and South Asia, and perpetuating an unbalanced view of the world.”

It adds that the distortions also “contribute to minimizing the extent of socioeconomic realities, infrastructure needs, development potential and prosperity in the Southern regions, and that they can fuel prejudices in the environmental, geopolitical and security fields.”

France backs campaign to ‘correct’ distortions

The resolution therefore proposes, as an “act of cognitive justice and memorial reparation,” that the Mercator projection is replaced with the Equal Earth projection, which depicts the relative surface areas of the world’s regions more accurately.

In the Equal Earth, which was introduced at the 2018 North American Cartographic Information Society conference, Europe appears to shrink, Brazil balloons, and Greenland dramatically diminishes. Africa appears much larger in comparison.

France’s foreign affairs minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, announced Friday that France “will abandon the Mercator projection” in favor of representations that more accurately depict countries’ surface areas, state-owned TV network France 24 reported.

“The United States, Russia and China take on a disproportionate visual prominence compared to Africa, Latin America or southeast Asia,” Barrot said, adding that “distortions eventually take root in perceptions” and that “the time has come to correct them.”

The UN vote comes after the African Union adopted the Equal Earth Map in March and after Togo, on behalf of the AU, asked UN member states in April to do the same. As a result, a draft resolution was created and the UN General Assembly held informal consultations on it in July.

“Africa, once diminished on maps, now insists on being seen at its true scale – geographically, historically, morally, culturally, economically, diplomatically and globally,” Amma Twum-Amoah, commissioner for the AU’s Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, said in a statement in March.

A version of the Equal Earth map with Oceania at the center Equal Earth

New Zealand has also taken issue with the Mercator map, with a tourism ad back in 2018 – featuring then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – joking that “New Zealand is disappearing off the world maps” due to its position in the bottom right-hand corner.

The Equal Earth map addresses this, coming in various forms, including one that centers Oceania, rather than Greenwich, London. Greenwich has long been used as the standard for world time and global geographical reference.

Digital map platforms such as Google Maps also currently use a version of the Mercator projection. The draft resolution urges tech platforms to engage with UN member states and regional organizations and adopt the more accurate projection.

Speaking on the AM Show, physician specialist Dr. Rex Kwame Bonsu and nurse Ozwella Yeboah of Vitality Health 360 explained that obesity involves the excessive accumulation of dysfunctional fat tissue, which can affect the body’s biological, physical and metabolic functions.

Dr. Bonsu said obesity is linked to several non-communicable diseases, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and obstructive sleep apnoea, as well as certain cancers such as breast, endometrial and colorectal cancers.

He explained that obesity cannot be accurately determined simply by looking at a person, noting that health professionals assess factors such as weight and height and may calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI).

However, he cautioned that BMI is only a screening tool because it does not account for factors such as age, sex, muscle mass, fat mass and bone density. Ms Yeboah explained that weight loss requires a calorie deficit, where the body uses more energy than it receives from food, while regular physical activity can also support the process.

Dr. Bonsu noted that weight loss can be difficult for some people because of hormonal and metabolic factors. He cited thyroid problems and hormonal changes that affect appetite as some factors that may make weight loss more difficult.

He also cautioned against the unsupervised use of weight-loss injections, stressing that such treatments should only be administered under the guidance of qualified health professionals.

“Now, you must have heard about weight loss injections and so on and so forth. That should be done under the guidance of a specialist,” Dr. Bonsu said.

At Vitality Health 360, the experts said clients seeking to lose or gain weight first undergo medical assessments to determine their individual needs.

Ms Yeboah explained that the facility has physician specialists and dieticians who assess clients and provide personalised meal plans, with adjustments made depending on their progress and medical needs.

Dr.Bonsu added that assessments may include full blood count, liver and kidney function tests, cholesterol levels and body-composition analysis. Where necessary, clients may also be referred for a DEXA scan to assess bone density, muscle mass and fat mass.

The experts said some patients may also require medication to help regulate appetite, cravings and certain metabolic conditions, but stressed that such treatment should be determined and supervised by a specialist.

Dr. Bonsu and Ms Yeboah encouraged people struggling with obesity or those seeking professional support to lose or gain weight to visit the facility. Vitality Health 360 is located on Oxford Street at Osu, around Photo Club in Accra.

The experts stressed that weight management is not a one-size-fits-all process and encouraged people to seek professional assessment and guidance rather than relying on unverified diets, treatments or injections.

Arnold Dix has been advising Nepal’s hydropower authorities on how to dig through the blocked tunnel to Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, which was one of several stations hit by last week’s massive flash flood on the Nepal-Tibet border.

“It’s like layer upon layer of layer of miracles” that they found two men on Friday, he said, given that the multiple challenges they faced.

The first hurdle was to locate the hydropower station, in a landscape rendered nearly unrecognisable by the flood that has so far killed 1,300 people.

“I’ve never known an rescue operation where you had to look for an entrance of a tunnel that was previously up the hill, that was now underground. You can imagine the enormity of the avalanche, it completely buried the entrance,” said Dix, who is the president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.

Using engineering techniques, old topographic maps, satellite imagery of the area after the disaster, video footage from helicopters, and “anything else we could find on the surface of the mountain such as power poles”, Dix and his team triangulated the likely position of the entrance and started digging.

They found it – but the next challenge was to locate the survivors.

“We knew they would be up ahead, but we didn’t know where exactly. So you just have to start digging in the right direction. And you listen out if you can hear anybody,” he said.

Rescuers had to get through a tunnel blocked entirely by mud and rocks – some bigger than cars – and had to resort to using explosives to clear the way.

“We had to use explosives which we normally never do because of the risk of blowing up people [trapped in the tunnel] and blowing ourselves up,” said Dix.

He credited the Nepalese army for doing “a wonderful job” in managing the explosions with precision to ensure they would not destabilise the tunnel.

At the same time, they discovered the tunnel was still full of water.

Using excavators and pumping machines, Nepalese rescuers dug a series of trenches from the tunnel all the way to the river outside, so they could drain the water.

Finally, they had to dig a passageway, “a tiny tunnel the size of a person”, through the debris at the top of the tunnel.

The advantage of this location “is that you can use the original tunnel’s roof as your little tunnel’s roof. Also, it mitigates risk of flooding,” said Dix.

In the early hours of Friday morning, rescuers heard what they thought could be voices.

According to local reports, they called out “don’t worry, we’re here to rescue you” – and heard back a faint “okay”.

Shortly after that, they pulled out Sanjaya Shah and Kabir Maharjan, alive.

But with dozens of people still thought to be trapped inside the tunnel, the work is far from over.

Rescuers heading to ‘Goldilocks zone’

Dix estimated that they had dug about 60m from the entrance by now, and they would need to dig another 150m more to reach the hydropower station located deep inside the mountain.

Rescuers are hoping that the debris from the flood would not have reached the station, because if it did, “there would be all kinds of complications – anybody in the station could have been hit by rocks and mud or it could be flooded”.

The team on the ground are still facing significant dangers.

“Up ahead, even now, we might run into water which would drown the people tunnelling,” said Dix. “And we also have the risk of another flood outside happening, so water could come from behind. So there’s the risk of facing water on both ends.”

But, buoyed by Friday’s successful rescue, the team is now hopeful it will reach more survivors in time.

“It’s a big relief, that we are on the right track. And it gives us renewed energy that our thinking [on how to conduct the rescue] works… we have never done something like this before.”

Dix said they are now heading towards what he called the “Goldilocks zone” which would be “more friendly to life”.

This zone is at the uppermost level of the hydropower station where there is some space where survivors may be located.

“We got two people out. If we were playing at a casino, some might say it’s time to walk away, but we say game on, time to take on the house.”

Politics

In a statement to the Camden New Journal newspaper, he said it had been a “huge honour and privilege” to represent the constituency for 11 years, but he would now turn his focus to “international affairs”.

Sir Keir stood down as prime minister earlier in 2026 summer, with Andy Burnham replacing him.

It follows weeks of speculation about whether Sir Keir would remain as MP following his resignation.

Government

In a BBC interview shortly after stepping down as PM, Sir Keir said he would stay as an MP until the next general election.

But in his statement released on Tuesday, Sir Keir said he was ready to “pass the baton to a successor”.

He added: “I will now focus on other things, and that will be international affairs, including defence, security, trade, and technology in a fast-changing world.

“I will also continue, as I have done for a long time now with others, to work on combating violence against women and girls; that is an issue that matters to me hugely.

“It’s work I started before I became an MP, and it’s work I’m keen to continue after I’m an MP. So international affairs on the one hand, and continuing my work on violence against women and girls on the other.”

Also read:

• PHOTOS: Mahama meets UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street

• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigns

Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, faces charges including causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a valid national driver’s licence. He denies the charges.

The court was told that the group – who had been travelling to visit Joshua’s father in Ogun State, near Lagos in Nigeria, last December – were asleep when Kayode lost control of his Lexus SUV while he overtook a moving truck and collided with a parked lorry.

Joshua’s personal trainer, Latif Ayodele, and strength coach, Sina Ghami, died in the crash.

A second defendant, Abubakar Adamu, 35, the driver of the stationary lorry the car collided with, denies a charge against him of obstructing the free flow of traffic.

Inspector Christopher Ajayi Taiwo of the Ogun State Motor Traffic Division told the court that by the time he arrived at the scene, both the damaged Lexus and the stationary lorry had been removed.

But debris from the crash and soya beans scattered on the road from the lorry’s load were found by officers, he added.

The only items recovered from the Lexus were a logbook, painkillers and an energy drink, which were found near the driver’s side, Ajayi said.

The court heard police have yet to take a statement from Joshua following the crash.

During cross-examination, Kayode’s lawyer questioned Ajayi over the lack of a statement, to which he replied that “efforts are ongoing” and that he had not contacted Joshua because he “didn’t have his number”.

The trial was adjourned until 10 September.

Joshua, who was born in Watford, has family roots in Sagamu – a town in Ogun State, near the crash site.

After the collision, the boxer posted a tribute to Ghami and Ayodele on social media.

“I didn’t even realise how special they are,” he wrote.

“I’ll just be walking with them and cracking jokes with them, not even knowing God kept me in the presence of great men.

“100% it’s tough for me, but I know it’s even tougher for their parents.”

Also read:

• Anthony Joshua’s driver appears in court after crash that killed two

• Anthony Joshua’s driver charged over Nigeria crash that killed two

Officials have described this as the most expansive such prohibition in the United States.

What do we know about the AI ban?

The one-year moratorium bars student-facing generative AI software for students through eighth grade, affecting roughly 600,000 public school students, while officials study how children use the technology.

The city said the policy will halt use of about 40 educational AI tools currently used in classrooms.. Companion chatbots will be banned across all grade levels. 

However, high schoolers will be exempt from the full ban. The city will roll out twice-yearly AI literacy classes for all public high school students and launch pilot programs letting some use select AI platforms under teacher supervision. 

Teachers, meanwhile, will still be permitted to use AI for lesson planning and administrative tasks such as scheduling.

What did Mayor Mamdani say about the restrictions?

Mamdani framed the decision around the value of human connection in education: “Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow. They need to develop skills alongside their peers, build relationships with educators and wrestle with tough problems on their own.” 

He also tied the policy to the district’s broader teaching ideals, saying, “Each day when our children come to school, we teach them to ask questions, to challenge assumptions, to interrogate the premise, to ask why. When it comes to AI in our schools, we hold an obligation to do the same.” 

New York’s move comes as school districts across the country weigh the benefits and risks of generative AI in classrooms.

Is New York alone in banning AI?

New York’s move comes as school districts across the country weigh the benefits and risks of generative AI in classrooms.

One of the largest examples is Los Angeles Unified, the US’s second-largest school district, which is also temporarily blocking generative AI tools on student devices across all grades as it develops a formal policy this school year. LAUSD had already banned devices before second grade and set screen-time limits as part of a broader policy adopted in June.

Like Los Angeles, New York is pairing AI restrictions with broader limits on technology use.

New York’s new plan also includes recommended screen time limits – a cap of 30 minutes daily for grades three to five and 45 minutes for grades six to eight. The plan also calls for a citywide review of education technology tools to eliminate those deemed nonessential to learning. 

At least 37 states already have some form of official AI guidance for schools, according to the Associated Press, but no consistent national standard exists for AI literacy instruction.

Reactions from education and advocacy groups were mixed. Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, welcomed the screen time limits but said the AI policy “leaves many questions unanswered,” including how the Education Department will ensure the tools it purchases include adequate safeguards, AP reported.

Spanish Maritime Rescue teams located the vessel some 65 nautical miles southwest of Gran Canaria’s coastal town of Arguineguín on Wednesday and found 44 survivors, with five dead bodies also on board.

The boat is believed to have departed The Gambia in West Africa in early August with 127 occupants on board. Human rights activist Helena Maleno Garzón, founder of Spanish charity Caminando Fronteras, said 83 people had lost their lives.

Rescuers were forced to leave the five bodies they found due to the rough sea conditions, Maritime Rescue said.

The organisation was unable to verify how many people were originally on board.

The 44 survivors are men from sub-Saharan Africa, Maritime Rescue said in a statement.

“Once the rescue was complete, adverse weather conditions in the area – featuring 20-knot winds and 2.5m waves – made it impossible to recover the five bodies found on board the vessel,” it added.

Three of the survivors were airlifted to hospital in critical condition.

The rest were transported by sea to Gran Canaria, where they disembarked in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Fernando Clavijo, head of the Canary Islands government, posted on X: “It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost. The Canaries cannot get used to or accept as normal the fact that the Atlantic continues to be a death trap.”

The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings.

Thousands of migrants attempt the perilous journey each year seeking to reach Spanish territory despite the risks posed by rough seas, strong currents and long distances.

READ ALSO:

Trump’s $1 coin makes him first living president on US currency in a century

Uber announces exit from Nigeria after 12 years of operation

On Wednesday, the US Mint launched the $1 coin with a portrait of Trump alongside the words “LIBERTY” and “IN GOD WE TRUST”, to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.

The special-edition coin captures “the spirit, pride, and legacy of a nation approaching its landmark anniversary”, the US Mint said.

The coins – priced at $61 (£45) for a roll of 25 and $154.50 for a bag of 100 – were “not currently in stock” on the mint’s website within hours of going on sale. The BBC has contacted the US Mint, the Treasury and the White House for further details.

The coin has been “created to celebrate this historic national milestone” with a “once-in-a-generation anniversary design destined to become a standout addition to modern collections”, the US Mint said.

They were also being sold in vending machines at the US Mint store in Washington DC.

While the coins have a golden colour they do not contain any actual gold. According to the US Mint, they are 88.5% copper with the balance being made up of zinc, manganese and nickel.

Back in May, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department was planning to issue a new $250 bill bearing a portrait of President Trump.

Federal law bars the printing of US money with the image of a living person. Trump allies in Congress have introduced legislation that would make an exception, although the proposal is currently stalled.

At the time, Bessent highlighted that another living US president has previously appeared on the country’s currency.

A half-dollar that was issued to commemorate America’s 150th anniversary in 1926 featured then-President Calvin Coolidge.

The Trump administration has also cited the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, from Trump’s first term.

While this statute prohibits portraits of living people on the reverse (tails side) of coins, it does not explicitly cover the obverse (heads side), where Trump’s likeness appears on the new $1 coins.

The Thayer Amendment of 1866 bans the portrait of any living person on US notes, although this traditionally does not apply to coins.

Also read:

• Supreme Court clears way for Trump to keep building White House ballroom

• Trump signs order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America

“It’s absurd to think that the government knew and did nothing,” Sánchez told Spain’s parliament on Thursday, hours after tens of thousands of people joined protests across the country backed by opposition parties.

Sánchez also maintained there was no evidence Morocco was behind the mass crossing and there had been “close co-ordination” between the two countries.

A Spanish police report has highlighted the “total permissiveness” of Moroccan security forces, although senior officials insist it does not point the finger at Rabat.

Although most of the migrants have been sent back to Morocco, some 5,000 remain on the streets and beaches of Ceuta, on the North African coast, including as many as 1,400 children.

There have been several reports that Spanish officials had been warned of a rise in sea arrivals over the border at Ceuta, following a Spanish court ruling that many migrants misunderstood to mean they would not be pushed back if they swam across.

Opposition People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused the government of lying and a cover-up, and said the prime minister should resign.

Spain’s handling of the migrant influx angered some of its European partners, and Italy responded by imposing border restrictions on arrivals from Spain.

The large turnout for the demonstrations in Madrid and other cities on Wednesday underlined the pressure Sánchez is under domestically too.

The protests were ostensibly held to express support for the people of Ceuta, but as frequent anti-government chants have shown, they also reflected public anger at the ongoing crisis.

As Thursday’s fierce debate in Congress showed, the situation in Ceuta has developed from a humanitarian and logistical crisis into a major  political challenge for the Socialist leader.

One of the issues Sánchez is having to explain is his government’s bilateral relationship with Morocco.

He has tried to walk a delicate line between defending his refusal to blame Morocco while reprimanding it for the sovereignty claims it has been making in recent weeks on both Ceuta and its fellow Spanish exclave of Melilla.

Sánchez has been careful until now not to criticise Rabat and he said he would stick to “proven, verified facts”, although he did complain of “unacceptable” statements by two Moroccan ministers about Ceuta and its sister city Melilla.

The two cities have the EU’s only land borders in North Africa and Sánchez told parliament: “Ceuta is not the border of Spain, it is Spain on the border [of Europe].”

Politicians to both his left and right point to what they say is Morocco’s track record of using the border with Spain as leverage when it has a grievance.

Many have interpreted the police report pointing to the role of Moroccan security forces in the July crossing as reinforcing this theory, although Sánchez maintained there was no solid evidence of government involvement.

Responding to the police report, as well as reports before the influx, Feijóo told MPs that it had “originated in Morocco, was consented to by Morocco and there are indications that Morocco co-ordinated it and the Government knew because it had been warned about it”.

Morocco has denied orchestrating or being involved in the mass crossing.

Sánchez praised the response of Ceuta police who had chosen to “defend human life” when the influx took place, rather than defend the border. He also highlighted close co-operation with Moroccan authorities over the return of more than 90% of the migrants in the following 72 hours.

He addressed the “difficult times” faced by the residents of Ceuta, as he explained the “complexity” of what had happened on 30 and 31 July.

He spoke of an “episode in which numerous actors and interests converge”, doubling down on his assertion that hoaxes and rumours spread by social media had sparked the crisis.

He has already blamed trafficking gangs and angered Russia and Israel for highlighting social media linked to both countries along with “an international far-right movement”. He told MPs that there was no evidence of state actors being involved but doubled down on his allegations of accounts linked to the two countries.

Ceuta was “a humanitarian crisis and also an administrative challenge within the city itself”, he added.

The ride-hailing company announced the decision in a message to customers, saying it had taken the “tough decision” to wind down its operations in Nigeria following a thorough review of its business.

Uber launched in Lagos in 2014 and has since become part of the daily transportation routine of many Nigerians, connecting passengers with independent drivers for work, social engagements and movement across the city.

In its message, the company thanked customers for trusting its platform over the years and acknowledged that its departure could disrupt their routines.

“We know this may cause disruption to your routine, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience,” Uber said.

The company also expressed appreciation to users who relied on the platform to connect with drivers and travel safely.

Hackers extorted Manchester Airports Group (MAG) for an undisclosed amount but failed to get their ransom paid.

Customers of Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports are being warned of secondary attacks as the data is now available to other criminals.

“MAG is confident that we have taken effective measures to protect our customers and we have contacted all those affected, including reaching out to all those with upcoming bookings to advise them of additional support,” the company said in a statement.

Contact details, vehicle registrations and postcodes were stolen in the breach that appears to have accessed databases containing wi-fi log in and car parking details.

The cyber-crime group – which the BBC is not naming – is offering the entire data set for free to other criminals or scammers through their website.

“Today we are releasing the Manchester Group database,” they wrote.

“Half a terabyte, and every byte of it is pure PII [personally identifiable information].”

Risk of future scams

Stolen data experts at HaveIBeenPwned have analysed the published material and confirmed it contains people’s email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, licence plate numbers, purchasing history and browsing device data.

Cyber-security expert Kevin Beaumont warned those affected to be on high alert for other forms of scam and hack – especially high profile or wealthy individuals.

“The data includes both historical locations and planned future travel, so individuals sensitive to their movements being known may need to take precautions,” he said.

“People should be alert to scammers reusing the data and so knowing details such as phone numbers and car registration numbers,” he added.

MAG says it is working with the authorities and specialist advisors and says passengers’ physical safety has not be at risk in the airports.

Unusually, the cyber criminals’ website where the MAG data is available is hosted on the clear internet and not on the dark net like most other so-called hacker “leak sites”.

This makes the data easier to access, increasing the risk to victims of MAG and the other companies the gang has breached in recent months.

As well as posting the stolen data, the hackers boasted about how they breached each victim using the same method each time – exploiting weaknesses in how companies store their digital keys for internal networks.

What if my information has been taken?

Data watchdog the Information Commissioner’s Office has advice on its website for people whose data has been hacked. It includes:

• Report any details of stolen documents including passports, credit cards or driver’s licences to the issuer
• Check your bank statement and credit report for any unusual activity
• Keep alert for any suspicious emails, messages or phone calls
• Use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication for online accounts

The United States threatened more devastating strikes. Iran accused Washington of hitting a wedding party, killing five people and wounding dozens.

Asian and European stocks fell after the renewed U.S. airstrikes, which pushed oil prices back up to levels unseen since July, compounding the economic impact of a global sell-off in bonds as disrupted energy supplies fuel inflation worldwide.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air defences, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites on Tuesday. Iranian media reported hits on multiple targets ​near the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway where Tehran has threatened tankers attempting to pass without its permission.

Iran responded by striking what it said were U.S. assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, and said ​its aim was now to drive U.S. forces out of the vast network of military bases they have maintained for decades across the Middle East.

“American evil in the ⁠region will be met with heavier, more widespread, and devastating responses, and any country that cooperates with the aggressive American army must accept its dangerous consequences,” Iran’s military command said.

Jordan’s military said it dealt with 13 missiles, 10 of ​which were intercepted and three which fell in remote areas. The IRGC said it killed a large number of U.S. forces in Jordan, but U.S. officials told Reuters there had not been any casualties, according to initial assessments.

In Kuwait, Iran ​said it had carried out a missile and drone attack on the vast U.S. Ali Al Salem Air Base and targeted the accommodation of a U.S. commander. Kuwait’s fire service said crews put out a blaze at a residential complex early on Wednesday that was struck by an Iranian drone causing damage but no casualties.

Qatar, home of the largest U.S. airbase in the Gulf, said it “holds the Islamic Republic of Iran fully legally responsible for these attacks and their repercussions and consequences.” Bahrain, which houses the regional headquarters of the ​U.S. Navy, said Iranian drones were intercepted and destroyed.

The IRGC said its ground forces carried out combined missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Erbil in northern Iraq, claiming to have killed several U.S. personnel there. Neither Iraq ​nor the U.S. confirmed the attack.

Iran also said two tankers had been struck by mines while being steered across the Strait of Hormuz by U.S. operatives through a channel that Tehran says it has closed.

IRAN SAYS WEDDING STRUCK

Iran reported at least 12 deaths ‌from the night ⁠of U.S. strikes, with five people including a four-year-old said to have been killed while celebrating a wedding at a home in Sirik, a town along the coast of the strait.

Iranian media said as many as 68 people were wounded there, and released images of several injured children in hospital. Iranian officials compared the incident to a strike on a girls’ school that killed 160 people on the war’s first night.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the incident and U.S. officials did not comment on it. Video filmed by Iran’s West Asia  News Agency at the purported site showed rubble strewn across rooms and a courtyard of a home. A pair of strappy women’s dress sandals lay abandoned on a blood-soaked ​carpet.

“I am just glad the casualties weren’t even worse,” said ​Ali Molahi, identified as the father of the ⁠bride.

CONFLICT DRAINING BOTH SIDES

The exchange of fire was the worst since July, when U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly halted two weeks of intense bombing of Iran after warnings from his military brass that they were using up munitions and running out of meaningful targets.

Iran’s war-battered economy and degraded conventional forces have left it stretched thin, while Washington has used up much ​of its stocks of air defence munitions and burned through its precision long-range missiles.

Still, Trump, who has yet to achieve the aims he set when launching “Operation Epic Fury” ​in February — to end Iran’s nuclear ⁠programme, deprive it of the ability to strike its neighbours and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers — repeated his declarations that victory was at hand.

“I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing,” he said on Tuesday. “They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?”

Iran, for its part, is determined to humble U.S. forces and emerge from the war stronger than before ⁠it, with sanctions ​lifted, billions in blocked funds released, and its newfound grip over the strait letting it collect fees from ships that carried a fifth ​of global oil before the war.

Trump agreed to many of Tehran’s demands in a June deal, but the ceasefire collapsed within weeks over control of the strait, and no talks between the foes have been held since.

Another 28 people were injured on the road between Red Sea towns of Dahab and Nuweiba in the South Sinai governorate on Wednesday morning.

Reports in Egyptian and Jordanian media say Jordanian nationals were among those killed in the accident.

As many as 20 ambulances were sent to the crash scene to provide first aid and evacuate the injured, the Egyptian health ministry said. The cause of the crash remains unknown.

The area is a popular tourist destination, attracting visitors from around the world.

Deadly road accidents are common across Egypt, with the authorities reporting nearly 6,000 fatalities in 2025.

Such accidents are often blamed on reckless driving and poor road maintenance.

Last month, 18 people were killed and 30 injured when two lorries collided in the north-eastern Ismailia governorate.

The study, published in European Urology Oncology, was led by the University of Birmingham and a diagnostics company Nonacus, and involved nearly 1,000 patients at seven hospitals in England and Scotland.

Researchers hope it could reduce the number of patients needing urgent, more invasive procedures, called cystoscopies, which involve inserting a small camera up the urethra and into the bladder.

If a larger trial is successful, it could mean tens of thousands of patients a year are spared these tests.

More convenient for patients

More than 300,000 cystoscopies are performed in the UK each year and there are significant waiting lists in some areas.

While the urine test is not a replacement for cystoscopies, it could help doctors identify patients at greater risk who should be prioritised for urgent ones rather than wait.

This NHS trial found that the Galeas urine test identified 92% of bladder cancer cases.

A negative result meant there was more than a 99% chance that the patient did not have bladder cancer.

It checks for any genetic material shed into the urine by bladder cancer and was originally developed by the University of Birmingham with funding from Cancer Research UK (CRUK).

It looks for more than 450 DNA mutations associated with bladder cancer across 23 genes.

Prof Richard Bryan, co-author of the study and from Birmingham University, said after spending years developing and evaluating the science, it was exciting to see “very promising early performance” in a large real-world patient population.

Under a licensing agreement, the test has been commercialised by Nonacus, which pays back part of the revenue to the University and CRUK.

Michelle Mitchell from CRUK said: “Too many people are waiting longer than they should for a bladder cancer diagnosis, and it’s essential that we find ways to tackle this problem.

“It’s early days for this test and further research is needed, but it’s vital that we continue to find faster and less invasive ways to help diagnose or rule out cancer.”

Bladder cancer is more common in men over the age of 60 and the main symptom is blood in your urine.

How serious bladder cancer is depends on how big the cancer is and whether it has spread elsewhere in the body.

Early detection and treatment of cancer saves lives.

In a Facebook post announcing his arrival, Baba Sadiq said he was taking up the role with a commitment to strengthening the longstanding Ghana-Nigeria relationship and creating new opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.

“September begins in Abuja.

I arrived in Abuja yesterday to commence my national assignment as Ghana’s High Commissioner-designate to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Permanent Representative to ECOWAS, with a commitment to strengthening the enduring Ghana-Nigeria relationship and building bridges of opportunity,” he stated.

His new diplomatic assignment comes as Ghana and Nigeria continue to deepen cooperation across areas including trade, investment, regional integration, security and people-to-people relations.

Baba Sadiq is expected to formally take up his responsibilities following the completion of the required diplomatic processes.

He was found guilty of the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, who died when the black BMW he was travelling in was sprayed with bullets in a drive-by shooting in 1996.

“This is huge. It was a tough case. It’s a cold case,” former prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the BBC. “We’re talking about the greatest rapper of all time, an icon, and not a single arrest or prosecution for 30 years.”

The conviction gives closure to Shakur’s family and has prompted questions from observers as to what it could mean for an almost identical case — the unsolved murder of Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, also known by his legal name, Christopher Wallace.

Wallace, a New Yorker, was once one of Shakur’s friends, but the two became rivals and embodied the East Coast-West Coast feud that dominated 1990s hip-hop. Wallace was killed in Los Angeles a few months after Shakur and in similar circumstances – a drive-by shooting. No one has ever been charged.

“Tupac’s murder and Biggie’s murder are two of the great cultural touchstones of our lives,” said Justin Tinsley, a journalist for ESPN’s Andscape and the author of “It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him.”

“Those two men, they were so unique, talented, and impactful, separately,” Tinsley told the BBC. “But it’s impossible to tell each of their stories without telling the other’s.”

“When you talk about these cases, they’re always going to be connected because there are so many mutual figures involved with them, and ancillary figures,” he said.

Theorists have long believed the two murders were linked. Wallace’s name came up during Duane Davis’ trial. He and Davis were at the same party the night Wallace was killed, and police interviewed Davis about it.

The investigator who conducted that interview even testified at the Tupac murder trial.

The breakthrough in finally solving the Shakur case largely came down to one thing: Davis’ own words.

Through documentaries with the media, his own memoir, podcasts and even a secret police interview, he acknowledged his role in Shakur’s death.

Davis said he tossed a firearm in the backseat and his nephew, Orlando Anderson, used the gun to fatally shoot Shakur as they pulled up alongside his vehicle in Las Vegas on 7 September, 1996.

Anderson was shot dead in 1998, having denied killing Shakur.

During the trial, there were no eye-witnesses to place Davis as being in the car, no murder weapon presented, no video or photo evidence. His defence team went as far as to argue there wasn’t even proof that he was in Las Vegas that night.

Rahmani said it was a difficult case to prosecute. He noted the rumours and speculation surrounding Davis were nothing new and had been around for decades – but the decision to charge him and go to trial was an “uphill climb” – a gutsy move – for prosecutors.

“Look, when you’re a prosecutor, you’re expected to win every time. They made a difficult decision to charge a case that a lot of people thought might be a loser,” he explained. “And they got justice, where other people didn’t even bother trying.”

Davis’ attorney Michael Sanft asked the jury to consider “what facts do you have?” He urged the panel, before they decided their guilty verdict, to discredit his client as a liar who told tales to sell books and make money.

“There’s no proof,” he argued to the jury.

The moment the guilty verdict was read in court, there was an outpouring of emotion among Shakur’s family. Some cried and wiped tears with tissues. Others hugged and held hands. A family member embraced one of the prosecutors in the case.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson thanked the judge, prosecutors and Shakur’s family members, who he said were very relieved and “finally have justice.”

“Their loved one was murdered,” he said. “They waited 30 years for a trial. It’s very understandable that they were relieved.”

Trial lawyer Shaun Kent said the case really evolved with each interview and moment that Davis decided to talk about the case.

“There are no other witnesses, besides him,” Kent told the BBC before the trial, noting that the “strongest witness against him, is him”.

Rahmani believed Davis likely would have never faced charges if he had stayed silent.

“He really couldn’t stop himself,” Rahmani added. “Even when he was arrested and in custody, he was giving interviews.”

Much of the Shakur trial forced the jury to place themselves back in the 1990s, at a time of intense gang violence that had infiltrated roots into hip-hop music and rivalries between East-Coast and West-Coast rappers.

It was a time of deep-rooted mistrust in policing and a street code that forbade reporting to authorities.

Even Shakur, after being hit multiple times in the drive-by shooting that would later kill him, refused to talk to authorities. “We’ll take care of it,” he said in an ambulance as an officer tried to question him.

The silence was echoed months later in the shooting death of Biggie Smalls.

Biggie, one of the biggest East Coast rappers, was leaving an after-party in Los Angeles for the Soul Train Music Awards, when a black Chevrolet pulled up to his vehicle at a red light and opened fire on 9 March, 1997. It was almost exactly six months after the shooting that killed Shakur, one of the biggest West Coast rappers.

Both were Grammy-nominated artists at the top of their genre, making millions and receiving constant radio play. Their feud spilled over into their lyrics, and also led to threats and physical violence.

Violence erupted on the streets of Los Angeles following both shootings, as street gangs sought to hold one another accountable for the rappers’ deaths.

For years, neither murder led to arrests or convictions, just rumours and conspiracies.

“People will search for closure in any way they can get it,” Tinsley said. “People are trying to make sense of it for 30 years.”

Like Shakur’s death, countless theories and names have surrounded the death of Biggie in Los Angeles, but the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) have not made any arrests.

“It’s really a stain on the LAPD. The fact that this could happen and not a single arrest was made and no one was prosecuted,” Rahmani said, noting Biggie’s killing happened on a public street in the middle of the second most populous US city.

“Prosecutors don’t like to lose,” Rahmani explained. “But, maybe this [Tupac’s conviction] will embolden folks in Los Angeles to maybe take another look at it, a cold case that’s coming up on 30 years.”

Asked about the cases and whether the Tupac murder conviction could revive Biggie’s death, the LAPD told the BBC that it was aware of the conviction and the investigation into Biggie’s case remained active.

“The murder of Christopher Wallace remains an open, unsolved case within LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division,” Lt Elpidio Orozco said, urging anyone with any tips to call authorities.

Though Wallace’s case has gone cold, the public’s interest has not.

“They’ve been gone longer than they’ve been alive,” Tinsley said, “But the enduring mythology around these guys and their deaths will always be a topic of conversation.”

Ceder, a member of the Christian Union (ChristenUnie), previously received the same distinction in 2025, making this his second time being recognized as the best-performing politician in the Dutch Parliament.

The ranking is based on parliamentary performance and offers an assessment of how effectively MPs fulfil their duties.

For Ceder, the recognition reflects his commitment to public service, integrity, and effective parliamentary work.

Ceder has built a reputation around issues of justice, social responsibility, and community service. Before entering politics, he worked as a lawyer representing vulnerable and marginalized groups.

Born and raised in Amsterdam, his Ghanaian and Surinamese heritage has also played an important role in shaping his outlook on public service.

Ceder previously gained international recognition when he was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2018 in the Law & Policy category.

His Ghanaian roots remain a source of inspiration. Ceder has often spoken about the values he inherited from his family, including resilience, faith and solidarity, and how these principles guide his work as a public servant.

Reacting to the latest recognition, Ceder expressed gratitude and dedicated the achievement to the first generation of Ghanaians who settled in the Netherlands.

“We thank God for His strength and guidance. To be awarded twice is not something I take lightly. I would like to dedicate this recognition to the first generations of Ghanaians who came to the Netherlands. Because of them, we can stand on their shoulders.”

The recognition is based on the National Political Index, which tracks the parliamentary performance of members of the Dutch House of Representatives.

The index uses data maintained by the House of Representatives and assesses MPs using a range of indicators related to their parliamentary duties.

By focusing on parliamentary performance rather than media visibility alone, the index highlights an important but often less visible aspect of democratic politics: how elected representatives actually carry out their responsibilities in Parliament.
His recognition serves as another example of the positive influence that members of the Ghanaian diaspora can have in public life, both in the Netherlands and on the international stage.

Also read:

• Ghanaian-Dutch MP Don Ceder adjudged 2025 Best Politician in the Netherlands

• Lawyers file bail application for detained Asante Akyem North MP in Dutch court

Deep Roots of Insecurity and Displacement

Eastern Congo provides fertile ground for the epidemic to spread rapidly. Armed conflict, mass displacement, and population movements hinder containment efforts. A concurrent strike by local health workers compounds the crisis. Displacement sites present the most acute danger due to severely precarious living conditions. The virus recently breached two additional health zones in the region.

Global Health Alarm

The World Health Organisation warns the outbreak remains entirely out of control. Current transmission trajectories threaten to surpass the devastating 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic. That disaster claimed over 11,000 lives across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Officials trace the current contagion back to February, despite formal declarations arriving in May. The virus has now crossed from three initial zones into nearly 60 areas. Most infections and fatalities occur inside local communities rather than monitored contact networks.

Frontline Violence and Burial Tensions

Response teams face immense hostility while attempting to contain the spread. Armed assailants recently stormed an Ebola burial site outside Mambasa in Ituri province. Attackers wielding machetes injured one response worker and forced the entire team to scatter. Floribert Magene addressed the constant threat of violence faced by medical personnel. “We demand greater security so we can operate in the field and do our work without endangering our lives,” said Floribert Magene, a member of the response team. Traditional funeral practices complicate containment because deceased victims remain highly contagious. Authorities mandate state-managed burials for suspected cases to prevent transmission. These protocols frequently spark friction and protests from grieving families and communities.

Treatment Gaps and Experimental Defences

The current epidemic stems from the Bundibugyo strain, a rare viral type lacking approved treatments or vaccines. Officials launched a vaccination campaign last week targeting health workers and front-line staff. This campaign utilises the Ervebo vaccine, proven effective against the distinct Zaire strain. Clinical trials continue in an urgent race to secure a licensed vaccine for the Bundibugyo variant.

Broader Regional Fallout

Emergency containment measures paralyse daily life across six affected provinces. Restrictions target public gatherings, enforce social distancing, and mandate airport closures. Ituri province bears a double burden from both the epidemic and persistent rebel violence. Advocacy groups urge authorities to deepen community engagement and build local trust. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation warns that cross-border transmission risks persist despite neighbouring Uganda declaring itself Ebola-free last month.

Humanitarian Crossroads

Balancing immediate epidemiological containment with enduring community trust remains the central challenge for international health bodies and local administrations alike.

In a 5-4 ruling, the justices granted the Trump administration’s emergency request, blocking lower court rulings that would have halted construction of an above-ground portion of the project.

But Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, sided with the three liberal justices to dissent, writing that “construction is likely unlawful” because Congress has not approved the project.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed the legal challenge, arguing that the president did not have unilateral authority to proceed with construction.

Trump demolished the historic East Wing of the executive residence last autumn to begin building the ballroom. The White House has said the project will be “substantially” finished by November and fully completed by August 2028.

On Friday, the high court had temporarily allowed construction of the 90,000 sq ft (8,400 sq m) ballroom to move forward while the justices considered the lawsuit aiming to halt it entirely.

In Monday’s unsigned order, the five justices who cleared the way for construction said lower courts had “likely exceeded” their authority in blocking the ballroom.

While the majority did not decide on the legality of the East Wing project, they said the preservation group “lacks standing” to sue the  government.

They ruled that the Trump administration had established it was likely to succeed in arguing that it would “suffer irreparable harm without a stay”.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote in dissent: “Today’s decision is no victory for the separation of powers.”

Reacting to the ruling, Trump posted that he was “pleased” the “baseless” lawsuit had failed to halt construction.

“We are living in the Golden Age of America, and this Building will be one of the Greatest ever constructed in Washington, DC,” he said.

Trump has long argued that the White House needs a larger events space, and more recently, that it was important for his security.

The Republican president emphasised the need for the ballroom after an alleged assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April.

But the National Trust for Historic Preservation argued that construction was causing irreversible damage to a historical landmark.

Its position stemmed from a declaration made by preservationist Alison Hoagland, who lives in Washington DC and serves on the trust’s board of trustees.

Hoagland, who says she visits the neighbourhood once a month, asserted that she would “suffer both professional and personal injuries, including to my aesthetic, cultural and historical interests, if a ballroom of the proposed form and scale were constructed”.

In the dissent, Roberts said the injuries claimed by Hoagland were sufficient to allow the lawsuit to go ahead.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation said it was disappointed in the court’s decision, but welcomed the “strong dissent” by Roberts.

“Each President is a temporary steward of the People’s House and does not have the unilateral authority to demolish and redesign it without the approval of Congress,” it said in a statement.

The ballroom project, along with the helipad being constructed on the South Lawn, are just part of the president’s wider effort to transform Washington’s cityscape.

His plans include the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and a planned “Arc de Trump” larger than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The jury found Davis guilty of one count of murder with a deadly weapon for the rap superstar’s death in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on 7 September 1996.

Clad in a black suit, the 63-year-old stood impassively in the Las Vegas court as the verdict was read, before saying he would appeal. Shakur’s relatives held hands, some hugging and crying.

Shakur was 25 when he was slain at the height of his career as one of rap’s most influential voices. He has sold more than 75 million records worldwide.

Prosecutors had argued during the trial that although Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, did not fire the gun that killed Shakur, he ordered the shooting and supplied the gun that his nephew Orlando Anderson used to open fire.

They told the court that Davis had planned the shooting as retaliation after Anderson was involved in a fight with Shakur and the rapper’s crew in Las Vegas just hours earlier.

For 30 years, the case remained one of America’s most famous cold cases, spurring countless conspiracies – but never a conviction, until now.

Shakur’s murder happened at a time of intense rivalry between the East Coast and West Coast rap scene and amid gang feuds between the Bloods and Crips, which had deep roots within hip-hop at the time.

His family appeared emotional in court, his sister embracing a prosecutor after the verdict was read while others sat crying nearby.

Outside, devoted fans of Shakur were crying and cheering.

The key evidence in the case were Davis’ own words, where he repeatedly and publicly acknowledged being inside the white Cadillac from where the deadly shots were fired.

He had told authorities about his role in Shakur’s death during a secret 2008 police interview related to the death of fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G., real name Christopher Wallace.

Davis elaborated further on his role in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend.

But his book and media interviews voided a protective agreement he had established with authorities that had blocked any criminal charges being filed, with the court ruling his police interview could be used in the murder trial against him.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Binu Palal told jurors to take Davis at his word and find him guilty.

For years, he argued, Davis had been telling people “that he is responsible for Tupac Shakur’s murder” through documentaries, his memoir, podcasts and a police interview.

“He’s the shot caller – in every instance in every iteration he’s the leader of the South Side Crips,” Palal told the jury.

“When you have the shot caller sitting shotgun when shots are fired, there’s no doubt he’s responsible.”

Throughout the trial, Davis’ defence team tried to persuade jurors that his comments were fiction – bravado and exaggeration intended to sell books and make money.

In closing arguments, his lawyer Michael Sanft urged the jury to discredit his client as a liar who just told tales to sell books.

There’s no proof,” he told the jury.

But within hours of the jury being handed the case on Monday, they reached a guilty verdict.

Just before the court emptied out, Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny set Davis’ sentencing for 13 October.

While reading out some procedural steps in the case, Davis appeared to interrupt by raising his hand.

“I would like my stuff,” he told the judge, mentioning some personal items including his phone.

He continued: “I would like to appeal this matter.”

The judge explained that this could happen after sentencing.

The meeting, held on Monday, August 31, brought together representatives from the U.S. business community, diplomats, investors and members of the Asantehene’s delegation.

Discussions centred on strengthening economic ties and identifying opportunities that could attract investment into Asanteman while contributing to Ghana’s broader trade and investment agenda.

The engagement forms part of Otumfuo’s broader efforts to leverage strategic partnerships to promote development and economic opportunities for the Asante Kingdom and Ghana.

Among those who attended from the U.S. side were Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Smith; Kendra Gaither and Guevera Yao of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Also present were Kwabena Osei-Sarpong of RIFE International; Dr. Adjoa B. Asamoah of ABA Consulting; Amb. Dr. Jendayi Frazer of 50 Ventures; Sarah Brenholt of Cargill; Michael Coyle of Peak Global Partners; and Victor Swami of Areva Pharmaceuticals.

The Asantehene was accompanied by a delegation comprising former Ghanaian Ambassador to the U.S., Amb. Kobby Koomson; Ernest Sarhene, Head of Protocol to the Asantehene; Charles Sekyere; Dr. Andy Asamoah, CEO of A&C Mall; and Kofi Badu, Chief of Staff at the Manhyia Palace.

The engagement underscores the importance of public-private partnerships and international cooperation in advancing investment, trade and development opportunities for Ghana.

President Mahama made the announcement while addressing fellow African leaders at the 21st Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) in Luanda, Angola, where he provided an update on Ghana’s efforts to advance the international reparations agenda.

According to the President, the UNGA side event will provide a platform for stakeholders involved in the reparations campaign to present progress reports and outline the next steps in implementing the initiative launched in Accra.

He said the event will particularly receive updates from various panels established to advance work arising from the reparations resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2025.

The panels are expected to provide expertise and recommendations on the political, legal, historical and cultural dimensions of the reparatory justice campaign.

President Mahama also highlighted the outcomes of the Next Steps Conference held in Accra in June 2026, which brought together Heads of State, experts and other key stakeholders to deliberate on the future of the global reparations agenda.

The conference expanded the scope of the initiative to include indentured labour as a historical injustice and led to the establishment of specialised bodies to deepen the campaign.

They include the High-Level Advisory Council on Reparatory Justice, the Global Experts Panel on the Restitution of Cultural Heritage and the Global Legal Panel on Reparatory Justice.

President Mahama, who was recognised as the African Union Champion for Reparations during the June conference, said Ghana remains committed to providing leadership in the pursuit of justice, restitution and dignity for Africans and people of African descent worldwide.

He said the upcoming UNGA side event would offer an opportunity to assess the progress of the various panels and strengthen international cooperation towards achieving reparatory justice.

President Mahama said:

“In June this year, we convened the Next Steps Conference in Accra. We expanded our mandate to include indentured labour as a historical injustice. We also established a High-Level Advisory Council on Reparatory Justice, a Global Experts Panel on the Restitution of Cultural Heritage, and a Global Legal Panel on Reparatory Justice.

“As a follow-up, Ghana will host a high-level side event during the 81st UN General Assembly Session this September to receive progress reports from our established panels.

“I have invited all Heads of State to join us as we continue to lead the charge for justice, restitution, and dignity for Africa and people of African descent worldwide.”

The announcement reinforces Ghana’s efforts to position itself at the centre of the international campaign for reparations and broader recognition of the historical injustices suffered by Africans and people of African descent.

The 532-member group chat, called “Traders of Greater Europe”, was used to arrange cash transfers across borders for their clients, including to UK cities such as Birmingham and London.

In one case, payments from Brussels went to militants from the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) investigative journalism network, which includes the BBC, also found wider evidence of similar cash transfer systems being used in people smuggling and drug trafficking.

The group chat, which contained more than 82,000 messages sent between late February and December 2022, was first uncovered by Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra. An investigating magistrate is a judge who examines evidence in complex cases before trial and makes a recommendation about whether they should proceed.

Guerra said the number of transactions was “staggering” and the network covered “the entire planet”. The case began as an investigation into terror financing, but “it became just a drop in the ocean of transactions”, he said.

Members of the group chat sent messages in Arabic to each other to set up cash payments using the ancient hawala transfer system. Hawala involves a network of trusted money brokers who can arrange for funds to be sent around the world without any electronic record or physical transport of bank notes.

The system involves an agreement between two brokers, known as hawaladars, in different locations. One of the hawaladars is paid a sum of cash and the other agrees to supply the same sum, minus commission, to the recipient. The hawaladars agree to settle up all their transactions between themselves at a later date.

Hawala transfers are frequently used for legitimate purposes, such as immigrant workers sending funds home to support their families in countries with limited access to banks.

But criminals can also take advantage of hawala transfers to avoid the Swift system used for most international money transfers, where banks typically flag large transactions outside the normal course of business and are required to report any suspicious activity.

The Traders of Greater Europe group was reserved for transactions over €5,000 (£4,279) and payments were often much larger. There is no indication that all those participating in the group were involved in handling criminal funds.

Hawala is illegal in many countries, including most of the EU, but is legal in the UK as long as the brokers are registered with Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The cache of WhatsApp messages was obtained by the EBU following a 2024 court case in Belgium which convicted six money launderers, including Abu Adam, the head of the network in Brussels, and his number two, Abu Ahmed.

Belgian police had discovered evidence that the defendants had been sending money to IS, which was intended to help the wives of militants escape from detention camps in Syria. When they arrested Abu Adam, they discovered the Traders of Greater Europe group chat on his phone.

Guerra said it was like “hitting the jackpot”, uncovering the inner workings of a vast, underground system. The phone also contained 6,000 photos of €5 notes showing the serial numbers and 6,000 photos of identity cards. These details are often used as unique identifying codes in hawala transactions, and the total number of notes and ID cards suggest Abu Adam had processed at least 12,000 transactions, Guerra said.

“This isn’t just amateur work; it’s professional, and at a level we could never have imagined,” he said. “They’re bankers with no government oversight.”

The EBU also found further gangs across Europe using the hawala system for criminal activity. One former money launderer previously involved in European hawala networks, whom we are calling Frank, told the EBU he had been involved in transactions totalling several hundred million euros.

His first introduction to the hawala system had been at an office in a small town outside Rotterdam, he said. There, five or six messengers had arrived with money in about an hour and a half, transferring at least a million euros, he estimated.

“What I found out later is that it’s not just about money. It’s about the financing of terror. It’s about drug trafficking. It’s about prostitution and all sorts of other crap, to put it nicely,” he said.

Cases in Austria have also revealed how the hawala system is bound up with people smuggling and violence.

In one case investigated by Austrian broadcaster ORF, part of the EBU network, Austrian police raided what they called “the biggest hawala office in Vienna”. It was run from a kebab restaurant on a busy thoroughfare and which authorities say was used to make payments for people smuggling.

Two Syrian brothers who ran the operation were charged with human trafficking, as well as torturing and raping a courier who had lost €350,000 (£300,000), saying he had been robbed. They were convicted last year and sentenced to 18 and 8 years in prison respectively.

Austrian police and Europol also recently dismantled another people-smuggling ring financed through hawala, which officials said had transported about 100,000 people into Europe over 18 months.

Gerald Tatzgern, who leads human-trafficking investigations at Austria’s Criminal Intelligence Service, the BK, told ORF that torture was a reality of people smuggling and was also used to maximise profits.

He said: “Videos of the torture are then sent to the families, saying that if they don’t send another €1,000 or several thousand euros, then the person concerned – your son, your brother, your father – will suffer.”

Payments to stop the torture were demanded through the hawala system, he said.

Police commander and Europol liaison officer Quentin Mugg, who has led a number of money-laundering investigations, said the hawala system was “the primary money-laundering channel for organised crime”.

“Whether the money comes from migrant smuggling, human trafficking, pimping, a grandmother’s savings sent as a birthday present to her son, or a Malian working in France who wants to support his family, [the hawaladars] couldn’t care less,” he said. “And they’ll apply their rates.”

Explosions and gunfire rang out across capital, Niamey, early in the morning, including at a key military airbase and the presidential palace.

Hours later, Niger’s authorities said the rebellion had been contained.

Nigerien forces had repelled the attack “with the assistance of servicemen of the African Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defence”, the foreign ministry in Moscow said on Sunday.

The ministry also said it would continue to support Niger in its fight against “extremists”, but that the situation was now under the control of the legitimate authorities headed by President [Gen Abdourahmane] Tiani”.

Russia’s African Corps has become a key security partner for multiple military governments in the Sahel, who have been struggling to contain long-running jihadist insurgencies.

The Alliance of Sahel States – composed of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso – said the attempted coup was “a betrayal by a group of soldiers involved in an attempt at destabilisation”.

The authorities have not said how many soldiers were involved in the attempted coup, nor how many casualties there were.

Niger’s military ruler, Gen Tiani, who was sworn in as its president last year after he deposed its elected leader, has also not publicly addressed the incident.

The nation’s state broadcaster showed footage of several alleged mutineers being arrested by the Presidential Guard.

On Sunday, Niger Press Agency reported that commercial activity was returning to normal, with petrol stations, shops and other businesses reopening.

Supporters of the government gathered at a public square in central Niamey in support of the security forces and Tiani’s government.

Air Base 101, the military site attacked on Saturday, is part of the Diori Hamani airport complex.

It hosts Nigerien military aircraft and drones, as well as an Alliance of Sahel States counter-terrorism unit. Russian and Italian forces are also based there, according to news agency Reuters.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are all military-ruled countries that have cut ties with Western partners and strengthened their co-operation with Russia.

But jihadist violence remains widespread in all three countries, despite the shift in alliances.

For Niger’s government, Saturday’s mutiny highlights that the military is dealing not only with an external insurgency, but also signs of discontent within its own ranks.

The airbase where the mutiny began had itself been targeted twice by jihadists this year – once by an Islamic State affiliate and later by an al-Qaeda affiliate.

Nigerien authorities say security forces have increased patrols around key sites in Niamey following the attempted takeover, including the main airport entrance and the presidential pavilion.

The records are being sought by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against several US government agencies seeking documents relating to investigations involving Tinubu.

Greenspan’s requests include the FBI’s entire file on Tinubu and FBI Form 302 interview records concerning the period between 1992 and 1993.

The case also involves an alleged record connected to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding in the United States involving about $460,000 linked to Tinubu.

Tinubu has denied wrongdoing.

According to the 16-page court documents shared with Channels Television by his lawyer and legal team, Christopher W. Carmichael, Victor P. Henderson, and Oluwole O. Afolabi, on Saturday, Tinubu argued that the release of the records could infringe on his privacy.

“Submitted in that proceeding, did not reveal the details of a possible criminal investigation (or its results) involving Intervenor. Other than by speculation or labels, Plaintiff does not point to an existing public record that contains details of a governmental criminal investigation or findings about Intervenor. (DE 85-3, No. 16.)

“The purpose of Plaintiff’s motion is to obtain such information because it is not public. Moreover, Plaintiff’s argument that the limited disclosures in connection with the forfeiture negates all privacy interests is not consistent with precedent. The Supreme Court explained that an individual retains a privacy interest in an entire file or document being produced, even where there are “scattered” disclosures of information from that same file. See Reporters Committee, 489 U.S. at 764-67 (“our cases have recognized the privacy interests inherent in the non-disclosure of certain information even where the information may have been public at one time.”).

“While some information may appear in portions of public records, an individual still retains a privacy interest in the details that remain undisclosed. Applying Reporter’s Committee, this Court explained that an individual retains a privacy interest even if they were previously publicly associated with criminal activity. Judicial Watch, Inc. v. United States Dept. of Justice, 898 F.Supp.2d 93, 104-05 (D.D.C. 2012).

“Other decisions have likewise described the fact that someone was under investigation as “distinct” from the contents of the investigative files. See Electronic Privacy Info. Centre v. United States Dept. of Justice, 18 F.4d 712, 719 (D.C. Cir. 2021) (“Although the names of – 6 – Case 1:23-cv-01816-BAH Document 98 Filed 08/28/26 Page 7 of 16 Trump campaign officials appear in public portions of the Report, they retain a privacy interest in ‘avoiding disclosure of the details of the investigation.’”)

“Regardless of the prior disclosure in the forfeiture proceeding, Intervenor retains a privacy interest in potential disclosure of the investigative files sought by Plaintiff”, the document read in part.

The 31-year-old woman was attacked at the station in Rosenheim, Bavaria, shortly before 1am local time (00:00BST). She was taken to hospital where she died as a result of “severe” injuries, the Bavarian Police said in a statement.

Officers arrested a 27-year-old German man at the scene immediately after the incident. The background and motive for the attack is under investigation, the statement added.

Police have asked anyone who may have witnessed “an argument or physical altercation” at the station late on Saturday or early on Sunday to contact them.

Rosenheim, one of the largest cities in Upper Bavaria, is a busy rail hub for passengers travelling to Austrian cities including Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck.

The summit, scheduled for Sunday, August 30, is being hosted by Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, who serves as the AU Champion for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa.

Central to the discussions will be the proposed adoption of a comprehensive Decision, Action Plan and Implementation Matrix on Conflict Prevention and Resolution.

African leaders are also expected to examine the effectiveness of existing continental peace and security mechanisms and identify ways to improve coordination, response, implementation and funding under the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and the African Governance Architecture (AGA).

The extraordinary meeting comes as several regions of Africa continue to grapple with security and political challenges, including conflicts in Sudan and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, instability across the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, and the ongoing insurgency in northern Mozambique.

President Mahama and other heads of state are expected to explore practical measures to strengthen regional stability and enhance Africa’s collective ability to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts.

The session forms part of the AU’s broader efforts to reinforce African-led approaches to peacebuilding, conflict prevention and sustainable security on the continent.

The Kenya Revenue Authority said its decision to raise the duty with effect from ​August 20 aimed to curb under-declaration and undervaluation ​of imports, which it said disadvantages compliant ⁠businesses and local manufacturers.

Traders say the change would ​raise the cost of clearing goods and hurt small ​businesses that rely on consolidated shipments to reduce import costs.

“We are standing for our citizenship and our right to do ​business and our right to build our future,” ​said Muturi Kariuki, who joined the demonstrations.

Kariuki was among the traders ‌who ⁠closed their businesses in order to protest. Others did so for safety reasons, traders said.

Police did not immediately respond to calls or requests for comment.

The ​duty change raises ​the minimum ⁠customs benchmark for a consolidated 40-foot container to 3.2 million Kenyan shillings ($24,700) from ​2.5 million shillings.

The authority said the 3.2 ​million ⁠shilling figure was a minimum reference point, not a fixed value for every container. Importers whose goods ⁠exceed that ​value must declare their actual ​worth and pay the applicable duties.

The move comes after trade talks between the US and Canada collapsed last week, and the US imposed new 50% tariffs on $20bn (C$28bn) worth of Canadian goods. Canada will implement “dollar for dollar” counter tariffs next month.

Trump said the move to rename the lake, which straddles both countries, was effective immediately. He has broad discretion over how the US recognises landmarks but other countries do not have to follow.

In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said “things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario – today and forever”.

Text of the executive order says it gives the US Department of the Interior 30 days to update the name change with the Geographic Names Information Service – the official repository of domestic geographic names in the US.

Carney noted that the name Lake Ontario could be traced back more than 400 years, adding that it preceded the formation of the Canadian Confederation and the US Declaration of Independence.

“We know that the United States is changing. Their trade relations, their foreign policy, their national monuments, their hydronyms.

“Canadian women and men also know that things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario – today and forever.”

There is no universally recognised international body setting the names of international waters.

When Trump took to the White House in 2025, he signed a similar order that changed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Mexico has rejected the name change, arguing a single country cannot rename a shared body of international water.

It also led to a legal dispute between Mexico and tech giant Google, which renamed the gulf in its maps application.

In that case, Google Maps users in the US see “Gulf of America”, while those in Mexico see the “Gulf of Mexico”. Those in other countries see the “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.

The White House at the time also blocked Associated Press reporters from presidential events over the news agency’s refusal to adopt the name “Gulf of America” in its coverage. The AP sued the Trump administration in response, and that legal battle is ongoing.

Canadian officials dismissed Trump’s move to rename the lake.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote: “It’s Lake Ontario to Canadians and the rest of the world. Now and forever.” Other premiers and ministers made similar statements.

The names of four of the Great Lakes – Ontario, Huron, Michigan and Erie – originate from indigenous words. Lake Superior was named after an anglicised French word. Lake Ontario, the smallest of the Great Lakes, borders both the Canadian province and the US state of New York.

There was a mixed reaction from US politicians.

Trump’s Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum applauded the move, writing: “We’re on it, Mr. President!”

“The places and waters that border our nation and support our economy should reflect the greatness of the United States,” he said, adding that the US Geological Survey “maps our country for the world to see, and we are PROUD to implement your Executive Order to rename LAKE AMERICA”.

But Democratic lawmaker Debbie Dingell of Michigan, the US state that borders four of the five Great Lakes, said that she would introduce a bill in Congress to nullify the name change, calling Trump’s order “idiotic”.

She wrote: “The Great Lakes are a shared treasure that generations of Americans and Canadians have worked together to protect”.

Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul said her state, the sole US state bordering Lake Ontario, would not be calling it Lake America.

As he signed the order on Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump said it was not a direct message to Canada, but that America’s northern neighbour “has been ripping us off for a long time on trade”.

US-Canada relations have fallen to new lows, with insults thrown back and forth over the past week.

But there was a hint on Thursday that there was room for a return to the negotiating table.

Canadian US trade minister, Dominic LeBlanc, said the US had withdrawn some of its demands around labelling requirements in French, one of the sticking points. The US has maintained it never made demands about language.

Both sides have accused the other of demanding last-minute changes that caused the breakdown in trade negotiations.

The Claude-maker argued in the lawsuit that Defence Secretary Pete Hegeth overstepped his authority with the new designation. It followed Anthropic’s refusal to allow the military to use its AI models for purposes including surveillance or autonomous weapons.

US district judge Rita Lin said in the ruling that citing national security “is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics”.

The BBC has contacted the Pentagon, White House and Anthropic for comment.

Anthropic’s lawsuit called the government’s actions both “unprecedented and unlawful”. The designation calling them a supply-chain risk cited a law intended to protect military systems from foreign sabotage.

It marked the first time an American company had been publicly designated as such.

The Claude-maker said its models were not reliable enough to be safely used in weapons systems for the military. It added that it opposed its use for domestic surveillance as a violation of rights.

The Pentagon said at the time that private companies should not be able to constrain military action.

The White House had previously said Anthropic was “a radical left, woke company” attempting to control military activity” and argued the military was beholden to the US Constitution, “not any woke AI company’s terms of service”.

Anthropic’s executives estimated that the move could cost the company billions of dollars in lost business and reputational harm.

South Africa has been hit by a wave of protests demanding that undocumented migrants leave the country – the latest unofficial deadline set is 30 September.

Tens of thousands of Africans have been voluntarily repatriated in recent months, some saying they have been the targets of intimidation and attacks.

While cracking down on illegal immigration, the South African government has said that those who have taken the law into their own hands have been arrested.

South Africa is Africa’s wealthiest nation and has long attracted migrants searching for better economic opportunities.

But illegal immigration has become a highly contentious political issue, with protesters accusing undocumented migrants of placing pressure on South Africa’s public services, as well as being involved in crime.

In a message explaining why he would not be performing at the Macufe festival in Free State province next month, Keïta said he could not “ignore the reports of xenophobic violence against our African brothers and sisters.

“When I see migrants attacked, I do not see ‘politics’. I see people looking for work, safety, and dignity.”

The 77-year-old star added that this did not reflect the country that he knew and that cancelling the appearance was “a rejection of hate” rather than a rejection of South Africans, leaving the door open for a return at some point.

In its response, the Free State’s culture department said it “regrets the decision taken by the renowned musician”.

It emphasised that the Macufe festival was a celebration of African unity.

Keïta, known to some as the “Golden Voice of Africa”, was a pioneer who helped put African music on the global map and after 50 years in the music business remains influential.

News of the cancellation of his concert came as the first group of 173 Tanzanians returned from South Africa as part of a voluntary repatriation programme.

For some of them the flight home from Durban, which has seen some of the biggest protests, marks the end of decades spent in South Africa.

Abdul Idi, who went there in 2006 hoping to build a better life, said he was grateful to have returned safely after what he described as difficult and dangerous circumstances in South Africa.

“Foreigners are not wanted there,” he said on arrival at Dar es Salaam’s international airport on Wednesday night.

Another returnee, Rashid Ramadhan, said he had spent 30 years in South Africa.

The 53-year-old explained how he and others had been forced out of their accommodation in Durban and had been living outside for the past two months, with their jobs gone and life becoming increasingly difficult.

More than 160,000 people have left the country on similar repatriation schemes since May, according to a count by the AFP news agency. Malawians, Zimbabweans, Zambians, Ghanaians and Nigerians are among those who have returned.

The anti-migrant group March and March has announced a second wave of nationwide protests set for 30 September.

Earlier this month, the group called on leaders attending the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) summit in Durban to “fetch your people”.

March and March says its September action will be bigger and better organised than the demonstrations on 30 June, which were accompanied by violence in some areas.

Those returning to their home countries from South Africa often need support, having abandoned their livelihoods and many of their possessions.

But Ghana’s government has rejected a donation of about $1.7m (£1.25m) from MTN Ghana, a subsidiary of South African telecoms giant MTN Group, offered to support Ghanaians repatriated from South Africa.

Ghana’s foreign ministry said that the government was committed to funding the evacuation and reintegration of its repatriated citizens.

READ ALSO:

Veteran actress Grace Nortey dies at 89

Country music legend Dolly Parton dies at 80

Jerusalem Magistrates Court said Yona Schreiber was experiencing a psychotic episode when he pushed over and kicked the French nun in the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem in April. It ruled that he was not criminally responsible for his actions and ordered him to be sent to a psychiatric hospital for up to six years.

Video of the attack caused outrage, and deepened concerns after a rise in harassment of Christian clergy and pilgrims by Jewish extremists in the Old City.

The victim, who hit her head on a stone block, suffered a bruised face and leg.

Schreiber, 36, had been charged with assault motivated by hostility towards a religious group.

According to the district psychiatrist’s report, Schreiber “was in a psychotic state at the time of the act and is not substantively fit to stand trial”.

The prosecution accepted the psychiatrist’s opinion and asked for Schreiber to be acquitted and committed to hospital.

Judge Ofir Tishler said that although Schrieber had attacked the nun, he was ordering his acquittal due to his mental health.

At the time of the attack, the French Consulate in Jerusalem said it strongly condemned Schreiber’s “aggression”.

The director of the French Biblical and Archaeological School, where the nun is a researcher, called the assault an “act of sectarian violence”.

Israel’s foreign ministry denounced the attack, calling it a “shameful act [which] stands in direct contradiction to the values of respect, coexistence, and religious freedom upon which Israel is founded and to which it remains deeply committed.”

“Israel remains firmly committed to safeguarding freedom of religion and freedom of worship for all faiths, and to ensuring that Jerusalem remains a city where every community can live, pray, and practice its faith in safety and dignity,” the ministry said on X.

While the violence of the attack on the nun is unusual, in the past few years in Jerusalem’s Old City there have been regular cases of religious Jews spitting and acting aggressively towards those wearing Christian religious dress or symbols.

Church properties have been vandalised and there have also been bitter disputes caused by settler takeovers. Church leaders accuse Israel of trying to change the status quo – long-standing agreements on ownership and responsibilities – at their holy places.

A 2025 report by the Rossing Center, a Jerusalem-based organisation which aims to foster better inter-faith relations in the Holy Land, describes a “recent surge in overt animosity towards Christianity”, putting this down to “a continued deepening of polarisation and ultra-nationalist political trends”.

The Treasure of Villena is a unique trove of almost ten kilos of gold, bowls, bottles and bracelets dating back to the Bronze Age.

Police are still assessing exactly how many items were stolen in the raid, which took place in the early hours of Friday morning. The museum confirmed to the BBC that rings, bowls and bracelets were among the items seized.

It is the latest high profile heist on a European museum. Last year, thieves staged a brazen robbery at the Louvre in Paris in broad daylight.

The operation at Villena Museum was “super fast and super professional”, a spokesman for Villena town council said.

The city council said the robbery began with a diversion. Around 05:15 local time (03:15 GMT), the alarms went off at the local sports centre, sending police there first, Spanish media reported.

The museum’s alarm then went off around 05:20. It took the thieves just four minutes to sweep through museum and leave the building before officers arrived.

The Mayor of Villena, Fulgencio Cerdán, said the thieves “stole a large part of the treasure,” specifically all the gold, El Pais reported.

The museum’s collection, which dates back to around 1,000 BC, is mainly gold items, but there are also pieces of silver, iron and amber.

It consists of more than 60 bronze age objects, including 29 bracelets, 11 bowls, three bottles and other miscellaneous pieces.

The town is “devastated,” Cerdán said. “They’ve taken most of the treasure.”

“I’m even trembling. The truth is that for those of us from Villena, this destroys us. It’s part of our heritage, of our wealth,” the mayor said.

The collection was discovered in 1963 by archaeologist Jose María Soler in a vessel sunk in a dried-out riverbed in Villena.

The Villena council spokesman insisted there had been “no failure” by the museum.

“All security systems were activated.”

The past year has seen a series of raids on European museums. In October 2025, thieves broke into the Louvre museum in Paris in broad daylight, stealing jewellery worth $102m (£75m) before escaping on scooters, in a heist that took about eight minutes.

Last week, four works “of extraordinary value” by Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina were stolen from a museum in Sicily, Italy’s culture ministry said.

Earlier this month, Italian police said they had recovered paintings by Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse worth over $10.4m (£7.6m) which were stolen from the Magnani-Rocca Foundation museum near Parma.

Among those who have spoken out is renowned female footballer Nchout Njoya Ajara, who has called for an end to the “tragic wave” of targeting women. The government has also raised concern about the rise in attacks.

At least 50 women have been killed between January and April this year, compared to 77 last year, according to official figures.

In the latest case on Tuesday, a 44-year-old woman was killed in a hotel room in the capital, Yaoundé. She was allegedly stabbed to death by a 22-year-old who was later arrested.

“Being a woman in Cameroon should never be a risk. In the face of the tragic wave of femicides that has hit our country in recent days, silence is complicity,” Ajara said.

In a statement, the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) party said it was outraged by the “tragic recurrence of domestic femicides” and accused the government of being passive about the issue.

The femicide cases, most of which are attributed to domestic violence, have been reported in different parts of the country.

In a video published by state media, the minister for Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa, condemned the “worrying” rise in the number of the killings, and said the government was working to address the problem.

She mentioned a bill to protect women against gender-based violence, which she said was being reviewed by the prime minister.

But civil society and women’s rights groups have denounced what they perceive as the government’s delay in turning the bill into law.

A parliamentary session, the last one for the year, is due to be held in November. However, Viviane Tathi, whose organisation documents cases of femicide in the country, told the BBC she was not sure that the bill would be passed at the session.

“We are worried because the November parliamentary session focuses on budgetary debates…So, we don’t know by what magic this bill will be passed,” she said.

She has called for the creation of a special court to handle family disputes, which lead to domestic violence.

The gunmen, who struck at 02:00, split into groups to surround residents: one at the village entrance, one in the centre and one at the back.

“They opened fire without a care in the world, shooting indiscriminately,” the 55-year-old quietly tells the BBC World Service.

It was one of many attacks that have caused havoc in the mainly Muslim community where residents live in fear of being kidnapped for ransom.

Fatima explains how the raids unfold: “You could have 100 motorcycles, and each one could be carrying three people.”

About 70 people, including children, were killed from the village of Bia Buki in June, according to Fatima.

She describes how the attackers also targeted villagers as they fled and children were injured falling into ditches. Among the dead were her husband and six of his seven siblings.

Fatima is one of an estimated 800,000 Nigerians who the UN says have been displaced in the country’s north-west. One of the main reasons people have left their homes is violence.

Some attacks have been carried out by militant Islamist groups, but the majority in this region are by gangs, locally referred to as bandits, who often move around on motorcycles and attack quickly then ride away, escaping before security forces arrive.

Thousands of people have joined government-backed vigilante groups to fight, and the BBC spoke to one who said his armed group had killed many bandits.

But the gangs keep attacking in what appears to be a deteriorating pattern of violence and abductions that is spreading southwards.

Fatima says when the bandits attacked her home, she ran into the nearby forest with other villagers to hide: “The forest became our sanctuary. We ran with our kids, if you couldn’t find your child you’d take your neighbour’s child.”

She says people slept in the forest before moving on to the state capital, Gusau, “where we found a little bit of peace”.

Fatima now lives in an informal camp in Gusau with her seven children, who are aged between nine and 30.

Dozens of women sit in groups on the dusty ground of the makeshift compound, many wearing brightly coloured hijabs. More than 1,000 people are here, she believes.

Conditions are tough with “no proper place to even lay your head”. Food is scarce and assistance arrives irregularly.

Fatima describes two occasions where “good Samaritans” brought rice or potatoes. Children are sent out to gather firewood to sell so families can buy food, but 22 have been kidnapped by bandits, she says.

Gesturing towards a nearby building, Fatima says that there “you will find 100 or more women… maybe just two or three have had breakfast.

“When we had peace, we had our own wealth, but now the tables have turned and we have become beggars.”

Her eyes fill with tears and she cries for a few minutes, wiping her face with her hands.

Despite being 16 miles (25km) from her village, the threat Fatima fled has not disappeared.

When she first arrived at the camp, the sound of gunshots kept her awake at night. Things have since quietened, she says, crediting patrols by the army and government-backed vigilantes, but the atmosphere is still tense.

The bandits are mostly people from the Fulani ethnic group, who traditionally make their living by raising animals. Some of them have swapped cattle trading for kidnapping and extortion, which is seen as a faster, easier way to make money.

They attack towns and villages or ambush travellers, abducting people for ransom, stealing whatever they want – and sometimes killing those who resist. They also force communities to pay protection money, only allowing farmers into their fields if they hand over large sums of cash.

Attacks are now more frequent than ever. In the bandit heartlands of north-west Nigeria, the number of incidents recorded by the international conflict monitoring group Acled rose 78% in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2025.

One security consultancy estimates that kidnappers across Nigeria collected nearly $5.8m (£4.3m) in ransoms over the past year as the number of abductions surged. SBM Intelligence estimates that 7,825 people were kidnapped between July 2025 and June 2026, a 66% increase on the previous year.

The increase in bandit activity appears to be a key driver in this trend.

Malik Samuel at Good Governance Africa, a research and advocacy non-profit group, says that “there is no region in northern Nigeria currently that does not experience one form of mass abduction or the other”.

Nigeria’s battle with bandits is just one part of a more complex security situation facing the country.

As well as the bandit gangs in the north-west, there is an Islamist insurgency in the north-east, separatist unrest in the south-east and clashes in central regions, where the main grievance is over access to land and water for grazing and farming and where ethnic and religious elements have also fuelled some of the unrest.

Most analysts agree that armed groups have waged campaigns of violence that affect all communities, regardless of background or belief.

Schools are a common target. When the Islamist Boko Haram militant group infamously kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from the north-eastern village of Chibok in 2014, it made global headlines.

At the time the group forced its captives into sexual slavery, domestic servitude or used them as suicide bombers.

But a range of groups across Nigeria now use kidnapping to raise funds, focusing on soft targets such as schools, churches, mosques and remote villages.

This was mainly confined to the Boko Haram strongholds of the north-east or the bandit zones of the north-west – areas that are largely Muslim.

Then, in May this year, gunmen on motorcycles attacked three schools in Oyo state, south-west Nigeria, one of the few regions that was previously considered relatively safe. Thirty-nine children, the youngest just two years old, were abducted along with seven teachers. One teacher was killed during the raid, another’s murder was filmed and shared online.

After 56 days, the remaining 44 hostages were released. The government said it refused to pay a ransom and that the children were released after an operation by security forces. Three men were sentenced to life in prison for the attacks and confessed to being members of an affiliate of Boko Haram.

The abduction spread fear throughout the south-western town of Oriire, with parents in the community pulling their children out of school.

“There is fear because many residents have run away and are yet to return,” says the traditional ruler of the area, Oba Tajudeen Abioye, whose niece was among the kidnapped children.

“And for those of us who are left here, we are relying on the security officials, the soldiers” who were sent to protect the community, he says.

Nigeria already has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world: the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) estimates the number is about 19 million.

The multiple, overlapping security issues mean Nigeria’s military and police are overstretched and as a result struggle to tackle the violence.

A 2025 UN report said that police stations were often underfunded and not fully operational, citing independent sources that accused officers of lacking skills in hostage negotiation and forensic investigation.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has allocated the largest defence and security budget in the country’s history, raising it by 10% in December 2025 compared to one year before. He has recently approved the recruitment of 28,000 new soldiers.

In the meantime communities are still suffering and in Zamfara thousands of residents have joined government-backed vigilante groups to fill the gaps in security.

But there are concerns about their involvement. In 2020 Zamfara banned a large vigilante group over concerns that extrajudicial killings were driving more violence, according to AFP.

The authorities say the new vigilantes are better trained, but Samuel, from Good Governance Africa, calls them a “time bomb waiting to happen”.

“If citizens arm themselves how do you control them at the end of the crisis, how are you able to disarm them?” he asks.

One of the vigilantes meets us outside his group’s headquarters, a single-storey concrete building, and agrees to speak on the condition of anonymity during our visit in July.

He perches on his motorcycle, an AK-47 slung over his shoulder, a scarf across his face as a makeshift balaclava, gold and silver skull rings on his fingers.

“We are some of the people the governor hired to protect the community,” he says, explaining that they are sometimes told where the bandits are and “with the help of God we fight them and defeat them”.

“Let the bandits understand that when they attack a place and kill, they can also be killed,” he adds.

He estimates he has fought bandits at least 20 times and says the calls for his group’s help keep coming.

“It’s hard to go a week without these reports,” he says. “There are regions that became safer… but there are other regions where the same cannot be said.”

He calls on the state governor, whom he supports, to hire and arm more people to take on the bandits. “These people won’t be afraid of you unless you have proper weapons to fight them,” he says.

Fatima also calls for more action: “These kidnappers are in every nook and cranny.

“I am not saying the government has failed but even if it is trying, it needs to do more. There are problems and we think with more effort and more security agents, villages will be peaceful.”

She wants to return home, but is doubtful that will happen as she has heard her village has now been turned into a camp for the gunmen that attacked it.

The local bandit leader has become the de facto authority, and that families look to him to solve domestic disputes, she says.

Another nearby village “is completely empty, not even a chicken lives there… empty villages like that are countless”, Fatima says.

“Even if you go back to our area, it’s just difficulty you will face. There’s nothing there, no food… you farm and when you go to harvest, they stop you or kidnap you.”

The drug, daraxonrasib, sold under the brand name Rasonque and manufactured by Revolution Medicines, appears to be a breakthrough in treating one of the world’s deadliest cancers.

A late-stage clinical trial with 500 patients found those who took the daily pill had an average survival time of 13.2 months, compared to 6.6 months for those on chemotherapy.

The FDA said the drug provided a “critical new option for patients facing an extraordinarily difficult and historically hard-to-treat cancer”.

Daraxonrasib helps prevent the spread of cancer by locking onto and shutting off the mutated KRAS gene, which is in more than 90% of pancreatic tumours and spurs cancer growth.

Each year, roughly 67,000 people in the US are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.

Pancreatic cancer is often spotted late and is notoriously difficult to treat. More than half of those with pancreatic cancer die within three months of diagnosis.

In 2025, the FDA granted the drug a “Breakthrough Therapy” designation, given to treatments for serious conditions that warrant an expedited review.

The agency then approved the drug six months ahead of the regulatory deadline because it “showed unprecedented results in an area of high unmet need”, said Angelo de Claro, director of the the agency’s Oncology Center of Excellence.

The most common side effects of the treatment were rash, diarrhoea, nausea, fatigue and vomiting, the FDA said. About 44% of patients on daraxonrasib experienced severe side effects, compared to 57.5% treated with chemotherapy in the trial.

Former US Senator Ben Sasse, who announced in December he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, is in a clinical trial for the drug and has said it has helped shrink his tumours.

It is believed the mosquitoes arrived at Germany’s busiest airport on a plane, according to German public health officials, triggering an outbreak which was first detected in July.

A spokesperson for airport operator Fraport told the BBC an employee had died as a result of the infection, while public health officials said later on Wednesday that two of the affected individuals had died.

Traps have been installed at the airport, and captured mosquitoes will be analysed in a laboratory to determine their species and origin.

“We have provided comprehensive information to all employees and encourage them to consult a doctor if they experience any symptoms,” the Fraport spokesperson told the BBC.

The outbreak is being investigated by the Frankfurt Public Health Department.

The BBC understands that six male airport workers in different roles and areas of the airport were infected, and officials are analysing blood samples to determine whether they were infected by one mosquito or six different mosquitoes.

Later on Wednesday, public health officials in Frankfurt sent a letter to media outlets which said two of the affected individuals had died.

“For the population of Frankfurt, the risk is considered very, very low. The disease is not transmissible from person to person but is always transmitted by mosquitoes,” the letter added.

It said laboratory tests to determine the source of the infections were not expected to be available for several weeks.

It was reported in July that the outbreak involved four infected workers.

The Robert Koch Institute – a German federal government agency and research institute for disease control and public health – previously said the four employees fell ill between 4 and 6 July and the mosquitoes were brought in by plane.

The institute said malaria in Germany almost exclusively affects long-haul travellers who were infected in malaria-endemic areas, and that malaria transmitted within a German airport is rare.

“The lack of a travel history can lead to a delayed diagnosis. A delayed diagnosis increases the risk of a severe course of the diseases,” the institute said in its epidemiological bulletin.

The last case of airport malaria was in 2023, also at Frankfurt Airport, it added.

Malaria is a disease spread by certain types of mosquitoes that bite humans and is most common in tropical countries, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The infection, which is preventable and curable, is caused by a parasite and does not spread from person to person. However, symptoms can range from mild to life-threatening.

Brent crude futures were down 41 cents, or 0.5%, to $87.43 a barrel at 0330 ‌GMT, in line for a fourth day of declines. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $81.86, in line for a fifth day of losses.

Iran and Oman are working on finalising details of an agreement to control the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source said on Wednesday, after ​Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the two countries had agreed on how to share the waterway that connects major Gulf oil ​producers to markets and its revenues.

The strait carried oil and natural gas shipments equal to about one-fifth ⁠of global consumption of the fuels before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28. Since Iran worked to shut ​the waterway in response, oil flows have dropped to about one-quarter of their pre-war level, according to ship-tracking data.

“Crude oil edged lower as ​the prospect of the Strait of Hormuz reopening improved amid ongoing talks,” said Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, in a note on Thursday, though he cautioned “concerns over shortages in the oil market persist.”

Qatar’s prime minister will head to Iran on Thursday to relaunch diplomatic talks to end the conflict ​which is nearly six months old.

The U.S. has halted its attacks on Iran for about a month and is seeking to impose ​greater economic pressure on Iran, which has raised investors’ expectations for an easing of the Gulf supply disruptions.

Still, the countries are far apart on ‌their demands ⁠to end the fighting and Iran has struck shipping in the Gulf and strait to impose its control on the waterway.

Iranian officials have also said the strait would not open unless the U.S. met under an interim ceasefire agreement that was struck in June and later unraveled.

“At the heart of the dispute remains Iran’s nuclear programme and that is unlikely to be resolved quickly … Iran ​also understands the importance of its ​geographical position and the leverage ⁠that the Strait of Hormuz provides, so the risk of prolonged uncertainty remains,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova.

“As long as the risk to supply remains, some degree of ​war premium can continue to be priced into oil.”

ANZ’s Hynes also pointed to the impact the ​Middle East war ⁠and the Russia-Ukraine war are having on the diesel market. Middle East refineries have been damaged in that conflict and Ukraine has hit several Russian refineries, cutting exports from what was a major global diesel supplier.

The curtailment in worldwide diesel output is showing up in inventory ⁠data. The ​U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that distillate stockpiles, including diesel and ​heating oil, dropped by 2.2 million barrels in the week to August 21 to 103.4 million barrels.

Hynes said this is the lowest distillate stockpile level ever recorded for ​this time of year.

In 1974, after writing and recording I Will Always Love You, Parton was asked if Presley could cover the song. She turned him down after his manager demanded half the rights.

“Of course, I cried all night about that,” she later said of the ordeal in an interview.

But she wasn’t crying in 1992 when Whitney Houston’s power-ballad cover became a hit. Global sales of the song topped 20 million, earning Parton more than $10m in royalties, according to business magazine Forbes.

This is the less well-known side of Parton. While country music and films brought her fame, her entrepreneurial zeal brought her fortune.

The country icon signed deals, started companies, and invested in ideas that Forbes says built her a net worth of $450m by the time she died.

Business lessons from a young age

Parton wasn’t always wealthy. She grew up in poverty and in her 1971 hit Coat of Many Colours describes how she would wear rags which her “mama” had knitted together to school.

In a 2017 BBC interview, she said her father gave her business lessons from early in her career.

“My dad wasn’t an educated man, he wasn’t able to read and write, but my daddy had a great sense of business,” she told the BBC’s World Service in 2017.

“So when I got into the music business, I thought of it as a business. And so I started early on keeping my own songs and my own publishing company.”

While her publishing company helped build her wealth, Parton had plenty of other business ideas.

In 1985, she co-founded a film and TV production company called Sandollar Productions, which helped to make the ‘ 90s cult thriller Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Then there was Dollywood – the theme park in in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in her home state of Tennessee, which she became co-owner of in 1986. It had changed owners multiple times since it was first set up 25 years earlier, and her buy-in exponentially boosted visitor numbers.

She kept improving the park. In 2015, she opened the DreamMore Resort, a four-star hotel and spa down the road from Dollywood. Today, many of Parton’s family members work at the theme park, and it is the biggest employer in its county.

She launched the Dolly Beauty cosmetics line in 2025, and she opened Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop in June this year. The shop offers a signature coffee brand called Cup of Ambition, a nod to her Grammy-winning single “9 to 5”.

Paul Milliken, a reporter from Fox 5 Atlanta who had interviewed Parton many times, said diversification was the key to her business success.

“It’s a lesson that continues from her to this day to young artists,” he told BBC’s Wake Up to Money.

Parton may have been motivated to make money right into her 80s, but she told the BBC in the 2017 interview that she never lost sight of where she came from.

“Being brought up poor means I don’t take things for granted, and no matter how much money I make, I’ll always count my blessings quicker and more often than I count my money.

She has “always realised the value of a dollar”, too.

“Even now, if I go in a store, it’s hard for me to pay a huge amount of money for one item. I say, ‘good Lord’, what could mummy and daddy have done with that!”

Wealth was more than just a means to an end for Parton. It also allowed her to be generous.

She gave millions away to fund child literacy, provide wildfire relief, and create a cure for Covid-19. In 2022, she was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for her charity work.

Talking about her many business and charity ideas in 2017, she told the BBC: “I just wish I was 30 years old so I could start over again and get all this stuff done… I’m gonna’ be working till I fall over bad.”

Parton’s influence and success depended in part on her role as one of the few things on which Americans could agree.

Parton steadfastly refused to taint her beloved brand by weighing in on  politics, twice declining the Presidential Medal of Freedom, once from Donald Trump and once from Joe Biden.

Maike Currie, vice president of personal finance at savings firm PensionBee, told the BBC’s Wake Up to Money that Parton set examples for others.

Fellow country music megastar Taylor Swift’s sound has been compared musically to Parton’s, but Currie said she may also have taken business inspiration from her, deciding to rerecord her songs to own the rights to them.

Currie described Parton as a “brilliant businesswoman, but also an iconic investor and a real example to women about the power of what happens if women are financially independent”.

The star’s success tracks with the advice she took from her father, shared with the BBC in her 2017 interview: “He said: ‘Don’t let other people take advantage of you. You keep your mind on your business’.”

Attorneys from the Justice Department have also asked for President Donald Trump’s name to be put back on the building after it was removed in June following a court order.

“An order blocking the Board from appropriately recognising President Trump,” the lawyers argued, “will cause donors to flee, financial contributions to dry up, and structural rehabilitation to stop”.

The venue has been among the storied sites in Washington that Trump has sought to renovate since he returned to the White House in 2025.

Trump’s lawyers have argued that without the renovations the venue “will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down”.

They also called the venue “embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital”.

After the “decrepit structure” is taken down, justice department attorney Brantley Mayers wrote, a determination of what to build on the site will follow, including the option of a large outdoor amphitheatre overlooking the Potomac River.

The threat to demolish the building comes just weeks after the Kennedy Center board voted to add Trump’s name back to the facade of the venue and to proceed with a two-year closure for proposed renovations.

Many of the board members who voted are Trump allies who were appointed by the president.

In late May, a US judge ruled that the president’s name had been added to the venue unlawfully, as it cannot be renamed without congressional approval.

The judge ordered that the name be removed, and so it was taken down in June.

The case stemmed from a broader legal dispute over the renaming of the cultural institution, which US law designates as a memorial to President John F Kennedy.

It is the latest in series of projects that Trump has taken on since returning to Washington.

He has been renovating the reflecting pool on the National Mall, he wants to construct a 250-foot victory arch, has demolished the White House East Wing to build a ballroom, and has added his name to institutions such as the Kennedy Center and US Institute of Peace.

He was arrested in 2014 along with his brother-in-law Frank Rusagara, a retired brigadier-general, for “spreading rumours” and “tarnishing the image of the country and government”.

Right groups expressed concern over their cases, framing them as a part of a pattern of government repression. Throughout his trial, Col Byabagamba denied the allegations against him, saying they were fabricated.

Byabagamba’s brother David Himbara told the BBC Great Lakes service his family did not know the cause of death as “no-one was allowed to see him in all these years”.

Rights groups have repeatedly accused Kagame’s government of restricting political opposition and silencing critics within Rwanda and abroad.

In 2016, a military court convicted Byagamba and imprisoned him for 21 years, although this was later reduced to 15 years on appeal. Rusagara, who had also been secretary-general of the defence ministry, was given a 20-year sentence.

Rusagara died in prison in March last year. At the time Human Rights Watch (HRW) described it as the “lonely death of a general”, noting that his family had not heard his voice since 2014, days before his arrest.

His family was informed by the authorities that Rusagara had been ill with cancer, the rights group said.

The conviction of the two men had followed a “flawed trial” marked by “serious allegations of torture and witness tampering”, according to HRW.

Campaign group Freedom Now had also previously criticised their detention as “arbitrary” and as having “violated international law”.

Byabagamba leaves behind two sons and a wife.

Ratcliffe travelled to the Russian capital on Tuesday in a rare and unannounced visit.

“There were contacts with the intelligence services,” Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.

“There were no meetings with the president of Russia. That’s all I can say on the subject. Naturally, President Putin is briefed immediately about everything,” he added.

Peskov made the comments in response to a question at his daily press briefing from a reporter at the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, who asked if Vladimir Putin was informed about the CIA chief meetings and “at what level” they were held.

Putin’s spokesman was also asked by the BBC’s Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg what was the topic of the CIA talks.

“I have nothing to add to what I’ve already said on the subject,” Peskov replied.

It was too early to say what impact this meeting would have over repairing bilateral US Russian relations, he said.

“How much this will impact the overall process of recovering our bilateral relations from the profound crisis they’re currently in, it is premature to say.”

But contacts between intelligence agencies are “a positive phenomenon, a positive process,” Peskov added, saying they often continue “even during the most difficult moments” in relations between the two countries.

Ratcliffe appears to be one of the highest-ranking US officials to visit Russia during President Donald Trump’s second term.

In-person talks between high-level American and Russian officials are rare.

The last time a CIA director visited Moscow was in November 2021 – when William Burns warned Russia against sending troops into Ukraine. Weeks later, the Kremlin launched its full-scale war on Ukraine.

Since then, the US has had strained relations with Russia, which has been isolated on the world stage and faced international economic sanctions.

Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska last year but the meeting did not lead to a breakthrough. Subsequent US-led peace talks between Russia and Ukraine appear to have stalled.

Ahead of the trip, the US told Ukraine that a senior delegation would be travelling to Moscow and asked Kyiv to suspend strikes until they had left, a senior Ukrainian official told CBS.

John Foreman, who served as a British military attaché to Moscow between 2019 and 2022, told Radio 4’s PM programme: “The Americans don’t normally send such a high ranking official to Moscow unannounced at short notice unless something is up.”

BBC News has contacted the CIA, the White House and Pentagon for comment.

The Queen of Country’s death at the age of 80 was announced Tuesday by her family in an emotional statement.

She was born in a two-room log cabin in rural Tennessee and described her upbringing as “dirt poor,” but went on to become one of the wealthiest performers in country music.

Parton retained ownership of her vast music catalogue, which numbered some 3,000 songs and included indelible hits such as “Jolene,” “9 to 5”, and “I Will Always Love You,” which was famously covered by Whitney Houston. In June 2025, Forbes estimated that her song catalogue alone was worth $120 million.

The singer-songwriter also had a significant stake in her own amusement park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Parton died with no immediate family. She never had children, and her husband Carl Dean died last year at the age of 82.

She did, however, have a large extended family, with her death being announced by her nephew, Bryan Seaver.

The family have not yet announced Parton’s plans for her extensive fortune. Still, it is widely expected that it will be used to further the philanthropic interests she supported throughout her life.

During her life, Parton raised millions for numerous good causes, including the American Red Cross and several HIV/AIDS-related charities, and was involved in charitable campaigns ranging from relief from wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains to the American Eagle Foundation’s efforts to preserve the bald eagle.

In 1995, she founded Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library, a program which she described as her proudest achievement. The program mails a new, free book to children from around the world, from their birth until they begin kindergarten.

Parton funded the project in memory of her father. “My own father didn’t get a chance to go to school,” she told CNN in 2016. “He couldn’t read and write, and that hindered him a great deal because he was so smart. It really bothered him a lot.”

At the time of her death, Parton’s Imagination Library was mailing books to almost 850,000 children each month in 1,600 communities across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and the Republic of Ireland.

“I want to be remembered as somebody who took her work seriously, but not herself,” she told The Independent when asked about her legacy. “Someone who brought books to children all over the world.”

Unless challenged or revised, the State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials. The action will be taken in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.

“We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the nonimmigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently,” said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.

He declined to comment on the number of visas that might be revoked, saying “as the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and will be done on a rolling basis.”

The revocations would not necessarily result in their immediate deportation, the officials said. Most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be recategorised but would lose their status as business or tourism travellers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the revocations are not final yet.

Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term last year, his administration has steadily ramped up restrictions on visa applicants — demanding more information about their social media histories, requiring the posting of expensive bonds for the processing of visas, and outright banning the issuance of visas to citizens of certain countries.

In a social media post on Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called out people who he said try to use tourist and business visas to get into the United States and then apply for asylum.

“People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims,” Landau wrote on X. “Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law.” Landau cited the case of a Colombian citizen who came to the U.S. in 2015 on a tourist visa and then applied for asylum.

B1 visas are generally issued for business trips and B2 visas are generally issued for tourism, family visits or medical care. It was not immediately clear from the documents or the officials how many of these visa holders are seeking or have sought asylum in the United States and would be affected by the revocations.

Current applicants for B1 and B2 visas are asked to affirm that they will not apply for asylum in the United States and prove that they intend to return to their home countries.

In the past 18 months, the State Department has revoked about 175,000 visas for people who have been convicted or accused of crimes ranging from drunken driving to rape and robbery, as well as for people who have spoken out publicly against U.S. policies, particularly in the Middle East.

The administration has also moved to crack down on so-called birth tourism, a practice the administration claims is used by foreign pregnant women to come to the United States to give birth so that their child will benefit from birthright citizenship. Trump has tried several times to end birthright citizenship, but those challenges have been rejected by courts, including the Supreme Court.

The State Department documents obtained by the AP suggest screening of current B1 and B2 visa holders began after the State Department received information about asylum requests from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Brad Ireland, whose former wife and two children were among the dead, identified the shooter as 44-year-old Alan Smith. Smith’s parents, who were also killed, had asked him to move out, but he returned on Sunday and opened fire, Ireland said.

The victims represented four generations of the blended family, ranging from a great-grandmother in her 90s to a 7-year-old girl, according to Jennifer Mercer, a neighbor and family friend who set up an online fundraiser to help cover funeral costs and other expenses, and was authorized to release these details.

Police said they responded to the home on Sunday evening and heard gunshots coming from out back, just before the house was completely engulfed in flames. Investigators confirmed Tuesday there were eight victims, including four children, and that the suspect had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and later died.

Brad Ireland said he had been briefed by investigators who told him Alan Smith shot himself.

Among those killed were Ireland’s ex-wife, Megan Ghekiere, and their two children, Owen Ireland, 13, and Chloe Ireland, 7. Also killed were Ghekiere’s two step-children with her current husband: Landon Ghekiere, 15, and Charlotte Ghekiere, 12.

“The one thing we do know is that Charlotte was the hero,” Mercer said. “Charlotte called 9-1-1 and she tried to save her family. And that’s something the family does want out there.”

She described the family as “very loving and close,” and said the children all got along and that their parents remained amicable even after divorcing.

“I feel like our entire community is devastated, even people that never knew any of them,” Mercer said.

Alan Smith had lived with his parents for years before being asked to move out a couple weeks ago, Ireland said. He unexpectedly returned to the home on Sunday evening, when the Smiths had gathered for a weekly family dinner.

Ireland said Alan Smith opened fire, killing his grandmother, his parents, his younger sister and four children before setting the house on fire. He tried to flee before being confronted by law enforcement, he said.

“There were many red flags and many people spoke out,” said Ireland, who lives in Arizona. “No one listened.”

Alan Smith was a “hermit” who spent most of his days in his room on his computer, Ireland said.

“No one knew what he did in there 24/7,” he said.

Alan Smith had attended Eastern Washington University but had been unable to find or hold a job. A search of criminal records in Montana and Washington found no record Alan Smith had ever been arrested or charged with a crime.

Ireland said that to his knowledge Alan Smith had never been violent, though he could be verbally abusive.

David Hiller, a neighbor who lives three doors down from the home, heard what he thought were fireworks just after 6 p.m. on Sunday, and didn’t think much of the noise until another neighbor called to warn him about a shooting on the cul-de-sac.

Hiller then rushed outside to find police in tactical gear sheltering behind vehicles, some with long guns, while plumes of black smoke rose from the home.

The 54-year-old shared his brief resignation letter on his Instagram account, saying he wanted to respect the president’s wishes. Sources in his office and the presidency confirmed the move.

Nchimbi said he would retire from public life at the end of next week, less than 10 months after being sworn in, making him the first vice president to step down in the history of the East African nation.

He was Samia’s running mate in last October’s disputed presidential election, which saw hundreds killed in post-poll unrest.

The pair were sworn in last November after winning 98% of the vote.

Violent protests in the wake of voting led to the deaths of at least 500 people, according to an official enquiry.

Opposition parties and human rights groups accused the security forces of unleashing a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

“I have become convinced, without doubt, that the president wants changes, and I have therefore decided to fulfil my promise,” Nchimbi wrote in his resignation letter, referring to the pledge he had made to Samia that he would go if she wanted another deputy.

He thanked the president and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party for the trust they had placed in him, and to Tanzanians for their support during his time in public service.

Nchimbi said he was leaving office in accordance with the country’s constitution and would continue to be a “good citizen of Tanzania”.

The vice-president has made some controversial remarks in recent weeks, which may point to the possible fallout with President Samia.

Last month, he urged Tanzanians to “fight for a new constitution”, arguing that there was an opportunity to secure one before 2030.

He also linked a new constitution to ways of addressing injustice, strengthening human rights, good governance and democracy.

Nchimbi previously served as secretary-general of CCM. He also held several senior positions in government, including both minister of information and home affairs, before becoming Tanzania’s ambassador to Brazil and later Egypt.

In a social media post, St Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena said no rental agreement had been signed with the concert promoters. “Accordingly, the concert cannot take place on our site.”

West would have been the first major Western performer to play Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022. The rapper is trying to rehabilitate his image after years of antisemitic remarks, for which he recently apologised.

Gazprom Arena acknowledged it had received complaints about West’s planned appearance and stressed that it “was not and is not” responsible for his booking.

The stadium said in its statement that the sold-out concerts, scheduled for October 10 and 11, had been organised by the Moscow-based Say Agency.

Posting on its Telegram channel, Say Agency said the stadium’s announcement had come as a surprise.

“We learned about [it] at the same time as you did, through the media,” the agency wrote. “As of now, the Ye concert has not been canceled,” it added in a follow-up message.

“We are trying to contact the venue to find out the reason for the post and resolve the issue. We will keep you updated.”

The BBC has contacted West’s publicist for a comment on the uncertainty over his Russian shows.

In its statement, Say Agency said it announced the concerts earlier this month based “on an official letter that was approved by” Gazprom Arena.

The stadium subsequently sent a rental agreement, Say Agency claimed, and the agency acknowledged the contract had not yet been signed but said the deadline to do so did not expire until later this week.

Last week, Gazprom Arena had posted enthusiastically about the concerts on social media, calling Ye “the most influential musical artist of our time”.

Fans reacted to its latest announcement with disappointment.

“This was the shortest concert of my life,” responded one, under Say Agency’s Telegram post. “It’s a shame that the government is putting obstacles in your way,” added another.

There is no indication that authorities intervened in the shows, but there has been opposition to West’s booking from some Russian politicians.

Vitaly Milonov, a notorious conservative lawmaker, suggested the star should perform traditional Russian songs instead of his planned setlist, reflecting the anti-Western views of many nationalists.

“Maybe after this he’ll stop his disgusting antics and become a normal person,” Milonov added in a video statement.

West’s antisemitic remarks began in 2022, when he made a series of offensive comments on social media that led to his accounts being suspended. Fashion brands like Adidas and Balenciaga also ended their relationships with the star.

The musician went on to declare he was “a Nazi”, releasing a song called Heil Hitler and selling T-shirts featuring the swastika.

This January, West apologised in a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, writing: “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite.”

Reflecting on a “four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour”, he said he was “deeply mortified” by his actions and that his bipolar disorder meant “you’re manic [and] you don’t think you’re sick”.

However, some questioned the timing of his statement – which coincided with the release of a new album, Bully, and the start of his world tour.

He held his first major concert in the United States in more than five years in Los Angeles in April, but planned shows in England, France, Italy and Poland have been cancelled over his past behaviour.

Say Agency acknowledged the controversy in a Telegram post last week, but defended its decision to bring West to Russia.

“Not everything Kanye West said should be forgotten,” it said.

“Many people are talking about Kanye today. Many are trying to criticise him for words spoken during difficult times.

“But it’s easy to judge based on a single statement. It’s more difficult to listen to a person who has been changing the industry for decades. We listened, and we want to remind you.”

Brent crude futures fell $1.78, or 2.0%, to $86.80 a barrel by 0027 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $1.49, ​or 1.8%, at $80.87. Both benchmarks lost more than 3% on Tuesday.

“The market continues to react to ​developments surrounding navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and hopes for progress in talks ⁠between Iran and Oman have triggered selling,” said Mitsuru Muraishi, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.

“That said, uncertainty ​over the outlook has prompted bargain buying, limiting further losses, and prices are likely to remain range-bound for the ​time being,” he added.

Iran said it had restarted talks with Oman to manage the Strait as it faces heightened economic pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Iran and Oman have been in on-and-off talks for weeks about controlling traffic through the waterway, which ​handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war began in February.

The two countries ​said on Tuesday that they discussed “a joint temporary navigational corridor” through the strait and agreed to clear it of mines.

Despite ‌the ongoing ⁠tensions, the U.S. is beginning to send personnel back to some diplomatic missions in the Middle East that were evacuated or downsized amid tensions with Iran, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The move suggests Washington sees a lower risk of the conflict with Iran escalating in the near term, though some embassies will ​initially operate below full capacity.

On ​Monday, Washington expanded sanctions aimed ⁠at cutting off Iran’s economic lifeline, threatening to punish countries that continue to do business with Tehran, though it said it would not impose penalties immediately.

Separately, an ​oil tanker was struck on Tuesday by an unidentified projectile and disabled about 9 ​nautical miles (17 km) ⁠northeast of Oman’s Ash Shishah, which lies at the entrance to the strait, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.

In the U.S., the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude oil inventories rose by about 4.2 million barrels in the week ended August 21, market sources said.

Analysts polled by Reuters estimated crude oil stockpiles ​would rise by about 600,000 barrels on average. Official data from the EIA, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, ​are due at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Prince Harry confirmed he was stepping down after being president for the charity, African Parks, for six years before becoming a member of its board of directors in 2023, but said he remains a “supporter of its mission”.

Last year the organisation admitted human rights abuses were committed by its rangers in Congo-Brazzaville.

Prince Harry’s resignation comes shortly after it was announced he was relocating with the Duchess of Sussex, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet from California to the UK.

Prince Harry’s spokesman said “the Duke is proud of his 10 years with African Parks and fully supports the ongoing strengthening of its board.

“His commitment to conservation in Africa continues, and he remains a supporter of African Parks’ mission.”

African Parks manages around 20 national parks and protected areas across 12 countries.

It was subject to an independent human rights investigation into allegations guards managed and paid by the charity had beaten, raped and tortured indigenous people in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park.

The charity said in 2025 it had improved its safeguarding processes both in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park and institutionally.

Announcing a “governance refresh of its board of directors”, the charity thanked Prince Harry for his association, saying he had “brought global attention to the urgent need for biodiversity protection for the benefit of people and wildlife, and has contributed greatly to promoting philanthropy for the cause of conservation in Africa”.

It added: “The duke remains deeply committed to this cause, and remains a strong supporter of African Parks’ work.”

The charity’s website says Prince Harry served as part of the expert team that helped implement the first phase of the 500 Elephants project, which was “one of the largest and most significant elephant translocations in conservation history”.

It saw wildlife experts move elephants from a park in Malawi to help increase population in areas where they have been heavily poached.

Prince Harry has said helping move elephants to safer homes was an “amazing” experience.

The Sussexes are back in the spotlight after the revelation last week they were returning to the UK this month after enrolling their children to start at a British school in September.

No change is expected to the official status of Prince Harry and Meghan and they will remain as private individuals.

Their pending return to the UK has raised questions on their security arrangements.

Last year, Prince Harry lost a legal challenge over the levels of security he and his family are entitled to while in the UK.

It is unclear what provisions will be made for their security once they return to the UK.

The couple’s plans while they are in the UK are also unclear.

The BBC learned the Duchess of Sussex was in talks to return to acting with a role in Netflix series The Gentlemen, which would be her first significant acting role since her marriage to Prince Harry.

In early 2020, the Sussexes left the UK and stepped back from their royal duties before settling in California in March that year.

The actor’s daughter, Kira Taiwo, announced his death on Sunday evening during a live session on her Instagram page.

The development comes days after Kira disclosed that her father was battling stage four cancer.

Taiwo Hassan was a prominent figure in the Nigerian film industry, particularly known for his roles in Yoruba-language movies and his contributions to the growth of Nollywood.

Before his death, efforts were reportedly made to secure medical treatment for the actor. Among those said to have offered financial assistance was the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Adeola Olamilekan, popularly known as Yayi.

Also read:

• Why I always play witch, wicked roles in Nollywood movies – Patience Ozokwor

• Popular Nollywood actress dies at 40 after health battle