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A new exhibition at the British Museum in London showcases the rich journey of India's spiritual art. Titled Ancient India: Living Traditions, it brings together 189 remarkable objects spanning centuries.

Visitors can explore everything from 2,000-year-old sculptures and paintings to intricate narrative panels and manuscripts, revealing the stunning evolution of spiritual expression in India.

Art from the Indian subcontinent underwent a profound transformation between 200BC and AD600. The imagery which depicted gods, goddesses, supreme preachers and enlightened souls of three ancient religions – Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism – was reimagined from symbolic to more recognisably deriving from human form.

While the three religions shared common cultural roots – worshipping ancient nature spirits such as potent serpents or the feisty peafowl – they negotiated dramatic shifts in religious iconography during this pivotal period which continues to have contemporary relevance two millennia apart.

"Today we can't imagine the veneration of Hindu, Jain or Buddhist divine spirits or deities without a human form, can we? Which is what makes this transition so interesting," says Dr Sushma Jansari, the exhibition's curator.

The exhibition explores both the continuity and change in India's sacred art through five sections, starting with the nature spirits, followed by sub-sections dedicated to each of the three religions, and concluding with the spread of the faiths and their art beyond India to other parts of the world like Cambodia and China.

The centrepiece of the Buddhist section of the exhibition – a striking two-sided sandstone panel that shows the evolution of the Buddha – is perhaps the most distinguishable in depicting this great transition.

One side, carved in about AD250, reveals the Buddha in human form with intricate embellishments, while on the other – carved earlier in about 50-1BC – he's represented symbolically through a tree, an empty throne and footprints.

The sculpture – from a sacred shrine in Amaravati (in India's south-east) – was once part of the decorative circular base of a stupa, or a Buddhist monument.

To have this transformation showcased on "one single panel from one single shrine is quite extraordinary", says Dr Jansari.

In the Hindu section, another early bronze statue reflects the gradual evolution of sacred visual imagery through the depiction of goddesses.

The figure resembles a yakshi – a powerful primordial nature spirit that can bestow both "abundance and fertility, as well as death and disease" – recognisable through her floral headdress, jewellery and full figure.

But it also incorporates multiple arms holding specific sacred objects which became characteristic of how Hindu female deities were represented in later centuries.

On display also are captivating examples of Jain religious art, which largely focus on its 24 enlightened teachers called tirthankaras.

The earliest such representations were found on a mottled pink sandstone dating back about 2,000 years and began to be recognised through the sacred symbol of an endless knot on the teachers' chest.

The sculptures commissioned across these religions were often made in common workshops in the ancient city of Mathura which the curators say explains why there are marked similarities between them.

Unlike other shows on South Asia, the exhibition is unique because it is the "first ever" look at the origins of all three religious artistic traditions together, rather than separately, says Dr Jansari.

In addition, it carefully calls attention to the provenance of every object on display, with brief explanations on the object's journey through various hands, its acquisition by museums and so on.

The show highlights intriguing detail such as the fact that many of the donors of Buddhist art in particular were women. But it fails to answer why the material transformation in the visual language took place.

"That remains a million-dollar question. Scholars are still debating this," says Dr Jansari. "Unless more evidence comes through, we aren't going to know. But the extraordinary flourishing of figurative art tells us that people really took to the idea of imagining the divine as human."

The show is a multi-sensory experience – with scents, drapes, nature sounds, and vibrant colours designed to evoke the atmospherics of active Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religious shrines.

"There's so much going on in these sacred spaces, and yet there's an innate calm and serenity. I wanted to bring that out," says Dr Jansari, who collaborated with several designers, artists and community partners to put it together.

Punctuating the displays are screens displaying short films of practising worshipers from each of the religions in Britain. These underscore the point that this isn't just about "ancient art but also living tradition" that's continuously relevant to millions of people in the UK and other parts of the globe, far beyond modern India's borders.

The exhibition draws from the British Museum's South Asian collection with 37 loans from private lenders and national and international museums and libraries in the UK, Europe and India.

Ancient India: Living Traditions is showing at the British Museum, London, from 22 May to 19 October.

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"I missed them so much," says Stephanie Prado, a die-hard BTS fan who has been desperately waiting for the group to reunite after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus.

Her love for the boy band inspired her to move from Brazil to South Korea – so it was no surprise that she turned up last Friday for "BTS Festa", a big party held every year near Seoul on the group's anniversary.

The time she has spent waiting has moved "both slowly and really quickly", Stephanie says, waving an ARMY bomb, the official lightstick used by BTS fans, who call themselves the ARMY.

Behind her is a huge sculpture of the lightstick, a must-have in the K-pop world.

This year's event is special because a reunion is finally around the corner. The countdown peaked last week, when four of the seven members, RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook, completed their military service. And the wait ends on Saturday when the last of them, Suga, is discharged.

"I hope they rest now," Stephanie says, before adding, "but of course I also want albums, concerts, everything".

The 18 months in the military that are mandatory for all South Korean men forced the world's most successful boy band in recent years to hit pause in 2022. Now they are returning, some say, to a K-pop industry that is quite different to the one they knew: faced with stalled album sales, shaken by scandals and increasingly scrutinised over the excessive pressure it puts on stars.

The absence of a leading band, industry watchers say, was deeply felt.

"Without BTS, a core pillar was missing," says Kim Young-dae, music critic and author of BTS: The Review.

"There have been concerns recently that K-pop is losing momentum. True or not, BTS could change that perception."

There are no plans yet for all seven members to appear together, but that didn't stop the ARMY from gathering early on a humid morning in Goyang.

The long, restless queue stretched to the subway station an hour before the gates for the BTS Festa opened. The snippets of English, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish alongside Korean threw off a local walking past who asked, "Why are there so many foreigners here?"

Inside were more queues – some people were hopping with excitement and others were sobbing after entering the "voice zone", a phone booth where you could listen to BTS members' messages. About half of the fans the BBC spoke to teared up talking about how much they missed BTS.

"It felt like the 18 months lasted forever," said Vuyo Matiwane, a South African who had been visiting BTS-themed venues in Seoul, like their favourite restaurant. "I was crying at every location – it was so emotional."

And then she watched the livestream of them being discharged, which was "overwhelming".

Being surrounded by all things BTS made a trip halfway across the world worth it, says Fara Ala, who travelled from the Netherlands: "Breathing the same air, drinking the same water, eating the same food as BTS – that's enough for ARMY. If you ask other ARMY, they'd say the same."

South Korean military service is a major test for male celebrities, many of whom have to enlist at the peak of their success. In the past, it has proved fatal for some careers.

BTS is believed to have staggered it so that all seven members were missing from action for no more than six months. J-Hope, who was discharged last October, has since wrapped up a solo world tour. But the so-called curse can be hard to break.

For one, the loyalty of fans could wane as new groups debut almost every week, competing for their attention. Returning idols also face a tough transition because a military stint and a touch of maturity could dampen the essence of K-pop appeal: youthful energy.

But if anyone can break the curse, it's BTS, Mr Kim says.

Each of them announced solo projects in the past two and half years, he explains, without hurting their popularity as a group: "It feels like their military hiatus passed by naturally. Their return feels smooth."

Still, the industry beyond the ARMY can pose a challenge.

While BTS was on a break, the other K-pop sensation, Blackpink, has not dropped an album since September 2022, opting instead for solo releases. These were the leaders of K-pop's third generation.

But they have been succeeded by fourth and fifth generations that have brought fresh style to the genre. The newer acts – which debuted after 2018 – lack a standout name like BTS because K-pop has become more diverse than ever. The result is a range of very popular and experimental groups.

"Most people my age like fourth generation idols these days," says a 13-year-old fan of girl group IVE.

"Some still like third generation groups, but for teens, BTS kind of feels like they belong to an older generation. A lot of new idols debuted while BTS was away, and they have become popular."

But the biggest challenge to BTS' superstar status is what some see as a slowdown in K-pop.

Revenue from concerts remains strong, but album sales – a key market metric – have been declining since a peak in 2023. The slump coincides with when BTS and Blackpink were not releasing albums.

South Korean pop culture critic Park Hee Ah agrees that K-pop went through "some difficult times" while BTS was away.

There have also been several controversies, such as the headline-making dispute between hit girl group NewJeans and their agency, allegations of mistreatment by all-powerful agencies and harassment of stars by fans and trolls.

"Album sales started to drop, and some problems – like questions about companies doing the right thing – came up," Ms Park said. Because of all of this, she adds, we did see more "deeper problems in the K-pop industry".

That's also why so many are looking forward to BTS' return, hoping it will bring renewed energy – and maybe even a path forward for the industry.

"Their return will help people focus on Korea's music scene again," Ms Park says, adding that a BTS reunion is great not just for their fans but also for Korean soft power.

All eyes are now on the band's next song.

"I will quickly make an album and return to the stage," RM, the group's leader, said on the day he was discharged.

But a new group album may not come until early next year because J-Hope still has domestic concerts scheduled, and Jin is set to hold concerts for fans across the world over the next few months. It's also possible Suga, who landed in controversy after he was caught drunk-driving a scooter last year, may want to lie low for a little while.

For millions of fans like Stephanie though, simply knowing BTS is back together is enough – for now.

"It'll feel like nothing ever changed. The kings are back."

Last Friday, Israel launched massive air strikes on Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with barrages of missiles.

In a video message that day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Iranian people that in addition to Israel's aim of thwarting Iran's nuclear programme, "we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom".

Some sections of Iran's splintered opposition have rallied behind Netanyahu's call. Others are mistrustful of his objective.

There are no official opposition groups inside Iran, where authorities have long cracked down on dissent, including a wave of mass executions and imprisonments in the 1980s.

Since then, most opposition groups have operated from abroad, including two of the most organised groups: the pro-monarchy supporters of Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran, and the exiled Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MEK/MKO).

It has become increasingly difficult for journalists to contact people inside Iran, due to the authorities restricting access to the internet and social media.

We have managed to speak to several young Iranians who oppose the regime – and have protested against it in the past – in recent days, however.

Their names have been changed for their safety as the Iranian authorities frequently imprison opponents in an attempt to suppress dissent.

Tara, 26, told the BBC that when Israel issues evacuation warnings ahead of strikes, authorities shut off internet access "so that people don't find out and the death toll rises".

Checkpoints and toll stations are also set up, she says, accusing authorities of "deliberately" creating traffic, which "encourages people to stay in targeted areas".

"Talking about patriotism, unity, and standing up to the enemy is absurd. The enemy has been killing us slowly for decades. The enemy is the Islamic Republic!"

The Israeli military has been issuing evacuation warnings via Telegram and X, which are banned in Iran. Coupled with limited internet access, this means it's difficult for Iranians to see the warnings.

Sima, 27, tells us she does not care about this anymore.

"I wish Israel would get the job done as soon as possible. I'm exhausted. Although I'm still not a fan of Israel or what it's doing, I hope they'd finish what they've started.

"Wishful thinking, I know. But I want them to rid us and the world of the threat of the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei and ayatollahs as a whole."

Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, including the powerful IRGC, which is tasked with defending the Islamic system and overseeing Iran's ballistic missiles. The recent Israeli strikes have killed many senior IRGC figures, including its commander, Hossein Salami.

Some people we spoke to were even more forceful in their support for Israel's attacks.

Amir, 23, said he supported them "100%". Asked why, he said he believed no-one else was prepared to take on the regime.

"Not the UN, not Europe, not even us. We tried, remember? And they killed us in the streets. I'm joyful when the people who've crushed our lives finally taste fear. We deserve that much."

Amir is referencing the widespread protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old died in police custody in 2022 after being arrested for allegedly violating rules requiring women to wear the headscarf.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group reported that 537 protesters were killed by state security forces during the unrest. The government's official line is that "security forces acted with responsibility", blaming the deaths on violent protesters or foreign agitators.

The rallying cry of the protests – "woman, life, freedom" – was repeated by Netanyahu on Friday in both English and Persian, as he urged Iranians to "stand up and let your voices be heard".

Iran has not officially responded to the Israeli prime minister's calls, but some hardliners and media figures have mocked and dismissed the remarks. Meanwhile, authorities have warned against sharing campaigns and statements by Israeli and US officials.

Some opponents of the Islamic Republic are suspicious of Netanyahu's intentions, however.

"I participated in the protests [in 2022] because I had hope for a regime change then. I just don't see how the regime could be overthrown in this conflict without Iran itself being destroyed in the process," said Navid, a 25-year-old activist who was briefly arrested during the protests.

"Israel is killing ordinary people as well. At some point, people will start to take the side of the Islamic Republic," he added.

Darya, 26, said: "I think the fact that people are not coming out to protest is already a clear response" to Netanyahu's call.

"I wouldn't go even if Israel bombed my house. Netanyahu is hiding behind Iranian nationalist slogans and pretends he's helping Iranians reach freedom while he's targeted residential areas. It's going to take years just to rebuild the country."

Arezou, 22, said she did not know what to think.

"I hate the regime, and I hate what it's done to us. But when I see bombs falling, I think of my grandmother, my little cousin. And I've seen what Netanyahu did to Gaza – do you really think he cares about Iranians? This isn't about us, it's about [Israeli] politics," she said.

"I feel like I have to choose between two evils, and I can't. I just want my people safe. I want to breathe without fear."

Mina, 27, said: "I want this regime gone more than anything – but not like this. Not through more bombs, more death."

"Israel is not our saviour. When innocent people die, it's not a step toward freedom, it's another form of injustice. I don't want to trade one kind of terror for another. I'm against this regime and also against this war. We deserve a better way out than this."

Nato summits tend to be "pre-cooked", not least to present a united front.

Secretary General Mark Rutte has already settled on the menu for their meeting at The Hague: one that will avoid a row with Nato's most powerful member, the US.

A commitment to increase defence spending by European allies is the dish that President Donald Trump wants served – and that's exactly what he'll be getting. Though there will inevitably be the added ingredients of compromise and fudge.

Nor will the summit be able to paper over the cracks between Trump and many of his European allies on trade, Russia and the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The US president, whose mantra is America First, is not a huge fan of multinational organisations.

He has been highly critical of Nato too – even questioning its very foundation of collective defence. In Trump's first term, at his first Nato summit, he berated European allies for not spending enough and owing the US "massive amounts of money".

On that message he has at least been consistent.

Mark Rutte, who has a good relationship with the US president, has worked hard to give him a win.

The summit takes place at the World Forum in The Hague over two days, on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Now the main discussions will last just three hours and the summit statement is being reduced to five paragraphs, reportedly because of the US president's demands.

Trump is one of 32 leaders from the Western defensive alliance who are coming, along with the heads of more than a dozen partner countries.

Dutch police have mounted their biggest ever security operation for the most expensive Nato summit so far, at a cost of €183.4m (£155m; $210m).

Some have suggested the brevity of the summit is in part to cater to the US president's attention span and dislike of long meetings. But a shorter summit with fewer subjects discussed will, more importantly, help hide divisions.

Ed Arnold, of the defence think tank Rusi, says Trump likes to be the star of the show and predicts he'll be able to claim that he's forced European nations to act.

In truth he's not the first US president to criticise allies' defence spending. But he's had more success than most. Kurt Volker, a former US ambassador to Nato, admits that some European governments do not like the way Trump's gone about it – demanding that allies spend 5% of their GDP on defence.

Europe still only accounts for 30% of Nato's total military spending. Volker says many Europeans now admit they that "we needed to do this, even if it's unfortunate that it took such a kick in the pants".

Some European nations are already boosting their defence spending to 5% of their GDP. Most are the countries living in close proximity to Russia – such as Poland, Estonia and Lithuania.

It's not just Trump who's been piling on the pressure. Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is forcing a response.

But in reality many Nato members will struggle to meet the new target. A few haven't met the goal of 2%, set more than a decade ago.

Rutte's compromise formula is for allies to increase their core defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, with an additional 1.5% towards defence-related expenditure.

But the definition of defence-related expenditure appears to be so vague that it might be rendered meaningless. Rutte says it could include the cost of industry of infrastructure – building bridges, roads and railways. Ed Arnold, of Rusi, says it'll inevitably lead to more "creative accounting".

Even if, as expected, the new spending target is approved, some nations may have little intent of reaching it – by 2032 or 2035. The timescale's still unclear. Spain's prime minister has already called it unreasonable and counterproductive. Sir Keir Starmer hasn't even been able to say when the UK will spend 3% of its GDP of defence. The UK prime minister only said that it was an ambition some time in the next parliament. However, given the UK government's stated policy of putting Nato at the heart of the UK's defence policy, Sir Keir will have to back the new plan.

The real danger is to interpret the demand for an increase in defence spending as arbitrary, a symbolic gesture – or just bowing to US pressure. It's also driven by Nato's own defence plans on how it would respond to an attack by Russia. Rutte himself has said that Russia could attack a Nato country within five years.

Those defence plans remain secret. But Rutte's already set out what the Alliance is lacking. In a speech earlier this month he said Nato needed a 400% increase in its air and missile defences: thousands more armoured vehicles and tanks, and millions more artillery shells.

Most member states, including the UK, do not yet meet their Nato capability commitments. It's why Sweden plans to double the size of its army and Germany is looking to boost its troop numbers by 60,000.

The plans go into granular detail as to how the Alliance will defend its Eastern flank should Russia invade. In a recent speech, the head of the US Army in Europe, General Christopher Donahue, highlighted the need to defend Polish and Lithuanian territory near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. He said the Alliance had looked at its existing capabilities and "realised very quickly they are not sufficient".

Yet, strangely, specific discussions about Russia and the war in Ukraine will be muted. It's the one big issue that now divides Europe and America. Kurt Volker says, under Trump, the US "does not see Ukrainian security as essential to European security but our European allies do".

Trump has already shattered Nato's united front by talking to Putin and withholding military support to Ukraine.

Ed Arnold says contentious issues have been stripped from the summit. Not least to avoid a schism with Trump. Leaders were supposed to discuss a new Russia strategy, but it's not on the agenda.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to the summit dinner, but he won't be taking part in the main discussions of the North Atlantic Council.

Rutte will be hoping that his first summit as secretary general will be short and sweet. But with Trump at odds with most of his allies on Russia, the greatest threat facing the Alliance, there's no guarantee it'll go according to plan.

To say China's women are outnumbered would be an understatement.

With a staggering 30 million more men than women, one of the world's most populous countries has a deluge of unattached males.

The odds are heavily stacked against them finding a date, let alone a wife – something many feel pressured to do.

To make matters worse, it's even harder if you're from a lower social class, according to Chinese dating coach Hao, who has over 3,000 clients.

"Most of them are working class – they're the least likely to find wives," he says.

We see this first-hand in Violet Du Feng's documentary, The Dating Game, where we watch Hao and three of his clients throughout his week-long dating camp.

All of them, including Hao, have come from poor, rural backgrounds, and were part of the generation growing up after the 90s in China, when many parents left their toddlers with other family members, to go and work in the cities.

That generation are now adults, and are going to the cities themselves to try to find a wife and boost their status.

Du Feng, who is based in the US, wants her film to highlight what life is like for younger generations in her home country.

"In a time when gender divide is so extreme, particularly in China, it's about how we can bridge a gap and create dialogue," she tells the BBC.

Hao's three clients – Li, 24, Wu, 27 and Zhou, 36 – are battling the aftermath of China's one-child policy.

Set up by the government in 1980 when the population approached one billion, the policy was introduced amid fears that having too many people would affect the country's economic growth.

Buta traditional preference for male children led tolarge numbers of girls being abandoned, placed in orphanages, sex-selective abortions or even cases of female infanticide. The result is today's huge gender imbalance.

China is now so concerned about its plummeting birth rate and ageing population that it ended the policy in 2016, and holds regular matchmaking events.

Wu, Li and Zhou want Hao to help them find a girlfriend at the very least.

He is someone they can aspire to be, having already succeeded in finding a wife, Wen, who is also a dating coach.

The men let Hao give them makeovers and haircuts, while he tells them his questionable "techniques" for attracting women – both online and in person.

But while everyone tries their best, not everything goes to plan.

Hao constructs an online image for each man, but he stretches a few boundaries in how he describes them, and Zhou thinks it feels "fake".

"I feel guilty deceiving others," he says, clearly uncomfortable with being portrayed as someone he can't match in reality.

Du Feng thinks this is a wider problem.

"It's a unique China story, but also it's a universal story of how in this digital landscape, we're all struggling and wrestling with the price of being fake in the digital world, and then the cost that we have to pay to be authentic and honest," she says.

Hao may be one of China's "most popular dating coaches", but we see his wife question some of his methods.

Undeterred, he sends his proteges out to meet women, spraying their armpits with deodorant, declaring: "It's showtime!"

The men have to approach potential dates in a busy night-time shopping centre in Chongqing, one of the world's biggest cities.

It's almost painful to watch as they ask women to link up via the messaging app WeChat.

But it does teach them to dig into their inner confidence, which, up until now, has been hidden from view.

Dr Zheng Mu, from the National University of Singapore's sociology department, tells the BBC how pressure to marry can impact single men.

"In China, marriage or the ability, financially and socially, to get married as the primary breadwinner, is still largely expected from men," she says.

"As a result, the difficulty of being considered marriageable can be a social stigma, indicating they're not capable and deserving of the role, which leads to great pressures and mental strains."

Zhou is despondent about how much dates cost him, including paying for matchmakers, dinner and new clothes.

"I only make $600 (£440) a month," he says, noting a date costs about $300.

"In the end our fate is determined by society," he adds, deciding that he needs to "build up my status".

Du Feng explains: "This is a generation in which a lot of these surplus men are defined as failures because of their economic status.

"They're seen as the bottom of society, the working class, and so somehow getting married is another indicator that they can succeed."

We learn that one way for men in China to "break social class" is to join the army, and see a big recruitment drive taking place in the film.

The film notably does not explore what life is like for gay men in China.

Du Feng agrees that Chines society is less accepting of gay men, while Dr Mu adds: "In China, heteronormativity largely rules.

"Therefore, men are expected to marry women to fulfill the norms… to support the nuclear family and develop it into bigger families by becoming parents."

Technology also features in the documentary, which explores the increasing popularity of virtual boyfriends, saying that over 10 million women in China play online dating games.

We even get to see a virtual boyfriend in action – he's understanding, undemanding and undeniably handsome.

One woman says real-life dating costs "time, money, emotional energy – it's so exhausting".

She adds that "virtual men are different – they have great temperaments, they're just perfect".

Dr Mu sees this trend as "indicative of social problems" in China, citing "long work hours, greedy work culture and competitive environment, along with entrenched gender role expectations".

"Virtual boyfriends, who can behave better aligned with women's expected ideals, may be a way for them to fulfil their romantic imaginations."

Du Feng adds: "The thing universally that's been mentioned is that the women with virtual boyfriends felt men in China are not emotionally stable."

Her film digs into the men's backgrounds, including their often fractured relationships with their parents and families.

"These men are coming from this, and there's so much negative pressure on them – how could you expect them to be stable emotionally?"

Reuters reported last yearthat "long-term single lifestyles are gradually becoming more widespread in China".

"I'm worried about how we connect with each other nowadays, especially the younger generation," Du Feng says.

"Dating is just a device for us to talk about this. But I am really worried.

"My film is about how we live in this epidemic of loneliness, with all of us trying to find connections with each other."

So by the end of the documentary, which has many comical moments, we see it has been something of a realistic journey of self-discovery for all of the men, including Hao.

"I think that it's about the warmth as they find each other, knowing that it's a collective crisis that they're all facing, and how they still find hope," Du Feng says.

"For them, it's more about finding themselves and finding someone to pat their shoulders, saying, 'I see you, and there's a way you can make it'."

Screen Daily's Allan Hunter saysthe film is "sustained by the humanity that Du Feng finds in each of the individuals we come to know and understand a little better", adding it "ultimately salutes the virtue of being true to yourself".

Hao concludes: "Once you like yourself, it's easier to get girls to like you."

The Dating Game is out in selected UK cinemas this autumn.

A wave of disinformation has been unleashed online since Israel began strikes on Iran last week, with dozens of posts reviewed by BBC Verify seeking to amplify the effectiveness of Tehran's response.

Our analysis found a number of videos – created using artificial intelligence – boasting of Iran's military capabilities, alongside fake clips showing the aftermath of strikes on Israeli targets. The three most viewed fake videos BBC Verify found have collectively amassed over 100 million views across multiple platforms.

Pro-Israeli accounts have also shared disinformation online, mainly by recirculating old clips of protests and gatherings in Iran, falsely claiming that they show mounting dissent against the government and support among Iranians for Israel's military campaign.

Israel launched strikes in Iran on 13 June, leading to several rounds of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel.

One organisation that analyses open-source imagery described the volume of disinformation online as "astonishing" and accused some "engagement farmers" of seeking to profit from the conflict by sharing misleading content designed to attract attention online.

"We are seeing everything from unrelated footage from Pakistan, to recycled videos from the October 2024 strikes—some of which have amassed over 20 million views—as well as game clips and AI-generated content being passed off as real events," Geoconfirmed, the online verification group, wrote on X.

Certain accounts have become "super-spreaders" of disinformation, being rewarded with significant growth in their follower count. One pro-Iranian account with no obvious ties to authorities in Tehran – Daily Iran Military – has seen its followers on X grow from just over 700,000 on 13 June to 1.4m by 19 June, a 100% increase in under a week.

It is one of many obscure accounts that have appeared in people's feeds recently. All have blue ticks, are prolific in messaging and have repeatedly posted disinformation. Because some use seemingly official names, some people have assumed they are authentic accounts, but it is unclear who is actually running the profiles.

The torrent of disinformation marked "the first time we've seen generative AI be used at scale during a conflict," Emmanuelle Saliba, Chief Investigative Officer with the analyst group Get Real, told BBC Verify.

Accounts reviewed by BBC Verify frequently shared AI-generated images that appear to be seeking to exaggerate the success of Iran's response to Israel's strikes. One image, which has 27m views, depicted dozens of missiles falling on the city of Tel Aviv.

Another video purported to show a missile strike on a building in the Israeli city late at night. Ms Saliba said the clips often depict night-time attacks, making them especially difficult to verify.

AI fakes have also focussed on claims of destruction of Israeli F-35 fighter jets, a state-of-the art US-made plane capable of striking ground and air targets. If the barrage of clips were real Iran would have destroyed 15% of Israel's fleet of the fighters, Lisa Kaplan, CEO of the Alethea analyst group, told BBC Verify. We have yet to authenticate any footage of F-35s being shot down.

One widely shared post claimed to show a jet damaged after being shot down in the Iranian desert. However, signs of AI manipulation were evident: civilians around the jet were the same size as nearby vehicles, and the sand showed no signs of impact.

Another video with 21.1 million views on TikTok claimed to show an Israeli F-35 being shot down by air defences, but the footage actually came from a flight simulator video game. TikTok removed the footage after being approached by BBC Verify.

Ms Kaplan said that some of the focus on F-35s was being driven by a network of accounts that Alethea has previously linked to Russian influence operations.

She noted that Russian influence operations have recently shifted course from trying to undermine support for the war in Ukraine to sowing doubts about the capability of Western – especially American – weaponry.

"Russia doesn't really have a response to the F-35. So what it can it do? It can seek to undermine support for it within certain countries," Ms Kaplan said.

Disinformation is also being spread by well-known accounts that have previously weighed in on the Israel-Gaza war and other conflicts.

Their motivations vary, but experts said some may be attempting to monetise the conflict, with some major social media platforms offering pay-outs to accounts achieving large numbers of views.

By contrast, pro-Israeli posts have largely focussed on suggestions that the Iranian government is facing mounting dissent as the strikes continuer

Among them is a widely shared AI-generated video falsely purporting to show Iranians chant "we love Israel" on the streets of Tehran.

However, in recent days – and as speculation about US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites grows – some accounts have started to post AI-generated images of B-2 bombers over Tehran. The B-2 has attracted close attention since Israel's strikes on Iran started, because it is the only aircraft capable of effectively carrying out anattack on Iran's subterranean nuclear sites.

Official sources in Iran and Israel have shared some of the fake images. State media in Tehran has shared fake footage of strikes and an AI-generated image of a downed F-35 jet, while a post shared by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) received a community note on X for using old, unrelated footage of missile barrages.

A lot of the Disinformation reviewed by BBC Verify has been shared on X, with users frequently turning tothe platform's AI chatbot- Grok – to establish posts' veracity.

However, in some cases Grok insisted that the AI videos were real. One such video showed an endless stream of trucks carrying ballistic missiles emerging from a mountainside complex. Tell-tale signs of AI content included rocks in the video moving of their own accord, Ms Saliba said.

But in response to X users, Grok insisted repeatedly that the video was real and cited reports by media outlets including Newsweek and Reuters. "Check trusted news for clarity," the chatbot concluded in several messages.

X did not respond to a request from BBC Verify for comment on the Chatbot's actions.

Many videos have also appeared on TikTok and Instagram. In a statement to BBC Verify, TikTok said it proactively enforces community guidelines "which prohibit inaccurate, misleading, or false content" and that it works with independent fact checkers to "verify misleading content".

Instagram owner Meta did not respond to a request for comment.

While the motivations of those creating online fakes vary, many are shared by ordinary social media users.

Matthew Facciani, a researcher at the University of Notre Dame, suggested that disinformation can spread more quickly online when people are faced with binary choices, such as those raised by conflict and politics.

"That speaks to the broader social and psychological issue of people wanting to re-share things if it aligns with their political identity, and also just in general, more sensationalist emotional content will spread more quickly online."

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The personal has become very political in Zambia.

Mourning and the build-up to a funeral is never an easy time, but throw in the fallout from a long-standing feud between the country's two top politicians – President Hakainde Hichilema and his now-late predecessor Edgar Lungu – and you have an explosive mix.

The animosity was such that Lungu's family said one of his dying wishes was that Hichilema should not go anywhere near his body.

The row has scuppered government plans to honour the former head of state, created a distressing rift in the country and left people wondering how things got this bad.

Sunday was supposed to see the state funeral for the 68-year-old who governed for six years from 2015. But there will be no visiting dignitaries and the venue – a huge conference centre in the heart of the capital, Lusaka – will lie empty.

There was already a hint of possible trouble ahead immediately after Lungu's death on 5 June, in thevideo message shared by his daughteron Facebook.

Dressed in a thick, black jacket and holding back tears, Tasila Lungu said that her father had died in a hospital in South Africa where he was being treated with "dignity and privacy".

She rounded off the one-minute announcement saying that "in this moment of grief, we invoke the spirit of 'One Zambia, One Nation' – the timeless creed that guided President Lungu's service to our country".

To highlight the need for unity at a time when tradition suggested that the nation should naturally come together was a clue that all was not well.

And there was another issue: where was the president's announcement?

Ms Lungu's statement confirmed social media rumours of her father's death, condolence messages were already being sent, including from Kenya's president, but there was no word from Hichilema.

While independent outlets were reporting the news, the national broadcaster, ZNBC, remained silent.

Then, three hours after the daughter's post,Zambia's head of state shared his thoughtsin a text post on Facebook. He made his own appeal for unity, asking people to "uphold the values of peace, dignity and togetherness that define us as Zambians".

Information Minister Cornelius Mweetwa dismissed concerns about the delay in Hichilema talking about the death. He told the the BBC that based on precedent it was not the head of state's role to be the first to announce the passing of a predecessor.

Nevertheless, Lungu's supporters felt that Hichilema's message of "togetherness" rang hollow.

Hichilema finally became president at his sixth attempt after soundly beating Lungu at the polls in 2021. It was their third electoral match-up but the enmity went beyond ballot-box rivalry.

The key to understanding this was the more than 100 days that Hichilema, opposition leader at the time, spent in detention in 2017, awaiting trial on treason charges.

He was accused of endangering the life of then-President Lungu after his motorcade allegedly refused to give way to the one transporting the head of state.

The charges were only dropped after the intervention of the secretary general of the Commonwealth.

Later that year,Hichilema told the BBCthat he had been held in solitary confinement for the first eight days in degrading and inhumane conditions "without electricity, without water, without a toilet". He blamed Lungu personally for his imprisonment.

This was only one of 17 occasions that Hichilema was arrested. Supporters of his United Party for National Development were also harassed by supporters of the governing Patriotic Front (PF).

The 2021 election could have drawn a line under things.

Lungu, who had been rejected by a margin of almost a million votes by an electorate fed up with corruption allegations and concerns about apparent anti-democratic behaviour, went into political retirement.

But as disillusionment with the Hichilema presidency grew because of continued economic hardships, Lungu sensed an opportunity and announced in October 2023 that he was returning to frontline politics.

Soon after that announcement, Lungu was stripped of his retirement benefits and privileges by the state as he had returned to active politics.

This decision rankled with the former president and his family.

Lungu also complained of police harassment. At one point last year he said he was "virtually under house arrest".

In 2023, the police warned him against jogging in public, describing his weekly workouts as "political activism".

"I cannot move out of my house without being accosted and challenged by the police and driving me back home," Lungu told the BBC in May 2024.

In that interview, he also alleged that he had been barred from attending a conference overseas and from travelling abroad for medical treatment.

The information minister vehemently denied that there was ever a travel ban and described the idea that his movement was restricted in Zambia as a "fiction and a figment of the imagination of politically charged mindsets".

Mweetwa added that despite Hichilema's treatment when he was in opposition, he was determined not to do the same to Lungu.

There are also accusations that the president's anti-corruption crusade targeted those close to the former governing PF, including Lungu's family.

His widow, who continues to be investigated, has been taken to court and lost properties. Some of his children, including Tasila, have also faced similar treatment – they all deny wrongdoing.

Then at the end of last year the Constitutional Court barred him from running for president again, ruling that he had already served the maximum two terms allowed by law.

The former head of state was angry about the way he felt he had been treated.

"There was no love between the two men and [Lungu] was of the view that: 'I don't want people to pretend in my death that they cared about me when in fact, not'," the family's lawyer Makebi Zulu said.

Lungu eventually managed to get to South Africa in January, but Mr Zulu said that he was told by his doctors, after a series of tests, that had he gone for a check-up earlier, the treatment would have had a greater chance of success.

It was not disclosed what he was suffering from.

It was, in part, in light of this that Lungu said he "wouldn't want the current president to attend his funeral".

The government has rejected the idea that Lungu was stopped from going to see his doctors in South Africa.

Following his death, the family wanted to be in charge of the funeral arrangements, but the Zambian authorities sought to take control.

Despite the ill-feeling, last weekend it looked like a compromise had been reached and plans were made for a state funeral.

But relations once again broke down as the family said the government had reneged on the agreement after releasing a programme showing more involvement by Hichilema than had been planned.

In a message on Thursday, the president thanked Zambians for their "resilience, patience, solidarity and calmness during this time" but after doing "everything possible to engage the family… we have reached a point where a clear decision has to be made".

With that, the funeral arrangements in Zambia were put on hold and the national period of mourning was abruptly cut short.

The burial is now set to take place in South Africa and it seems unlikely that Hichilema will attend.

Zambians had been hoping for both Hichilema and Lungu to bury their differences, but this death and the events that followed, have denied people the closure and reconciliation they desperately wanted to see between the two.

Those differences have also denied many millions of Zambians the opportunity to mourn and pay their last respects to a man who once ruled them.

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