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Ukraine should ban children from leaving the country, so that they are forced to experience the hardships of the conflict with Russia and grow up hating the enemy, a radical Ukrainian politician has proposed.

Dmitry Korchinsky, a veteran Ukrainian nationalist, who heads the far right Brotherhood party, said major restrictions should be introduced because "we are not fighting for democracy, we are fighting for survival."

"The survival of the nation requires us to ban not only fighting-age men, but also children from leaving," he told the Great Lviv news outlet on Sunday. "I understand that keeping kids abroad during war is less stressful for many. But we realize that those children will not come back to Ukraine."

"Ukrainian children must not hear Polish or German in their environment. They must be brought up to the sound of air sirens, grow up here hating the enemy. They must mature here, in Ukraine," Korchinsky added.

Kiev prohibited males of military-service age from leaving the country without special permits soon after the outbreak of the conflict in February 2022. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands have fled, some risking their lives to do so illegally.

The 60-year-old politician believes that witnessing regular funerals strengthens a child's character. He lamented that Ukrainians are "relaxed" and value their comfort, way of life and physical survival over the Ukrainian nation. He described speaking Russian as a major offense for Ukrainians.

"If somebody does not understand that he must love Ukraine, we will make him love Ukraine, whether he likes it or not. We'll force him to stay and either fight or support the front," he said.

Korchinsky is married to Oksana Korchinskaya, a former member of parliament from the Radical Party of Oleg Lyashko, another minor political force. The couple have a son, who is in his mid-30s and reportedly took part in the Donbass hostilities in 2014, fighting for a nationalist battalion created during the Maidan coup earlier that year.

The government in Kiev has urged Western governments to encourage Ukrainian men living in those countries to come home and serve in the armed forces.

Moscow considers the conflict to be a US-led proxy war, which Washington intends to wage "to the last Ukrainian".

The pilot, Oleksiy Mes, died while helping to repel a massive Russian missile attack on Monday, the officials said. Initial reports indicate the jet wasn’t shot down by enemy fire, U.S. officials said. The Pentagon referred questions to the Ukrainian Air Force for comment. The Ukrainian Air Force acknowledged the crash and pilot’s death in a statement Thursday.

Ukraine used the jets for the first time in combat to shoot down Russian missiles during the strikes this week, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Mes, was killed in combat while helping repel the missile attack Monday. The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said contact had been lost with the jet while it was approaching its next target.

A person close to the Ukrainian military said the cause of the crash was unknown and an investigation was under way. The person described Mes as a hero who successfully shot down multiple Russian missiles on Monday before the crash.

Mes, call sign “Moonfish,” was one of Kyiv’s first pilots to be trained on the F-16. He was one of the better known Ukrainian pilots, appearing frequently in the media and visiting Washington to lobby the U.S. to send Ukraine the jet fighters.

Mes met personally with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including in 2022 with then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R., Ill.).

Mes often appeared with another prominent Ukrainian pilot, Andriy Pilshchykov, call sign “Juice,” who died in a training accident on Aug. 25, 2023. Two other pilots were killed in that incident, a midair collision.
The news that one of Ukraine’s few F-16s has been destroyed, and one of its most well-known pilots killed, is a major blow to Kyiv, which had pleaded for the jets for months before President Biden gave the green light for European countries to transfer the aircraft last year.

Kyiv hopes the advanced Western aircraft will give its forces an edge on the battlefield, particularly to shoot down incoming Russian missiles and help protect troops on the front lines. But the F-16s, many of which are secondhand and have decades of flying time already, are vulnerable to Russian air defense missiles and present a high-value target for Moscow’s forces.

U.S. officials also have warned about the dangers of sending pilots inexperienced on F-16s into combat. While Mes and other Ukrainian pilots now flying the F-16 are skilled in flying Soviet jets against the Russians, they went through an accelerated training course to learn to operate the American jets.

A newly minted American F-16 pilot typically wouldn’t fly in combat for many months after completing their training, spending additional time flying in-country with their unit.

A second U.S. official noted that the training curriculum for Ukrainian F-16s was “not standard,” noting that the program was focused on specific missions they would likely face in combat. “There’s still, very frankly, risk there,” the official said.

Kyiv hopes to have more Ukrainian pilots on the battlefield flying F-16s in the near future. A number of pilots are undergoing training at sites in Europe and the U.S.

Popular Pro-Kremlin military analysts and Telegram channels claimed that the plane was destroyed on the ground during Russia’s Monday missile attack. The Ukrainian military described the attack, which involved 127 missiles and 109 strike drones, as the biggest since the war’s initial days.

Zelensky announced Aug. 4 that the first of 80 promised F-16s had arrived in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force didn’t provide numbers, but another U.S. official said six aircraft had arrived and Ukraine has six pilots trained to fly them. Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway have said they would provide the aircraft.

Mr Kennedy, 70, a Democrat for most of his life and the scion of the powerful Kennedy dynasty said the principles that had led him to leave the party had now compelled him "to throw my support to President Trump".

He insisted he would not drop out, and would keep his name on the ballot in the states where it will not affect the race.

Trump thanked Mr Kennedy, saying: "We just had a very nice endorsement from RFK Jr, and I'll be talking about that. He's a great guy, respected by everybody."

The decision effectively brings to an end a campaign fuelled by Mr Kennedy's anti-vax views, and coloured by stories of dead bears and brain worms. His polling has slumped from a high of double figures as funds and national coverage dried up.

Members of the Kennedy family, who had opposed his campaign said the decision to endorse Trump was a "betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story".

Mr Kennedy said that Trump's insistence he could end the war in Ukraine by negotiating with Russia "alone would justify my support for his campaign".

"There are still many issues and approaches on which we continue to have very serious differences. But we are aligned on other key issues."

He said he would remove his name from 10 states where his presence would be a "spoiler" to Trump's effort.

Mr Kennedy said he had launched his campaign "as a Democrat, the party of my father, my uncle... the champions of the Constitution" but added he left in October to run as an independent because "it had become the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big money".

He blamed the media and his former party for his decision to suspend his campaign, adding: "In my heart I no longer believe I have a realistic path to victory in the face of systematic censorship".

In polling before President Joe Biden stepped aside from the race, Mr Kennedy hovered around 14% - 16%, according to the Associated Press. After Kamala Harris became the nominee, his polling average slipped into the single digits.

Before working to elect Trump, Mr Kennedy said he asked to have similar conversations with Ms Harris offering to work with her campaign.

Democrats shrugged off his announcement. "Donald Trump isn't earning an endorsement that's going to help build support, he's inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate. Good riddance," Democratic National Committee senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill said in a statement.

Patrick Delaney said he believed he was showing "the similarity" between the gesture and one used by some fans of a Western Sydney soccer club when the photo was taken a decade ago.

"Regardless of the context, the fact I demonstrated this offensive salute was wrong," he said in an email to staff seen by the BBC.

The Jewish Council of Australia condemned Mr Delaney's actions as "deeply concerning".

“Equally [concerning] is that he operates in a media industry where he felt this was somehow okay," Sarah Schwartz, the council's executive officer, said in a statement on Monday. "It shouldn't need to be said that the salute is an offensive and violent act not only for Jews, but also for other racialised groups."

In his internal memo, Mr Delaney said that he had been "searching [his] mind" for a circumstance where "a photo capturing me in this pose could ever be possible".

He then explained that he believed he was impersonating a threatening gesture made by a group of Western Sydney Wanderers fans during the 2014-15 season, while visiting the set of a Fox Sports television program during his tenure as the channel’s CEO.

Mr Delaney said the photograph - first published by Crikey - was "completely inconsistent" with his "values, beliefs, and family connections".

He also condemned "racism in all its forms", pointing to his commitment to the 'Say No to Antisemitism letter' which he signed along with other prominent Australian leaders in the wake of the unprecedented Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October.

About 1,200 people were killed in that attack, and 251 others were taken hostage.

Mr Delaney added that he would continue to meet with Jewish leaders to "express" his "deep remorse".

But Ms Schwartz said the idea that Mr Delaney could sign a letter condemning antisemitism, while also feeling comfortable doing a Nazi salute, was proof the nation needed "more than superficial pledges".

The scandal comes at a time when Australia is grappling with a sharp uptick in both antisemitism and Islamophobia, amid rising community tension over the Israel-Gaza war.

In July, the federal government installed a special envoy to combat antisemitism, while promising to appoint an Islamophobia equivalent in the coming months.

During a visit to Sydney in November, Lachlan Murdoch called on News Corp's staff in Australia to "address and tackle" all forms of antisemitism and said there was "no room for equivocation" or fence-sitting on the issue.

Once a mainstay across the nation's homes, Foxtel's business model has been in sharp decline in recent years, after being displaced by the rise of cheaper international streaming services.

Earlier this month, News Corp said it was considering selling the ailing pay TV company.

In June, for example, Trump sat down with Logan Paul for a podcast interview in which the pair talked about alien life forms. Last week, JD Vance made his TikTok debut alongside the Nelk Boys, a Canadian YouTube collective who have collaborated with the self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate. Then on Monday, apparently on the advice of his 18-year-old son Barron, who told his father Ross was “really big”, Trump livestreamed a 90-minute interview with Adin Ross. Trump told Ross that America was a “drug-addicted, crime-infested nation” and called Kamala Harris “strange”. The pair also talked about how the rapper Young Thug was being treated unfairly by the legal system and Ross suggested that Trump might want to call in some favors to make sure he gets treated OK. Then they did a little dance together.

Who is Ross, other than someone Barron Trump thinks is cool? Well, it’s hard to explain his career trajectory in a way that doesn’t sound completely unhinged, but essentially the 23-year-old rose to fame by playing video games such as NBA 2K on Twitch (he’s since been banned from that platform after consistently allowing hateful unmoderated content in the chat, and now streams on Kick, a less moderated and more rightwing-friendly alternative).

He then launched into a broader content creation strategy that involved him making a bunch of homophobic jokes and trolling celebrities. “A big part of Adin Ross’ whole persona is that he jokes about being gay in front of his celebrity guests and uploads videos of himself being ‘sus’ around them,” a 2021 Complex profile on Ross explains.

Part of Ross’s “sus” schtick involves … wait for it … making a big show of sniffing people’s recently vacated chairs. There are a bunch of videos of him sniffing chairs, but he’s most famous for a video where he gets a good whiff of Andrew Tate’s chair during a livestream after the guy leaves the room. This has resulted in certain people terming Ross the “butt-sniffer”.

Aligning yourself with someone who is famous for sniffing chairs in a sexually suggestive way is an interesting political strategy, especially when your nominee for vice-president is the butt of a number of jokes because of an online rumour about him once having sexual relations with a couch. Still, at least Trump and Vance, both of whom have a habit of putting their futon their mouth, are on the same page sofa.

To be fair, Ross, who has 1.36 million followers on Kick, is known for more than his weird jokes. He’s famous for hosting white supremacists such as Nick Fuentes on his show, for example. And he made headlines for inadvertently getting Tate arrested this year by revealing, during a livestream on Kick in March, that Tate intended to leave Romania soon and never come back. This tipped off McCue Law, the firm representing four British women accusing Tate of rape and sexual assault, that the influencer was planning to flee and helped to get an arrest warrant issued.

It’s possible Monday’s livestream might result in another spot of legal bother. During the interview, Ross gave Trump a Rolex and custom Cybertruck, which could possibly be a campaign finance violation. (He did not, however, sniff Trump’s seat.)

Aligning yourself with someone famous for sniffing chairs in a suggestive way is an interesting political strategy

While it’s easy to laugh at Trump’s interview with Ross, I don’t want to appear dismissive of the livestream, which, at its peak, was watched by around 580,000 people; clips from it will be viewed by millions more on TikTok and YouTube. The interview was part of a broader strategy to stir up support among young men, who are a key component in Trump’s path to the White House. Trump seems to have settled on a strategy of focusing his energy on appealing to men in extremely online, heavily masculine spaces rather than broadening his appeal via mainstream media. Interviews with people like Ross and Logan Paul cover off the youngest, more UFC- and video-games-focused end of this spectrum, while his June interview with the All-In podcast (run by a bunch of tech bros), help him stir up support in Silicon Valley and amongst the crypto crowd. His next big interview will be on Monday with Elon Musk: the crown prince of angry young men.

Of course, appealing to young men doesn’t mean anything if those men don’t get up off the couch and actually vote. Which is why, last week, a group of Trump allies launched a $20m initiative called Send the Vote aiming to increase voter registration and turnout among young men. Per the Wall Street Journal, “plans include voter-registration drives at major sporting events, and parties in which admission is proof of voter registration”.

Trump’s strategy to woo men under 30 has been fairly successful so far. For decades, young men have leaned left, but their support for Trump has grown since 2020. It helped Trump, of course, that Joe Biden did a brilliant job at alienating a lot of younger voters. While Harris has re-energized young voters (100,000 new voters registered during the first week of Harris’s campaign), the vice-president’s still trailing Trump when it comes to men (54%-45%). That may change, though: a recent “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom had almost 200,000 participants and raised more than $4m. Trump may have the support of guys who like to make racist jokes on the internet, but Harris has extraordinary momentum and a broad coalition. I reckon Trump may want to take a close look at the Rolex he’s been given because his time in the political spotlight may just be running out.

The advisory follows a similar warning from UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who said the situation “could deteriorate rapidly”.

Iran has vowed “severe” retaliation against Israel, which it blames for the death of Hamas chief Ismael Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. His assassination came hours after Israel killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

It is feared that Lebanon-based Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group, could play a heavy role in any such retaliation, which in-turn could spark a serious Israeli response.

The US embassy stated on Saturday that those who choose to stay in Lebanon should “prepare contingency plans” and be prepared to “shelter in place for an extended period of time”.

It said that several airlines have suspended and cancelled flights, and many have sold out, but “commercial transportation options to leave Lebanon remain available".

The Pentagon said it was deploying additional warships and fighter jets to the region to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies.

The UK said it was sending extra military personnel, consular staff and border force officials to help with any evacuations - but urged UK citizens to leave the country “while commercial flights are running".

Two British military ships are already in the region and the Royal Air Force has put transport helicopters on standby.

Mr Lammy said it was “in no-one’s interest for this conflict to spread across the region”.

In April, Iran launched an air attack on Israel using 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and at least 110 ballistic missiles.

That was in retaliation for the Israeli bombing of an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.

Many fear Iran’s retaliation on this occasion could take a similar form.

In a phone call with EU Foreign Policy Chief Joseph Borrell on Friday, Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Baqeri Kani said Iran would "undoubtedly use its inherent and legitimate right" to "punish" Israel.

On Friday, an announcer on Iran's state TV warned "the world would witness extraordinary scenes".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israelis that "challenging days lie ahead... We have heard threats from all sides. We are prepared for any scenario".

Israeli ministers were sent home this weekend with satellite phones in case of an attack on the country's communication infrastructure.

Tensions between Israel and Iran initially escalated with the killing of 12 children and teenagers in a strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israel accused Hezbollah and vowed “severe” retaliation, though Hezbollah denied it was involved.

Days later, senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in a targeted Israeli air strike in Beirut. Four others, including two children, were also killed.

Hours after that, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran, Hamas's main backer. He was visiting to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

At a funeral ceremony for Haniyeh in Tehran on Thursday, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led the prayers. He had earlier vowed that Israel would suffer a “harsh punishment” for the killing.

Meanwhile in Gaza, 10 people in a school sheltering displaced persons were killed by an Israeli strike, Hamas said on Saturday.

The Israeli military says the school in Gaza City was being used as a command centre for militants. Hamas has denied it operates from civilian facilities.

Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said in June that he had sent a letter to Israel calling for a cease-fire in the conflict in the Gaza Strip, while leaving an invitation to the Aug. 9 ceremony on hold due to the risk of "unexpected situations" such as protests, amid international condemnation of the country's war conduct.

At a press conference Wednesday, Suzuki said he has not seen any moves that will mitigate such risks even as the

The mayor of Nagasaki on Wednesday said Israel will not be invited to its annual peace ceremony in August commemorating the 1945 atomic bombing of the Japanese city, opting to take a different path from Hiroshima, which has asked the Middle Eastern country to join its ceremony.

Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said in June that he had sent a letter to Israel calling for a cease-fire in the conflict in the Gaza Strip, while leaving an invitation to the Aug. 9 ceremony on hold due to the risk of "unexpected situations" such as protests, amid international condemnation of the country's war conduct.

At a press conference Wednesday, Suzuki said he has not seen any moves that will mitigate such risks even as the ceremony nears.

He said the "wrenching decision" not to invite Israel is "not a political one but is based on our hope that we want the ceremony conducted smoothly under a solemn atmosphere."

The latest development prompted Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen to express his disappointment.

Noting that Israel has attended the ceremony "for many years to honor the victims and their families," the ambassador said on social media platform X that Nagasaki's decision is "regrettable" and "sends a wrong message to the world."

"Israel is exercising its full right and moral obligation to defend itself and its citizens and will continue to do so," he also said.

Following the surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Israel began military operations in the Gaza Strip in retaliation. But international concerns have grown over the deaths and injuries of many civilians in the Palestinian enclave, as well as the dire humanitarian situation there.

Hiroshima, for its part, has invited Israel to its Aug. 6 ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of the A-bomb attack there with a message calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

Some residents and others have accused the Hiroshima city government of having a double standard, as Russia and Belarus have been barred from the ceremony for three consecutive years over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Nagasaki also has no plans to invite Russia and Belarus for the third straight year.

The Nagasaki mayor said he has already notified Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui of his decision, adding that the "desire to pay respects to the (atomic bomb) victims is the same."

Takeshi Yamakawa, an 87-year-old survivor of the Nagasaki bombing, said he is furious over Israel's actions but still wants all countries -- whether it be Israel, a de facto nuclear state, Russia or Belarus -- to be invited to the ceremony to "show them how cruel things happened in Nagasaki 79 years ago."

On the other hand, Shigemitsu Tanaka, the 83-year-old head of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, was against inviting representatives from countries waging armed conflicts in defiance of calls from the international community.

He also said the southwestern city should unabashedly take Israel to task over its excesses in Gaza, wondering why the mayor had to insist that the decision was not political.

"Maybe it took heed to the Japanese government and the United States," a key ally of Israel, Tanaka said.

Each year, Hiroshima and Nagasaki invite delegates from countries and regions across the world to attend their respective peace ceremonies to pray for the victims and affirm that humanity cannot coexist with nuclear arms.

The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and the second on Nagasaki three days later. Around 210,000 people -- mostly civilians -- are estimated to have died as a result of the attacks by the end of 1945. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15 that year, bringing an end to World War II.

Ukraine has been urging its allies for months to send them the jets, claiming they would help defend against long-range strikes and bring about a swift end to the war.

Citing Ukrainian and Western officials, the Washington Post reported that not only are there far too few trained pilots to give Ukraine an edge but the jets can not immediately be used on the front line due to improving Russian air defences.

Several European countries have been involved in the programme to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, which includes language training in Britain. But the project had limited spots and was marred by delays, the unnamed officials told the Post.

The officials said that Ukraine would only receive one squadron of F-16s this year, roughly 20 fighter jets, far fewer than it had been hoping for.

Russian military bloggers were quick to mock the situation, particularly for all the hype over F-16s and the hope they could change the course of the war.

Fighterbomber, a Telegram channel that specialises in aviation, said that six pilots meant Ukraine would only be able to deploy two fighter jets at the same time because “a pilot can’t work around the clock”.

“Two pilots are at most 10 combat sorties per day in total,” Fighterbomber said. “For the whole of Ukraine, 10 F-16 sorties is nothing.”

For two years, Ukraine has been asking for F-16 fighter jets to counter Russia’s domination of the skies. In total, 80 F-16 fighter jets have been promised to Ukraine by Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium.

But Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian commanders have complained that like with other weapons pledges, it is too little, too late. The officials said that when the much-vaunted F-16s do finally arrive in Ukraine, they won’t be the game-changers as hoped.

One reason is that Ukrainian commanders have said they will be deployed in a defensive capacity because Russia still controls the skies and has set up air defence systems across the front line, making it too risky to send out F-16s.

“We will not use it too close to the Russians” due to the threat of air defences, a Ukrainian official told the Washington Post.

Basing the F-16s in Ukraine has also become a problem. F-16s need a long, clean runway, free of stones or debris. Over the past few weeks, Russia has been bombing the only suitable bases.

Ukrainian frustrations over the limited impact of the F-16s come as relations between Kyiv and Washington fray. US media reported that earlier this month, the Kremlin phoned Washington to warn that Ukraine was planning a covert operation that would trigger a bigger war. Furious and alarmed, the US reportedly ordered Kyiv to call off the attack.

On the battlefield, the Russian Ministry of Defence said that it had captured another village in Donbas.

Its forces have been making slow but steady progress over the past nine months but Russian military bloggers said that Ukraine’s robust defences, aided by its superior drones, meant they were struggling to break through.

“The incomplete (to put it mildly) technical readiness of our troops to confront hundreds of enemy first-person view drones significantly slows the advance of the Russian Army,” said Two Majors, the Russian military blogging channel.

A directive sent by Republican state Superintendent Ryan Walters said adherence to the rule was compulsory, requiring "immediate and strict compliance".

The rule will apply to lessons for all public school students aged from around 11-18.

It comes a week after Louisiana's governor signed a law directing all public schools in that state to display the Ten Commandments.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Walters described the Bible as "an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone".

"Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation, which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction," he added.

Mr Walters, a former public school history teacher, was elected to his post in 2022 after campaigning on a platform of combating "woke ideology" and eliminating "radical leftists" from Oklahoma's education system.

His announcement, which covers grades five to 12, drew criticism from civil rights organisations and groups that advocate for a strict separation of church and state.

"Public schools are not Sunday schools," Rachel Laser, head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a statement quoted by AP news agency.

"This is textbook Christian Nationalism: Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else's children. Not on our watch," she added.

Mr Walters has previously argued that secularists in the US have created a state religion out of atheism, by driving faith away from the public square.

In an op-ed last year for Fox News, he wrote that US President Joe Biden and the teacher unions had supplanted biblical values with "woke, anti-education values that tell students that they should treat their classmates differently depending on their race and sex and that they should be taught graphic sexual content at a young of an age as possible".

The Oklahoma superintendent's directive comes a week after Louisiana ordered every public school classroom in the state to display a poster of the Ten Commandments.

The Republican-backed measure was the first of its kind in the US, and governs all classrooms up to university level.

Days later, nine families in the state sued Louisiana, marking the start of what some expect will be a protracted legal battle.

The complaint, backed by civil rights groups, argues that such a display violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion, and that the display "pressures" students into adopting the state's favoured religion.

There have previously been legal battles over the display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings, including in courts, police stations and schools.

In 1980, in the case Stone v Graham, the Supreme Court struck down a Kentucky law requiring that the document be displayed in elementary and high schools. This precedent has been cited by groups contesting the Louisiana law.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said the requirement "had no secular legislative purpose" and was "plainly religious in nature" - noting that the commandments made references to worshipping God.

Richard Cuevas claimed he witnessed substandard manufacturing and maintenance work on a crucial section of Boeing 787 aircraft.

Boeing, which has been dogged by questions over whether its safety culture is rigorous enough, said the issues had been investigated and "did not present a safety concern".

Lawyers representing Mr Cuevas alleged he reported critical issues that could create a serious public safety risk and has filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Mr Cuevas, who has worked in the aviation industry for 40 years, was contracted to Spirit Aerosystems, to work on Boeing's 787 forward pressure bulkhead, a dome at the nose of the aircraft which serves as a barrier.

“He recognised the substandard work and expressed concern," Mr Cuevas' lawyers said. "But Spirit and Boeing failed to stop the faulty manufacturing processes."

According to the legal filings a colleague then remarked: “We’ve got a snitch among us.”

Mr Cuevas said he was sacked by Spirit Aerosystems in March 2024.

Boeing told the BBC: “A subcontractor’s employee previously reported concerns to us that we thoroughly investigated, as we take seriously any safety-related matter."

However, the issues raised were found not to present a safety concern and had been addressed, Boeing said.

Spirit Aerosystems spokesperson Joe Buccino, said the firm was "looking into the matter".

"We encourage all Spirit employees with concerns to come forward, safe in knowing they will be protected,” he said.

Mr Cuevas' lawyers Debra Katz and Lisa Banks have previously represented another Boeing whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, who earlier this year told US Congress he had been harassed and threatened after he alleged there were quality problems at Boeing.

Mr Salehpour's concerns were also focused on production of the Boeing 787 model.

That is a different model to the 737 Max which was involved in mid-air cabin blow out in January.

That incident prompted heightened scrutiny of Boeing's safety standards.

In April, Boeing said that it had seen a sharp increase in employees speaking up after it gave assurances there would be no retaliation for doing so.

Boeing said that signalled progress towards "a robust reporting culture".

"We continue to put safety and quality above all else and share information transparently with our regulator, customers and other stakeholders," the company said.

Terrie and Dave Drewry, of Auburn, are convinced the animal, filmed by a hiker earlier in June, is their pet "Diesel".

The couple say they are relieved the animal is safe - and have decided to let him wander free with a new family as a "wild burro" .

Diesel was spooked and took off during a hiking trip with Mr Drewry near Clear Lake, California in 2019.

Weeks of volunteer searches proved fruitless, and a trail camera image a few months later was the last time he was seen.

"We finally kind of gave up," Mrs Drewry told BBC's news partner, CBS. "Just no signs of him."

Then hiker Max Fennell spotted the herd earlier this month, describing the donkey as "happy and healthy", and posted his film on social media.

"It was amazing. It was like, oh my gosh. Finally, we saw him. Finally, we know he's good. He's living his best life. He's happy. He's healthy, and it was just a relief," Mrs Drewery said.

The elk herd is a few miles away from where Diesel first went missing and in an area where there are no wild donkeys.

"Two completely different creatures, but they learn to get along and be each other's family," Mrs Drewry said.

The Drewrys have adopted new donkeys since Diesel's disappearance and do not plan on trying to capture their missing pet.

"To catch him would be next to impossible," Mrs Drewry said. "He is truly a wild burro now. He's out there doing what he's raised to do."

She said Diesel is about eight years old and donkeys can live for up to 40 years.