US soldier who fled to North Korea sentenced for desertion

Travis King, the US soldier who fled from South to North Korea last year before being returned home, has been sentenced to one year of confinement on charges including desertion and assault of a non-commissioned officer.

But with time already served and credit for good behaviour, the 24-year-old Army private walked free, his legal team told the BBC.

At Friday's hearing at Fort Bliss, Texas, he pleaded guilty to five of the original 14 military charges that had been filed against him. The other charges were dismissed.

He was questioned by the military judge about his decision to flee across the border into North Korea in July 2023. King joined the army in January 2021 and was in South Korea as part of a unit rotation when he crossed into North Korea.

'A tipping point': Why Chappell Roan and other stars are taking on toxic fans

Getty Images Chappell Roan wraps up her first UK headline tour at London's Brixton Academy on Saturday

In just eight months, Chappell Roan has gone from being a relative unknown to suddenly topping charts as one of the biggest new pop stars on the planet. But as the Missouri-born 26-year-old concludes a sold-out UK tour, the dark matter of mega-fame, and its invasive superfandom, threatens to cast a shadow over her success. In August, she posted two TikToks, now collectively viewed over 30 million times, calling out the "creepy behaviour" she's experienced and telling fans to respect her boundaries. And on Instagram, she wrote "women don't owe" anything, after one fan grabbed and kissed her in a bar. Elsewhere, police had to intervene when an autograph hunter wouldn’t take no for an answer. This week, she went a step further, telling The Face magazine she "might quit" the music industry if the harassment towards her and those closest doesn’t subside. Fame, she concluded, has the "vibe of an abusive ex-husband".

Trauma dumps

Chappell Roan is the drag alter ego of Kayleigh Amstutz, and she has tried to keep the two identities separate. Even with the stage persona, her authenticity is key to her appeal. But being relatable has drawbacks for a modern-day pop star. "It's such an interesting world we live in where everyone wants to see who you really are on social media. But there's this delusion that they know you and that they can tell you anything," she told Glamour magazine last year. At meet-and-greets, LGBT fans dump their difficult coming-out experiences on her. "My music has helped a lot of people through that trauma, and I love that," she added. "But personally, as Kayleigh, I can’t handle that responsibility."

Roan's attempts to set boundaries and redefine modern-day fan-artist relationships have, unsurprisingly, led to a backlash. On their podcast, Perez Hilton and Charlie Booker supported Roan's calls for more healthy fan relationships, but warned that her repetitive criticisms of fame - all while courting media attention - left her open to accusations of being a "sourpuss".

Getty Images Roan on the red carpet at the VMA Awards earlier this month

Online critics see Roan's remarks as entitled, saying any negative sides to the attention are part and parcel of fame and fortune. However, most fans support Roan. Lily Waite, a trans woman aged 29, tells BBC News she found the star's openness groundbreaking and empowering, but understands her request for more considerate reactions. "The majority of fans are wonderful and earnest and respectful, but those aren't the fans she's addressing or referring to in her videos asserting boundaries," says Waite, who feels misogyny lies behind much of the backlash. Rebecca Clark, 35, who identifies as queer, suggests Roan's background in the drag/queer scene - which Clark argues is more understanding of mental health - has left her more "exposed on the worldwide stage". Still, Clark backs her, particularly as she challenges the superficiality of those only supporting star authenticity when it is positive. "She is self-aware enough to have seen what’s happened in the past to other pop stars and actively set a boundary for her fans. "As the first massively out female pop star since Lady Gaga, she's amazing. But again, that doesn't mean she's owes fans a personal one-on-one. She's just a person too."

EPA Paramore's Hayley Williams said Roan's comments were "brave and unfortunately necessary"

If Roan is making the most high-profile and perhaps intense attempt to impose boundaries, she is certainly not alone in speaking up. Paramore singer Hayley Williams publicly backed the remarks. "This happens to every woman I know from this business, myself included," she wrote. "Social media has made this worse. I'm really thankful Chappell is willing to address it in a real way, in real time. It’s brave and unfortunately necessary." Mitski welcomed her to "the club where strangers think you belong to them and they find and harass your family members". Indie band Muna also chastised "toxic" elements of their own fanbase, and Billie Eilish's song The Diner similarly discussed being stalked. For Sarah Ditum, author of Toxic, a book exploring female superstardom over recent decades, this year has marked "a tipping point" in celebs openly saying fans are crossing a line. She believes it's easier for this generation of stars to talk about because they've grown up with the language of mental health and boundaries as "pop culture has been reassessing the treatment of stars in the noughties" - in particular Britney Spears.

Alamy Spears, aged 16, dressed as a schoolgirl in the video for her breakthrough single ...Baby One More Time

Germany's Welcome Culture sours to Auf Wiedersehen

Getty Images Anti-migrant far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, could win the most votes in Brandenburg's election

On Sunday, voters in the eastern German state of Brandenburg will vote for a new regional parliament. The anti-migrant far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, could win the most votes. On 1 September the AfD won a major German election for the first time, coming first in the eastern state of Thuringia. In Brandenburg polls show the AfD leading with 28%. To undermine support for the AfD, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s left wing-led government on Monday introduced checks for migrants on all of Germany’s borders. He also wants to increase deportations of people whose application for asylum is unsuccessful. Opposition conservatives meanwhile want the borders closed to asylum seekers altogether. This is a very different country to the Germany of Angela Merkel. Almost a decade ago the then-chancellor refused to shut the borders to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and persecution in Syria and Afghanistan. “Wir schaffen das”, or “We can do it”, she famously said. In 2015 and 2016 Germany took in around 1.5 million refugees and migrants, mostly from the Middle East. They were greeted at train stations with signs saying “welcome” and smiling volunteers handing out food and toys. A new German word was invented, “Willkommenskultur” or “welcome culture”, and many Germans were suddenly proud of the country’s new-found identity as a safe haven for refugees.

Getty Images More than 1.5 million refugees were welcomed to Germany in 2015 and 2016

Today, many of those refugees are becoming German themselves. A record 200,000 people became German citizens in 2023. The largest group came from Syria. These are the New Germans. The “2015 generation” is described as highly motivated by experts. Many could have stayed in Lebanon and Turkey, but pushed themselves on to Germany to make a new life. They are on average younger than the native-born population - 26 years old compared to the German average of 47 - and statistically more likely to be in work: 84% of the Syrian men who arrived in 2015 are in employment, compared to 81% of German-born men. But with the rise of the AfD and an ever harsher tone towards migrants in mainstream politics, the 2015 “welcome culture” is hard to find today.

Getty Images Many of the people who arrived in 2015 and 2016 are now becoming German citizens

Fewer refugees are now coming to Germany, with new arrivals down this year by 22% compared to the same period in 2023. But overall 3.48 million refugees are now living in the country — more than at any time since the 1950s. A third are from Ukraine. Some local councils say they are struggling to cope logistically and financially. Right-wingers and the AfD say numbers are too high. Left-wingers blame the finance ministry's obsession with balancing the books and refusal to take on new debt. Add that to an enormous boost in military spending after Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine, and there is a nervousness in Germany that money and resources are tight. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s argumentative and divided coalition government has not helped voters feel more secure in the country’s leadership. So how do the New Germans feel about this shift in mood in Germany?

Parvin has received her German citizenship but says she does not feel welcome in the country she calls home

Parvin was one of those who arrived in 2015, travelling for months, mostly walking, from Afghanistan to Germany with her three-year old son and disabled nephew. They were shot at by border guards and she feared for her life when the overcrowded dinghy they were in starting sinking in the Mediterranean. She has now just received her German citizenship and this summer qualified as a social worker. A refugee success story, you might think. But she says the atmosphere has got worse for migrants since 2015. “I don't feel welcome here,” she tells me. “The rise of the far right and the hate towards refugees is mostly because of the bad picture of refugees in German media,” she says. “When one refugee does something bad, the media makes it really big. And then of course people think that all refugees are bad.” The latest political debate over migration started in August, after a stabbing in the town of Solingen, in which three people were killed. The suspect is a Syrian asylum seeker who the authorities had wanted to deport. The following week saw multiple knife attacks across Germany not involving refugees — including two separate stabbings in Berlin in which women were killed by their ex-partners. These cases did not hit headlines. The far-right AfD immediately used the Solingen stabbing as part of its election campaign for September’s regional election in Thuringia. Two hours after the attack AfD regional leader Björn Höcke, who has been legally defined by German courts as a fascist and fined for using a Nazi slogan at rallies, posted on X “vote for change on 1.9” alongside the hashtag Solingen.

Sultana and her family are worried about the rise of the far right in Germany

'Labour U-turn on freebies' and 'Fayed was a monster'

Leading several of the papers on Saturday is the latest in the Labour donations saga. The Times reports the prime minister has "bowed to pressure from senior colleagues" and neither he nor his "top team" will accept donations for clothes going forward. It says Starmer's allies "admitted... there was a perception issue" after accepting donations from a Labour donor.

The Daily Telegraph also leads on the donations, reporting Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she too accepted money for clothes from the widow of a Labour donor. The paper says the "backlash over gifts from donors threatens to overshadow the Labour Party conference this weekend".

The Sun's top story covers the rape allegations against late Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed. Reflecting comments from his accusers' lawyers, it writes that Fayed "combined the worst of Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein".

The Fayed story is also the lead story in the Daily Mirror, which similarly reports the lawyers' comments and that Fayed was "branded a monster".

A paparazzi photo of the prime minister's chief of staff speaking to a senior staffer leads the Daily Mail, with the paper branding the conversation as "heated". The image accompanies a report into the donations saga, as well as a report that Starmer's popularity is in "freefall" after the row.

Politics also dominates the i's Saturday edition, covering post-Brexit negotiations between the UK and EU. It says the "EU will demand easier access to the UK" for young people "in return for easing trade restrictions and creating a security pact".

Leading the Financial Times is a report into public debt. It reports that "fiscal gloom intensified" after public debt "hit 100% of GDP for the first time since the 1960s". It says this fuels expectations of "painful tax rises and spending cuts" in next month's Budget.

The rollback of winter fuel payments leads the Daily Express. It says campaigners have warned that some older people will be "begging in the cold" as a result of the payments being axed for millions.

The Daily Star details the story of a brain surgeon who tells the paper he experienced heaven while in a coma and that it "smells a bit like a KFC restaurant". Keir Starmer, who the paper features in relation to Friday's revelation that he would no longer accept donations for clothing, has been photoshopped poking his head out of the Colonel's bucket.

A Tamagotchi comeback? Toy gets first UK store as global sales double

Getty Images

Tamagotchi is having a moment - again. The egg-shaped toy housing a virtual pet was one of the biggest crazes of the 1990s. And several attempts to reignite the brand over the years appears to have now paid off for owner Bandai Namco. Global sales more than doubled between 2022 and 2023, it tells the BBC, and Tamagotchi has now opened its first shop in the UK - something it didn't even do when it was 1996's hottest gadget.

The London shop, based in Camden Market, is a hub of nostalgia with seemingly countless devices for sale

Unsurprisingly, the modern Tamagotchi isn't the same thing you would have bought in the 1990s. It still looks the same - a garishly coloured egg with a small digital screen and buttons - but the actual toy has much more functionality. "Now you can connect with friends, you can play on Wi-Fi and download different items, and that's really combating that sense of fatigue that you might have gotten with some earlier models," Tamagotchi brand manager Priya Jadeja told the BBC. The virtual pet officially relaunched in the UK in 2019 and has been growing since - with a perhaps surprising mix of players young and old. "When we relaunched, we thought it would be a very millennial-focused relaunch," Ms Jadeja says. "But it's being introduced to kids who've never had this sort of device before - it's really exciting to see them embracing it."

Getty Images Aki Maita (pictured) and Akihiro Yokoi won the Ig Nobel Prize for Economics in 1997 for their invention

Unlike in 1996, now there are many other virtual pets on the market. For example Bitzee, made by Hatchimals, uses a flexible display that responds to your touch, and reacts to tilt-based movement. Meanwhile Punirunes has a popular feature where you can place your finger inside the toy to "stroke" the virtual pet on the screen. And there's also Digimon virtual pets - another 1990s throwback - though these are also owned by Bandai Namco, and were originally designed as Tamagotchi for boys. Despite those gender-based lines being drawn back in the day, Jadeja says there doesn't seem to be any real difference in who buys the toys now. For the Tamagotchi fans we spoke to, nostalgia is playing a big role.

EmmalutionYT Emmalution often vlogs about her Tamagotchis on her YouTube channel

"I got my first Tamagotchi back in primary school, my best friend had one back then and I have fond memories of playing with them together," says Emma, known on YouTube as Emmalution. She says she "started craving some of that nostalgia". She didn't keep her old Tamagotchi and picked up a modern one last year, she says. "This kickstarted an obsession, absorbing loads of information about all of the releases that had come out after my first ever Tamagotchi," she said. "I started a collection, curious to know what I'd been missing out on whilst I was too busy growing up."

Lost in Translationmon Koby has been a fan since he was much younger

'Bipolar pop' helps fans with mental health

lleo lleo said money, alcohol and "even just navigating the industry" can add to mental health pressures in musicians

In the past, speaking about your own mental health and addiction problems in public was seen as a taboo. But now, in an industry where these issues are often rife, musicians, including Billie Eilish, Demi Lovato and Lewis Capaldi, are digging deep and sharing their most personal experiences, helping many fans "feel seen".

Following their lead, an increasing number of artists are speaking up to get the message out that it is ok to talk. lleo, who makes what she calls "bipolar pop", said the reaction from her fans had been "crazy" since she starting singing about her mental health experiences. The singer from Cheltenham, who is bipolar herself, said: "People reach out and say ‘this song helps me so much'." Swindon-born singer-songwriter Athena Aperta, 26, also hopes her "honest lyrics" will give listeners "hope". She has been sober for two years but said her struggles with mental health, alcohol and drugs all intensified after becoming involved in the London music scene where substance abuse was "very common". She said finding a job back near her hometown in 2022 was actually "a blessing in disguise", helping her to overcome her addiction. "There are drugs still, there's people drinking alcohol," she said, but added she is now able to "regulate herself more" if she is around that environment.

Gideon Liddiard Athena Aperta said: "For so long, I dimmed my light. I felt scared to be me."

Athena recently received funding from the Youth Music: Next Generation award to release two singles, including Facing the Sun, which "is about living with anxiety, depression, CPTSD [Complex post-traumatic stress disorder] and being a recovering people-pleaser". "There's a lack of hope in the world at the moment. I just really want to give that to people," she said. A 2023 census by Help Musicians found almost a third of musicians had experienced negative mental wellbeing. The head of Help Musicians’ dedicated mental health sister charity, Music Minds Matter, Grace Meadows, said: "Not knowing that support is available or who to turn to for support can lead to behaviours, such as substance abuse, that compound rather than alleviate mental health issues." She explained the "normalisation of drugs and alcohol across the industry" can further exacerbate this.

lleo lleo said her music was “basically the highest times and the lowest lows condensed into bangers”

"Doing music is so rough," said lleo, who has dealt with serious mental health issues for several years. "There have been so many points where I've thought, 'I wish I could just do something else'." But the artist said she "needs an outlet and music is the way to do that". Following the release of her track meds, which talks frankly about a bipolar medicine that in her words "really messed me up", she said the response was "really overwhelming and amazing", with fans getting in touch and sharing similar stories. "It was really crazy for people to want to open up about such a private thing," she said. "It makes me feel very emotional."

Josephine Slade Photography Athena Alperta said that while in London she got "sucked into city living" and lost different parts of herself

Athena, who has performed at festivals including Boomtown Fair and London Pride, experienced anxiety and depression from the age of 13 and later went on to develop alcohol and drug issues. She said this was exacerbated while working in a late night venue and gigging around London. "There was one day where I was offered drugs at 1pm on a Tuesday," she said. "That's when I thought, 'oh I'm really in it'." She explained that she suddenly found herself "in connection" with "probably quite dangerous" people.

'Form of escape'

She said that the pressure that musicians put on themselves as creatives, linked in with an all too often "lack of self-worth" can add to feelings of depression and anxiety, with many turning to alcohol or drugs as "a form of escape". Music Minds Matter said the causes of mental health challenges for people in the music industry can also include "the precarity around job security, pressures of the role, performance anxiety and unstable working patterns". Ms Meadows said that in recent times this has been added to with Brexit regulations, the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, which she said have "created significant pressures for everyone working in music".

Lewis Capaldi has been praised for being so open about his mental health struggles, including in his lyrics

"More does need to be done to help musicians with their mental health," said lleo, whose music is supported by BBC Radio 1. She added that she would especially like to hear more men speaking up about it in their music. lleo said, despite this, music was "the most important tool" for her to share her feelings and had helped the artist to express things even to her parents that she could not say out loud because "it’s too painful, too uncomfortable". Ms Meadows advised anyone in the industry who might be suffering with mental health or substance issues to get in touch with Music Minds Matter via their website or their free and confidential 24/7 support line.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, further help and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line.

Fire, water and full moon: Photos of the week

A selection of striking news photographs taken around the world this week.

Saurabh Sirohiya/NurPhoto via Getty Images Devotees throw flowers, while volunteers immerse an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh at Girgaon Chowpatty beach during the Ganesh Visarjan festival in Mumbai, India.

Octavio Passos/Getty Images Firefighters combat a wildfire in Arouca, Portugal. At least seven people, including three firefighters, died as fires raged across the country, according to local news outlets. The northern and central parts of the country have been worst affected.

Omar Marques/Getty Images An army truck drives through flooded streets while delivering aid in Lewin Brzeski, Poland, days after the Nysa Klodzka river burst its banks. The death toll from the floods rose to at least 16 on Monday, with seven confirmed fatalities in Romania. Casualties were also recorded in Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland.

Claudia Greco/Reuters Models present creations from the Emporio Armani Spring/Summer 2025 collection during Fashion Week in Milan.

Matt Cardy/Getty Images People gather as a full harvest supermoon rises behind Glastonbury Tor in England.

Teresa Suarez/EPA Two women talk in front of a painting by Norwegian artist Harriet Backer during a tour of her exhibition "The Music of Colors" at Orsay Museum in Paris.

NHAC NGUYEN/AFP Piles of plastic waste are pictured at a recycling site next to a residential area on the outskirts of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.

Jonathan Brady/PA Media Competitors fly their racing drones during a Military International Drone Tournament at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, where some of the best drone pilots from across the world's militaries race against each other.

Niall Carson/PA Media Runners and riders compete at Laytown Racecourse in County Meath - the only official beach racetrack in Ireland.

Acne fighter films her skin journey to help others

Ashlee Crumpton Despite hate comments and knock backs, Ashlee continues to use her platform as a skin diary

A woman who has had acne for more than 13 years has been documenting her journey to clear skin in the hope of helping others. After years of hiding her skin behind beauty filters and make-up, Ashlee Crumpton, 27, has built up almost 30,000 followers on TikTok from sharing her unfiltered skin. Ashlee, from Bridgend, has been on acne medication isotretinoin for more than a year, and while her acne is yet to completely clear, her spirit is undeterred. "I feel free not having to hide it anymore, posting has really helped me," she said.

Acne is a skin condition that causes spots and oily skin that is sometimes hot and painful to touch. While it is most common in teenagers and young adults, about 95% of people, aged 11 to 30, are affected by acne to some extent, according to the NHS. Isotretinoin, also known as roaccutane, is a form of vitamin A that is used to treat severe cases that have not responded to other treatments, including antibiotics. Ashlee first started experiencing acne when she was 14-years-old, but after years of trips to the doctors trialling different antibiotics and creams, she said she had had enough. "It got to the point where the cysts started growing under my skin and deforming the shape of my face, so I was put through to a dermatologist," she said. From there, Ashlee went on to vlog her journey on the prescribed drug in a series of TikTok videos, offering a raw insight into the mental and physical side effects of the medicine. "Having acne can be really lonely," she admitted. "But before I went on the medication, watching other people who shared their experience really helped me, so I thought why not do the same?"

TikTok: Acne influencer terrified of people seeing her skin

There are several common side effects of taking the medication, such as dry skin, eyes, nose, lips, mouth and throat, as well as headaches, and pain in the joints and muscles. High doses can also sometimes cause changes in behaviour, such as depression, which often dissuades people from starting treatment, according to campaigners. Many have long called for teenagers not to be prescribed the drug following a number of cases - including those of young people who took their own lives. The mother of 15-year-old Annabel Wright, who took her own life, last year said proposed safety measures were just paying "lip service". These were suggested by the Commission on Human Medicines, and included tighter controls on prescribing to under-18s by requiring a sign-off by two prescribers - usually doctors - when the medicine is first prescribed to people aged 12 to 18. It also recommended families should be given better information, with patients monitored better. The commission also said the drug was an effective treatment for cases of severe acne which had not responded to usual treatments. Ashlee said despite being aware of the risks, it had been hailed as a "miracle drug" which changed lives, and it was her last resort. Her dosage has been steadily increased over the year to help manage the symptoms, and despite "having her days", Ashlee said sharing her journey online really helped her feel supported.

Ashlee Crumpton Ashlee has used social media to document her journey over the last 12 months

"People often see people with acne and their first thought can be to say her diet isn't good, she doesn't wash her face, she doesn't drink water, but they don't understand," she said. "Those with acne understand that's not the case." Ashlee said hate comments are to be expected, "people will call me 'pizza face' but I don't let it get to me, I try to laugh them off", she said. For the most part, Ashlee gets messages to say how much her videos have helped viewers who relate to her, with followers rallying around her with words of encouragement. "It is such a strong community of acne girls," she said.

Ashlee Crumpton Ashlee says she feels "free" in sharing her journey unfiltered online

What causes acne?

Episodes of acne can be hereditary and also occur as a result of hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle or pregnancy. Contrary to common misconceptions, there is no evidence that poor hygiene can cause acne. In fact, cleaning the skin does not help to remove blockages of the pores which cause acne, according to the NHS website.

Ashlee Crumpton Cystic acne can cause painful, pus-filled spots to form deep under the skin

With warm and fine weather over the last week, many of us enjoyed a last spell of summer-like weather.

However, heavy rain and thunderstorms have brought a change and with the autumn equinox on Sunday, it is starting to feel like autumn has properly arrived.

You may have heard us already talking about autumn in the weather forecasts.

This is because meteorological autumn always starts on 1 September but the astronomical one begins at equinox (22 September this year).

For meteorological records it is preferable to group the seasons into three-month periods with the northern hemisphere autumn being September, October and November. This makes year-on-year comparisons easier.