Three people who were part of the senior leadership team at the hospital where nurse and convicted child serial killer Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, British police said Tuesday.

The three senior staff members, who have not been named by police, worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 at the same time as Letby. All three suspects have been released on bail after being questioned by police on Monday.

“It is important to note that this does not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder,” Cheshire Constabulary Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes said in a statement.

The aspect of the investigation related to the latest arrests focuses on the “grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals,” police said. Meanwhile, another ongoing part of the investigation into the separate offence of corporate manslaughter “focuses on senior leadership and their decision making to determine whether any criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities.”

Letby, 34, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the hospital in Chester, England. The former nurse is serving 15 whole-life sentences.

The court heard during the case in 2023 that Letby attacked babies in her care by administering air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them, and poisoning them with insulin.

However, her convictions have been criticized after an international panel of experts raised questions regarding the medical evidence.

The panel said there was no medical evidence indicating murder and that the babies’ collapses resulted from “either natural causes or bad medical care.”

It also highlighted issues of unsafe delays in diagnosis and treatments at Countess of Chester Hospital and said that in some cases staff were working “probably beyond their expected ability or designated level of care,” according to the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Last week, former UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt called for an “urgent reexamination” after experts raised “serious and credible” questions.

Independent experts “are saying there is no medical evidence in the 17 deaths that were examined in the trial of what they call maleficence, of malicious intent,” Hunt said in an interview with Good Morning Britain, calling for a speedy review by the UK’s Criminal Cases Review Commission. “If they are saying that, then I really think we need to do this.”

“I am not arguing that Letby is innocent. That is not my place… The pain endured by the families affected must also be at the forefront of our minds,” Hunt wrote in a separate op-ed published in the Daily Mail newspaper last month, arguing that the families deserve the truth. “And if medical error was the cause, we can then make sure no more babies die from the same mistakes.”

Letby has maintained her innocence and her lawyer Mark McDonald submitted an application earlier this year for her case to be reviewed by the commission. Letby’s previous attempts to overturn her convictions have been refused by the court.

McDonald told the UK’s PA Media on Tuesday that a proper and full public inquiry into failings by the hospital’s neonatal and pediatric medical care unit is needed.

“The concerns many have raised will not go away, and we will continue to publicly discuss them,” McDonald said, according to PA. “The reality is that 26 internationally renowned experts have looked at this case and the lead expert has concluded that no crime was committed, no babies were murdered.”

A public government inquiry is set to be published in early 2026. That inquiry previously heard evidence from the senior hospital leadership about the concerns raised regarding the rise in infant deaths at the neonatal unit, and the actions taken as a result.

Cheshire Police said they were continuing to investigate “the deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital,” at which Letby undertook training placements. The elements of the investigation related to corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter are also ongoing, police said.

A spokeswoman for the Countess of Chester Hospital said it “would not be appropriate” for the hospital to comment due to “the ongoing police investigations” and public inquiry, PA reported.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for his third visit to the White House this year, his host has made his expectations clear. US President Donald Trump, who has spoken often about his desire to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, said on Tuesday: “We’re looking for it to happen next week.”

Though the two leaders will celebrate the US and Israeli strikes in Iran, Gaza is very much on their agenda. “We want to get the hostages back,” Trump said.

Netanyahu, who is set to meet the US president on Monday, faces a critical decision at the crossroads of two very different conflicts: one precise and short, the other brutal and protracted. The long-time Israeli leader held two high-level meetings on Gaza already this week and is expected to hold another on Thursday, according to an Israeli official.

But the government has yet to decide on how to proceed in Gaza, a source familiar with the discussions said. That choice boils down to whether to pursue a ceasefire agreement or to intensify a military bombardment of the enclave that has already killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, as Israel tries to increase pressure on Hamas.

Earlier this week, the Israeli military recommended pursuing a diplomatic path in the strip after more than 20 months of fighting and the elimination of much of Hamas’ senior leadership.

“It’s harder now to achieve tactical goals,” the official said. The military could keep pursuing the destruction of Hamas’ military and governance capabilities, they added, but a political agreement could also be effective.

The far-right members of Netanyahu’s government are demanding an intensification of Israel’s campaign.

“No agreements. No partners. No mediators. Only a clear outcome: the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages from a position of strength,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionism party, on Monday.

But after almost two years of war, others have made clear that the release of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza is the priority.

“In my opinion, everything must be done to release the hostages. And we are over 600 days late. Everything must be done to bring everyone back – the living and the fallen. Not out of weakness – out of strength,” Minister of Welfare Ya’akov Margi said on Israel’s religious Kol B’ramah radio. Pressed on whether that includes an end to the war, Margi said, “I think we should enter negotiations, and everything should be on the table.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) already controls some 60% of Gaza’s besieged territory, forcing more than two million Palestinians – many of whom have been displaced several times – into shrinking areas near the coast. But negotiations have been stalled for weeks, unable to bridge a key gap. Hamas demands a permanent end to the conflict as part of any ceasefire agreement, while Israel has refused to commit to end the war.

“The IDF has reached the limit of what you can achieve with power,” said Israel Ziv, a retired major general who once led the military’s operations department. “Netanyahu has reached a crossroads, and he must make a choice,” he added.

One path is to leverage the achievements against Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas and push for a regional agreement that could include upgrading relations with Syria and Lebanon, Ziv said. Such an option would end the war in Gaza and secure the release of the hostages, but it risks collapsing Netanyahu’s government if the far-right parties quit the coalition.

“The second path is continuing the war – and even if it’s not officially declared, it would mean the conquest of Gaza,” said Ziv.

Over the weekend, Netanyahu said “many opportunities have opened up” following Israel’s military operations in Iran, including the possibility of bringing home everyone still held captive by Hamas. “Firstly, to rescue the hostages,” he said. “Of course, we will also need to solve the Gaza issue, defeat Hamas, but I believe we will accomplish both missions.”

The comments marked a potentially significant shift in how Netanyahu has laid out Israel’s goals in Gaza. For the vast majority of the war, he has prioritized the defeat of Hamas. In May, he said that was the “supreme objective,” not the return of the hostages.

But after the campaign against Iran, Netanyahu has signaled a newfound flexibility on negotiations, one that may quickly be put to the test at the White House as he meets an American president pushing for a deal.

The debris arrives in the rockets’ wake: melted plastics, aluminum and pieces of blue adhesive. It all ends up stranded on the sands of Bagdad beach in northern Tamaulipas, Mexico, home to an endangered species of sea turtle. Just across the border lies Starbase, SpaceX’s launchpad and company town.

Since November, Conibio Global, a small non-governmental organization, has taken on a daunting task: cleaning up trash from SpaceX, one of the most powerful companies in the world.

In May, however, there was another launch, with more debris. This time, the activist claims, millions of particles ended up contaminating the area on the Mexican side. Ibarra said that a few days later, the organization collected more than a ton of waste in an area of 500 meters.

“In half a kilometer out of the 40 kilometers of shoreline, we already collected one ton (of trash),” added Ibarra. “We are a very small group, it’s impossible to clean everything.”

Ibarra said that Conibio Global handed the debris to the Mexican government’s environmental protection agency PROFEPA.

The statement added that the company had performed tests that they claim confirm that there are no chemical, biological or toxicological risks associated with the flotsam and jetsam of a typical SpaceX launch.

Ibarra said that Conibio Global has not had any contact with the company.

“Although a lot of debris is not hazardous, spaceflight-related vehicles can contain hazardous chemicals and materials,” Sorge wrote. “Be aware that it is not worth the risk to touch a piece of debris, and it could interfere with important investigations.”

Some of the objects found during cleanup operations, Ibarra said, are solid and spongy plastics, a type of rubber with a consistency similar to cork, aluminum with SpaceX labels, pieces of plastic bubble wrap, steel tubes, and pieces of a blue-colored adhesive.

Some of this trash, Ibarra predicted, could end up being ingested by Kemp’s ridley turtles, an endangered species of sea turtle that inhabits the area.

On its website, SpaceX says it is committed to minimizing the impact and improving the environment whenever possible, highlighting agreements with various US agencies and the Texas government.

A months-long saga

After the recent explosion of a SpaceX rocket on June 19, the NGO reported that some large fragments appeared in Mexican territory the next morning. It stated that several officials from the Mexican government got in touch so that they could be informed of the situation.

Conibio follows SpaceX’s social media announcements to know when there will be launches and goes to the sites to collect evidence of debris they know will fall. He says this happens in the northern area of Bagdad Beach and on a parcel of communal farming land in nearby Matamoros.

Following persistent public complaints, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke out at her daily conference on June 25.

Sheinbaum said that her government had found that there is indeed pollution and that the impact of rocket launches in general will be reviewed in order to take action “within the framework of international laws,” including possible legal actions.

Ibarra, who is also a veterinarian and director of the Marine Turtle Program at Conibio Global, said that he believes the vibrations generated by the rockets compact the sand where there are turtle nests and prevent them from emerging. He said that at least 300 hatchlings have died in the compacted nests.

“There is vegetation that the last explosion burned, the entire edge of the Rio Bravo, and the pipes broke many trees, which fell near a small population of people,” said Ibarra. He added that in several border cities between Tamaulipas and Texas it was reported that there was minor damage to houses due to the vibrations from the rockets.

A team of environmental officials and personnel from the Mexican Navy Secretariat went to collect the waste Conibio collected last weekend, and during the visit, Ibarra recounted, they found a tank approximately 4 meters long and a stainless steel pipe weighing about 5 kg.

Dealing with cleaning up the waste has cost the NGO more than US$26,000 in operating expenses and beach monitoring due to vehicle fuel they use and laborers’ wages, as well as cleaning materials, the organization claims.

Ibarra noted that the Mexican government has collaborated with them since they became aware of the situation, especially since it involves a foreign company. He claimed that during one of the visits they were “harassed” by SpaceX drones that were recording them.

In SpaceX’s statement on social media, the company said that the debris is its property and that its recovery attempts have been hindered by individuals who had “trespassed” on private property without authorization.

The Government of Tamaulipas has always expressed that it wants a collaborative relationship with SpaceX. Governor Américo Villarreal visited Starbase in November 2024.

While the bigger rocket pieces have been removed, Ibarra says the trash remains a major problem at Bagdad Beach.

“The debris is still there,” Ibarra said. “It’s no longer as visible as in the photos because the tides have been burying it, but it’s there, and it has to be removed sooner or later.”

Their reunion? It’s smooth like butter. The K-pop septet BTS will return in spring 2026 with a new album and world tour.

Members Jin, RM, V, Jimin, J-Hope, Jung Kook and Suga made the announcement Tuesday during a livestream on Weverse, an online fan platform owned by BTS management company Hybe. It was the first time all seven members have broadcast live together since September 2022.

“We’ll be releasing a new BTS album in the spring of next year. Starting in July, all seven of us will begin working closely together on new music,” the band said in a statement. “Since it will be a group album, it will reflect each member’s thoughts and ideas. We’re approaching the album with the same mindset we had when we first started.”

According to a press release, the band will be in the United States this month to begin working on new music.

The 2026 album will mark their first since 2022’s anthology, “Proof,” their 2021 Japanese compilation album “BTS, the Best,” and their last studio album, “Be,” released in 2020.

They also announced a world tour, their first in nearly four years. The news arrives a few weeks after BTS superstars RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook were discharged from South Korea’s military after fulfilling their mandatory service.

In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 are required by law to perform 18-21 months of military service under a conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea.

Six of the group’s seven members served in the army, while Suga, the last to return, fulfilled his duty as a social service agent, an alternative to military service.

Jin, the oldest BTS member, was discharged in June 2024. J-Hope was discharged in October.

South Korea’s law gives special exemptions to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers if they have obtained top prizes in certain competitions and are assessed to have enhanced national prestige. K-pop stars and other entertainers aren’t subject to such privileges.

However, in 2020, BTS postponed their service after South Korea’s National Assembly revised its Military Service Act, allowing K-pop stars to delay their enlistment until age 30.