A Tesla owner said he crashed his new Cybertruck into a neighbor's yard within the first few hours of driving it — and he said it's because the vehicle's brakes didn't work.

The owner, Bruce Freshwater, told BI that the crash happened on April 27 after he picked up the Cybertruck. He said he pumped the accelerator when his daughter asked him to, but that nothing happened when he hit the brakes.

"I held the brakes down, and the vehicle really wasn't slowing down," Freshwater said.

Freshwater said he went to make a turn and "the back wheels locked up." According to a report from the North Fayette Township Police Department in Pennsylvania, Freshwater stated that his vehicle went forward 50 feet and crashed into his neighbor's yard. The Cybetruck then barreled into one of his neighbor's cars. That car then ran into a second vehicle, Freshwater told the police in the report, which BI has viewed.

Freshwater's Cybertruck, along with one of the neighbor's vehicles, sustained "disabling damage," according to the police report. The second vehicle had "moderate damage," the report said.

Freshwater said no one was hurt in the crash, but also said a fuse was blown when the airbags deployed, so the Cybertruck can't be driven.

Freshwater said a Tesla-recommended body shop gave him an estimate of between $16,000 and $30,000 to repair the vehicle. He paid around $109,000 after taxes for the Cybertruck, which he bought new from Tesla. He said he's now working with his insurance company to determine what happens next.

Meanwhile, Freshwater said he called Tesla's service line after the incident and heard back on April 29, two days after the crash, and again a week later.

He said a Tesla manager told him that due to the terrain, the accelerator may or may not disengage, and they're looking into the braking issue. He said that was the last he heard from Tesla.

Tesla didn't respond to BI's request to verify Freshwater's account or to comment on the situation.

The Tesla owner posted about the incident on X and said Tesla "needs to take some responsibility." Freshwater told BI that he still makes car payments every month on a vehicle he isn't using.

He said no other Tesla owners have contacted him regarding a similar experience, but the issue he experienced may not be an isolated case.

Tesla voluntarily recalled 2024 Cybertrucks in April for an "unintended acceleration from trapped pedal." The situation may occur when the accelerator pedal pad dislodges and causes the pedal to become trapped by the interior trim, increasing risk of crashing, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The report said the issue occurred because of an "unapproved change" during the vehicle's production in which soap had been added to the assembly. Residual soap "reduced the retention of the pad to the pedal," it said.

The recall covered 3,878 Cybertrucks, the NHTSA recall report said. As of April 15, there were no known related injuries, and by April 17, the vehicles in production were apparently equipped with a new accelerator pedal component, the report said.

Freshwater said he was initially a big fan of Cybertruck and ordered it the first day it became available. But while he initially wanted a Cybertruck replacement, he now isn't sure what he hopes will come out of the situation.

"With the wife and the kids, I'm not sure they would ever get in it with me," Freshwater said. "So it comes down to that, too."

Oklahoma's top education official has ordered schools in the state to begin incorporating the Bible into lessons, in the latest US cultural flashpoint over religion in the classroom.

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.

An aircraft mechanic who was contracted to repair Boeing planes has alleged he was labelled a "snitch" and then sacked for speaking up over safety concerns.

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.

"I turned the lights on and it's 'Oh my God, 3ft of soil in my bedroom'," Charles Reeves says, still in disbelief, as he shows the BBC his home. "I'm surprised the floors are even withstanding all this stuff."

Mr Reeves, a north London homeowner, returned from working abroad to find his family home transformed into a cannabis farm.

The criminals, posing as tenants, had dumped 10 tonnes of soil in the property, causing extensive damage and leaving the family devastated.

According to experts, rental scams linked to cannabis farms are on the rise, with criminals seemingly exploiting the lengthy eviction process to complete illegal grow operations before disappearing.

The Reeves family had advertised their property online as they prepared to work abroad. They were approached by an estate agent who discovered they would be away for an extended period. The agent promised them a family of tenants, supposedly working for a City firm and with children.

However, the "tenants" turned out to be scammers who never paid rent and instead used the property for criminal activities. It was later discovered that the estate agent was operating a fake site, and the tenants were bogus.

The police told Mr Reeves it was one of the worst cases of this kind of crime they had seen. They seized more than 400 cannabis plants from the property, with an estimated street value of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Mr Reeves went to the property after the tenants had failed to pay their rent, having gained a court order to enter the house.

He knocked on the door and was greeted by several men, with one claiming the property was in good condition. Within half an hour, these men had disappeared, although we don’t know what role they played in the farm.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Mr Reeves said, describing the moment he entered the house. "The cannabis crooks dumped 10 tonnes of soil in the family bedroom.

"The whole place had been transformed into a drug factory. There were holes in the ceiling, wires everywhere, and the stench was overwhelming."

Mr Reeves discovered an elaborate setup with fans, lights and a ventilation system powered by stolen electricity. The criminals had rewired the property's electrical system to bypass the meter, allowing them to power their extensive growing operation without detection.

In addition to the tonnes of soil dumped on the upper floor, the property had suffered significant structural damage. Holes had been cut into the ceiling and walls to accommodate the complex ventilation system, which was designed to regulate temperature and humidity for optimal plant growth.

The sophisticated lighting setup, which included specialist grow lamps, had been rigged up throughout the house. The intense heat generated by these lamps also caused damage to the property, with burn marks and melted fixtures visible in several rooms.

"There was a big curtain here. This is astonishing," Mr Reeves says. "They had fans going, the lights were going, this curtain was being pulled in."

The emotional toll on the family, from both the rental fraud and the damage caused to their home, has been immense.

Mr Reeves's wife Julia said: "When you're dealing with property, particularly a home that you're in for nearly 20 years, and raising your child in... It was pretty horrific to feel that you got attacked at the core, that inner sanctum, that place of comfort, that we'd rely on in the city, it's our home - very emotional."

Mr Reeves said: "Emotionally, it feels like my home has been defiled. That's what it feels like. The damage, the dirt, all this dirt everywhere.

"This is the first real home I ever had. We're crushed and devastated."

Metropolitan Police figures show more than 1,000 cannabis farms have been discovered in London in the past few years, with a total of 1,056 found between the 2018-19 and 2022-23 financial years. However, experts believe these figures represent only a tiny proportion of the cannabis farms currently in operation.

According to Allen Morgan, one of the UK's leading expert witnesses from criminal drugs trials and a former police officer who now runs a drug consultancy service, rental fraud linked to cannabis farms is increasing.

"We're seeing a definite uptick in these types of crimes, with criminals taking advantage of the rental market to set up illegal grow operations," he says.

"The criminals exploit the legal system and the eviction process. They know that it can take months to evict a tenant, even if they stop paying rent. During this time, they can complete multiple grows and make a significant profit before disappearing without a trace."

The lack of regulation in the rental property sector has made it easier for fraudsters to operate. Estate agents are not required to have qualifications, despite handling significant assets. This can leave homeowners vulnerable to scams and other criminal activities.

"If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is," Mr Morgan warns. "If somebody turns up offering to pay cash because they've been let down and they need to move in immediately, then alarm bells should start to ring."

The cannabis trade has evolved from small-scale grows to sophisticated multimillion-pound operations, allegedly run by international crime syndicates. London, with its vast local market and extensive transport network, has become a hub for drug distribution.

"The issue that London has is obviously it is one of the main distribution hubs for controlled drugs throughout the United Kingdom," Mr Morgan explains.

"The cannabis trade is so lucrative, what you get is when you convert a rented property, you effectively obtain five, six, maybe seven separate growing areas where you can produce cannabis plants, obviously discreetly and without any sort of evidential link to you."

Police have stated that what happened to the Reeves family is still under investigation, but the reality is that innocent landlords are being left to pick up the pieces of London's growing drug crime problem.

The Reeveses hope that by sharing their story, they can raise awareness of this growing problem and prevent other homeowners from falling victim to similar scams.

"We want people to be aware of the risks and to take every precaution when renting out their properties," Mr Reeves said. "No-one should have to go through what we've experienced.

"Not only was it the fraud, it was a destruction of our home."

A pet donkey that escaped his owners five years ago in California has been found "living his best life" with a herd of wild elk.

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.

The White House has pushed back against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims that the US is withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel, hours after he lashed out at the Biden administration.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed an ongoing pause remained on one particular shipment of bombs, echoing comments from Secretary of State Antony Blinken hours beforehand, but she insisted no other weapons were being withheld.

"We genuinely do not know what he's talking about," Ms Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

In a video in English earlier on Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu rebuked the US, saying he had told Mr Blinken it was “inconceivable” that weapons and ammunition had been withheld "in the past few months".

"America’s closest ally, fighting for its life," he said of Israel.

In the video, Mr Netanyahu said he had spoken to Mr Blinken about delays and that the secretary of state had assured him he was "working day and night to remove the bottlenecks".

At a press conference in Washington, Mr Blinken confirmed the administration was continuing to hold back consignment of bombs from Israel over concerns about their use in urban areas of Gaza, but that the issue remained under review.

He faced repeated questions from reporters over exactly what he had told Mr Netanyahu, but he wouldn't be drawn on what he called a diplomatic conversation.

Last month, a senior administration official confirmed to the BBC that the delivery of thousands of 2000lb and other bombs had been paused - the first delay of US munitions to Israel.

The US is by far Israel's biggest source of weapons and ammunition. By law, it provides Israel with $3.8bn (£3bn) of military aid each year. The US Congress last month passed a bill providing a further $14bn of military support.

And the Biden administration will move forward with another major arms sale to Israel that includes 50 F-15 fighter jets worth more than $18bn, US media report, after two key Democratic holdouts signed off.

The deal, first reported by the Washington Post, had been stalled by the objections of Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland and congressman Gregory Meeks of New York.

"Any issues or concerns Chair Cardin had were addressed through our ongoing consultations with the Administration," said a spokesman for Senator Cardin in a statement to the BBC.

"That’s why he felt it appropriate to allow this case to move forward."

Senator Cardin, a vocal supporter of Israel and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did not express those concerns publicly.

Mr Meeks, whose office has been contacted for comment, had been outspoken about his opposition to the sale, citing concerns over Israel's conduct in its war against Hamas. Mr Meeks is the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"I don't want the kinds of weapons that Israel has to be utilised, to have more death," he said in an interview with CNN in April.

But after months of delay, and mounting pressure from the Biden administration, both Mr Cardin and Mr Meeks ultimately signed off on the transaction several weeks ago, the Post reported.

In his statement, Senator Cardin's spokesman Eric Harris said the sale to Israel had gone through the "regular review process".

Once the consultation process with Congress is complete, the state department can take the next step of officially notifying Congress of the sale.

If approved, it would be one of the largest arms transactions with Israel since the war began in October.

President Joe Biden has faced growing concerns within his own party over Israel's handling of the war, and the United States' continued military support.

Republicans meanwhile have continued to criticise the delay of the shipment of weapons to Israel. Congressman Russell Fry of South Carolina last month called the weapons holdup "reprehensible", writing on X that "the United States must stand with Israel. Period".

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 37,340 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

US regulators are investigating after an incident in which a Boeing 737 Max 8 flown by Southwest Airlines rocked side to side while in air, in a potentially dangerous movement known as a "Dutch roll".

It is one of two new inquiries involving Boeing planes that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recently confirmed.

The agency is also involved after Boeing reported learning of potentially falsified documents used to certify titanium used in its planes.

The issues have emerged at a time when the safety record of Boeing planes is under intense scrutiny.

Boeing referred questions about the Southwest flight to the airline, which said it was cooperating with the investigation.

Boeing said the issue involving titanium was "industry-wide" involving shipments from a limited set of suppliers.

It said tests performed so far indicate that the correct alloy was used, despite the false documentation.

It said it sourced the metal separately from its supplier and it believed a small number of parts had been affected.

"To ensure compliance, we are removing any affected parts on airplanes prior to delivery. Our analysis shows the in-service fleet can continue to fly safely,” the company said.

The New York Times, which first reported the issue, said a supplier to Spirit Aerosystems, which makes parts for Boeing and European plane-maker Airbus, started looking into the issue after noticing holes from corrosion.

Spirit, which had alerted the two manufacturers to the problem earlier this year, said more than 1,000 tests had been completed on the suspect parts, which had been removed from production.

"It is the documents that were counterfeit, not the titanium," spokesman Joe Buccino said. "The problem is we've lost traceability."

The FAA said Boeing had issued a bulletin to suppliers to be on the alert for counterfeit records and that it was probing the scope of the issue.

The so-called Dutch roll, reportedly named after the movement in a gliding ice skating technique attributed to the Netherlands, occurred on a 25 May flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Oakland, California.

The FAA said the aircraft regained control and no one on board was injured but the plane suffered "substantial" damage.

A post-flight inspection of the two-year-old plane revealed significant damage to a unit that provides backup power to the rudder.

"Dutch roll can be unpleasant but the 737 exhibits relatively benign characteristics. The time elapsed since the incident, and the absence of airworthiness action on the fleet, suggest that this is a one-off, not another widespread problem for Boeing," said Tim Atkinson, a former UK accident investigator turned consultant.

Safety campaigners have raised alarm about the quality of recent planes produced by Boeing.

An incident in which a panel broke off a plane in mid-air in January reignited concerns, sparking lawsuits and increased oversight of Boeing.

Boeing has slowed its production and last month presented the FAA with an action plan aimed at resolving the issues.

Mariupol was doomed. Relentless Russian bombing had turned streets into ruins and courtyards into graveyards.

But several metres underground in the south-eastern Ukrainian city, a romance was blooming.

Valeria Subotina, 33, had been sheltering in the enormous Azovstal steelworks, the final stronghold in the city, as it was surrounded by Russian forces in spring 2022.

She had taken cover in one of dozens of Soviet-era bomb shelters built to withstand nuclear war, deep beneath the industrial plant.

“You go down a semi-collapsed staircase, move through passages and tunnels, and go further and further down. Finally, you reach this concrete cube, a room,” Valeria says.

In the bunker - alongside soldiers and civilians - Valeria was working with the army's Azov brigade as a press officer, communicating the horrors of Russia's months-long siege to global media.

There, too, was her fiancé Andriy Subotin, a 34-year-old Ukrainian army officer, defending the plant.

The pair had found each other through work - Mariupol’s Border Guard Agency - around three years before the siege.

When Andriy met Valeria, it was love at first sight.

"He was special, it felt so warm to be around him," Valeria says. "He was always kind and never refused to help anyone.”

Andriy was an optimist, she says. He knew how to be happy and found joy in small things: sunny weather, smiles, friends' company.

“On the first day we met, I realised Andriy was very different to others.”

Within three months, they had moved in together, renting a small one-storey house in Mariupol with a garden. The couple started building a life together.

“We travelled a lot, went to the mountains, met friends,” Valeria says.

“We fished together and spent lots of time outdoors. We visited theatres, concerts and exhibitions. Life was full.”

They decided to get married and dreamed of a big church wedding with family and friends. They picked wedding rings.

Valeria quit her job and began to nurture her creative side, writing and publishing poems about the earlier years of fierce fighting with Russia in Mariupol.

"For a couple of years before the full-scale invasion, I was truly happy," she recalls.

Everything changed in February 2022.

Spring had brought the sun to Valeria and Andriy’s garden, and the first flowers were appearing.

"I was starting to enjoy spring,” says Valeria. “We knew about Putin's threats and realised there would be a war, but I didn't want to think about it.“

A few days before 24 February, the day the full-scale invasion began, Andriy urged Valeria to leave the city. She refused.

"I knew that no matter what happened, I had to be in Mariupol, I had to defend my city.”

Weeks later, they were both underground, in the Azovstal bunkers.

They only got to see each other occasionally, but when they did those were moments of “pure happiness”.

At this point, Mariupol was nearing a humanitarian catastrophe.

Strikes to infrastructure had cut water and power supplies to parts of the city, and there were food shortages. Civilian homes and buildings, too, had been destroyed.

On 15 April, a large bomb was dropped on the plant. Valeria narrowly escaped death.

“I was found among dead bodies, the only one alive. On the one hand, a miracle, but on the other, a terrible tragedy.”

She had to spend eight days in an underground hospital in the plant with severe concussion.

“The smell of blood and rot was everywhere,” she says.

“It was a very scary place where our wounded comrades, with amputated limbs, were lying everywhere. They couldn't get proper help because there were very few medical supplies.”

Andriy was deeply worried for Valeria after her injury and started planning a wedding right there, in the bunker.

"It felt like he was in a hurry, like we wouldn't have any more time," says Valeria.

“He made a couple of wedding rings out of tin foil with his own hands, and asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes.

“He was the love of my life. And our rings made of tin foil - they were perfect.”

On 5 May, the couple were married by a commander stationed at the plant. They had a ceremony in the bunker, wearing their uniforms as wedding attire.

Andriy promised his wife that they would have a proper wedding when they returned home, with real rings and a white dress.

Two days later, on 7 May, he was killed in action at the steel plant, by Russian shelling.

Valeria didn’t find out about it straight away.

“People often say you feel something inside when a loved one dies. But I, on the contrary, was in a good mood. I was married and in love."

One of the hardest things was having to hold in a “lump of grief”, as she was defending her city alongside “her boys” - comrades - at Azovstal.

“I was a bride, I was a wife, and now I am a widow. The scariest word,” she says.

“I could not react the way I wanted to at that moment.

“My boys were always around. They sat next to me, they slept next to me, they brought me food and supported me,” she says. “I could only cry when they weren’t watching.”

At one point, it felt like the fear of being in the war zone was blunted by her grief.

“I didn’t care any more… You just understand that there are many more people waiting for you in the next world, if it exists, than there are here with you.”

The Ukrainian soldiers at Azovstal finally surrendered on 20 May. Valeria found herself among the 900 prisoners of war forcibly taken by the Russian military out of Mariupol.

“We stared through the windows of the bus at those buildings we loved, at those streets we knew so well. They destroyed and killed everything I loved – my city, my friends, and my husband.”

Valeria survived 11 months of Russian captivity, and has told of torture and abuse. Andriy often appeared in her dreams.

In April last year, she was released as part of a prisoner exchange, and is now back in Ukraine.

It is difficult to to say how many people were killed as a result of the Russian shelling of Mariupol, but local authorities say the number exceeds 20,000.

According to the UN, 90% of residential buildings were damaged or destroyed, and bodies are still in the rubble.

As far as Valeria knows, her husband's body remains at the Azovstal steel plant in the now-occupied city.

Sometimes, she says, she looks to the sky and speaks to him

Extreme heat in Arizona sent 11 people to hospital as they waited to enter a campaign rally with former President Donald Trump.

This week brought the first test of the year for millions of Americans in the south-west who routinely see high heat come summer.

Temperatures on Thursday were expected to hit as high as 112F (44C) in parts of Nevada, Texas and California, reaching 121F in California's scorching Death Valley.

As Trump took the stage just after 17:00 EST (22:00 GMT) in Phoenix, the temperature was 111F.

Trump fans began lining up for the event early on Thursday morning, in what was the first rally for the former president since his criminal conviction in a New York hush-money case.

There were several thousand people queuing outside the massive Phoenix Dream City Church to see Trump speak on Thursday.

Strict security measures meant it took time to get everyone inside the mega-church.

As supporters waited outside the campaign rally, BBC News saw several people being treated for heat-related issues and two were taken to hospital.

Eleven attendees in total were taken to hospital with heat-related symptoms, according to Phoenix Fire officials.

Firefighters were seen using ice to treat others and cool them down.

On Thursday - two weeks before summer even officially starts - the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast record-breaking temperatures in interior California, and parts of Nevada and Arizona.

In Phoenix, an excessive heat warning is in place through Friday, with people being asked to limit time outdoors and stay hydrated.

Trump started a small campaign tour with the stop in Phoenix on Thursday, exactly a week after he was found guilty in New York.

The former president spoke for about 90 minutes before departing for a fundraiser in San Francisco. He is next expected to hold a campaign event in Las Vegas on Sunday.

That city is also seeing record temperatures. The forecast high of 112F in Las Vegas on Thursday would be the city's earliest observed 112F day on record.

Temperatures are 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above average for this time of year, according to the NWS, though they will cool slightly by the time Trump visits on Sunday.

The intense heat has placed more than 30 million people across the south-west region under alerts for dangerously hot temperatures, with officials asking residents to take precautions.

Heat-related illness and even death are becoming more common in Phoenix and the American south-west.

While heat domes were once described as rare, heatwaves and heat domes are becoming more common and intense because of human-induced climate change, scientists say.

The world hit 12 straight months of record-high temperatures, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said earlier this week.

Last month was the hottest recorded May in history.