It remains unclear what the conditions on the Lincoln are like now. A crew from CNN visited last month, and did not discover any widespread issues during the three days on board. Several troops mentioned being forced to ration food, and losing weight over "many months", but when CNN boarded on 7 July, "food was plentiful," the outlet reported . Showers were also hot, although there were some signs of mould.

The US has deployed another battleship to relieve the Lincoln, which should arrive in the

Germany has carried out its first raids under a new law to crack down on smugglers using the country as a staging post for small boat crossings on the English Channel, the BBC has learned.

More than 9,000 life jackets, dozens of dinghies and engines and 360 pumps were seized by police this spring during a joint operation involving the UK, France and Germany in the North Rhine-Westphalia region.

The dinghies and equipment are now being stored at a secret location that the BBC was given special

At least 30 children, most of them British, are feared to have been conceived by IVF treatment in northern Cyprus using the wrong sperm or egg donors.

In each case, the parents suspect they did not get the donors they had selected.

The figure is one of several new findings in a BBC investigation that, earlier this year , uncovered the first seven cases.

All the parents say they carefully selected anonymous donors based on information such as their medical history, appearance, personality, education and hobbies.

However,