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Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laying the groundwork for a run for president in 2028? And would the Democrats really pick her as a nominee?

This week AOC has been back making headlines with comments over freezing her eggs, distancing herself from the so-called “woke 1” era of Democratic politics and hinting at a future run for the White House.

Speculation of a future presidential run has raised a debate over whether the U.S is ready to vote for a left-wing candidate in the next presidential election and whether the party can shake off previous policies that have been unpopular with voters.

Despite the success of the Democratic Socialists of America in recent primary races, the group suffered a setback this week in Wisconsin when its primary candidate, Francesca Hong, lost to centrist candidate David Crowley in the race for state governor.

Could AOC be a unifying figure within the party, or will voters be reluctant to let her shrug off comments she’s made in the past?

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After roughly 78,000 migrants made the journey from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in a matter of hours at the end of July, reporters across the world were quick to identify the role of social media.

Capitalising on misinformation about a Spanish Supreme Court ruling, millions of posts appeared over several weeks portraying the territory as a viable path to a new life in Europe.

On this episode of Top Comment we take a detailed look at the accounts sharing what we're calling 'mirage content', revealing a network of coordinated profiles spamming the algorithm.

For the first time, we expose a direct link between these faceless creators and those profiting from the movement of people, uncovering an integrated business operation run through Instagram.

In response to our reporting, Meta told the BBC: “We have a team monitoring the situation in Ceuta in real time and removing content that violates our policies - including content that offers to provide, facilitate or seek human smuggling services”.

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Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has criticised Vladimir Putin's first-ever visit to the disputed Kuril islands on Thursday as "absolutely unacceptable".

Russian state media reported that Putin visited Iturup, known in Japan as Etorofu, one of four islands in the Kuril chain that are claimed by Russia and Japan.

The countries have been locked in a dispute over the Kurils for decades - but why? And what do we know about the tiny islands?

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Wearing loose cotton boxer shorts. Icing your testicles. Doing blood transfusions to ‘clean’ your body of microplastics. Eating raw garlic.

These are all unproven methods to boost sperm count being promoted by wellness influencers.

On TikTok and Instagram, hashtags such as #malefertility, #semenanalysis and #sperm attract hundreds of millions of views, while, in the White House, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has claimed that men’s fertility is in drastic decline, partially due to unhealthy diets.

What scientific evidence is there to claims that the average sperm count and quality is falling? And how do these claims play into men’s anxieties about their masculinity? On today’s Global Story, the BBC’s global health reporter, Jacqui Wakefield, speaks to men across the world concerned about their fertility, and to reproductive experts who help explain what’s really going on.

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Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:16 Why are men trying to boost their sperm count?

02:03 Who is Bryan Johnson?

05:05 What's the science behind male sperm count?

06:47 Is male sperm count dropping?

11:00 What does RFK say about sperm count?

16:57: Jamal's story

23:00 Are there benefits to men worrying about fertility?

Extreme weather is causing worldwide destruction, from deadly flooding in Japan to devastating wildfires in the UK.

At least eight people have died after what authorities described as "unprecedented" rainfall hit eastern Japan, causing flooding, power outages, and travel disruption.

Many parts of Europe have also been affected. Since mid-July, wildfires have torn through Western Europe, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

Meanwhile, firefighters in the West Midlands, in England, continue to tackle multiple blazes as extreme heat and dry conditions fuel fast-moving fires that have destroyed homes and forced residents to flee. Dozens of people have been treated by ambulance crews as emergency services respond across the region.

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Parts of the UK are experiencing their fifth heatwave of the summer.

It's raising many questions about what's happening to the UK's climate and how prepared it is for rising temperatures.

In the latest of his in-depth videos, BBC’s Analysis Editor Ros Atkins looks at heatwaves - and how we explain them. Produced by Katerina Karelli.

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In May, Ghana’s parliament approved a new bill criminalising homosexuality and the promotion of LGBTQ+ activities.

It proposes that identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer be punished by up to three years' imprisonment.

One of the bill’s co-authors, Emmanuel Bedzrah, spoke to the BBC’s religion editor Aleem Maqbool about it.

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Nigel Farage has won the Clacton by-election, which was boycotted by other major Westminster parties.

The Reform UK leader won 22,239 votes, with Count Binface in second with 9,455 votes.

The contest was triggered when Farage resigned as an MP last month, in order to have a by-election he would stand in.

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Thousands of US military members who have lived aboard an aircraft carrier for more than 250 days are reportedly contending with food shortages, broken plumbing and exhaustion, leading lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon and pressuring the Trump administration over the Iran war.

Military news outlets reported that some USS Abraham Lincoln sailors have attempted to jump overboard, and families have raised concerns about mental health onboard the ship.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday called reports of conditions "completely misrepresented".

The carrier left California in November for the South China Sea and was sent to the Middle East ahead of attacks on Iran in February.

The deployment, which was originally set to end in May, has been repeatedly extended. No return date has been announced, but on Thursday multiple outlets reported the US is preparing to replace the carrier with the USS George Washington as part of a previously scheduled rotation plan.

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With parts of the UK facing its fifth heatwave of the summer, the hottest day of the year so far was recorded at Kew Gardens in London at 38.1 degrees Celsius.

But there are concerns that people may be getting used to the heat and no longer taking the same precautions they did during earlier heatwaves.

The Big Story also discusses the potential impact the heat could have on the food market - and what it could mean for prices.

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