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Hello, I'm David Harper with the BBC News.
The Ukrainian government says it's signed the outline of a minerals deal with the United States. The economy minister, [Yuli...] Yulia Svyrydenko, said the [ma...] memorandum of intent paved the way for what she called an economic partnership agreement. Grant Ferrett reports. The United States had hoped to hurry through a deal giving it preferential access to Ukraine's mineral wealth in the opening weeks of Donald Trump's presidency. That was derailed by his public shouting match with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in February. Now, Ukraine's economy minister says she's happy to announce the signing of a "memorandum of intent." U.S. officials have expressed hope that an accord could be completed by the end of next week. Both sides acknowledge that there's still work to be done and neither has given details of what's so far been agreed. Donald Trump says he's 100 percent sure that he'll strike a trade deal with the European Union. He hosted the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, at the White House. Nomia Iqbal is in Washington. The Italian prime minister didn't walk out of here with some big trade deal for the European Union, but that was never going to happen. She had said from the start that she wasn't here to negotiate on behalf of the EU. It's literally not her job. But she did extend an invite to Donald Trump to come to Italy, which he accepted, and there he will meet European leaders. Presumably that will happen before July 9 because that's when the pause on tariffs on EU imports will end. What I do think this meeting did was underline just how close the president is with the Italian prime minister. I mean, they really like each other. That was very evident from the way they complimented each other in the meeting. Hamas has formally said that it will not accept Israel's latest cease-fire offer of a 45-day truce in return for the release of 10 Israeli hostages. The group's chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said they would not agree to partial deals. He said they would exchange all of the remaining hostages for Palestinian prisoners and an end to the war. "The partial agreements that Netanyahu and his government want to implement are a cover for their political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation, even if the price is sacrificing all his prisoners. We will not be part of passing this policy." A far-right member of Mr. Netanyahu's cabinet said it was time to "open the gates of hell" on Hamas. The International Red Cross says it's outraged that one of its bases in Gaza has been struck and damaged by an explosive, the second such incident in three weeks. The organization didn't say which base was hit or who it thought was responsible. There were no reports of injuries. Last month, an Israeli tank struck a Red Cross building in the southern city of Rafa. Israel's military said the strike was the result of incorrect identification. Live from London, this is David Harper with the latest world news from the BBC. The U.S. military says it's destroyed a key Yemeni fuel port with the aim of restricting supplies and funds for Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The Houthi-run health ministry said at least 13 workers had been killed in the strikes on Ras Isa port on the Red Sea. Thirty others were injured. President Trump has said he's in no hurry to launch an attack on Iran over its nuclear program. Speaking to reporters, he denied reports that he'd waved off an Israeli strike on the country, but said he believed Iran did want to negotiate. The head of the U.N.'s atomic energy watchdog has warned that Iran and the U.S. are running out of time to secure a nuclear deal. U.S. lawyers [represe...] in the re-sentencing case of Erik and Lyle Menendez have spent their first day in court arguing over risk assessment reports and technicalities. The two brothers are serving life sentences in a California prison for shooting dead their parents in 1989. They say they were sexually abused by their father and acted in self-defense. Our North America correspondent Peter Bowes is outside the court. They've now served more than 35 years in prison. A Netflix drama series and a documentary which tells the brothers' story in their own words brought renewed attention to their case. Their bid for freedom has been made possible after the introduction of a law in California that allows certain inmates who were aged under 26 at the time of their crimes to seek re-sentencing and potential eligibility for parole. A passenger on board a small plane from Belize has shot dead a fellow passenger who'd stabbed him and two others, including one of the pilots. The police said the hijacker was a U.S. military veteran. It's understood he'd ordered the plane to head out of the country instead of travelling to the Belizean island of San Pedro. Officials said the passenger, with the firearm, was licensed to carry the weapon. And that's the latest BBC News. |