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Hello, I'm Eileen McHugh with the BBC News.
President Trump has accused the former FBI director, James Comey, of using a coded Instagram post to call for his assassination. The post showed an image of 8647 spelled out in seashells. 86 can be slang for kill. Mr. Trump is the 47th president. Mr. Comey, fired by Mr. Trump during his first presidential term, took down the post after a backlash and said he opposed all violence. Speaking to Fox News, Mr. Trump dismissed Mr. Comey's claim he was unaware the photo might have violent connotations. "... the FBI director and you don't know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear. Now, he wasn't very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant." Israel has dropped leaflets across northern Gaza urging Palestinians to leave the area as concerns grow that it's preparing to intensify its offensive against Hamas. In recent days, the Israeli military has stepped up its bombardment. Hamas says more than 100 people were killed on Friday alone. The U.N. human rights chief, Volker Turk, says the attacks, combined with the blocking of aid, amount to a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Rosalia Bolin is from UNICEF in Gaza. "We estimate that at least 71,000 children in Gaza will require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition this year. At the beginning of the year, that estimate still stood at 60,000 children. But because of the continued blockade of aid supplies and food into Gaza, and because of these relentless airstrikes, the situation keeps deteriorating." Ukraine's major European backers have rallied behind the country after the first direct peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow in three years ended without the 30-day cease-fire Ukraine wanted. After a call with Donald Trump, President Macron of France said European nations were coordinating with Washington on further sanctions if Russia keeps refusing a cease-fire. The man who tried to murder the British author, Salman Rushdie, in New York state in 2022 has been sentenced to 25 years. Hadi Matar repeatedly stabbed Sir Salman at a literary event, leaving him blind in one eye. John Sudworth reports from New York. In August 2022, Hadi Matar traveled from his home in New Jersey to a renowned cultural center in western New York state, where Salman Rushdie was due to speak. With the author on stage in front of an audience of more than 2,000 people, the 27-year-old charged at him with a knife, stabbing him repeatedly and leaving him lying in a pool of blood. Among numerous injuries, Sir Salman lost the sight in one eye. In February, a jury rejected Matar's defense that he hadn't intended to kill and convicted him of attempted murder. World News from the BBC. Supporters of the former Bolivian president, Evo Morales, have clashed with police outside the electoral court in La Paz. They're demanding he be allowed to run in August election, despite a ruling that he's already served more terms than the constitution allows. Mr. Morales has been in hiding for months to avoid arrest on charges of statutory rape and child trafficking. Campaigning has ended for Portugal's snap election on Sunday, the third in just over three years. Final polls suggest Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's democratic alliance will beat the main socialist opposition. Alison Roberts reports from Lisbon. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro ended his campaign on a confident note. At a rally in Lisbon, he promised to continue transforming the country and giving more hope to everyone in Portugal. In fact, polls suggest his democratic alliance will again fall short of a majority in Parliament, precisely the situation that triggered these elections after a government motion of confidence was rejected. The controversy that prompted it to take that gamble has not gone away, relating to lucrative deals done over several years by a company that was set up by Mr. Montenegro before he became party leader. The Swedish journalist who had been jailed in Turkey on charges of insulting the Turkish president and being a member of a terrorist organization is back home. Joakim Medin landed in Stockholm after being freed from a prison outside Istanbul where he was held for 51 days. Two years after a case that caused uproar in France when a cat escaped and was killed by a train that refused to wait, the National Rail operator has issued rules on what to do if a passenger's pet escapes onto the tracks. Station staff will have 10 minutes to clear up any doubts by trying to spot the animal from the platform. They will then have 10 minutes to safely remove it. That's the latest from BBC World News. |