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Hello, this is the BBC News with Fiona MacDonald.
President Trump says he's furious at Russia's continued bombardment of Ukrainian cities and is considering imposing further sanctions. He said successive nights of deadly airstrikes had come in the middle of talks and he was not happy. Tom Bailey reports. These comments mark some of President Trump's strongest criticism yet of his Russian counterpart, suggesting the U.S. leader's patience over stalled peace talks may be running thin. Mr. Trump said he had known President Putin a long time and had always got along with him, but added "I don't know what the hell's happened to him," "I don't like it." Despite U.S.-led efforts to secure a cease-fire, Russia has shown no sign of halting its Ukraine offensive and has escalated its air attacks in recent days. Health officials in Gaza say at least 15 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli strike at a school sheltering displaced people. The school is in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City. Dozens have been wounded, including women and children. As Israel expands its military campaign in the strip, other casualties on Sunday included two employees of the International Red Cross. The Israeli military says it's seeking to occupy 75 percent of Gaza within two months as part of its new offensive against Hamas. It's poised to launch a ground assault with the tens of thousands of troops it's deployed to the territory. Metta Tsikrika has the details. When the IDF launches its expanded ground operation, Gaza's two million inhabitants will be herded into an area amounting to just a quarter of the territory. They will be kept in three small zones - a new so-called safe zone in Al-Mawasi on the southern coast, a strip of land in Deir al-Bala and Nuseirat in central Gaza, and in the center of Gaza City. The Israeli media is reporting that the IDF's focus is now less on eliminating Hamas fighters and instead on capturing territory and destroying the group's infrastructure. The family of George Floyd, the Black American murdered by police in the U.S. city of Minneapolis, have promised on the fifth anniversary of his death to continue their campaign for racial justice despite the adverse political climate. The civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, who represents Mr. Lloyd's family, criticized President Trump's efforts to scrap diversity programs in the government, university and in law firms. "Despite efforts by the Department of Justice to minimize and roll back the incremental progress we made after the killing of George Floyd, their efforts to have the world unsee what we saw on this day five years ago will not be judged kindly by history." This is the World News from the BBC. A dual U.S. and German citizen has appeared in court in New York after being charged with planning to burn down the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv. Joseph Neumeier was detained by U.S. officials at JFK airport after being deported from Israel. He had allegedly been found with explosive devices in a backpack near the embassy. Polls have closed in Venezuela's regional and congressional elections, boycotted by the main opposition group. The vote comes ten months after President Nicolás Maduro secured a third term amid evidence of massive election fraud. Here's Leonardo Rocha. Very few opposition figures have agreed to take part in the election and that's all to do with the elections last year when the opposition candidate, María Corina Machado, was leading most opinion polls and she was banned from running, her replacement, according to many independent institutes. He won the vote and the government just declared a win. So after that, many opposition figures, including Edmundo González, who ran for president, were either arrested or forced into exile and the opposition took this decision of not taking part. The president of the European Commission says the bloc wants to strike a trade agreement with the United States but needs more time than it's been given by President Trump. Ursula von der Leyen said she'd held a good telephone call with Mr. Trump following his threat to impose additional taxes of 50 percent on European imports from next month. The tennis star, Rafael Nadal, has been given a rousing reception at a ceremony honoring his record-breaking career on the first day of this year's French Open. The 38-year-old, who dominated the tournament for close to two decades, was overcome by emotion as fans and fellow players packed the main show court for the tribute. The ceremony saw Nadal, who retired in November, presented with a trophy commemorating his record 14 titles. BBC News. |