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Hello, this is the BBC News with Fiona MacDonald.
President Trump's administration has ordered its embassies abroad to pause new applications for student and exchange visitor visas as it prepares to expand social media vetting of foreign students. Some students already in the United States have had their visas revoked for participating in pro-Palestinian protests. Peter Bowes report. This is another escalation in Donald Trump's feud with certain universities and students from overseas. Future applicants could now be subjected to social media screenings as part of the process of applying for a visa to study in the U.S. Earlier, the White House said federal agencies will be asked to review grants to Harvard University, which Mr. Trump has accused of refusing to tackle anti-Semitism on campus, an allegation it denies. Palestinians have stormed an aid distribution hub in Gaza backed by the U.S. and Israel that had just started operating near the city of Rafa. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it had managed to hand out 8,000 food boxes before the center was overrun by crowds far larger than it had anticipated. The Israeli military said its soldiers fired warning shots near the compound, but operations had returned to normal. The U.N. spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, gave this reaction to the scenes. "Frankly, these images are heartbreaking, to say the least. As the secretary-general noted last week, we and our partners have a detailed, principled, operationally sound plan supported by member states to get aid to desperate population. We continue to stress that a meaningful scale up of humanitarian operations is essential to stave off famine and meet the needs of all civilians." Texas, the second most popular state in the U.S., has passed a new law requiring Apple and Google to verify the age of their users on their app stores. Starting next year, anyone under 18 will need a parent's approval to download apps or make in-app purchases. Lily Jamali has more. Under the law, minors will need parental approval before they can download apps or make in-app purchases. Texas is following the lead of Utah, another conservative state which passed a similar law earlier this year. But the Texas law will likely affect many more people. It's the second most populous state in the U.S. The bill was opposed by Apple CEO Tim Cook, whom The Wall Street Journal reports called Texas Governor Greg Abbott earlier this month in a bid to stop the bill's passage. The Trump administration has issued a new license that restricts operations by the U.S. oil giant Chevron in Venezuela. The announcement is a big blow to the Venezuelan government, which could lose more than half a billion dollars a month from cancelled exports. The new license banned Chevron from producing and exporting oil in partnership with the Venezuelan state company. BBC News. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will visit Berlin later today for the first time since Friedrich Merz became Germany's chancellor. Talks will focus on starting further peace talks with Russia and new sanctions against Moscow. From Berlin, our correspondent, Jessica Parker reports. Mr. Merz is vocal in his criticism of Moscow and in his backing for Kyiv, and has cast aside to the more cautious tone of his predecessor, Olaf Scholz. But Mr. Merz's outspoken style caused confusion this week when he claimed that Germany was among countries no longer setting range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine, without clarifying whether that meant Berlin might finally supply its powerful tourist missiles to Kyiv. He's also said he wants Germany's army to become the strongest conventional force within Europe as a means of deterrence. The South African actor, Presley Chweneyagae, who gained international recognition for his leading role in the 2005 film "Totti," has died at the age of 40. The film won South Africa's first ever Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Mr. Chweneyagae's award-winning performance catapulted him to international stardom. A record number of puffins have been recorded on a small island off the south west of Wales despite global populations declining rapidly. The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales says nearly 44,000 puffins were counted on Skomer Island this year. The island's isolation means that it's protected from rats and other predators and also from human impact. A large container ship that ran aground and almost crashed into a fiord side house in Norway last week has been refloated. Johan Helberg, the house owner, said he wouldn't have traded this experience for anything as he watched the ship being pulled back into the water. He said that "Get a ship in your garden, and you'll find life worth living." BBC News. |