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Hello, I'm Eileen McHugh with the BBC News.
Loud blasts have been heard across Israel following another wave of retaliatory airstrikes by Iran, including in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The Israeli military said some of the missiles were intercepted. Local media say one person has died and dozens have been wounded since the Iranian counterattacks began. Sebastian Usher has more details. Iran has launched several salvos of drones and ballistic missiles against Israel. The first in the morning was intercepted, but later in the evening as sirens rang out, the sky boomed and lighted up as the volley of missiles intensified. In Tel Aviv, there were great swathes of smoke and explosions as people took to shelters as they'd been instructed. Iran has shown that it can still put up a fierce response to Israel's unprecedented attack. Iran's ambassador has told an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council that Israel's air attacks on his country are an act of "state terrorism" and a flagrant violation of international law. The attacks have largely targeted nuclear and military facilities, but have also hit residential areas. Nada Tawfik has more on the U.N. meeting. Everybody has stressed that the only path forward is through dialogue and diplomacy. There is a real concern that this is a very dangerous moment. We heard concern about the attack on nuclear facilities and what that can mean for the environment and populations. And there are very clear laws about nuclear facilities being hit in wartime. There was very clear discussion about the fact that there were ongoing talks between the U.S. and Iran up until this point and many wanting to see both parties get back to the table although that has now been complicated. Israel has said its offensive will continue. Throughout the day it carried out waves of strikes hitting Iranian nuclear facilities at Isfahan and Fordow. These followed fresh attacks on the country's main uranium enrichment plant in Natanz and others on three international airports. Multiple explosions were also heard in the suburbs of Tehran. The first group of South African soldiers who were deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrived back home. Will Ross has more details. It's hard to find any positives from the deployment of this Southern African regional force. Around 1,500 South Africans were part of the mission. The aim was to help a Congolese army that was up against the better equipped M23 rebels. In January, 20 soldiers from the mission were killed as these Rwandan-backed fighters advanced, seizing mineral-rich territory. Most of the victims were South Africans. Now as they've started to arrive back home, questions are being asked about why they were sent and the wisdom of cuts to the defense budget. This is the latest world news from the BBC. A senior Kenyan policeman has been arrested in connection with the death of a blogger in police custody. As well as the head of the Central Police Station in Nairobi, another officer and a technician, accused of disabling the station's video cameras, have also been arrested. Initially, it was claimed that Albert Ojwang died by suicide after hitting his head on the cell walls. The police later apologized when an independent autopsy showed he'd been badly assaulted after being arrested. Investigators have recovered the flight data recorder from the Air India plane which crashed within a minute of taking off on Thursday. The recorder, one of two so-called black boxes on the plane, was found on the roof of the doctors' hostel in Ahmedabad that was hit by the plane. U.S. Marines have taken up position outside a government building in Los Angeles as the city braces for another weekend of protests against immigration raids. The army insists they will only focus on protecting federal workers and property. Peter Bowes reports from Los Angeles. Military officials say about 200 Marines from a deployment of 700 are now stationed in the city after taking part in training exercises to prepare them for the unusual role of protecting a federal building. Members of the California National Guard will be assisting in crowd control operations after an appeal court suspended a judge's ruling that President Trump acted illegally when he took command of the troops. The matter will return to court on Tuesday. Search and rescue operations are continuing in the U.S. city of San Antonio after flash floods killed at least 11 people. Torrential rains hit southern Texas early on Thursday morning, sweeping cars off roads. The city's fire department says it's made more than 70 water rescues, with most of the dead found trapped in their cars. BBC News. |