|
Hello, I'm Eileen McHugh with the BBC News.
President Trump has met his National Security Council as he weighs up the pros and cons of joining Israel's military campaign against Iran. Earlier, Mr. Trump said he didn't want to fight, but would rather do that than let Iran develop a nuclear weapon. "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I've been saying it for a long time. And I think they were a few weeks away from having one. And they had to sign a document. I think they wished they signed it now. It was a fair deal. But I say it very simply Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. Too much devastation. And they'd use it. You know, I believe they'd use it." The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said his country was committed to diplomacy, but would continue to defend itself against Israel. Officials at the Iranian Foreign Ministry have told the BBC they're considering possible meetings with U.S. negotiators. Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo say they've reached a draft agreement to end 30 years of on-off conflict. The breakthrough came at talks mediated by the United States. Julian Bedford reports. This appears to be one peace deal where President Trump has succeeded. His envoy, the father of Mr. Trump's son-in-law, has done what regional powers and the United Nations have failed to do - end a seemingly intractable conflict that's claimed tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions. At its heart is the struggle for eastern Congo's rich mineral resources. The two parties have agreed to respect territorial integrity and forswear hostilities. Previous peace deals have held for months or years, but never permanently. One of the most famous teams in sport, basketball's Los Angeles Lakers, have been sold, reportedly for a record $10 billion. The Lakers, whose star-studded squad includes LeBron James, are one of the most successful teams in NBA history. Regan Morris reports from Los Angeles. The $10 billion deal would mark the largest sale of a U.S. professional sports team in history. According to ESPN, which broke news of the sale, Jeanie Buss would continue to serve as team governor, but her family, which has owned the Lakers since 1979, would no longer own a controlling stake in the team. Billionaire Mark Walter is a familiar face in Los Angeles. He also owns the LA Dodgers baseball team and the LA Sparks women's NBA team. Lakers legend Magic Johnson said fans should be ecstatic by news of the sale. The U.S. Federal Reserve has left its key interest rate unchanged at around 4.3 percent. The Fed chair, Jerome Powell, said the central bank would make better decisions if it waited a few months. The Fed also cut its expectations for U.S. economic growth this year. World News from the BBC. The U.S. drug regulator has approved a new preventative medicine against HIV. The long-acting drug, linacapavir, needs only to be taken once every six months. The chairman of its developer, Gilead Sciences, said the decision by the Food and Drugs Administration was a historic moment in the fight against the virus. President Vladimir Putin has said he is ready to meet President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, but only in the final phase of any peace negotiations. Speaking at a press conference in St. Petersburg, the Russian leader said that any settlement to end the Ukraine conflict would need to prevent fighting, as he put it, from resuming in the long term. Argentina's self-styled libertarian president, Javier Milei, has relaxed the ban on citizens owning semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles. A statement in the government Gazette said the reform allows what was termed "legitimate users" to acquire the weapons. The move ends a three-decade ban on the public right to such weapons, which were previously the preserve of the security forces. Last year, Mr. Milei lowered the minimum age for gun ownership from 21 to 18. Officials in charge of Britain's Parliament have rejected calls for cats to be brought in to help control vermin in the historic building. ??? has the details. On paper, cats seem the obvious choice. They've long served as pest control at the U.K. Foreign and Finance Ministries, and 10 Downing Street even has its own chief mouser, Larry. So using them at Britain's Houses of Parliament made sense. The building has struggled with mice for years, spending thousands annually on pest control. But officials rejected the idea, citing risks from construction, self-closing doors and lack of care arrangements. For now, in Parliament at least, the mice live to fight another day. BBC News. |