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Hello, I'm Moira Alderson with the BBC News.
President Trump has hailed a commitment from NATO allies to raise defense and security spending to 5 percent of GDP as a "monumental win for the United States," but he also called it a "big win for Western civilization." The figure agreed at a summit in the Netherlands is supposed to be met within the next decade. Our Europe editor Katya Adler has this assessment of what it all means. NATO got what it wanted out of this Trump summit, as it's been dubbed, a clear commitment to the alliance. But the U.S. president is famously unpredictable. Will his commitment today last a week or the rest of his time in office? NATO leaders can't be sure. So alliance members try to woo Mr. Trump with commitments to invest dizzying amounts in new defense spending to do their fair share for continental security. It'll be a hard sell to voters back home. Spain spoiled the Trump victory lap here by refusing to pay up. The head of the CIA has backed President Trump's view that the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities caused severe damage. John Ratcliffe said the agency had new reliable intelligence showing that key Iranian nuclear sites had been destroyed. Mr. Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials will meet next week. Lyse Doucet is in Tehran. I think we have to wait for confirmation as to whether or not those talks are going to take place next week. Iran's position was always clear that once the bombings stop, it would return to diplomacy. But it was also equally clear that it was categorical in rejecting the key U.S. demand that Iran reduce its nuclear enrichment to zero. Now, of course, is that now a moot point? President Trump, as is his style, is sending conflicting messages, the latest being he doesn't even think there needs to be an agreement now because in his words, his strikes blew the nuclear program to kingdom come. Meanwhile, Iran's state media say the government has begun reopening airports in the eastern half of the country as life slowly returns to normal. Internet links have been restored and shops are reopening. The official number of dead from the Israeli attacks has risen above 600. President Zelenskyy has hailed a new agreement to set up a special tribunal on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Addressing parliamentarians at the Council of Europe, where he signed the accord, Mr. Zelenskyy called for unity among the West to help Kyiv prevail against Moscow. "Today's agreement to create the tribunal is just the beginning. And now we must take real steps to make it work. And it will take strong political and legal cooperation to make sure every Russian war criminal faces justice, including Putin." World News from the BBC. At least eight people have been killed in a day of protests across Kenya held to commemorate other deadly demonstrations one year ago. The National Human Rights Commission said the fatalities were all from gunshot wounds and all in provincial counties. It said over 400 were injured, including demonstrators, police and journalists. The authorities in the Mexican city of Irapuato say 12 people have been shot dead at a party during a religious festival. Bloodstains were seen on the ground and bullet holes in the walls after Tuesday night's shootings. Gunfire erupted as people danced and socialized in a home to mark the nativity of John the Baptist. At least one teenager was among the dead. Irapuato is beset by violence between drugs gangs. The U.S. Justice Department says a former head of Venezuela's military intelligence, General Hugo Carvajal, has pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. The general, also known as "El Pollo," served in Venezuela under its former leader, Hugo Chávez. A new analysis of a carved mammoth tusk first discovered four decades ago in Poland reveals it may be the world's oldest boomerang. The throwing sticks are generally associated with Australia, but occasional finds of ancient ivory and wooden specimens show they were in use across a number of continents. Helen Briggs reports. In 1985, in a cave in southern Poland, archaeologists discovered an ivory boomerang carved from a mammoth's tusk. They knew it was a rare find and very old, but new tests show it's much older than previously thought at between 39,000 and 42,000 years old. The European researchers behind the discovery say it's remarkable our ancestors had the skills and ingenuity to craft a flying object from a mammoth's tusk at that stage in human history. They think it was used to hunt animals, although unlike modern boomerangs, it didn't come back when thrown. Helen Briggs reporting. That's the latest BBC News. |