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This is Danielle Jalowiecka with the BBC News, hello.
The Iranian government has told the BBC it won't enter talks on its nuclear program unless the United States guarantees not to bomb the country during any negotiations. A deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, said Iran needed certainty about this issue. "Right now we are seeking an answer to this question. Are we going to see a repetition of an act of aggression while we are engaging in dialogue? And the Americans have to be quite clear on this very important question." Mr. Takht-Ravanchi rejected the idea that Tehran would agree to halt uranium enrichment, but he said the level of this could be discussed. He said Iran did not want a war and was keen to engage in diplomacy. Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel's 12-day conflict with Iran has improved the chances of freeing the Israeli hostages who are still held by Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli prime minister was speaking to members of the domestic intelligence agency. Wyre Davies reports from Jerusalem. The Israeli military has warned it will escalate operations with extreme force to destroy Hamas's remaining capabilities. But in what could be interpreted as an indication of some flexibility, Benjamin Netanyahu today said that after victory over Iran, many opportunities had opened up, first of all, to rescue the hostages and defeat Hamas. That emphasis on hostages first was welcomed by their families as a sign that perhaps the prime minister might be prepared to strike a deal to end the war. The former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has called for an amnesty for hundreds of people sentenced to prison for their involvement in riots a week after the inauguration of President Lula da Silva in 2022. The Supreme Court ruled that the protesters vandalized government buildings in Brasilia as part of a military coup attempt. Speaking to thousands of his supporters in São Paulo , Mr. Bolsonaro denied any involvement. The U.S. Senate is debating President Trump's huge tax and spending bill, with Democrats seeking to delay any final vote. The planned legislation aims to extend tax cuts for Mr. Trump's first term while boosting border security. Democrats are bitterly opposed and some Republicans also have concerns. Here's Jake Kwon in Washington. The bill is supposed to keep the tax cuts and add the spending to the defense and immigration as well. It's going to greatly expand President Trump's mass deportation apparatus and at the same time to claw back some of that spending. It was going to cut back on the welfare and the Medicaid which is a national health insurance scheme. So the Republicans in the rural area were worried that this is going to hurt their voters, hurt their constituency. So there has been doubt. World News from the BBC. Two firefighters in the U.S. state of Idaho have been killed and a number of others shot at while tackling a wildfire. The shooting broke out near the northern city of Coeur d'Alene. The local sheriff told a news conference gunfire was still taking place. He said it was unclear how many attackers were involved but he said powerful automatic rifles were being used. Human rights lawyers in Turkey say more than 50 people were detained when they tried to hold an LGBT Pride march in Istanbul on Sunday. The Association of Lawyers for Freedom said those arrested included four of their members who they said were subjected to torture and ill treatment. Footage showed activists trying to raise rainbow flags and being bundled into police vans. Istanbul Pride has been banned since 2015 by Turkey's conservative government. In football, Bayern Munich have defeated Flamengo from Brazil 4-2 in Miami to reach the quarter-finals of FIFA's Club World Cup. They'll now face the current European champions Paris Saint-Germain. Earlier, PSG defeated Inter Miami 4-0 in Atlanta. Bayern and PSG are among the favorites to win the tournament. The opera singer Stuart Burrows, whose career took him from the valleys of South Wales to the world's top music venues, has died. He was 92. Born in the Rhondda area, he went on to sing at Covent Garden in London, the Met Opera in New York and La Scala in Milan. Described as one of the greatest Mozart tenors of his time, he reached the height of his career in the 1970s and 80s. Here he is singing what he called the greatest love song ever written by a Welshman, "???." And those are the latest stories from BBC World News. |