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BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
Donald Trump says there's a good chance of him meeting President Putin of Russia soon to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine. Earlier on Wednesday, Mr. Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had what was described as a "highly productive meeting with President Putin" in Moscow. The U.S. deadline for the Kremlin to agree to a truce in Ukraine is due to expire on Friday. President Zelenskyy spoke to Mr. Trump tonight and sounded cautiously optimistic. "European leaders were also on the call. I'm grateful to each of them for their support. We discussed what was said in Moscow. It appears that Russia is now more inclined to consider a ceasefire. The pressure on them is working. But the main thing is to make sure they don't deceive anyone in the details, neither us nor the United States." Donald Trump has said that the tech giant Apple will invest an additional 100 billion U.S. dollars in manufacturing in the U.S. Apple CEO Tim Cook was also present in the Oval Office with the president. Here's our North American technology correspondent, Lily Jamali. I think Apple is certainly hoping that it will be viewed as significant in the eyes of U.S. President Donald Trump. And just to put some more numbers to this, we did see Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, tweeting or posting to X about this, talking about 450,000 jobs with suppliers and partners, manufacturing at 79 factories in the U.S. Do I think we're gonna be seeing people assembling iPhones in Duluth or Omaha, Nebraska? Probably not. But they are trying to make a show of increasing an investment that was originally announced back in February at $500 billion. Now it's $600 (billion). The U.S. president has also announced his intention to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips and semiconductors produced abroad without giving a timeline. "We'll be putting a tariff on of approximately 100 percent on chips and semiconductors. But if you're building in the United States of America, there's no charge, even though you're building and you're not producing yet in terms of the big numbers of jobs and all of the things that you're building. If you're building, there will be no charge." Mr. Trump said he might impose further tariffs on China, similar to the 25 percent duties imposed on India on Wednesday for purchasing Russian oil. This tariff aims at indirectly countering Russia's activities in Ukraine. Thousands of French firefighters are battling to contain the country's worst wildfires in almost 80 years. They've scorched an area larger than Paris. Witnessing the disaster firsthand, the French prime minister described it as a "catastrophe on an unprecedented scale." BBC News. State TV in Sudan says the Air Force has destroyed an Emirati aircraft carrying Colombian mercenaries as it landed in an area of Darfur, controlled by the paramilitary RSF. A military source told the French news agency the plane was "completely destroyed" at Nyala Airport. Temesghen Debesai reports. The Sudanese broadcaster says the aircraft had taken off from the Gulf, carrying foreign fighters and military equipment for the Rapid Support Forces, which controls most of Darfur. For a long time, the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has accused the UAE of arming the paramilitary forces. Despite numerous reports by the U.N., Abu Dhabi has denied any link with the RSF. The conflict, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands and displaced 13 million people. Nicaragua has passed a new law declaring all land within 15 kilometers of its borders state property. Critics fear the move will let President Ortega's government seize homes and farmland and could open the door to more mining. A recent concession was granted to a Chinese mining firm in a nature reserve owned by indigenous communities. A U.S. Army sergeant has been detained after he opened fire at a base in the state of Georgia, wounding five other soldiers. The five were all treated on site at the Fort Stewart Army base and then moved to hospital. Fort Stewart is home to thousands of soldiers and their families. Archaeologists have found new evidence showing that Pompeii was reoccupied following its destruction by a volcanic eruption nearly 2,000 years ago. They say some survivors appeared to have returned to live in the ruins of the ancient Roman city. They may have been joined by others attracted by the possibility of digging in the volcanic ash for valuables. BBC News. |