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BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
The families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have joined protests outside a pivotal meeting of Israel's security cabinet in Jerusalem. It's been convened by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss plans for the Israeli army to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. The proposal is reported to focus initially on Gaza City. Our correspondent Rushdi Abu Alouf describes the situation in the Gaza Strip. About 65 percent of Gaza is already under fully Israeli occupation, fully Israeli security control and there is active troop in different places. So imagine if Israel is to expand this operation where there is about 900,000 people to a million people in Gaza City squeezed into the eastern part and the coastal side, what the people in Gaza feel the most is another displacement order. Thousands of supporters of the former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe have protested in cities across the country to demand his freedom. Mr. Uribe was sentenced last Friday to 12 years house arrest after being found guilty of witness tampering and fraud. A wealthy businessman has become the head of Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council, which is trying to restore order and oversee elections in the turbulent Caribbean country. Laurent Saint-Cyr called on international allies to help the local security forces tackle heavily armed gangs. Warren Bull reports. Laurent Saint-Cyr is supposed to be the final head of Haiti's governing council before it's mandated to hand power to a democratically elected successor next year. But in a sign of Haiti's instability, his inauguration itself had to take place in a temporary venue because much of Port-au-Prince is considered too dangerous. A prominent gang leader, Jimmy Chérizier, has threatened to overthrow the transitional government. And on Thursday morning, bursts of gunfire erupted across the capital. A U.N.-backed security force led by Kenyan police deployed to Haiti a year ago. But it has struggled with a lack of personnel and resources. President Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine should be involved in any talks between Russia and the U.S. about the conflict. A face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Mr. Putin is due to take place in the next few days. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr. Trump said a direct meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders wasn't a priority at this stage. "We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed. They would like to meet with me and I'll do whatever I can to stop the killing. So last month, they lost 14,000 people. Killed. Last month. Every week is 4,000 or 5,000 people. So I don't like long waits. I think it's a shame." BBC News. Officials in Ghana have launched a full investigation into a military helicopter crash that killed the country's defense and environment ministers and six other people on Wednesday. In a televised address, President John Mahama said the flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been recovered and that a special task force have been set up to investigate the cause of the crash. A judge in the U.S. state of Florida has ordered a temporary pause in further construction of a migrant detention center near Miami following a case filed by conservation groups. The group say the center threatens the sensitive ecosystem of the area and was hastily built without conducting the required environmental impact studies. The British government is planning to introduce new restriction zones to keep serious sexual and violent perpetrators in certain areas. Existing rules define places where someone cannot go. But the planned restrictions will identify areas where the offenders can go. Sima Kotecha has more details. This will allow victims to travel anywhere else without fear of meeting their attacker. The government says it will strengthen safeguards for victims. Sources say the plans will be attached to the sentencing bill, likely to be introduced to Parliament next month. A probation officer said the new zones would put more pressure on their service at a time when they're already struggling to monitor the number of offenders in the community. Ministers say at least 1,300 new trainee probation officers will be brought in next year. The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiary have reached a mutual agreement in their legal dispute with the actor Gina Carano over her firing from the television series "The Mandalorian." She was sacked from the show after sharing several controversial social media posts, including one that compared being a Republican to being Jewish during the Holocaust. BBC News. |