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BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
President Trump has said he will meet the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, next Friday in Alaska, where they will discuss the war in Ukraine. Speaking at the White House earlier, Mr. Trump told reporters he thought there was a chance of finding a way to end the conflict very soon. Arunade Mukherjee is in Washington. President Trump making that announcement on Truth Social just as the deadline for President Putin to agree to a ceasefire passed. This will be their first in-person negotiations since 2019 over Ukraine. Speaking earlier on Friday, Mr. Trump said a deal would involve some swapping of territories to the betterment of both, and said an agreement was very close. Ukraine will not be a part of these meetings, and President Vladimir Zelenskyy has expressed concern in the past that any talks about a ceasefire must also include their voice. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have signed a peace deal at the White House aimed at ending the decades-long conflict between the two countries. The agreement sets out a framework for peace, which also aims to boost economic ties between the former Soviet republics. Here's our Caucasus correspondent, Rayhan Demytrie. President Trump proudly presented the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan as "friends" in his opening remarks before signing the historic declaration. He said that in the decades of conflict between the two nations, no other leader had been able to broker a peace deal. The document includes a commitment to build on good neighborly relations and prohibits the use of force. The two countries have fought over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1989. The foreign ministers of Britain, Australia, Italy, Germany and New Zealand have said they strongly reject the Israeli government's decision to launch an additional large-scale operation in Gaza. On Thursday, Israel's security cabinet approved a plan to expand the war against Hamas, focusing and taking full control of Gaza City and relocating around a million civilians further south. The foreign ministers said it would further aggravate the humanitarian situation and endanger the lives of hostages still held by Hamas. Joe Inwood reports. There is growing division between Israel and many of its traditional allies over plans to expand the war in Gaza. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it was increasingly difficult to understand Israel's actions and blocked any arms exports that could be used in the war, while Sir Keir Starmer said an offensive on Gaza City would be wrong and only bring more bloodshed. That was met with an extraordinary response from the U.S. ambassador to Israel, who equated the fight against Hamas to the Second World War. Mike Huckabee addressed the prime minister directly on social media, saying "If you had been PM then the UK would be speaking German." BBC News. Private security guards have been enlisted to protect the body of the former Zambian president, Edgar Lungu, in South Africa. The family says there have been several attempts to remove the body from the morgue in Pretoria without their authorization. The Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has vetoed parts of a new law that aims to simplify the environmental licensing process for projects such as new roads and mines. Critics had condemned the legislation as the devastation bill. They fear it could speed up deforestation and water down indigenous rights. The Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye has been denied bail after nearly nine months in prison on charges of treason. He was forcibly returned from neighboring Kenya last year and was initially charged in a military tribunal. His case was later transferred to a civilian court. He denies any wrongdoing. The American astronaut Jim Lovell, who commanded the failed Apollo 13 mission to the moon, has died. He was 97. Lovell was a former Navy test pilot who famously led NASA's 1970 space mission back to Earth after the oxygen tank on his Apollo craft exploded. Graham Satchell has been looking back at his life. Jim Lovell was 200,000 miles from Earth on his way to the moon with two other astronauts when he sent this message to NASA headquarters. "Houston, we've had a problem." There'd been an explosion in an oxygen tank. For the next four days, the world held its breath as Jim Lovell, his crew and an army of engineers on the ground struggled to get Apollo 13 home. It is now seen as one of NASA's greatest achievements. Jim Lovell flew missions in both the Gemini and Apollo programs. Tonight, NASA said he "embodied the bold resolve of both past and future explorers." BBC News. |