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Hello, I'm Moira Alderson with the BBC News.
Donald Trump has expressed optimism about the possibility of peace between Russia and Ukraine as he prepares to meet Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. He said he believed it would be a good meeting and that the Russian leader was ready for peace. But he said the plan was to set the table for a more important second meeting involving President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "I think it's gonna be very interesting. We're gonna find out where everybody stands and I'll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes like we tend to find out whether or not we're gonna have a good meeting or a bad meeting. And if it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly. And if it's a good meeting, we're gonna end up getting peace in the pretty near future." The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has launched a campaign to redraw the state's congressional map to boost the number of seats held by Democrats. He said the aim was to counter Republican moves in Texas. Announcing a special election in November to approve the idea, Mr. Newsom told supporters "we've got to meet fire with fire." "You have the power to declare that you support a system that is not rigged. You have the power on November 4th to stand up for people that are being bullied. We're giving the people of this state the power to save democracy, not just in California, but all across the United States of America. I hope we're waking up to this reality." Texas Republicans recently unveiled a plan to flip five Democratic districts ahead of next year's midterm elections in the U.S. The move has so far been blocked by the decision of dozens of Democratic politicians to flee the state. Scientists in the United States have used artificial intelligence to invent two antibiotics capable of killing previously resistant superbugs. The drugs were constructed atom by atom using AI algorithms. In laboratory and animal testing, they successfully destroyed two bacterial infections, gonorrhea and MRSA. The two compounds still need years of refinement and clinical trials before they could be prescribed. There's been fierce international criticism of Israeli plans to build more than 3,000 homes in a controversial settlement in the occupied West Bank. The country's far-right finance minister said the move, which will split the territory, will bury the idea of a Palestinian state. A European Commission spokesman said the EU rejected such a unilateral territorial change. The U.N. Secretary General's spokesman is Stéphane Dujarric. "Our position on settlements is clear. The Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the regime that's associated with these settlements, go against international law. Settlements, to state the obvious, further entrench the occupation, put the prospect of a two-state solution even further away." BBC News. U.N. talks on a global plastics treaty have been extended by a day, having failed to reach agreement on the final scheduled day in Geneva. On Thursday, countries pushing for tougher action rejected the latest draft document. They said key provisions on the full life cycle of plastics, from production to disposal, and the health impacts were stripped out. Most delegates want curbs on production, but oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia favor lighter regulation. The authorities in military-run Mali say a French national has been arrested, suspected of spying for the French army. State television accused foreign states of trying to destabilize the country. David Bamford reports. A news bulletin on Mali TV announced the arrest of the French national, who it said had a military background. It showed his picture alongside those of a number of senior Malian army officers arrested in recent days for allegedly planning a coup. Reports suggest more than 50 of them, including two generals, have been arrested over the past two weeks. Many are said to be from the National Guard. Mali's military leader, General Assimi Goïta, has cancelled a planned return to civilian rule and turned away from Mali's former Western partners. The U.S. Treasury Department has offered a $10 million award for information leading to the arrest of one of the leaders of a Mexican drugs gang. Juan José Farías, known as the Grandfather, is alleged to be one of those in charge of the Cárteles Unidos gang. They're accused of smuggling huge amounts of methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine into the U.S. The Marshall Islands are due to make history shortly, stepping onto the global stage for their first ever international football match. They're playing the U.S. Virgin Islands in a friendly game in the American state of Arkansas. The tiny Pacific country has had to overcome immense challenges with no FIFA-approved pitches. That's the latest world news from the BBC. |