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BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
President Trump has said that Israel has agreed to an initial withdrawal line for Gaza, which has also been shared with Hamas. Writing on social media, Mr. Trump said that once the Palestinian group confirms it agrees with the line, there will be an immediate ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners and hostages. One of the 20 hostages believed to be still alive is a soldier, Nimrod Cohen. His mother Vicky described her feelings when she heard that Hamas was willing to release all the hostages. "We were really excited and with hope that maybe soon I will be able to hug my son Nimrod and all the 48 hostages will be back home, but also a fear that something will get wrong, an obstacle that will ruin the negotiation. It's very fragile." Hundreds of thousands of people joined huge pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Europe on Saturday. One of the largest was in Rome, where police estimate a quarter of a million people protested. Demonstrations also took place in Spain, Ireland and Britain. There's been a large explosion and an exchange of gunfire in Somalia's capital Mogadishu near a high security prison. Smoke could be seen billowing over the prison, which is close to the presidential residence. The jihadist group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. Here's Richard Kagoe. The president, when he came to office in August 2022, what he pledged was that he was going to wipe out the Al-Shabaab within five months. Well, of course, that's taken quite a bit of time. And the Al-Shabaab have been advancing. In fact, just about a month ago, the indications that they're about 40 kilometers from the capital, but of course, the government forces have been now pushing back. But this incident was taking place just not too far from the presidential palace. And now that also raises our concern. In Georgia, police have used water cannon and pepper spray to repel opposition protesters who attempted to storm the presidential palace. The latest demonstrations were called to coincide with local elections, which the governing Georgian Dream party say they won. The elections were boycotted by the country's two largest opposition blocs, which accused Georgian Dream of being controlled by Moscow. Rayhan Demytrie reports from Tbilisi. Irakli Kobakhidze, the prime minister of Georgia, warned that everyone involved in the attempt to storm the presidential palace would be held criminally responsible. Earlier, opera singer and opposition figure Paata Burchuladze, who led the Saturday's protest with the aim of peacefully overthrowing the government, urged the police to be on the side of the Georgian people. There have been ongoing protests in the capital Tbilisi since the government's decision last November to suspend talks on joining the EU. BBC News. The authorities in Bulgaria have declared a state of emergency after floods caused by heavy rainfall hit the country's Black Sea coast. So far, at least four people have been killed in the seaside village of Elenite. Two rescuers were among the dead. In the Czech Republic, the party of the populist billionaire businessman Andrey Babich has won the parliamentary election. With about 35% of the vote, he is expected to be invited to lead talks in forming a government. Despite his anti-EU rhetoric, Mr. Babich has said he will not hold a referendum on taking the Czech Republic out of the bloc. But he is likely to dramatically reduce his country's current support for Ukraine, seeing it as something that should be done at European Union level. "The EU is helping Ukraine and it is within the European budget, next budget, and we are paying a lot of money to the European budget and this is the way how we will continue to help. If we don't have money here for Czech citizens, for medicaments and for basic social needs and, of course, we have to take care about Czech citizens first." Lithuania has suspended air traffic at Vilnius Airport due to possible hot air balloons flying in its airspace. A statement from the airport said a series of balloons appeared to be flying in its direction and flights were affected. The Baltic state, which borders Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, has recently been the target of Russian drone incursions. U.S. officials say border patrol agents in Chicago have shot and wounded an armed woman who was part of a group of people blocking them from moving. The woman was not named, but the Department of Homeland Security said she is an American citizen. Immigration agents fired tear gas, pepper spray and loaded rubber bullets at protesters who have been trying to stop them from detaining illegal immigrants. BBC News. |