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BBC News with Neil Nunes.
The last nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia has expired 16 years after it was signed. It limited each side to about 1,500 long-range warheads. Campaigners have warned its demise could unleash a new arms race between the world's nuclear powers and encourage China to expand its arsenal. Helena Humphrey in Washington has more. Russia's foreign ministry has said it assumes neither side will remain bound by those limits. In a statement, Moscow said it would continue to act responsibly but would take decisive countermeasures if its security were threatened. While Washington has not immediately responded, President Trump has previously said he wants China included in any future deal. Pope Leo has urged both nations to renew the treaty, saying "the current world situation requires everything possible" to avert a new arms race. The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under mounting political pressure over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington despite his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Parliament's voted to release relevant documents forcing the government to expand the scope of the disclosure. The scandals angered many in the governing Labour Party but one MP, Clive Efford, says the prime minister's advisers are also responsible. "I think the prime minister has been badly advised, badly supported. It's a point I've made to him in person. I think some of his advisers need to be changed because we've had too many mistakes where we've had to do U-turns. I've never been in the business of naming names. They are officials that don't have the luxury that I have of being able to speak out publicly but I think those individuals know that they are and if they've got the prime minister's best interests they might be considering their positions at the moment." President Trump has said his administration could use a "softer touch" on immigration after his government announced it would withdraw 700 federal agents from Minnesota. He told NBC News the decision had come from him. Two thousand agents will remain in Minnesota, up from just 150 before the operation began. The Trump administration is ramping up efforts to secure U.S. supplies of critical minerals, calling on dozens of countries to join Washington in a preferential trade zone. The EU and Japan have announced a strategic partnership with the U.S. to work collectively regarding supply chains. It's a bid to counter China, which dominates the global supply. The U.S. secretary of state is Marco Rubio. "It's heavily concentrated in the hands of one country and that lends itself to, at worst case scenario, being used as a tool of leverage in geopolitics but it could also lend itself to any sort of disruptions like a pandemic or anything like political instability. And I think there's a growing global recognition that we need to have supply chains for critical minerals that are reliable and diverse." BBC News. They are conflicting reports on the possible arrest in Venezuela of a close ally of the ousted President Nicolás Maduro, Alex Saab, a businessman and until recently industry minister. Mr. Saab previously spent time in U.S. detention on money laundering. Reports cite U.S. and Venezuelan officials as saying he may be extradited, but Mr. Saab's lawyer told a Colombian newspaper reports of his arrest are fake. The U.S. workplace regulator is investigating the sportswear manufacturer Nike over allegations it's treated white employees less favorably. The [emplo...] Equal Employment Opportunity Commission went to court after Nike failed to provide all its company records on layoffs, the use of race and ethnicity data. Nike called the court action "a surprising and unusual escalation." Iran's foreign minister says nuclear talks with the U.S. will take place in Oman on Friday. It follows speculation that the U.S. would withdraw from the talks if the venue changed from Turkey. Earlier, the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was ready for talks. A rare Rembrandt drawing of a lion has sold at auction in New York for nearly $18 million. The 17th-century artist then, in his mid-30s, is thought to have rushed home to sketch "Young Lion Resting" after seeing a rare live animal in the Netherlands. The proceeds will go to Panthera, a conservation charity. The head of Old Masters Drawings at Sotheby's is Gregory Rubinstein. "He's drawn some parts of the lion very sketchily, very rapidly. But when he gets to the face, it's tiny little touches of chalk. It's really precise. And that creates complete focus and stillness there. And you get that sense that it could easily leap." That's the latest BBC World News. |