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BBC News with Chris Barrow.
President Trump has said that Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei is dead. Bernd Debusmann has the details from Mar-a-Lago. I think it's clear that the president's already kind of declaring victory with the death of Ayatollah Khamenei. It also made clear that he doesn't see this as a particularly protracted conflict. He said this could go a week or longer, which I think plays to kind of his domestic base, which might be concerned about another really long-running Middle Eastern messy conflict as we saw during the global war on terror. But there's also many questions still yet to be asked and he's now repeatedly suggested that this is time for the Iranian people to take back their country but what he hasn't said is who exactly he sees in a position to run Iran if not the Ayatollahs and the Islamic regime. Iranian state media have denied Mr. Khamenei is dead. The videos posted on social media show people celebrating in the Iranian capital Tehran and the city of Karaj following the unconfirmed reports of the Ayatollah's death. At an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council, the Secretary-General António Guterres has said he was not in a position to confirm Israel's claim that Mr. Khamenei had been killed. Mr. Guterres also condemned the massive military strike by the U.S. and Israel. Iran's envoy Amir Saeed Evani said the country would continue to defend itself. "Israel and the United States have attacked Iran. They have violated international law and the Charter of the United Nations. They must be held accountable. So long as this aggression continues, Iran will continue to exercise its inherent right of self defense firmly, proportionately and without hesitation until the aggression ends." The Israeli representative Danny Danon countered saying that Iran's leadership would continue to be targeted. "Israel acts to prevent an irreversible threat and the condemnation is immediate. This is the definition of hypocrisy. Some call this aggression, we call it necessity, we call it survival." Earlier several Middle East countries resounded with explosions as Iran fired drones and missiles at Israel and at American military bases. In Iran itself, the Iranian Red Crescent says the strikes killed more than 200 people. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson told the BBC several schools had been hit and more than 150 girls had been killed and maimed. Many Iranians are attempting to flee from areas that might be targeted. The military action across the Middle East is causing a knock-on effect for global transport. Many international airlines have suspended their flights as has Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest travel hubs. Airspace has been closed in the UAE and other countries including Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq. This is the world news from the BBC. There are reports that one person has died and seven others have been injured in what's been described as an incident at the international airport in Abu Dhabi. There are unconfirmed reports that the fatality is an Asian national. The airport authorities have urged the public to avoid circulating rumors. Vietnam has become the first country in Southeast Asia to enact legislation regulating artificial intelligence. Companies must clearly label AI-generated content like deep fakes that cannot readily be differentiated from reality. Under the new law the government will establish a national AI computing center, improved data resources and large language models in Vietnamese. Only a handful of countries have enacted legislation to regulate AI. A protest march has taken place in Senegal's capital Dhaka to call for the release of 18 Senegalese football supporters who've been detained in Morocco since last month's men's Africa Cup of Nations final. The fans were arrested during unrest that broke out during the showpiece patch which saw Senegal defeat the hosts Morocco. The 18 detained fans who deny wrongdoing were given jail terms ranging from three months to one year by a court in Rabat. The match had been controversially suspended after Senegal's players left the pitch in protest. The Brit Awards which celebrate the biggest names in music are taking place in the northern English city of Manchester. The Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalia won International Artist of the Year and also performed at the ceremony. In her acceptance speech, she called for more celebrations of different cultures. "It's such an honor to bring my music far from home and I would love to share this with all my peers who also make music in Spanish and, you know, let's keep celebrating the otherness, let's keep celebrating a different music, different cultures, different languages." Grammy winner Olivia Dean took Artist of the Year. That's the latest BBC News. |