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BBC News with Neil Nunes.
A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has come into effect. The truce brokered by the United States could ease negotiations to end the war with Iran. The Iranian-backed group Hezbollah indicated it would abide by the deal. Lebanon's army has reported Israeli violations, including shelling of villages in the south. Nevertheless, the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the ceasefire. His spokesman is Stéphane Dujarric. "We welcome steps that would end hostilities and suffering on both sides. The United Nations, through our political and peacekeeping missions, remains ready to support these efforts and continues to urge the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701. And that full implementation is towards a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution to the conflict." President Trump has given an upbeat assessment of the prospect of peace with Iran, saying they were close to making a deal to end the war. He said Iranians had agreed to hand over their nuclear dust, a reference to enriched uranium, that could be used to make a nuclear weapon. Simi Jolaoso is in Washington. President Trump said the current ceasefire, which is due to end on Wednesday, he doesn't expect that to be extended because talks with Iran are going well. He said that if no deal is reached, fighting will resume and the U.S. will resume strikes on Iran. And that echoes what we heard from the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He said that the U.S. is locked and loaded to restart or resume combat operations against Iran if a negotiation or if a deal isn't reached. Britain's top foreign ministry official, Olly Robbins, is leaving his post after it emerged that Peter Mandelson was appointed ambassador to Washington despite failing the security vetting process. Lord Mandelson was later sacked over his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and is under police investigation. The Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been accused of misleading parliament over the issue and is facing renewed calls to resign. An MP from the governing Labour Party, Graham Stringer, spoke to the BBC. "It is very difficult at this moment to see the difference between him delegating things and him abdicating his responsibility as prime minister and as leader of the Labour Party. So I think it now becomes a question of when he goes rather than if." The U.N. World Food Programme has launched a new AI-powered platform to track hunger across more than 50 countries. The WFP executive director Cindy McCain said HungerMap LIVE aims to improve the speed and efficiency of food security operations. World news from the BBC. Two U.S. citizens have been given prison sentences for helping North Korean IT workers defraud American companies in a scheme that generated more than $5 million for the communist state. The U.S. Department of Justice said the so-called "laptop farms" allowed North Koreans to pose as U.S. nationals and work remotely. The operation ran for around three years from 2021. The four crew members of NASA's Artemis II mission have thanked audiences worldwide for the positive reaction to their journey around the Moon, saying it brought them hope for the future. The astronauts spent around 10 days in space. It was the first time humans have ventured near the Moon in over half a century. The mission's pilot, Victor Glover, said coming back down to Earth was very intense. "I've never been base jumping, I've never been skydiving, but if you dove off a [skydiver] skyscraper backwards, that's what it felt like for five seconds. And then the pilots and the mains came out, and it was glory." Finance ministers and central bankers at the IMF Spring Meeting in Washington have expressed alarm about an unreleased AI tool developed by Anthropic. The AI system, Claude Mythos, has demonstrated an advanced autonomous ability to detect and exploit software vulnerabilities. There's concern it could be used by cyber criminals to undermine the security of bank accounts. Due to these risks, Anthropic has restricted access to the AI, limiting its use to government and select partners to boost cyber defenses. The co-founder and chairman of the streaming giant Netflix is leaving the company after almost three decades amid increased competition from rival media firms and a failed merger with Warner Brothers Discovery. Reed Hastings told shareholders he would step down in June to focus on philanthropy and other pursuits. BBC News. |