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BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
Iran has accused America of discriminatory treatment and violating its obligations as a World Cup host for refusing visas to some of its football team's delegation. The U.S. is co-hosting alongside Canada and Mexico. Jacob Evans reports. There's less than a week to go until the World Cup kicks-off, but the Iranian squad have already relocated their base from Arizona to the Mexican border city of Tijuana. Now, according to Tehran's ambassador to Mexico, the team will not be allowed to enter the U.S. until match day and will have to leave the very same day. The revelation came after Iranian media said at least a dozen members of the team's support staff had been refused U.S. visas. Iran's embassy in Turkey said the move represented the worst possible form of politically biased interference in sport and called on football's governing body to intervene. American media reports say the U.S. treasury secretary is considering using Iranian assets to pay for future damage, which Iranian attacks might cause to the U.S.'s Gulf Arab allies. The reports, which haven't been confirmed, say Scott Bessent has also directed a team to assess the costs of repairing damage already inflicted by Iran. Iran has demanded that the U.S. unfreeze more than $20 billion of its assets. Security has been stepped up at Ebola treatment centers in eastern Congo, with extra U.N. peacekeepers and local police deployed. Medical staff have faced growing hostility. Here's Richard Kogoe. The move follows threats against health workers in a region where distrust and misinformation about Ebola remained widespread. Security has been reinforced in Rwampara and Mongbwalu in Ituri province after incidents targeting treatment centers and medical staff. Troops also guard smaller clinics receiving patients and supervising period teams. Alongside the security push, the government and aid partners are running outreach campaigns to counter false information and build public trust in communities where cultural beliefs have shaped views on illness and death. The WHO says nearly 500 cases are confirmed, including 82 deaths in the outbreak across central Africa. The authorities in China say they will be inspecting any spectacles worn by the millions of students sitting crucial college entrance exams today to make sure they're not wearing smart glasses. Tom Kavanagh reports. Several provinces, including the municipality of Shanghai, have warned that they'll be on the lookout for anyone trying to enter the exam room with smart glasses. Equipped with cameras, Wi-Fi and AI capability, the devices open up all manner of possibilities for would-be cheats. The authorities have said that any glasses brought into the exam room will be thoroughly examined by supervisors and any candidate caught bringing in banned devices will have all of their exam scores voided. World news from the BBC. Police in the United States say multiple people have been shot near a community street festival in Ohio. The Toledo Police Department said it was actively searching for the suspect or suspects involved. The authorities say the victims are expected to survive. The U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has criticized European nations for allowing what he described as an "invasion" of migrants on their shores during a D-Day anniversary speech in France. The BBC's Tom Simons has more details. In a speech delivered in front of living veterans and the graves of their fellow servicemen, the U.S. defense secretary suggested European countries were not doing enough to defend Western values. The men who stormed ashore at D-Day knew that liberating Europe took industry and courage, he said, not empty slogans, not lavish summits, not communiqués. It appeared to be a pointed reference to the U.S. administration's belief that its European allies were not sufficiently prepared to invest in fighting wars or dealing with migration. Migration has become a major political issue across Europe, with parties supporting hard-line immigration policies surging in the polls. Pope Leo, who's visiting Spain, has urged politicians not to seek short-term popularity by exploiting divisions. The Israeli military says it launched 150 strikes in southern Lebanon over the past 48 hours, targeting what it said were sites connected to Hezbollah. The U.N. peacekeeping mission condemned an earlier Israeli strike on a Lebanese army vehicle in Nabatiyeh, which killed three soldiers. A committee of MPs has said Britain has gone years without a credible defense strategy. In a highly critical new report on the U.K.'s defense capabilities, they say the delayed release of a new defense investment plan has damaged the credibility of Britain and its armed forces. BBC News. |