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BBC News with Danielle Jalowiecka.
President Trump says he's substantially scaling back joint military exercises with South Korea because of his very good friendship with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. South Korea's Defense Ministry says the exercises which are due to begin later will proceed as scheduled. Jiji Ahn reports. President Trump's choice to scale down U.S. South Korean military drills marks a major shift as these exercises have long anchored an alliance originating in the Korean War where tens of thousands of Americans died fighting to keep the communist north at bay. The American president says he's unhappy with the cost of the annual exercises and has instructed U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to reduce them. He also says the North has been unthreatening and respectful during his time in office while South Korea had failed to support the U.S. in its efforts to denuclearize Iran. Hamas has urged President Trump's Board of Peace to persuade Israel to accept the U.S.-backed Gaza peace deal. The group issued the statement after its leader held rare talks with Mr. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner in Egypt. Israel rejected the plan a week ago saying it wanted full Hamas disarmament first. Here's our world affairs correspondent Joe Inwood. The face-to-face talks between Jared Kushner and Khalil al-Haya in Cairo are a sign of just how keen Washington is to see the next phase of the Board of Peace's Gaza deal put into action. Israel has rejected the plan which would see it withdraw from the Gaza Strip while Hamas would disarm, handing its weapons over to a new governing body. Hamas is reported to have urged the Board of Peace to compel Israel to agree to the plan. Its voice has been bolstered by a statement from eight Muslim-majority countries condemning Israel's rejection of the roadmap. Zambia's government says the security forces have seized weapons and arrested 11 people involved in an alleged insurrection plot. A statement said the main opposition candidate in last Thursday's presidential election Brian Mundubile was found at the scene of the raid in Lusaka. The details from Dingindaba Jonah Buyoya. Zambia's main opposition candidate in the August 13 election Brian Mundubile has been linked by the government to a location where security forces seized high-grade military weapons. Mundubile, who trails President Hakainde Hichilema in the partial results, has previously claimed victory from his own parallel count and alleged irregularities. Authorities have denied those claims. Hichilema currently leads with nearly 59 percent of the votes declared so far. Investigations continue. An opposition rally in southwestern Kenya was delayed for hours after violence erupted ahead of the meeting in Homa Bay town. Police fired tear gas to disperse armed youths who'd blocked roads to intercept a convoy carrying politicians to the venue. Several vehicles were pelted with stones while journalists were also targeted including a reporter with the French news agency. You're listening to the world news from the BBC. Wildfires are continuing to rage across Europe. Officials in the German town of Monschau near Belgium have told some residents to leave as a huge fire burns across the border. Aircraft are helping efforts to contain the wildfire which is Belgium's biggest on record. In northeast Spain, a soldier was killed while battling to save a thousand-year-old monastery. Police in Zimbabwe say 12 more bodies have been recovered from Lake Kariba where a ferry capsized, raising the death toll to 84. Search and recovery operations involving police divers and military personnel are continuing. It's one of Zimbabwe's worst maritime disasters in years. In football, Cameroon have won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations for the first time. They thrashed Malawi 3-0 in the final in Morocco. Maz Farookhi was at the stadium in Rabat. Cameroon's Cup of Nations was built on organization and a solid defensive display but this final was won in the midfield with Monique Ngock superb again to prevent those dangerous balls to star Malawi forwards Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga. All three goals came in the first half - two from Marie Ngah and one for Naomi Eto, while yet another clean sheet for 22-year-old Cameroon goalkeeper Michaely Bihina underlines her potential as one of the world's best in the coming years. For Malawi as their debut Women's Africa Cup of Nations this match was just a step too far, but along with Cameroon, Algeria and Morocco, they can look forward to the Women's World Cup next year. And the British sprinter Amy Hunt has become the first athlete to win four gold medals at one European Athletics Championships. She broke the record with victory as part of Great Britain's mixed 4x100m relay team in Birmingham. The race also saw another British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith secure her 11th European medal. No athlete has ever won more. Italy topped this year's medal table overall. And that's the latest BBC News. |