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BBC News with Chris Barrow.
Iran's government has promised defiance in the face of new U.S. sanctions which are to be announced on Monday. The measures described by the Trump administration as the "toughest in history" are aimed at forcing it into submission through economic measures alongside its faltering military operation. Tom Bailey reports. Speaking on the eve of Washington's expected unveiling of a package of crippling new sanctions, President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted Iran would stand firm despite the many problems it faces. The Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the threatened measures as a sign of desperation and said they would fail. But the cost to Iranians is becoming ever clearer. The already struggling economy suffered another blow on Sunday when its currency the rial hit a record low trading at over 2 million to the dollar on unofficial markets. This all comes as mediation efforts on the conflict continue, with Pakistan's powerful army chief due in Tehran for talks on Monday. The president of the European Football Federation has ruled himself out as a candidate to replace the head of the world governing body. Alexander Sheffrin has been one of the main critics of the FIFA president Gianni Infantino following the collapse of his proposed part sale of its competitions including the World Cup. More details from Jane Douglas. Alexander Sheffrin has led the revolt against the president of world football stating that the body he heads, UEFA, would boycott FIFA competitions unless Gianni Infantino resigned. However, he has ruled himself out of the running to succeed Infantino were he to leave. In an interview with the rest as politics podcast, Sheffrin said he didn't want the job because he loved working at UEFA and because his credibility would be higher if he wasn't interested in the position. The governor of Russia's Krasnodar region close to occupied Crimea says it's coming under heavy Ukrainian drone attack. Veniamin Kondratyev said two children were killed when drone debris fell on a children's center. He said debris also fell on residential buildings and caused a fire at a warehouse. The governor of the neighboring Stavropol region also reported a Ukrainian drone attack targeting an industrial zone in the city of Nevinnomyssk. On Monday, Ukraine celebrates Independence Day marking 35 years since it left the Soviet Union. The events in Kyiv will be attended by Britain's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham on his first foreign trip. Syrian state media have confirmed that Syrian officials have met Israeli intelligence officers in talks brokered by the United States. The meeting follows two strikes by Israel on targets in Syria over the past week. The two countries are reported to have discussed how to stop the Israeli attacks, the potential withdrawal of Israeli troops from land seized following the overthrow of the former president Bashar al-Assad and the status of the Golan Heights. World news from the BBC. More than 90,000 people have been told to evacuate their homes in the [United States] U.S. state of Nevada because of a fast-moving wildfire. Officials say the Hawk fire has already devoured more than 50 square kilometers of land and injured at least six people. Here's David Willis. Several homes in the city of Reno have already been destroyed by the blaze and so fast are the flames moving that officials have widened their original evacuation order to include an area near the state borders with Oregon and California. Nevada's governor Joe Lombardo has declared a state of emergency and National Guard officers are being drafted in to support aerial firefighting efforts and safeguard evacuated neighborhoods. Reno is a gambling town and casinos there are offering discounts on hotel rooms to those forced to flee the flames. Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is in France for a two-day visit focused on bilateral deals and talks on the Iran conflict. The trip kicked off on Sunday with the crown prince being hosted by President Emmanuel Macron at the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup in Paris. Exit polls from Kazakhstan's parliamentary election show the ruling party winning more than 70 percent of the vote. Four smaller parties, all loyal to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, are also forecast to win seats in a new single chamber assembly. The election was called following constitutional changes. Rescue operations are continuing in the Guinean capital Conakry where 30 people are known to have died following the collapse of a mountain of waste. Witnesses say the landfill had buried an apartment building along with informal dwellings. On Thursday, the Guinean government had ordered the closure of the site and the transfer of its waste to outside Conakry. There's been a string of similar incidents in Guinea in recent years. And that's the latest world news from the BBC. |