Ros Atkins on… the fight for Ukraine’s critical minerals
The BBC's Analysis Editor Ros Atkins looks at why the US wants access to Ukraine's minerals.
Video: Red Cross buries 18 bodies in mass grave amid Bukavu clashes
After clashes in Bukavu between armed groups including the M23 Rebels, the remains of some of the victims were buried.
Man dies at Manchester airport after arrest by Border Force officers
Police watchdog is investigating death of 27-year-old who showed ‘unusual behaviour’ at security check
A 27-year-old man has died at Manchester airport after being arrested by Border Force officers.
The man had been stopped while going through security in Terminal 2 on Wednesday after “displaying unusual behaviour”, the police watchdog said.
Continue reading...US official demands Zelenskyy return to talks over critical minerals deal
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz also criticises Kyiv over 'insults' to US president.
Can the relationship between the US and Ukraine be saved?
Donald Trump launches tirade against Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Canada faces lawsuit over delays in Gaza visa programme
Palestinian families are suing Canada over visa delays they say leave people at risk of life-threatening harms in Gaza.
Critics say Trump’s executive orders to reshape the NIH ‘will kill’ Americans
Executive orders’ impact on premier medical research agency has resulted in delayed projects and frozen funding
Academics and scientists who work with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said the Trump administration’s orders have severely disrupted work – delaying projects and casting the future of research funding and jobs into doubt as chaos in the agency reigns.
An array of orders seeks to fundamentally reshape the NIH, the world’s largest public funder of biomedical and behavioral research, in the Trump administration’s image. The agency’s work is the wellspring of scientific advancement in the US, and helped make the country a dominant force in health and science.
Continue reading...Worm-like creature with ‘dark secret’ wins New Zealand bug of the year award
Velvet worms have rows of pudgy legs, skin speckled like a galaxy and dissolve their prey with sticky goo
An ancient gummy-looking worm-like creature with a vicious hunting method that involves projecting sticky goo from its head has been crowned New Zealand’s bug of the year.
The Peripatoides novaezealandiae is from the family of velvet worms, or Ngāokeoke in the Māori language. The invertebrates have rows of pudgy legs and skin speckled like a galaxy, and are considered “living fossils”, having remained virtually unchanged for 500m years.
Continue reading...How a US takeover could change James Bond forever
Long-serving masterminds Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson give creative control to Amazon.
‘I feel betrayed’: federal health workers fired by Trump tell of ‘nightmare’
US workers laid off despite years of experience and stellar performance describe widespread chaos and confusion
As protesters gathered outside the headquarters of US health agencies to call attention to mass layoffs devastating the federal service in recent days, more employees at health agencies were terminated on Wednesday, including employees with years of experience and stellar performance reviews who were not probationary.
Thousands of terminated employees across the federal government are appealing the decision. Some former employees are struggling to apply for unemployment or understand when their benefits expire in the chaotic termination process.
Continue reading...Americans’ confidence in air travel falls after string of plane crashes, poll shows
Survey indicates 64% of Americans believe flying is safe, down from 71% who said so last year
Americans’ confidence in aviation has slipped following a string of plane crashes in 2025, according to a new poll.
As of this year 64% of Americans said they believe air travel is very or somewhat safe, marking a decrease from 71% of Americans who indicated so last year, said the poll, conducted by AP-NORC and released on Wednesday.
Continue reading...US sanctions Rwanda minister over DRC fighting
Rwanda is facing international backlash for allegedly backing M23 rebels in DR Congo, an accusation it denies.
Mitch McConnell won’t seek Senate re-election in 2026
Republican Kentucky lawmaker formally announced his retirement in a Senate floor speech on Thursday
Senator Mitch McConnell announced he will not run for re-election next year, bringing an end to a decades-long career for a Republican leader who marshaled his party through multiple administrations with a singleminded focus on power that enraged his critics and delighted his allies.
The Associated Press broke the news of McConnell’s retirement on Thursday, which marked the Republican senator’s 83rd birthday. McConnell formally announced his retirement in a Senate floor speech on Thursday.
Continue reading...Mitch McConnell announces he will not run for re-election
The Republican senator has spent 40 years in Congress, but said he has "unfinished business" before he goes.
US switches stance on Ukraine war, seeking $500bn in payback
A war of words has broken out between Trump and Zelenskyy, while Europe feels the US is no longer a dependable ally.
Trump’s savage attack on Zelenskyy shaped by pro-Russian coterie
‘Kremlin whisperers’ have the president’s ear and dissenters are few – but a thin skin and self-interest are also at play
Donald Trump’s tarring of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator” who is to blame for the war with Russia, plunging Ukraine into a Darwinian struggle for its very existence, landed like a bombshell on the diplomatic landscape. But it did not come out of nowhere.
The US president has left the already badly frayed western alliance in disarray with a devastating social media attack on his Ukrainian counterpart, just hours after he had already implicitly blamed Kyiv for Russia’s invasion.
Continue reading...Writer quits Society of Authors over union’s ‘betrayal’ of Jerusalem bookshop raided by Israeli police
Matthew Teller, whose books include Nine Quarters of Jerusalem, said the society’s response to the event which saw two leading booksellers detained was ‘an abject failure’
A writer has left the Society of Authors (SoA) in protest after the UK’s largest writers’ body made a statement on a recent Israeli police raid on a Palestinian-owned bookstore without mentioning Israel, Palestine or the names of the booksellers who were arrested.
Matthew Teller, the author of books including Nine Quarters of Jerusalem, said the SoA’s statement “added insult to the injury” and was a “betrayal”, leading to him cancelling his membership on Tuesday.
Continue reading...ICC Champions Trophy 2025: India’s Gill steers nervy win against Bangladesh
Opener Shubman Gill carries his bat with a century to lead India to victory against spirited Bangladesh in Dubai.
Israel’s ‘hearts lie in tatters’ as Hamas hands over first dead hostages
They are believed to include the Bibas family, who for Israel have become a symbol of the captives.
‘One of the hardest days’ in Israel as Hamas hands over hostages’ bodies
Remains of two young children, an elderly man and an unidentified fourth person arrive in Tel Aviv after ‘cruel’ handover in Gaza
The remains of two young children and an elderly man who were taken hostage by Hamas, as well as a fourth person who remains unidentified, have been handed over to Israel in what onlookers described as one of the “hardest days” for Israelis since the Palestinian militant group attack that ignited the war in Gaza.
A convoy carrying what was thought to be the bodies of Shiri Bibas, 32, her sons Ariel and Kfir, four years and nine months old respectively, and 85-year-old Oded Lifshitz, all from the Nir Oz kibbutz, arrived at a forensics centre in Tel Aviv yesterday for DNA checks and autopsy procedures.
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