BBC News

Iran’s supreme national security council has confirmed the death of its leader, Ali Larijani.

He is one of the most senior figures in the Iranian regime to have been killed in US and Israeli airstrikes since the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the war.

In a statement Iran’s national security council said: “The pure souls of the martyrs embraced the purified soul of God’s righteous servant, Martyr Dr Ali Larijani.” It said that his son had also been killed along with his bodyguards.

Israel had earlier said it had killed Larijani in airstrikes overnight. It said a separate strike had killed the Basij paramilitary force commander, Gholamreza Soleimani and his death was also confirmed by Iranian state media.

President Trump has again criticised NATO allies for failing to support the US in its war with Iran. He declared that “we don’t need their help”, having appealed to allies to send warships to help open the key sea lane the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile a senior official in the Trump administration has quit, saying he cannot suppor the war in Iran. Joe Kent, who was head of the national counterterrorism centre, said Iran posed no imminent threat to the US and claimed pressure from Israel had led to the war.

Clive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Sarah Smith, Laura Kuenssberg, Jeremy Bowen and Fergal Keane.

Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com/news

#BBCNews

President Volodymyr Zelensky has been in London to agree a new defence partnership with the UK, with Downing Street hoping to unite “Ukrainian expertise and the UK's industrial base" to manufacture drones.

But while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Zelensky were meeting one side of the Atlantic, US President Donald Trump was changing his mind on whether he needs Nato support in the Strait of Hormuz again.

During a meeting with the Irish Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, President Trump hit out at Starmer again.

Adam and Chris discuss Zelensky’s visit and President Trump’s change of heart.

Plus, economics editor Faisal Islam joins Adam, fresh from looking at quantum computers with Rachel Reeves, to discuss the Chancellor’s annual Mais Lecture which covered AI, closer ties with Europe, and possible plans to devolve tax revenue spending.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com/news

00:00 Introduction

00:37 Zelensky visits Starmer

03:51 Trump takes another swipe at Starmer

06:15 Kemi Badenoch calls out Trump

09:57 Inquiry launched into national security council leaks

12:59 Rachel Reeves gives Mais lecture

22:01 AI economics institute to be launched

29:30 Are UK negotiations with Brussels going to become more complicated?

#BBCNews #Trump #Ukraine #Starmer

Israel says it's killed Iran's national security chief, Ali Larijani, and the head of the paramilitary Basij force, Gholamreza Soleimani, in air strikes on Tehran. Their deaths have not been confirmed by Iranian authorities.

Larijani was a powerful figure and he would be the most senior Iranian official to be assassinated since the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of Israeli and US strikes.

Khamenei's son Mojtaba was chosen as his successor, but he has not been seen in public or appeared in any recent photographs or videos since the start of the war, having reportedly been injured in the Israeli strike that killed his father.

Who is leading Iran now? Parham Ghobadi from BBC Persian explains why Larijani's death would be significant.

New episodes of the Global News Podcast are published twice a day. You can listen here: https://link.mgln.ai/GNP-YT

And you can find more of our Youtube episodes here: https://bbc.in/GlobalNewsPodcast

#Iran #BBCNews

US President Donald Trump has lashed out at Nato and other US allies, saying he has been told they "don't want to get involved" in the war in the Middle East.

In a post on Truth Social, he said, "we no longer 'need,' or desire, the Nato countries' assistance".

Meanwhile, Israel said it’s killed Iran's security chief Ali Larijani in a strike. Iran has not confirmed whether he has been killed or injured.

On day 18 of the war, Iraq has been battling a wave of drone and rocket attacks in the skies above Baghdad, and Israel has continued to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon - as western leaders called for deescalation in the face of a growing humanitarian crisis.

Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com/news

#US #Iran #MiddleEast #BBCNews

US President Donald Trump has described opening the Strait of Hormuz a “small endeavour”, as the US-Israel war with Iran continues and oil prices soar.

The crucial oil route has been under near-blockade by Iran.

BBC Security Brief’s Mikey Kay breaks down why Trump’s claim may underestimate the reality on the ground and what the US would have to do to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com/news

#USA #Iran #StraitOfHormuz #Israel #BBCNews

The BBC has obtained footage and interviews from the Iranian capital Tehran which evoke a city of strained nerves, of constant waiting for the next air strike and relentless fear of the state security apparatus.

Within Iran, state television broadcasts footage of demonstrations and funerals, as well as interviews with pro-regime officials and protestors that repeat denunciations of America and Israel.

While independent journalists still try to gather testimony that offers a credible alternative view, they run the risk of arrest, torture and possibly worse.

Special correspondent Fergal Keane reports.

Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

#Iran #BBCNews

Unicef reports that 1,100 children have been either injured or killed in the Middle East since the Iran war began.

Fergal Keane has reported for the BBC from some of the world’s most brutal conflicts – in Gaza, Iraq, Rwanda, Sudan, Ukraine and beyond – and in that time interviewed scores of children who are the innocent victims of adult wars.

As he came to understand the impacts of trauma on young minds, Keane began too to experience his own mental breakdowns – the result of a troubled childhood and a career spent running towards danger – and was eventually diagnosed with PTSD.

In today’s episode, he reflects on what he has learned from his own experiences and reporting about how childhood traumas can be treated, and the hope for those living through today’s wars.

New episodes of The Global Story are released daily. If you’re in the UK, listen on BBC Sounds. If you live outside the UK, listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. 

LINK: https://app.magellan.ai/listen_links/the-global-story-ytl

Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com/news

#BBCNews #iran #iranwar #gaza 

Chapters:

00:00 How does living through war affect children?

01:30 Children and the trauma of the war in Gaza

03:48 Fergal's childhood trauma 

06:00 Fergal's "Letter to Daniel"

09:13 The war in Rwanda and Valentina's story

12:08 Valentina's trauma from the Rwandan genocide 

13:33 Fergal's diagnosis with PTSD 

17:49 What is the scale of the crisis for children around the world?

20:10 How is the Iran war affecting children?

Since the beginning of the war, Iranian state media has blended fact with fiction. Although millions of Iranians follow foreign-based Persian-language satellite TV channels, accessing independent information can be difficult.

Internet blackouts, censorship, and restricted channels leave Iranians largely cut off from the outside world during unrest and conflict.

Reha Kansara from the BBC’s Global Disinformation Unit followed the first week of coverage of the war by the Iranian state media and found that Iran's state media has been using propaganda to distort the reality of what’s happening on the ground - and how the proliferation of AI is gaining traction from both the state and its critics.

Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com/news

#Iran #BBCNews

Israel's defence minister said its military has killed Iran's security chief Ali Larijani in a strike.

Larijani was last seen in public at a Quds Day march in Tehran on Friday and Iran has not confirmed whether he has been killed or injured.

He is the influential secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. He has been described in Iranian outlets as an adviser to the late supreme leader, and served as speaker of Iran's parliament for 12 years.

Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com/news

#Iran #Israel #BBCNews

Meningitis B, known as MenB, has been identified as the strain behind an outbreak of cases in Kent, the UK Health Security Agency has said.

It has also defended the speed of its response to the “unusual” outbreak, and said there's no evidence the bacterial infection has spread beyond Kent.

Bacterial meningitis is rarer but more serious than viral meningitis.

The family of 18-year-old Juliette who died in the outbreak said they were "beyond devastated". A 21-year-old student who died hasn't been identified.

Free antibiotics are being given to people who visited a nightclub in Canterbury on March 5, 6 and 7.

Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com/news

#Meningitis #BBCNews