Plus: Passengers stranded in flooded Dubai, and arrests after Canada's biggest gold heist. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. While Israel's PM says his country will "make its own decisions" about a response to Saturday's attack by Iran, the repercussions of the escalation are being felt in Washington, as Gary O'Donoghue reports. In Thailand, Jonathan Head hears from young Burmese men who have fled the Myanmar junta's conscription. And on a lighter note, as Paris prepares to host the Olympic Games, you should check out BBC Sport's beautifully produced feature looking back at the last time the city hosted the event - a century ago. | |
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GET UP TO SPEED | | Police investigating the largest bullion heist in Canada's history have made several arrests and shown off seized guns, smelting pots and "crudely made" pure gold bracelets. | | Footage shows planes on submerged runways at Dubai airport, after heavy rain caused flash floods. Stranded passengers tell us they've been "living on duty free". | | The singer of a track that became a TikTok anthem for stray animals has been barred from streaming services in Russia. BBC Russian's Maria Jevstafjeva has the back story. | |
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QUESTIONS ANSWERED | Biden treads a diplomatic tightrope |
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| | The US military was involved in co-ordinated action to repel Iran's barrage. Credit: Reuters. | Joe Biden had been showing increasing frustration with Israel's approach to the war in Gaza. But after Iran's weekend attack on Israel, the US president restated his country's "ironclad" commitment to its ally. Even so, it has changed the political calculus - and narrowed the White House's options. |
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| | Gary O,Donoghue, Washington correspondent |
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| What are the implications? | A fundamental and worrying change in the regional situation, according to former US envoy Dennis Ross, a 40-year veteran of US diplomacy in the Middle East. Iran's direct retaliation against Israeli territory for the strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria has "rewritten the rules" of the Israel-Iran relationship, he says. | What does that mean for Joe Biden? | The tightrope he was walking on the Israel-Gaza war has got even thinner, as he seeks to both de-escalate the situation and deter Iran, while facing domestic pressure from both left and right over the relationship with Israel. Mr Biden now faces an uncomfortable paradox, says Mr Ross. The president has to lower the temperature with Iran but simultaneously make Tehran understand there is a cost to its actions. | What about the situation in Gaza? | American diplomats have been working around the clock to get Israel to agree to a six-week pause in fighting to allow for the release of both hostages from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The agreement would also facilitate the movement of desperately needed aid into Gaza, where starvation is looming. All that is now in jeopardy as the world waits to see how Israel will respond. | | | More US support: The House of Representatives will on Saturday vote on foreign aid bills, including for Israel and Ukraine, Speaker Mike Johnson has announced. Israel's response: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country will "make its own decisions", after being urged to keep action "smart" and limited. Tensions in Iran: A significant proportion of citizens oppose what they see as the reckless adventurism of the country's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. They have been telling BBC Persian of their fears. | |
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| Inside 'Thailand's Casablanca' | | Sanjay is among nine fugitives living under a leaf-thatch shelter in the border town. Credit: BBC/Lulu Luo. | Since the military seized power in Myanmar, in 2021, tens of thousands of citizens have fled across the border into Thailand. In particular, since February, men aged 18 to 35 have made the perilous journey east to avoid a national conscription imposed by the junta. |
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| | Jonathan Head, South East Asia correspondent |
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| | Over the years Mae Sot has become an uneasy refuge for Burmese on the run. It has the feel of Cold War Berlin about it, or of Casablanca in the famous eponymous movie. It is a town full of exiles, planning revolution, waiting for asylum offers, always fearful of spies and informers, and living in a state of almost constant anxiety. It is where 23-year-old Sanjay and eight others have been hiding out since fleeing conscription.
They share their rudimentary home with a gaggle of ducks and chickens, and several goats. "Back home I used to feel afraid every day that they would come to take me into the army," Sanjay says. "Even though we have very little food here - just rice and vegetables - no-one will come to harm me. I feel free here in Thailand." But the town is both a sanctuary and a prison for those who have fled from Myanmar. |
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| | | Over the border: Myanmar's military suffered its latest humiliation in Myawaddy - the town across the river from Mae Sot. | | Capital attack: The opposition - representing the elected civilian government previously led by Aung San Suu Kyi - said it was behind a mass drone attack on the military junta in Nay Pyi Taw this month. |
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THE BIG PICTURE | How City of Light changed the Olympics |
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| | | Paris hosts this year's Olympics - 100 years after a transformative Games in the French capital. Credit: BBC. | The 1924 Olympics in Paris was notable for many first and lasts - and helped shape the modern sporting festival that will return to the French capital this summer. With the help of some beautifully evocative photographs, BBC Sport looks back at a Games that broke new ground in terms of media coverage and athletes' accommodation - and which inspired the Chariots of Fire legend. |
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| | | Sports, spectators, security: Everything you need to know about Paris' preparations - and the Games themselves. | |
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FOR YOUR DOWNTIME | World's oldest beer | Ancient Mesopotamian beer - made from old bread crusts - is experiencing a revival. | |
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And finally... in England | Margaret Seaman is not your regular knitter. The 94-year-old has built a reputation as the Queen of Knitting for accomplishing incredible feats of the stitch. Now, her showstoppers, which include Buckingham Palace and Sandringham House, have been gathered for a final show in a bid to find them new homes. | |
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In History newsletter | The past comes to life through the BBC's unique audio, video and written archive, each Thursday. | |
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MORE BBC NEWSLETTERS | | US Election Unspun: Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday. Subscribe. | | Future Earth: Essential global climate news and hopeful developments, every Tuesday. Subscribe. | | Football Extra: Latest news, insights and gossip from the Premier League, weekdays. Subscribe. | |
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