Plus: Trudeau's busy, lonely week, and a Spanish village shocked by AI nudes of young girls
| | | | | | Good Monday. I hope you had a weekend as good as mine - I tried track cycling and, miraculously, did not fall. Writers in Hollywood had their own momentous weekend, as their union announced a tentative deal that could end their strike. With Holly Honderich, we take a look back on Justin Trudeau's busy, lonely week. Skim to the bottom for a stone-cold story.
We also have exciting news that from now on you'll be receiving BBC News Briefing twice a day. We'll bookend your day with a second edition to bring you up to speed with the latest news and explain the major issues, using the insight of our global network of correspondents. We hope you like our improvements – please keep the feedback coming.
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| | | | Top of the agenda | | A deal to end Hollywood's writers' strike | | | | The deal could end Hollywood's longest strike in decades. Source: Reuters |
| | The Writers Guild of America (WGA) says it has reached a tentative deal with studio bosses that could end a strike that has lasted nearly five months. Union members will have their say on a deal WGA is calling "exceptional - with meaningful gains and protections for writers". The dispute has shut down many top shows, including The Last of Us, Billions, Stranger Things, The Handmaid's Tale and Hacks, as well as several high-profile US talk shows. Writers had raised issues around pay, as well as the use of artificial intelligence in screenwriting. It is still unclear whether production will resume in Hollywood, where actors are also on a separate strike. The actors' union, SAG-AFTRA, congratulated the striking writers on the outcome and praised their "146 days of incredible strength, resiliency and solidarity". | | | | |
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| | | | | | World headlines | | • | Armed policing: After a police firearms officer was charged with murder over the shooting of an unarmed man, dozens of London's more than 2,500 armed officers turned in their weapons permits in protest. Now, the UK's Ministry of Defence says soldiers could step in to support firearms duties. | | • | Mafia boss dies: Matteo Messina Denaro - one of Italy's most wanted men until his capture earlier this year - has died aged 61. He was thought to be a boss of the notorious Cosa Nostra Mafia and was being treated for cancer when he was arrested. | | • | Monastery shootout: Kosovo and Serbia have traded accusations over the siege of a Serbian Orthodox monastery where one police officer and three gunmen were killed on Sunday. The clash was one of the gravest escalations in Kosovo for years. | | • | Space rock: Nasa scientists will analyse samples from the asteroid Bennu later, after they were brought to Earth in the US. Our science editor Rebecca Morelle explains why it matters. Meanwhile, researchers say the chances of India's moon lander "waking up" are dimming. | | • | 'Honour of a lifetime': R&B star Usher says he can't wait to perform at Super Bowl LVIII, after being confirmed as the half-time show's half-time act. And he dropped some hints about potential special guests. |
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| | AT THE SCENE | Almendralejo, Spain | | The teenage victims of an AI nude app | | A sleepy town in southern Spain is in shock after it emerged that AI-generated naked images of local girls - aged 11 to 17 - had been circulating on social media without their knowledge. | | | | "My daughter came out of school and said 'Mum there are photos circulating of me topless'," says María Blanco Rayo, the mother of a 14-year-old. "I asked if she had taken any photos of herself nude, and she said, 'No, Mum, these are fake photos of girls that are being created a lot right now and there are other girls in my class that this has happened to.'" She says the parents of 28 girls affected have formed a support group. The impact the images' circulation has had on the girls varies. Ms Blanco Rayo says her daughter is bearing up well, but that some girls "won't even leave their house". |
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| | | | Beyond the headlines | | Trudeau's lonely week on the world stage | | | | Mr Trudeau has appeared to be left largely on his own as he goes toe to toe with India. Source: Reuters |
| | It has been a busy week on the diplomatic front for Justin Trudeau, after he accused India of having participated in the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist. But the relative silence of Western allies highlights "a moment of weakness" for Canada and its prime minister, experts tell Holly Honderich. | | | | |
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| | | | Something different | | Urban forest | | How green corridors are helping one city to stay cool. | | |
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| | | | And finally... | | Let us congratulate Finn Dower, the 16-year-old Scottish teenager who won the World Stone Skimming Championships on Sunday. The contest took place in tiny Hebridean isle of Easdale, whose slate stones are particularly good throwing material. Unlike stone skipping, a discipline that rewards the number of bounces, stone skimming is all about distance. It's an easy mistake to make. |
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| | | | | | Football Extra Newsletter | | Get all the latest news, insights and gossip from the Premier League. | | |
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– Jules |
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