| | | | | | | Hello. Hamas has responded to a proposed framework deal for a ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel is currently examining. In the US, a court verdict establishes a precedent for the responsibilities of parents of gunmen in mass shootings. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, elephants are paying the price of expanding human activities. Finally, a pod of killer whales appears to have freed themselves from an icy situation. |
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| | | | Top of the agenda | | Tough negotiations for Gaza ceasefire deal | | | | Aid agencies say the situation in Gaza is catastrophic and are among those calling for a new ceasefire. Credit: Getty Images |
| | US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting officials in Israel to discuss Hamas's response to a proposed framework deal for a new ceasefire in Gaza. Set out by Israel, the US, Qatar and Egypt, it reportedly proposes a six-week truce to the fighting that started after Hamas attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,300 people and taking more than 200 hostage. Israel's retaliatory attack on Gaza has killed thousands of people and damaged or destroyed more than half of the territory's buildings, causing mass displacement. The proposed truce would reportedly see Israeli hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. And Hamas has asked for an end to the war after three 45-day truce phases. A senior Hamas official told the BBC the group had asked for amendments relating to the rebuilding of Gaza, the return of its residents to their homes, the provisions for those displaced or injured. US President Joe Biden described Hamas's response as "a little over the top", suggesting difficult negotiations ahead. | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | AT THE SCENE | Michigan, USA | | Historic conviction over mass shooting | | While Ethan Crumbley served a life prison term for killing four students at his high school in 2021, the teenager's parents are being held accountable, too. His mother, Jennifer, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday, marking the first time a parent has been convicted of such charges for their child's role in a mass shooting. His father, James, is facing a separate trial on the same charge next month. | | | | Madeline Halpert, BBC News |
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| | Ms LeMieux worked with Ethan's mother, Jennifer, at a restaurant in 2015 and was close with the Crumbley family. She said Mr and Mrs Crumbley would frequently leave Ethan home alone when he was nine for hours while they would go into town to drink. During this time, Ethan would sometimes wander over to her house, where her interactions with him proved troubling, she said. "He was very monotone, very distant, manipulative. He lied a lot," Ms LeMieux said. She recalled one time when she watched him take a bird's nest down from a tree and then stomp on it. The behaviour raised alarm bells for Ms LeMieux and her boyfriend. "We would say, 'He's going to kill someone one day,'" she said. |
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| | | | Beyond the headlines | | The elephants dying in record numbers | | | | Sri Lanka's endangered elephants are dying at an unprecedented rate. Credit: Getty Images |
| | Sri Lanka's elephants are facing a precarious future as expanding farming activities encroach on their habitats. Conflict between humans and pachyderms has resulted in 176 people being killed last year alone, while the elephants' deaths reached a record high of 470 - more than one a day. | | | | |
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| | | | Something different | | Powers of seduction | | Does flirting with strangers benefit people's actual relationships? | | |
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| | | | And finally... | | A pod of killer whales that were filmed gasping for air while surrounded by ice off the coast of Japan earlier this week appear to have successfully escaped the frozen entrapment. Authorities had initially said the ice was too thick to cut through to help the orcas. |
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| | | | | | US Election Unspun newsletter | | Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday to your inbox. | | |
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