Plus: Mystery as French campervan appears suspended in mid-air ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. We bring you the latest as the rift between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky deepens, with the two presidents engaged in a war of words, triggered by Kyiv's exclusion from talks between the US and Russia on ending the war in Ukraine. Our reporter in South Africa explains how the first openly gay imam was still pushing boundaries in the last hours of his life. In the US, a woman who underwent IVF is suing after giving birth to the wrong baby, the Netherlands has said it will return more than 100 stolen Benin Bronzes, and police in France are tackling the mystery of how a crashed campervan ended up in a very strange position. | |
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | Trump calls Zelensky a 'dictator' as he hits back at 'disinformation' criticism |
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| | Zelensky met Trump in New York in September, ahead of the US presidential election. Credit: Reuters | Donald Trump has escalated a war of words with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, branding him a "dictator" who has done a "terrible job". "Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a country left," the US president wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. Trump was hitting back after Zelensky earlier accused him of "living in a disinformation space" created by Russia, following US-Moscow talks about ending the war in Ukraine - which Kyiv was excluded from. The barbed comments traded between the two leaders began on Tuesday when Trump claimed Zelensky has an approval rating of 4% and appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war. The team at BBC Verify have fact-checked some of Trump's claims, which sparked the tit-for-tat, assessing what - if any - evidence they're based on. |
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| Woman who had wrong baby in IVF error sues | The issue became clear when the woman gave birth to a boy who was of a different ethnicity to both her and her sperm donor. | Find out more > |
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| Pope alert and joking in hospital, says Italy PM | Georgia Meloni visited Pope Francis at Rome's Gemelli hospital where he is being treated for pneumonia in both lungs. | Latest on Pope's health > |
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| Netherlands to return Benin Bronzes to Nigeria | More than 100 Benin Bronzes which ended up in a Dutch museum were looted by British troops in the late 19th Century. | Read more > |
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| 'Grow up' - Spacey hits back at Guy Pearce claim | Actor Guy Pearce alleges that the Oscar-winner "targeted" him during the making of 1997 movie LA Confidential. | More on this > |
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| Even in his final seconds of life, first gay imam pushed boundaries | | Muhsin Hendricks, who came out as gay in 1996, once said that his need to be authentic "was greater than the fear to die". Credit: AFP | The execution-style killing of an openly gay imam, Muhsin Hendricks, in South Africa has left people in the LGBTQ+ community fearful for their safety - but also determined to forge ahead with the campaign to end their marginalisation in religious circles. |
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| | Khanyisile Ngcobo, BBC News |
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| | The 57-year-old was shot dead in what appeared to be a hit on Saturday in the small coastal city of Gqeberha where he was officiating "the marriages of two interfaith heterosexual couples when he was tragically shot and killed", his foundation said in a statement.
It is unclear why the couples had asked Hendricks to oversee their ceremonies, but it suggests that he was pushing the boundaries, even in the last seconds of his life.
Traditional imams in South Africa rarely, if ever, perform the marriage of a Muslim to a non-Muslim - something that Hendricks clearly had no issue with. |
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | The 'White Lotus effect' | What executive producers look for when picking filming locations. | |
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And finally... in France | Police in France have been left scratching their heads after a campervan ended up in a rather unusual position by the side of a road. Miraculously the driver of the vehicle was unhurt after the van ended up with its bonnet in a ditch and its back in the air. The operator of the tow truck called in to extract the campervan said they had "never seen anything like it in my 22-year career". You probably haven't either. | |
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