BBC News Briefing

20 May, 2024

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. Top leaders of both Hamas and Israel risk becoming wanted criminals at the UN's International Criminal Court (ICC). Jeremy Bowen discusses the implications of the "devastating" allegations by the court's prosecutor. Ahead of South Africa's general election on 29 May, Anne Soy surveys voters on the issues that matter most to them. In Brazil, Ione Wells joins emergency services on a mission to rescue floods victims. We're also bringing you stories about Bridgerton filming locations, and a cosmic object.

GET UP TO SPEED

Donald Trump's ex-personal lawyer Michael Cohen admitted to stealing from the Trump Organization during a tense cross-examination at the former US president's hush-money trial in New York.

The container ship that slammed into an iconic bridge in the US city of Baltimore was re-floated on Monday after being stuck for nearly eight weeks.

The company behind ChatGPT has said it will remove one of the voices used by the chatbot after it was compared to Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

ICC to focus on 7 October and aftermath

composite image showing benjamin netanyahu (left) and Yahya Sinwar (right).

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, are accused of crimes against humanity. Credit: Getty/EPA

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan KC is seeking arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, over alleged war crimes committed in Israel and Gaza from 7 October onwards.

Jeremy Bowen, international editor

What are the accusations?

The ICC prosecutor alleges that Israel’s prime minister and defence minister committed crimes including starvation of civilians as a weapon of war, murder, extermination, and intentional attacks on civilians. Hamas's leaders are accused of crimes including extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape and sexual violence, and torture.

What happens next?

A panel of judges at the ICC now will consider whether to issue the arrest warrants - something which could take weeks or months.

What would be the consequences of issuing arrest warrants?

States signed up to the Rome Statute that set up the ICC would be obliged to arrest the men if they had the chance. The 124 signatories do not include Russia, China, Qatar and the US. Israel has not signed either. But the ICC has ruled that it does have legal authority to prosecute criminal acts in the war because the Palestinians are signatories.

More implications

Court of last resort: Here is what you need to know about the ICC.

Read: The full statement by the ICC prosecutor seeking arrest warrants.

War in Gaza: Evacuation orders by the Israeli military to the civilian population issued since 7 October now cover 77% of Gaza's territory, according to an analysis by BBC Arabic.

AT THE SCENE

Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa

ANC's unemployment challenge

Cyril Ramaphosa shakes hands with an ANC supporter

President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to convince a lot of people to come back to the ANC party. Credit: Getty Images

The African National Congress (ANC) is facing its toughest ballot test since winning South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. Opinion polls indicate support may fall below 50% for the first time, and unemployment is one of the biggest issues.

Anne Soy, senior Africa correspondent

South Africa's latest jobless figures ticked up slightly to 33% - ranked by the World Bank as the worst of any nation. Among young people, it is even higher at 46%. The government-organised job fair in Durban's Umlazi township is where one of the main issues on the minds of ordinary people is on display.

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Aged 37, Mondli Magwaza says he has never been employed and is looking for any job “because I’m desperate”. He is among those who have decided they will not vote for the ANC this time. Zara, 44, has no kind words for the ANC, a party she has always voted for after it led the campaign against white-minority rule: “Empty, empty promises.”

Keep reading

Explainer: What's at stake in the 29 May general election.

Key players: Read about the political leaders vying for power - incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa, radical agenda setter Julius Malema, opposition veteran John Steenhuisen.

Nelson Mandela: Young South Africans hold mixed views of his legacy.

THE BIG PICTURE

Rescue operations fraught with danger

A woman secured to a stretcher is carried onto a helicopter by a group of firefighters

One helicopter rescue operation picked up an 89-year-old woman who had a stroke. Credit: BBC

With many roads under water, helicopter journeys are the only way to quickly reach those stranded in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, where more than 600,000 people have been displaced by floods. Ione Wells climbs aboard with emergency crews.

Find out more

The Hampton Court Palace in Richmond, with a fountain in the foreground and a terracotta façade in the background.

FOR YOUR DOWNTIME

Drama on location

Seven Bridgerton filming locations you can visit - corsets optional.

Check them out

And finally... over the Iberian Peninsula

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's a blue fireball that lit up the skies over Portugal and Spain.

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– Sofia

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