Plus: Rescuing Brazil's floods victims, and touring Bridgerton locations ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
|
| 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. | |
|
|
|
|
|
QUESTIONS ANSWERED | ICC to focus on 7 October and aftermath |
|
| | 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. | | | 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. | |
|
|
|
|
|
| | | Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa |
|
| ANC's unemployment challenge | | 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.
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.” |
|
| |
|
|
THE BIG PICTURE | Rescue operations fraught with danger |
|
| | | 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. |
|
| |
|
|
FOR YOUR DOWNTIME | Drama on location | Seven Bridgerton filming locations you can visit - corsets optional. | |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
The Essential List newsletter | The week's best stories, handpicked by BBC editors, in your inbox twice a week. | |
|
| |
|
|
MORE BBC NEWSLETTERS | | In History: The past comes to life through the BBC's unique audio, video and written archive, each Thursday. Subscribe. | | US Election Unspun: Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday. Subscribe. | | Football Extra: Latest news, insights and gossip from the Premier League, weekdays. Subscribe. | |
|
|
|
Thanks, as ever, for reading. Send us what you think of this newsletter. We read everything, even when we don’t have the time to reply. And feel free to send it to your friends and family, who can subscribe by clicking this link.
Also, you can add newsbriefing@email.bbc.com to your contacts list and, if you're on Gmail, pop the email into your “Primary” tab for uninterrupted service. Thanks for reading!
– Sofia | | | |
|
| | You've received this email because you've signed up to the BBC News Briefing newsletter.
Click here to unsubscribe
To find out how we use your data, see the BBC Privacy Policy.
BBC Studios Distribution Limited.
Registered Number: 01420028 England
Registered office: 1 Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, London, W12 7FA, United Kingdom | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
