Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:10Live from London. This is BBC
00:00:12News. I'm Kasia Madera. Iran says
00:00:14says a deal with Oman on a shipping shipping route through the Strait
00:00:17Strait of Hormuz is in its final
00:00:19final stages. Israel says two of of its soldiers have been killed
00:00:23killed in southern Lebanon as it
00:00:24it resumes
00:00:38We have a special report. Myanmar's Myanmar's military leader visits visits Thailand as Bangkok pushes
00:00:41pushes for re-engagement with its
00:00:43its regional neighbours. I'm Tadhg
00:00:46Tadhg Enright and coming up in business. business. Shares in the Google parent
00:00:50parent alphabet fall after the chief
00:00:53chief executive of its DeepMind division division steps aside. This, as the
00:00:56the tech giant seeks to keep pace
00:00:59pace with its rivals. Also coming
00:01:01coming up, we're going to meet the the 97-year-old woman who successfully
00:01:05successfully broke her own world world record, becoming the oldest
00:01:08oldest person to complete a wing
00:01:11wing walk. A warm welcome to you.
00:01:22you. We start in the Middle East, East, where there are reports of
00:01:25of a possible breakthrough over one one of the world's most dangerous
00:01:29dangerous and significant waterways. waterways. Iran says they're close
00:01:32close to finalising an interim agreement agreement to establish shipping routes
00:01:36routes through the Strait of Hormuz, Hormuz, the narrow channel through
00:01:39through which much of the global global energy supply passes. However,
00:01:42However, Tehran has warned that a
00:01:43a deal would only go ahead if certain
00:01:47certain third parties did not obstruct obstruct the process. Now for his
00:01:50his part, President Trump has said said that the waterway would reopen
00:01:53reopen very soon or Iran would, in
00:01:56in his words, be hit very hard. If If confirmed, an agreement could
00:01:59could begin to ease a crisis that
00:02:02that has shaken markets. Yet a ship
00:02:04ship tracking data shows only a small small number of vessels are actually
00:02:07actually currently able to transit transit the strait. Meanwhile, in
00:02:11in his first meeting with his US US counterpart Marco Rubio, the new
00:02:15new UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Miliband has said that Britain would
00:02:18would work with the US to secure
00:02:20secure a lasting ceasefire in the
00:02:23the Iran war and reopened the strait. strait. But in a broadcast interview
00:02:27interview after the meeting, Ed Miliband Miliband insisted the UK would never
00:02:31never take part in offensive military military action. Now he spoke to
00:02:34to my colleague Helena Humphrey, Humphrey, who asked him what he and
00:02:38and the US Secretary of State, Marco Marco Rubio, had achieved. Well,
00:02:42Well, the number one priority for for this government is to tackle
00:02:44tackle the cost of living crisis crisis that people are facing. And
00:02:48And my job as Foreign Secretary most most immediately is to work with
00:02:52with our closest ally, the United
00:02:53United States, on getting a ceasefire
00:02:56ceasefire and a lasting ceasefire ceasefire in relation to the Iran
00:03:00Iran war. Now we are working night night and day to try and make that
00:03:03that happen. That was a large part
00:03:05part of our discussions today. I
00:03:08I am hopeful that this may happen, happen, but we are not there yet
00:03:11yet and we've got to do everything
00:03:14everything we can to get this ceasefire
00:03:16ceasefire in place. The work between between Iran and Oman is obviously
00:03:20obviously crucial to that, but then then we've got to make sure it is
00:03:23is an enduring ceasefire, that we we don't have a nuclear Iran. Ed Ed Miliband there speaking to Helena
00:03:27Helena Humphrey now we'll get a little little bit more on that potential potential agreement. But just to
00:03:30to bring you up to date on what the the Israeli military has been saying,
00:03:33saying, they claim that two soldiers soldiers have been killed and four
00:03:36four others have been severely injured injured in southern Lebanon. Now
00:03:39Now this comes as Israel resumes resumes strikes on the country for
00:03:42for the first time in more than a a month. Lebanese state media said
00:03:45said one person had been killed and
00:03:49and 11 had been wounded. Well, our our correspondent Jon Donnison is
00:03:52is in Jerusalem. He gave us the latest
00:03:56latest on the actions in Lebanon Lebanon and also that potential agreement
00:04:00agreement between Oman and Iran to
00:04:02to open the Strait of Hormuz. Well,
00:04:05Well, let's start with that effort effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
00:04:08Hormuz. And basically at the moment
00:04:10moment we only have Iran's word for for the fact that any progress has
00:04:14has been made. The Iranian foreign foreign ministry saying that they're
00:04:18they're very close to an agreement agreement with Oman to effectively
00:04:20effectively allow ships to pass in in on the northern route into the
00:04:24the strait along the Iranian coast coast and then for ships to come
00:04:28come out, hugging the coast. So all
00:04:31all eyes now really on the White White House and President Trump's
00:04:34Trump's Truth Social account to see see what his reaction is. But it
00:04:38it does seem that some progress there
00:04:41there is being made. However, you you know, lots of potential pitfalls.
00:04:44pitfalls. It's a very complex, region.
00:04:47region. This a lot of conflicts interlinked. interlinked. And in Lebanon, as you
00:04:50you say, for the first time in a a month, really we've had a significant significant flare up in violence
00:04:54violence there. The Israeli military military saying two of its soldiers
00:04:58soldiers killed, four severely injured, injured, apparently when they were
00:05:02were carrying out demolitions in in southern Lebanon. And they entered
00:05:04entered a booby trap building Israel
00:05:08Israel then responded or issuing issuing its first evacuation order
00:05:11order in southern Lebanon for more more than a month and carrying out
00:05:15out strikes which we think went on
00:05:18on into the night. And John. So just
00:05:21just in terms of that ongoing conflict
00:05:25conflict when it comes to Israel Israel and Lebanon, nothing seems
00:05:28seems to be ceasing just an escalation, escalation, obviously deeply concerning
00:05:32concerning for the people of southern
00:05:34southern Lebanon. Yeah, absolutely.
00:05:38absolutely. Many have not been able able to return to their homes. Some
00:05:41Some of them have. Many villages villages have been completely destroyed.
00:05:43destroyed. And while Israeli forces forces continue to occupy a large
00:05:47large chunk of southern Lebanon, Lebanon, I think it's about 5% of
00:05:51of the country in total in terms
00:05:53terms of land area, it is almost
00:05:55almost inevitable that there is the
00:05:58the possibility of flare-ups. And
00:05:59And the reason this matters, given
00:06:02given the broader situation in the
00:06:04the region, is that Iran has insisted
00:06:06insisted that Lebanon must be part
00:06:10part of a broader deal with the United
00:06:13United States. If they want a ceasefire
00:06:15ceasefire in Lebanon, too. As part part of that broader deal. So if
00:06:18if we get flare-ups there, it could
00:06:23could undermine those efforts to to achieve a deal with Iran, which,
00:06:25which, to be frank, are only limping limping along at best at the moment.
00:06:29moment. So our thanks to John Donaldson
00:06:31Donaldson there outlining just how how complicated and interwoven all
00:06:35all of these issues are. Let's get get some more analysis. Doctor H
00:06:39H a Hellyer is an expert in Middle Middle East security and senior associate
00:06:42associate fellow at the Royal United United Services Institute for Defence
00:06:46Defence and Security Studies. Doctor Doctor Hellyer, let's get your expertise.
00:06:49expertise. Oman, Iran talking. Just
00:06:52Just remind us how important Oman
00:06:55Oman are to these conversations. conversations. Thank you very much
00:06:58much for having me. I think it's
00:07:00it's very difficult to overestimate, overestimate, frankly, how important
00:07:03important Oman is in this regard.
00:07:06regard. Oman has been the key. Regional
00:07:09Regional actor that has been dealing dealing with the Iranians when it
00:07:13it comes to, this particular set
00:07:15set of negotiations. With, you know,
00:07:18know, I have to say not enough support support from outside of the region
00:07:21region in this regard. It's negotiating,
00:07:25negotiating, ostensibly on behalf behalf of Muscat, of course, as the the Omanis, but really everybody
00:07:29everybody knows that it's doing so
00:07:32so on behalf of the wider GCC. And
00:07:35And by extension, the US and the the world when it comes to the Strait
00:07:38Strait of Hormuz because of course course the interests of the Omanis
00:07:42Omanis in the Strait of Hormuz, are,
00:07:46are, are pretty much the same as
00:07:47as the rest of the GCC, vis a vis
00:07:50vis the Iranians. And certainly the the international community. So,
00:07:53So, I think that the Omanis are really
00:07:55really quite critical, crucial. And
00:07:58And the most substantial actor in
00:08:00in this regard. And a further further
00:08:02further development, Iran's President
00:08:04President Masoud Pezeshkian has spoken
00:08:09spoken to the supreme leader. Just
00:08:11Just talk us through how significant
00:08:15significant that is. I think it's it's significant, just as a signal
00:08:18signal that the process that the
00:08:21the Iranians have been making clear, clear, would would play out has been
00:08:25been playing out. The Iranian regime,
00:08:28regime, of course, is headed, by
00:08:31by the supreme leader. It's, it's
00:08:34it's a very important component of of that regime. I don't think anybody
00:08:38anybody should be in denial about
00:08:39about that. But I think that the
00:08:42the reports that you've seen are
00:08:44are also meant to send a message
00:08:47message to not just the people of
00:08:49of Iran, but more widely, that the
00:08:53the regime doesn't have massive cracks, cracks, at least on this issue. And
00:08:57And I think that's true. I think think that's accurate. I think that
00:09:00that the, the entirety of the regime regime has a very singular view when
00:09:04when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz.
00:09:07Hormuz. They see it as leverage,
00:09:09leverage, that they need in order
00:09:11order to make sure that the United
00:09:14United States, and the Israelis don't don't attack Iran again. I'm not
00:09:17not sure that it is that leverage, leverage, but I think that they're
00:09:20they're very clear, and cohesive cohesive about this point. And on
00:09:24on the point that you make on the the United States especially, we're
00:09:26we're just getting a line from the the AFP news agency that Pakistan,
00:09:30Pakistan, which is of course one one of the mediators in all of this,
00:09:33this, are saying that they hope that that this potential Strait of Hormuz
00:09:37Hormuz agreement will then lead to
00:09:40to resumption of Iran-u.s talks.
00:09:42talks. Is that realistic? Is that
00:09:45that hopeful? It's realistic. I'm
00:09:47I'm not sure how much people should
00:09:52should put into the talks in terms terms of, you know, credibility or
00:09:56or reliability. When it comes to
00:09:59to the Iranians, the Iranians have
00:10:02have been attacked in the midst of
00:10:05of negotiations with the United States.
00:10:07States. Now multiple times. And they've they've made it very clear that they
00:10:11they don't trust the United States,
00:10:14States, to engage in good faith negotiations.
00:10:16negotiations. They feel that those
00:10:18those can be set aside at any point.
00:10:21point. The US has its own reasons,
00:10:22reasons, of course, for being, suspicious suspicious of, of the Iranian regime
00:10:26regime and of course, the Iranian
00:10:29Iranian regime, is notorious in the the region for all sorts of things,
00:10:32things, not least of which have to
00:10:34to do with Syria. The Gulf Arab states,
00:10:37states, and so on. But when it comes comes to the negotiations, there
00:10:40there now have been several rounds rounds of negotiations between the
00:10:44the Americans and the Iranians when
00:10:45when the midst of negotiations, the
00:10:49the United States launched attacks.
00:10:51attacks. I do say that the Iranians
00:10:54Iranians haven't been again, you you know, angels in any of this in
00:10:58in the slightest. But I think that that the level of distrust that now
00:11:01now exists is so high that one has has to be very cautious about expecting
00:11:05expecting any breakthroughs in that
00:11:06that regard. But they also need better
00:11:09better relations if they're going going to have economic recovery.
00:11:12recovery. So I do think that it's it's likely that there will be talks.
00:11:16talks. I suspect that the Iranians Iranians will not be rushing into
00:11:20into these talks, especially given given that the US has mid-terms later
00:11:24later on this year. And it works works in the Iranian interest to
00:11:28to tread carefully, slowly, as compared compared to the Americans in this
00:11:31this regard. Yeah. The issue of trust trust critical doctor H a Hellyer
00:11:34Hellyer from RUSI, as always, thank thank you so, so much. My pleasure.
00:11:38pleasure. Thank you. Now the head head of football's governing body
00:11:41body has apologised for mistakes mistakes made in the pursuit of his
00:11:45his controversial plan to sell off off stakes in competitions to private
00:11:48private investors. But Gianni Infantino Infantino plans to remain in his
00:11:52his role as Fifa's president after after senior executives rallied behind
00:11:56behind him, releasing a statement statement of support. But is this
00:12:00this enough to secure Infantino's Infantino's position? While Craig
00:12:02Craig Foster is a retired captain captain of the Australian national
00:12:05national team, a human rights activist activist and a sports analyst. He
00:12:08He gave us his assessment of Infantino's
00:12:11Infantino's outlook. Very, very sadly,
00:12:13sadly, it's enough for his management management and what they call the
00:12:16the leadership team. And I say sadly,
00:12:19sadly, because we've had one resignation,
00:12:22resignation, we've had one senior senior administrator come out with
00:12:25with a mea culpa and say, look, basically basically this whole thing was unbeknown
00:12:28unbeknown to us. It's shocking, you
00:12:30you know, and it can't go on. We
00:12:33We even had a Mattias Grafstrom the
00:12:35the Secretary General, a leaked email
00:12:37email saying to the staff that it's it's sad and reproachable. And now
00:12:40now after a meeting in Morocco, apparently
00:12:43apparently all is is sunny again. again. And that's got to be a real
00:12:47real concern for all football stakeholders stakeholders around the world. You You know, my message to all former
00:12:51former players is you have to do do something and speak up here. My
00:12:54My message to all fans around the the world is that you have to hold
00:12:57hold your own federation accountable, accountable, because no one should
00:13:00should be supporting this. What's
00:13:02What's happened is we've had a backflip
00:13:04backflip from the management and and leadership team of Fifa within
00:13:08within just the last 48 hours, and and that tells us that the rot goes
00:13:12goes much, much deeper. We knew that that it wasn't just about Infantino,
00:13:15Infantino, but the real question question for footballers, people
00:13:17people around the world is like how
00:13:19how low can this go? And if this
00:13:22this is what organisational institutional institutional culture actually is
00:13:26is at Fifa, then clearly it needs
00:13:28needs very significant reform. It's It's obvious that, you know, I think
00:13:32think when you come to the Balagan Balagan affair, a whole range of
00:13:35of issues we go back to the peace
00:13:37peace Prize, but particularly this
00:13:40this unilateral, approach and project project from Infantino that was then
00:13:44then going to be forced through on on member federations to sell off
00:13:47off part of its most precious asset. asset. If this is now acceptable
00:13:50acceptable to Fifa management and
00:13:52and it is then surely Fifa management
00:13:56management along with Infantino need need to be changed. Yeah. So what
00:13:58what does this say about the whole
00:14:01whole of Fifa? Because obviously obviously we had previous leaders
00:14:05leaders of Fifa, said Plata. He was was embroiled in controversy. What
00:14:07What does Fifa need to do in order
00:14:10order to clear. Its. Arguably it's
00:14:14it's a difficult back history. Yeah.
00:14:17Yeah. So as you say, this is a repeating
00:14:20repeating cycle now and that's the the real challenge for global football
00:14:23football and all of the stakeholders stakeholders is that this is going
00:14:27going to occur again. The question question is whether next time it
00:14:30it may not be caught, you know, by by external media. It may not be
00:14:34be leaked by people inside the organisation. organisation. It may have been forced
00:14:38forced through and all of a sudden sudden some of the key assets may
00:14:41may well have been sold off in circumstances
00:14:45circumstances of, you know, very very serious concerns about conflict conflict of interests and abuse of
00:14:48of the position of the President. President. So therefore, what it
00:14:51it says to us is if we're going to to end the cycle, we need reform
00:14:55reform of Fifa. There's a lot of of different conversations happening
00:14:57happening about that. As to whether
00:15:00whether it needs, you know, a rotating rotating president or it needs a
00:15:04a chair of an internal board or whatever whatever the case is. But it certainly
00:15:07certainly needs reform. I think the the other two points quickly to make
00:15:11make is that the fans and the players
00:15:14players have to have a stake and and power in this game. They're the
00:15:17the two voices and we always say say that football is for the people
00:15:20people of the world and yes it is, is, but the people of the world have
00:15:23have no access. They have no leverage leverage and they have no power and
00:15:27and it's not being managed in the the interests of the fans and the the people of the world. The only
00:15:31only way that's going to happen is
00:15:32is if the fans come together in a
00:15:36a global organisation and create
00:15:38create leverage and power so that that they have a real stake. And
00:15:41And if players do that and I'm talking talking here about FIFPro, which
00:15:44which is the global players union, union, they need to be stronger.
00:15:47stronger. They need to make sure sure that the legendary players of
00:15:50of the world are on board onside onside with them instead of being
00:15:54being this close and captured by by Fifa. And those two stakeholders
00:15:58stakeholders have to really now get
00:16:00get themselves organised and accept accept responsibility on behalf of
00:16:03of all the players of the world and and all the fans of the world to
00:16:07to actually force reform through through at Fifa. Craig Foster there,
00:16:10there, who used to captain the Australian
00:16:13Australian national team. We are
00:16:15are going to take a short break and
00:16:18and what more? There is lots more more coming up. We're going to meet
00:16:22meet the 97-year-old woman who broke
00:16:24broke her own world record by becoming becoming the oldest person to complete
00:16:28complete a wing walk, so head for for heights there around the world,
00:16:31world, across the UK you're
00:17:35question on BBC News. Welcome back.
00:17:43back. You're with BBC News. Coming Coming to you from the very heart
00:17:46heart of our newsroom here in central central London. Hello. Four women
00:17:50women have told the BBC that they they were sexually assaulted and
00:17:53and harassed at an Army training training college for teenagers in
00:17:57in North Yorkshire. The Army Foundation Foundation College in Harrogate is
00:18:01is the largest military training training establishment for under
00:18:04under 19 seconds in the UK and receives
00:18:07receives all the Army's 16-year-old 16-year-old recruits. The Ministry Ministry of Defence says that the
00:18:11the culture of care at the establishment establishment was recognised in its
00:18:14its latest Ofsted report, as well
00:18:16well as during a visit from the Children's
00:18:19Children's Commissioner and safeguarding safeguarding authorities in January.
00:18:21January. Our senior UK correspondent
00:18:24correspondent Sima Kotecha has more.
00:18:26more. It ruined my life. I've lost
00:18:30lost all my confidence. The words
00:18:32words of women who went to the largest largest army training college in
00:18:35in the country for 16 and 17 year-olds.
00:18:38year-olds. Speaking to the BBC for for the first time. It needs to be
00:18:42be closed down and I don't get why why it hasn't. It just doesn't make
00:18:46make sense. The Army Foundation College College in Harrogate is for teenagers
00:18:49teenagers who want a life in the the armed forces, but now it's at
00:18:53at the centre of serious allegations allegations from several women who
00:18:56who went to the college in recent
00:18:58recent years, claims of harassment harassment and sexual assault. They
00:19:01They were like, do you want to come
00:19:03come into the room? And me being
00:19:06being a naive 17-year-old girl was
00:19:08was like, yeah, fine. Tilly. Not
00:19:10Not her real name, says she was raped
00:19:12raped by fellow recruits. They started started taking my clothes off and
00:19:16and then this led to them doing stuff
00:19:18stuff I didn't consent to. There
00:19:21There were a lot of them. They touched
00:19:23touched me in places, made inappropriate inappropriate comments, calling me
00:19:26me a thing rather than a girl. Like
00:19:29Like some of the other women we spoke spoke to, Tilly reported it to the
00:19:32the police. We're not providing the the full details of all their investigations
00:19:36investigations to protect their identity.
00:19:39identity. Monica, also not her real real name, says she too was attacked
00:19:42attacked by a junior soldier. Set Set against the door so I couldn't
00:19:46couldn't get out. He then pushed pushed himself up against me and
00:19:48and started kissing my face and touching
00:19:50touching me all over. He sexually sexually assaulted me. All of the
00:19:54the women we've spoken to went to to this college over the last five
00:19:58five years. Data obtained by the
00:20:00the BBC through a Freedom of Information
00:20:02Information request shows that North
00:20:05North Yorkshire Police recorded 16 16 sexual offence crimes over the
00:20:08the last year at this college, including
00:20:13including voyeurism and exposure exposure and sexual assault. These
00:20:15These are recorded complaints and and it's not clear how many led to
00:20:19to prosecutions. If this was anywhere anywhere else it would have been been closed down by now. I think
00:20:23think as a matter of urgency, there
00:20:24there should be an independent inquiry
00:20:27inquiry into the college led by someone
00:20:29someone with significant safeguarding
00:20:32safeguarding expertise. A recent recent Ministry of Defence survey
00:20:35survey suggests almost 70% of women
00:20:37women in the armed forces experienced experienced at least one sexualised
00:20:41sexualised behaviour in the last
00:20:42last year. In 2021, gunner JAAC Beck
00:20:45Beck took her own life at her barracks barracks in Wiltshire months after
00:20:49after she was sexually assaulted assaulted by Warrant Officer Michael
00:20:53Michael Weber. Last year, a coroner coroner ruled the assault and the
00:20:56the army's failure to take appropriate
00:20:58appropriate action more than minimally minimally contributed to her death.
00:21:02death. Weber was jailed for six months.
00:21:05months. The government defines a
00:21:07a child as anyone under 18 in response
00:21:10response to the allegations made made in this report, the Ministry
00:21:13Ministry of Defence says unacceptable unacceptable and criminal behaviour
00:21:16behaviour has absolutely no place place in our armed forces and these
00:21:20these reports are extremely distressing distressing and serious. It says
00:21:23says it's created the defence Serious
00:21:25Serious Crime Command, which is independent independent and outside of the army
00:21:29army chain of command and has a specialist specialist team who help victims
00:21:33victims throughout the process of
00:21:36of justice. The Army is a tough training
00:21:40training environment with high standards, standards, but the supervision and
00:21:43and discipline of junior recruits recruits and their instructors is
00:21:46is now in sharp focus. After so many
00:21:50many serious allegations, Sima Kotecha,
00:21:53Kotecha, BBC News. Myanmar's military
00:21:57military leader turned president president Min Aung Hlaing has arrived
00:22:00arrived in Thailand for an official official visit. It's his first trip
00:22:03trip outside the country since he he launched a coup that ignited a
00:22:07a civil war which left thousands thousands dead and wrecked the economy.
00:22:10economy. Well, now his diplomatic diplomatic engagement is part of
00:22:13of an attempt to end the country's
00:22:16country's international isolation. isolation. Our South East Asia correspondent correspondent Jonathan Head is at
00:22:19at government House in Bangkok. He He told me about what we can expect
00:22:23expect over the course of this visit. visit. This is where dignitaries,
00:22:26dignitaries, top leaders come to to meet the Prime Minister. It's It's the seat of government in Thailand.
00:22:30Thailand. Min Aung Hlaing has spent spent the last couple of hours here
00:22:32here in meetings with Thailand's Thailand's top leadership, but he
00:22:36he has a full two day visit in which which there's going to be a business business forum where Thai businesses
00:22:39businesses are going to look into into how they can invest more in
00:22:41in Myanmar. He's going to be given given a full dinner. He's going to
00:22:45to be meeting a whole range of Thai Thai officials. This is a much larger
00:22:48larger scale visit than I think many many people expected. For a first
00:22:52first official visit since the coup. coup. And as you say, he's been out
00:22:55out in the cold. The South East Asian
00:22:57Asian position has been that Myanmar Myanmar is in, in the doghouse that
00:23:01that the Myanmar military leaders leaders have refused to honour the
00:23:04the promise they made five years years ago to de-escalate violence
00:23:07violence and talk to the opposition. opposition. Min Aung Hlaing has now
00:23:10now completely dismissed that agreement agreement that he signed five years
00:23:13years ago. And a lot of South East East Asian countries are saying we
00:23:17we should not be engaging with him him until we see some real concessions
00:23:19concessions that might end this catastrophic catastrophic civil war in Myanmar
00:23:23Myanmar that's still ongoing. There's There's still bombardment of villages
00:23:26villages and hospitals. I mean, there's there's no sign of it toning down
00:23:30down or of any overtures being made
00:23:32made to the opposition in Myanmar Myanmar despite the notional transformation
00:23:36transformation of men into a civilian civilian president. So there are
00:23:39are a lot of South East Asian countries countries or some that really disagree
00:23:42disagree with what Thailand is doing. doing. But Thailand argues it's a
00:23:45a special case. It's got a very long
00:23:47long border, the longest of all with
00:23:49with Myanmar 2500km. But Min Aung Aung Hlaing is there to stay. He's
00:23:52He's got the backing of China, but but they have to start doing business
00:23:55business with him and they've really really elevated relations pretty
00:23:58pretty much back to what they were were before the coup with this visit.
00:24:02visit. And have we heard anything anything about the opposition leader,
00:24:05leader, Aung San Suu Kyi? We've heard
00:24:09heard very little. But we did, of
00:24:12of course, have this photograph published published on Monday showing her meeting
00:24:16meeting a delegation from the Red Red Cross. Now, it wasn't much, but
00:24:20but because the ICRC confirmed it it was actually the very first proof
00:24:23proof of life anyone's had of Aung
00:24:24Aung San Suu Kyi being alive. And And we think reasonably healthy for
00:24:28for more than two and a half years. years. And what's interesting is
00:24:32is the Burmese military rulers have have been under enormous pressure pressure from their neighbours, from
00:24:35from Aung San Suu Kyi's family to to show that she's alive and well.
00:24:38well. They've refused to do it. They They released that photograph on
00:24:42on Monday, largely because the Thais Thais couldn't have allowed this this visit to go ahead without being
00:24:46being sure she was alive. And there there are others saying, well, that's that's fine. I mean, at least it's
00:24:49it's good to know she's alive. But But this is a very small concession. concession. The real concessions
00:24:54concessions people have been asking asking for from the military is to
00:24:57to stop this relentless, destructive destructive war against those who
00:25:00who oppose their coup and to start start dialogue. And we haven't heard
00:25:04heard anything from Min Aung Hlaing Hlaing or the military people around
00:25:06around him that suggest they're ready
00:25:09ready to do that. Our thanks to Jonathan
00:25:12Jonathan Head in Bangkok there on
00:25:14on the visit by the Myanmar's leader
00:25:17leader there. We're going to cross
00:25:18cross over live to Italy, to Perugia,
00:25:22Perugia, to Umbria, in fact, because
00:25:24because as you can see, Pope Leo
00:25:27Leo is there meeting members of the
00:25:30the public and he's there to mark
00:25:34mark the 800th anniversary of Pope
00:25:36Pope Francis. Saint Francis of Assisi.
00:25:40Assisi. This is a pastoral visit visit to this Italian town where
00:25:44where it brings to an end four days
00:25:46days of encounters, workshops and
00:25:49and what the Vatican are describing describing as opportunities for sharing,
00:25:53sharing, especially answering young
00:25:54young people's questions. He's also
00:25:58also presided over mass. There an
00:26:00an important moment for Pope Leo,
00:26:04Leo, who's proclaimed this year as as a Franciscan
00:29:42question on BBC News. Here at BBC
00:29:49BBC Verify. We use forensic investigative investigative techniques and tools
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00:29:55verify information and counter disinformation disinformation using data analysis analysis and the latest technology.
00:29:59technology. Our journalists examine examine the evidence and get to the
00:30:02the facts. Watch our BBC Verify reports reports on the BBC News channel or
00:30:05or go online to find out more. With
00:30:13With BBC News our main headlines headlines now. Iran says a deal with
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00:30:25as it resumed strikes on the country.
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00:30:57walk. So much more on all of those those stories coming up.