BBC News with Iain Purdon
The United States has told Syria not to transfer weapons to Hezbollah - it's Islamist ally in Lebanon. On Wednesday Israel carried an airstrike that the US officials say targeted a convoy transporting missiles. Russia and Iran have expressed their deep concern about the raid which Moscow said was a dangerous escalation of the conflict in Syria. Paul Adam reports from Washington
Asked about the Israeli raid, President Obama’s deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes said Syria should not further destabilize the region by transferring weaponry to Hezbollah. He didn’t confirm details of the raid itself, but another American official has confirmed to the BBC that the target was, as widely reported, a convoy carrying Russian made surface to air missiles. The strike took place close to Syria’s border with Lebanon and diplomats in Washington believe the missiles were being delivered to Hezbollah.
President Obama’s nominee to be the new US defense secretary is thought to reassure Congress over concerns about his record. Chuck Hagel told the Senate Armed Forces Committee that his goal was to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and that all options remained on the table to achieve that.
The United States has described Iran’s plan to speed up uranium enrichment by using better equipment as a provocative step. Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency it intends to install new centrifuges at its nuclear plant in Natanz. The White House spokesman Jae Carney called it a further escalation and violation of United Nations resolutions.
“It will mark, yet, another provocative step by Iran and will only invite further isolation by the international community. We continue to believe that there’s time and space for diplomacy to work, but actions like these undercut the efforts of international community to resolve these concerns over Iran’s nuclear weapons.”
There’s been another school shooting in the United States. One student was injured and has been taken to hospital. The teenager’s condition is not known. A teacher was also injured in the incident which took place at a middle school in the city of Atlanta. Reports say one suspect is in custody.
A new United Nations report says that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories violate the rights of Palestinians. It urges Israel to stop building settlements immediately. Imogen Foulkes sent this report from Geneva.
The UN experts say Israeli settlements violate the rights of Palestinians in many ways, subjecting them to displacement, destruction of crops and property, intimidation and violence. The experts say Israel must stop the settlements immediately and withdraw all settlers from the occupied territories. Israel called the report and the UN human rights council biased.
World News from the BBC
Political groups in Egypt have signed an agreement condemning violence in an effort to end days of street clashes which have left more than 60 people dead. The document also called for national dialogue. It came at the end of a meeting between parties across the political divides including activist groups and church leaders.
The French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says that three weeks of French air strikes have left Islamist rebels in northern Mali scattered and in disarray. Mr. Le Drian said that some have fled the country and others have made a tactical withdrawal to mountainous areas, but he said that fighting against the rebels who seized northern Mali last year had not ended.
The highest court in the European Union has ruled that airlines must compensate passengers whose flights are canceled even if disruptions are caused by extraordinary events such as volcanic eruptions. The European court of justice made the ruling after a woman in Ireland sued the budget carrier Ryanair because she was stranded in 2010 when ash clouds from a volcano in Iceland forced the closure of most Europe’s airspace. Ryanair has been ordered to cover the costs the woman incurred. Richard Westcott reports.
Ryanair passenger Denise McDonagh was forced to spend an extra week in Portugal and she charged the airline more than 900 pounds for her hotels, transport and meal, something she’s allowed to do under EU rules. But rather than pay up what the company had done with every other stranded passenger, Ryanair decided to test the case in the courts. They wanted to put a limit on future payouts, but they lost the case. Boss Michael O’Leary says it’s a disaster for the industry.
The Russian city of Volgograd is to revive its former name Stalingrad for this weekend as events take place marking 70 years since one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War. Hundreds of thousands of people died on both sides before German troops besieging Stalingrad were defeated.
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