BBC News with Jonathan Izard.
The Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the US and other world powers of having given up on trying to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Mr. Netanyahu's remarks were the latest in a spat with the Obama administration over the Israeli leader's plans to address the US Congress next week. Kevin Connolly is in Jerusalem.
“Benjamin Netanyahu has made Iran's nuclear ambition one of the central things of his political life. He believes Israel would be in grave danger from Iranian atomic bomb and he is dismissive of western leaders who don't appear to share his sense of urgency or perception of the dangers. In his speech to his party faithful less than a month before Israel votes, he said the deal would emerge in the P5+1 talks suggested that the world powers were giving up on their commitment to stop Iran making nuclear weapons and accepting that Iran would create the material to make many bombs. "Maybe they can live with that," he said, "but I can't."
There have been reports of a day of fighting in northeastern Syria in the area where Islamic State militants have kidnapped a large number of Christian villagers. One local source has put the figure at more than 280. The IS militants have continued to clash with local Kurdish rebels and their Christian militia allies. Alan Johnston reports.
“The area where the Christians were kidnapped continues to be a war zone. There were reports of Churches and homes having been set ablaze. And Islamic State forces have been attempting to advance on the nearby city of Hasakah. All sides have called in reinforcements, and the Christians have appealed for support from the war-planes of the US-led coalition. Meanwhile, efforts to try to negotiate the release of the captured Christian civilians are reported to be underway.”
US police have arrested 3 men on charges of conspiring to support the militant group Islamic State. Two are alleged to have planned to travel to Syria. Two were from Uzbekistan, one from Kazakhstan. The New York city police commissioner William Bratton announced the arrests.
"One was arrested at the International Airport, JFK International Airport, as he was getting ready to board that flight. A second individual had a later flight schedule. He was arrested at home here in Brooklyn. The third individual who we believe helped to organize and finance the trip of the other two individuals was arrested in Jacksonville Florida. So the innitial actions were actively to go to Syria, and attempts to join ISIL in Syria."
The commissioner said that was clear from the men's statements that if they were unable to go to Syria, they intended to try to acquire weapons in the United States and use them to attack police officers.
French officials say that 3 journalists working for the TV news channel Al-Jazeera have been arrested in Paris after flying a drone on the outskirts of the city. They say there's no suggestion so far that the three are linked to the sightings of drones over the central of the capital in the past two nights.
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Cyprus has signed an agreement with Moscow to give Russian navy ships access to Syrian ports. The deal with Cyprus, which also has its British military bases, comes at the time of heightened tension between Russia and the west over Ukraine. Cyprus, which is heavily dependent on Russian investment, played down the accord, saying Russian ships had always had access to its ports.
The security services in South Africa have launched an investigation into the mass leaking of espionage secrets to the media this week. They revealed that South Africa was coerced by the United States into spying on Iran. The security minister David Mahlobo condemned the leaks, saying they undermined diplomatic relations. Correspondents say that in the past, South Africa has been reluctant to take sides in disputes between East and West.
Researchers in Britain working for the Internet company Google say they have developed an artificial intelligence system that's learned to play how to play computer games in the 1980s better than most people. Pallab Ghosh reports.
“This is the sound of Breakout, a 1980s computer game. It's been played by an artificial intelligence system. Within hours, it learns how to play the game, and it's able to outperform even the best human gamer. Although there have been many self-learning systems before, this is the first time one has learned how to do such a complex task. The aim is to use such systems to make smartphones and other devices even smarter, and ultimately to think for themselves.”
British police say an investigation into the veteran pop singer Cliff Richard has grown significantly in size. The 74-year-old was interviewed by police last year in connection with an alleged sexual assault in 1985. Officers say they are now investigating more than one allegation. Sir Cliff, who has sold millions of records worldwide, said the allegations were absurd and untrue.