BBC news with Sue Montgomery.
The Israeli Prime Minister has launched a fierce attack on the deal western powers and Iran are negotiating on Tehran’s nuclear program. But President Obama has said Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the US congress offered no other viable choices.
“On the core issue which is how do we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon which would make it far more dangerous and would give its scope or even greater action in the region and Prime Minister didn’t offer any viable alternatives.”
In his speech, Mr. Netanyahu said that rather than curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the deal would pave the way for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. From Washington, here is Jeremy Bowen.
“It was a direct intervention in American politics. Prime Minister Netanyahu wants the congress to do all it can to block an agreement with Iran if one is made. The Israeli general election is two weeks away, and Mr. Netanyahu's critics see the speech as a manipulation of the close relationship between Israel and the US for political advantage. First, for the Prime Minister himself; and then for the Republicans who’d like to weaken traditional Jewish support for the Democrats. But there is no doubt that Mr. Netanyahu sees the threat from Iran as real. And his skillful rhetoric will connect with many Americans.”
Reports from the United States say a justice department investigation into last year's police killing of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson has found a pattern of racial bias in the town's police court and jail systems. Riots broke out in the Missourian town after Michael Brown was shot dead by a white police officer, and again after a grand jury decided not to indict him. Our North America Editor Jon Sopel sent this report from Washington.
“One official said the inquiry found that officers disproportionally used excessive force against black people, and too often charged them with petty offenses, more motivated by generating revenue from fines than public safety. The justice department also found that African Americans were 60% less likely than others to have their cases dismissed by a municipal court judge; and that from April to September last year, 95% of people kept in the city jail for more than two days were black.”
President of Tanzania Jakaya Kiwete has promised to end the killing and mutilation of albinos, which he says is bringing shame on the country. Mr. Kiwete said the false belief that their body parts bring good luck was fueling the murders. Albino body parts which are believed to bring luck in business, politics and love, sell for hundreds of dollars in Tanzania. Campaigners say more than 70 albinos have been killed in Tanzania in the past few years.
World News from the BBC.
The Iraqi army says Islamic State militants are using guerrilla tactics to slow its advance on Tikrit including snipers, suicide bombs and booby traps. Government forces and Shiite militias organized by Iran launched a major offensive to recapture the city on Monday. One militia commander criticized the United States for not supporting the operation with air strikes.
The former CIA director General David Petraeus has pleaded guilty to the federal charge of mishandling classified material. He resigned from the CIA in 2012. From Washington, Gary O’Donoghue.
“The case against David Petraeus stemed from an affair he had with his biographer Paula Broadwell. The affair emerged when a friend of Mr. Petraeus complained to the FBI about threatening E-mail she was receiving telling her to stay away from the four-star general. It became clear those E-mails were sent by Mrs. Broadwell. And the agency investigating discovered that classified documents had been removed and retained by General Petraeus. This plea bargain will allow him to avoid an embarrassing high-profile trial, but nevertheless it is a federal conviction and it marks an ignominious end to a glittering career.”
Western leaders have called for a strong reaction from the international community if there is a major breach of the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine. The truce agreed a Minsk’s quieten down the fighting, but Ukraine has warned that the Russia backed rebels are using the law to build up their forces from the attacks in the city of Mariupol.
The only Soviet labor camp fully preserved from the Stalin era has ceased to exist as a museum dedicated to political prisoners. The former head of the PM 36 in Russia's Ural Mountains told the BBC that local officials were taking over the memorial complex. They have changed the exhibition, removing references to Stalin and political persecutions. He said the museum would now lose its significance.