BBC News Briefing

19 June, 2025

Sofia has long brown hair and brown eyes and is wearing a green top.

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. A hospital in southern Israel was hit as Iran launched missile strikes across the country. Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson reports from the medical complex, which Iran denies targeting directly. In France, correspondent Andrew Harding witnesses smuggling gangs' latest tactics to evade authorities. And finally, archaeologists put together thousands of fragments of a 2,000-year-old wall plaster to reveal remarkable Roman frescoes.

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We experienced some technical issues that prevented us from sending an earlier edition of News Briefing. We apologise for the disruption.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Beersheba one of several sites hit by Iran

Smoke billows over the Soroka Medical Center following an Iranian strike

The attack prompted Israel's defence minister to say Iran's supreme leader "should no longer exist". Credit: Reuters

Israel's ministry of health said 71 people have been injured at Soroka hospital in Beersheba after it was damaged by an Iranian missile strike. Iran said the intended target was a military site nearby. BBC Verify asked two munitions experts for their assessment. Meanwhile, Israel's military said it had targeted Iran's nuclear sites including the Arak heavy water reactor. Reporting from the hospital, Lucy Williamson notes Iran hit half a dozen sites across Israel on Thursday morning, hours after the US called for "unconditional surrender" - a reminder that both sides have the capacity to escalate this conflict.

Read now

Watch: Analysis editor Ros Atkins explains just how close Iran is to developing a nuclear weapon.
Public opinion: Americans give their views on whether the US should get involved in the conflict.
Get the latest: The White House said on Thursday that President Donald Trump's decision on US intervention would come within the next two weeks.

GET UP TO SPEED

Aerial view of a vineyard, where people are seen picking grapes.

Trial exposes conditions in France's champagne fields

Three people are accused of exploiting more than 50 seasonal workers at a human trafficking trial in Reims.

What happened >

A young boy in a white shirt carries bottles of water on his head

Three years left to limit warming to 1.5C - experts

Keeping up current emission levels would mean breaching the limit against some of the worst impacts of climate change.

Why it matters >

A giant orange and red plume rises from the ground in an explosion.

SpaceX rocket explodes into massive fireball

A live stream has captured the moment a SpaceX Starship rocket exploded while preparing for a flight test.

Watch the video >

Blake Lively, wearing an orange, red and black stripy jumper and a tan suede skirt, walking alongside Taylor Swift, who is in a green crushed velvet dress

Ruling on Blake Lively and Taylor Swift's messages

Messages between the two friends can be handed over to Justin Baldoni as part of an ongoing legal battle, a judge has decided.

Read more >

AT THE SCENE

French coast, south of Calais

Channel smugglers switch tactics

A group of people stand in waist-deep water with an overloaded inflatable boat in front of them

After launching from hidden sites, the boats cruise France's coastline picking up people. Credit: Lea Guedj/BBC

Smuggling gangs have revised their tactics to carry people across the Channel from France to the UK. Instead of inflating their boats in the dunes along the coast, they are launching them from better hidden locations, often dozens of kilometres from the main departure beaches. Once the boat is in the water, it's too risky for police to intervene.

Andrew Harding, Paris correspondent

Just before sunrise last Friday, we encountered a group of perhaps 80 people gathered in calm, waist-deep water, off a beach near the village of Wissant, south of Calais. There were several women and children in the group, from countries including Eritrea and Afghanistan. An inflatable "taxi boat", operated by a smuggling gang, had just arrived by sea and now circled repeatedly.

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Over the course of perhaps 10 minutes, one man sitting at the front of the boat appeared to usher people forwards, to clamber onboard in relatively organised, even orderly, groups. Several children clung, occasionally crying, to their relatives' shoulders. "Yes, to England," one Afghan man told me, patiently waiting his turn, his eyes focused firmly on the boat.

Keep reading

Channel crossing explainer: Almost 37,000 people crossed the English Channel in small boats in 2024. Here's what to know.

Atlantic migrant crossing: Earlier this year, BBC Verify tracked down people trafficker Fadi Gujjar - documenting his activities across three continents.

A woman take a photo of a colourful Juneteenth mural

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SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Juneteenth's birthplace

The Texas island city of Galveston is marking 160 years of the event.

Here's how

And finally... in Londinium

Archaeologists have spent years solving what they dubbed "the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle" - the ancient remains of a luxurious villa's frescoes, initially discovered at a site they described as the "Beverly Hills of Roman London". Take a look at how the beautiful paintings have been pieced back together.

US Politics Unspun newsletter

No noise. No agenda. Just expert analysis of the issues that matter most, from North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher.

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– Sofia

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