Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused the US and Donald Trump of being responsible for "casualties, damage and slander" in his country during recent protests.
In a speech on Saturday, Khamenei acknowledged that thousands of people had been killed during recent unrest, "some in an inhuman, savage manner" but blamed the deaths on "seditionists".
The US president has urged Iranian anti-government demonstrators to "keep protesting" and threatened military intervention if security forces kill them.
Protests in Iran have claimed 3,090 lives, according to US-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), in unrest that started over the economy on 28 December.
Since then, the protests have turned into calls for the end of the rule of Iran's supreme leader.
The Iranian government has called the demonstrations "riots" backed by Iran's enemies.
Protesters have been met with deadly force and there has been a near-total shutdown of the internet and communication services.
There have been fewer reports of unrest in recent days but with internet access still restricted developments on the ground remain unclear.
During his speech on Saturday, Khamenei also said Iran considered President Trump to be a "criminal" and said the US must be "held accountable" for recent unrest.
He also claimed on social media that "America's goal is to swallow Iran".
Trump has not yet responded to the supreme leader and the BBC has approached the White House for a comment.
Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had been told "the killing in Iran has stopped", but added that he had not ruled out military action against the country.
His comments came after the US and UK both reduced the number of personnel at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar.
Officials told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that a partial American withdrawal was a "precautionary measure".
The White House has announced the first members of its Gaza "Board of Peace", and the list of names will do little to dispel the criticism from some quarters that the US president's plan resembles, at its heart, a colonial solution imposed over the heads of the Palestinians.
There are still several unknowns - namely who else might be added, and the exact structure of what is currently a rather complicated layout.
So far, no Palestinian names are included on the two separate senior boards that have been officially unveiled.
One is a "founding Executive Board", with a high-level focus on investment and diplomacy. The other, called the "Gaza Executive Board", is responsible for overseeing all on-the-ground work of yet another administrative group, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).
That committee is made up of supposedly technocratic, apolitical Palestinians, led by Dr Ali Shaath, a civil engineer by training who's held ministerial positions in the Palestinian Authority.
But of the seven members of the founding Executive Board, six are Americans - including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other members of Trump's inner circle like his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff, who is US Special Envoy to the Middle East, but also a friend of the president and a fellow real estate developer.
Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, is something of an exception as a dual-national, Indian-born US citizen. Sir Tony Blair, meanwhile, is a former UK Prime Minister, and his inclusion is likely to further fuel concerns about how the Board of Peace will operate.
Over the past few weeks, criticism of Sir Tony's possible inclusion has come from figures like prominent politician Mustafa Barghouti, general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, and newspaper reports quoting unnamed officials from Arab states in the region.
Sir Tony's central role in the Iraq war, coupled with Britain's own colonial history in the Middle East, is deemed by his opponents to make him entirely unsuitable.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations' special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, wrote on social media last year: "Tony Blair? Hell no. Hands off Palestine."
Even Trump seemed to acknowledge the issue.
"I've always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he's an acceptable choice to everybody," the president said last October.
There is significant overlap between the two senior boards, with Kushner, Witkoff and Sir Tony appearing on both.
But the Gaza Executive Board does include the names of some senior political figures and diplomats from Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. It will be headed by the former Bulgarian politician, Nickolay Mladenov, who's been given the title of High Representative for Gaza.
Yakir Gabay, a businessman born in Israel and now based in Cyprus is the only Israeli member.
In its statement announcing the names, the White House said those chosen will work to ensure "effective governance and the delivery of best-in-class services that advance peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of Gaza".
And whatever the concerns and complexities, the plan remains the only game in town, with many world leaders pledging their support and commitment to helping make it a success.
Its architecture is further complicated by the fact that, sitting above all the structures announced so far, will be the Board of Peace itself, with President Trump as the chairman.
Names of that supreme body have not yet been announced, but the current UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Egypt's Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Canadian leader Mark Carney have reportedly been invited to join.
In the end, whether the most vocal critics can be assuaged will depend on how quickly the new members of the senior teams can begin to drive change that makes a real difference in both daily life for Palestinians and, crucially, further concrete steps towards a lasting peace.
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Aid groups have accused Israel of continuing restrictions on their work
Major challenges remain to both of those goals.
The UN estimates around 80% of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged and families who have survived the war are now struggling with the winter weather, and a lack of food and shelter.
While aid groups say there has been some improvements, they accuse Israel of imposing continuing restrictions upon their work.
Israel says that it is facilitating humanitarian assistance, and has blamed the UN for failing to distribute supplies already in Gaza. It argues any restrictions are designed to stop Hamas infiltrating and exploiting relief efforts.
Showing meaningful progress towards rebuilding will also be a Herculean task, involving not only the removal of an estimated 60 million tonnes of rubble, but first finding and disposing of the dead bodies and unexploded bombs contained within it.
Perhaps the biggest challenge though is maintaining the fraying ceasefire itself.
Another name has been released by the White House, that of Major General Jasper Jeffers as the Commander of the International Stabilization Force (ISF).
Backed by a UN mandate, it will have the tough job of ensuring the demilitarisation of Gaza.
As yet, there's no clear road map for how Hamas will be persuaded to give up its weapons, nor any clear idea of which country will provide troops for that force or what its remit and rules of engagement will be.
Hamas has said it will only disarm as part of a wider deal establishing a Palestinian state.
Israel, whose ground troops still control more than half of the Gaza Strip, has said it will only withdraw if Hamas disarms.
How that catch-22 can be resolved is perhaps the biggest test of all.
Yoweri Museveni first came to power in 1986 as a rebel leader
President Yoweri Museveni has been declared the winner of Thursday's election extending his four decades in power by another five years.
He gained 72% of the vote, the election commission announced, against 25% for his closest challenger Bobi Wine, who has condemned what he described as "fake results" and "ballot stuffing". He has not provided any evidence and the authorities have not responded to his allegations.
Wine has called on Ugandans to hold non-violent protests.
Museveni, 81, first came to power as a rebel leader in 1986 but since then has won seven elections.
The election process was marred by violence and Wine, a 43-year-old former pop star, says that at least 21 people have been killed around the country in recent days.
The authorities have so far confirmed seven deaths.
Access to the internet has been cut in the country since Tuesday, making it hard to verify information.
The authorities say the blackout was necessary to prevent misinformation, fraud and the incitement of violence - a move condemned by the UN human rights office as "deeply worrying".
Wine has demanded that the internet be restored.
Overnight, Wine's party said that he had been abducted from his home in the capital, Kampala - a claim denied by the police.
Wine later issued a statement on Facebook saying that he had managed to evade a night-time raid by security forces and was in hiding.
He had previously said he was under house arrest.
This has not been confirmed by the police but spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said Wine's movements were restricted because his home was an area of "security interest".
"We have controlled access to areas which are security hotspots," Uganda's Daily Monitor paper quoted him as saying.
"We cannot allow people to use some places to gather and cause chaos," he said.
Sergii, Mariia and Eva's Odesa apartment suffers from frequent power cuts
From Mariia's 16th-floor flat, the calm waters of the Black Sea stretch out into the horizon beneath the fading twilight.
"Up here you can see and hear when the drones come," she says, standing by a wall-length, floor-to-ceiling window. When they hit buildings and homes in the city of Odesa down below "we see all the fires too".
Her daughter Eva, who is nine, has learned the shapes and sounds of the objects that zoom through the sky on a daily basis. She proudly shows off a list of social media channels she checks when the air raid alerts go off.
"She knows whether what's coming is a risk or a threat, and that calms her down," her father Sergii says.
There is scarcely a place in Ukraine that has not been targeted since Russia launched its full-scale invasion nearly four years ago.
But in recent weeks Odesa – Ukraine's third largest city – has come under sustained attack. Through strikes on port and energy infrastructure, Russia is trying to cripple the region's economy and dent the population's morale.
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A view of a recent drone attack from Sergii's window
Moscow, however, does not just hit facilities. Its drones, mostly as big as a motorcycle, regularly crash into high-rise buildings like Masha's, exploding on impact and blowing glass and debris inward. The consequences are often deadly.
"A few months ago Eva said she was afraid the drone would come too fast and we wouldn't have time to hide," Mariia says. "But I explained that if it came towards us, it would get louder and louder and then we'd know we have to run."
Mariia, Sergii and Eva are originally from Kherson, a region 200km (125m) to the east of Odesa which is now in large part occupied by Russia.
They left as soon as the invasion started in 2022 and mother and daughter briefly moved to Germany as refugees. But Sergii and Mariia could not bear the distance, so the family reunited in Ukraine and moved to Odesa.
Now, as attacks on the region intensify, Sergii wonders whether the family should prepare to leave again. "War is only about economics, and Odesa for the Russians is about infrastructure, so they will do their best to conquer it," he says.
'We can see and hear when the drones come' says Odesa resident
Tucked in south-western Ukraine, Odesa was an economic powerhouse before the war. But now that Russia occupies the majority of Ukraine's coastline, the region has become even more vital. Its three ports are Ukraine's largest and include the country's only deep-water port. With land crossings disrupted, 90% of Ukraine exports last year were shipped by sea.
But in wartime the region's importance is also its weakness.
Last month, Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off Ukraine's access to the sea in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on the "shadow fleet" tankers Russia uses to circumvent sanctions.
That threat has translated into concrete impact. For two years, Russia's attempts to thwart Odesa's economy have been near-relentless - but the last few weeks have been particularly difficult.
Aerial attacks on the ports have destroyed cargo and containers and damaged infrastructure; crew members on foreign merchant ships operating in the Gulf of Odesa have been injured or killed by drones; and 800 air-raid alerts in a year repeatedly halted port operations.
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Power outages have plunged much of Odesa into darkness since December
The result last year was a 45% decrease in exports of agricultural products, vital to Odesa's economy.
The day after a drone strike this week set a Panamanian-flagged ship alight and severely injured one of its crew members, regional government head Oleh Kiper said that shipowners entering Odesa ports "clearly understand that they are entering a war zone" and that the ships were insured.
But if such attacks continue, in the long run foreign companies may be put off trading with the port.
"After a strike like last night's, the people who live here will go to shelters for some time, then they will relax again," says Maryna Averina of the State Emergency Service
As the strikes surge, air sirens go off frequently, but not everyone heeds them. Standing in front of a destroyed gym the morning after an overnight drone strike that injured seven people, Maryna Averina of the State Emergency Service concedes people have become "very careless about their own safety".
A recent air raid alert lasted for most of the day. "Sitting in a shelter for 16 hours is simply unrealistic," Averina says, as gym staff emerge from the destroyed building with whatever objects they have managed to salvage from the rubble and mangled metal inside.
While many Ukrainians are now sadly accustomed to the drone and missile strikes, they are increasingly frayed by the relentless attacks that cut off electricity and heating in the middle of a particularly biting winter.
In December, almost a million people in Odesa were left with no power. "We were among the first regions to experience what it means to go through the winter period without electricity and without heating," says Oleh Kiper.
"I live in hope that all this will end soon," says Yana. "We've all been living like this for four years now, but unfortunately, for now it's how it is."
A month later, as temperatures hover around -1C, the supply remains severely disrupted.
Ada, 36, is strolling on the beach, unfazed by the wail of air alert sirens mingling with the squawking of seagulls. The drone attacks have ramped up but, she says, "the shelling isn't as scary as this cold is".
Nearby, a young mum named Yana agrees. Recently, she says, the situation across the board "has been really, really difficult". At one point, a drone crashed into her flat, and another one hit the block soon afterwards.
Then came the power cuts. She and her family bought an expensive generator, but running it for seven hours costs around $10 - a significant expense in a country where the average monthly salary is around $500 (£375).
"We've all been living like this for four years now, unfortunately. We're as helpless as flies, and everything is just being decided between the authorities," she says, while struggling to keep her shrieking toddler out of the icy water.
"Maybe we're being punished for something – the whole nation, not just a few, but everyone."
Further down the beach, Kostya is fishing on a jetty stretching out into the sea. He says he is not worried about the Russians advancing to the city. "I don't think they'll make it here. [The Ukrainians] will break their legs first."
But, he adds, things are painful, and scary. And like many Ukrainians he still seems to struggle to accept that war came to his country four years ago, waged by a neighbour he once knew so well.
In his youth, Kostya served in the army and swore an oath to the Soviet Union. "I never imagined that I would see something like this in my old age," he says.
While Russian propagandists have long insisted that Ukraine's independence since 1991 is a historical mistake, Odesa's past role as the jewel in the crown of the Russian empire means it still holds particularly strong symbolic importance for Moscow.
Vladimir Putin has repeatedly referred to Odesa as a "Russian city" and frequently invoked the notion of "liberating Novorossiya", a historical region of the Russian empire that encompassed parts of modern southern and eastern Ukraine, including Odesa.
"They wanted and they still want to seize Odesa, just like many other regions, but today everything possible and impossible is being done by our military to prevent this from happening," insists the regional government leader.
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A statue of Russian empress Catherine the Great, the founder of Odesa, was among the first to be dismantled
Oleh Kiper has made it a personal mission to sever any perceived remaining ties that Odesa has with Russia. He is a staunch supporter of a 2023 Law on Decolonisation, which directed local authorities to rid their cities of any street names, monuments or inscriptions that could be linked to Russia's imperial past.
Among the statues to be removed was a monument to the founder of Odesa, Russian Empress Catherine the Great, while streets named after Russian and Soviet figures were renamed. Pushkin Street became Italian Street, and Catherine Street is now European Street. Kiper also champions the usage of Ukrainian in a city where Russian is still very widely spoken.
Asked about the resistance he meets from Odesites who are proud of their heritage as a multicultural port to the world, he is defiant.
"The enemy is doing far more than we are to ensure that a Russian-speaking city becomes Ukrainian," says Kiper. "It is forcing people to understand who the Russians are and whether we need them at all."
The following day, as temperatures dropped to -6C, the city marked one month of partial blackouts, and air raid alerts were in force for four hours. The port of Chernomorsk, east of Odesa, was again hit by a ballistic missile, injuring a crew member on a civilian ship.
As is the case with the rest of Ukraine, if Russia cannot have Odesa, it seems determined to continue crippling it.
Official pictures of Mamadi Doumbouya have portrayed him in a more relaxed mode
From the moment he seized power in September 2021 Guinea's Mamadi Doumbouya struck an imposing figure.
Just 36 years old at the time, the broad-shouldered colonel, standing at well over six feet (1.8m), wearing military fatigues, mirrored sunglasses and a red beret certainly made an impression when announcing the coup.
A relatively unknown member of an elite army unit, he declared that the government of ousted President Alpha Condé had disregarded democratic principles and that citizens' rights were being trampled on.
After more than four years of acting as interim president, and going back on a promise not to run for leadership of the country, Doumbouya, now 41, is set to be sworn in as the elected head of state on Saturday.
The discreet, disciplined and private man won 87% of the vote in December's election against a severely depleted field.
Ex-Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, now in exile, described the process as a charade which generated "fabricated" results.
While seemingly enjoying some popular support, critics have questioned Doumbouya's democratic credentials as some political parties have been banned, activists have mysteriously disappeared and media outlets been shut down.
Reuters
Video footage shot in the aftermath of the 2021 coup showed Doumbouya being greeted by enthusiastic crowds
Scrolling back through the social media accounts from the president's office there is a sense of a carefully curated image.
The army man, now a general, has, for the main, ditched the camouflage in favour of the baseball cap and tracksuit, or a boubou - traditional Guinean attire of loose-fitting robes with elaborate embroidery. The shades though are still at times in evidence.
Pictures show him at the opening of schools, or transport and mining infrastructure or cycling through the streets of the capital, Conakry. The message is clear: this is a man of action who is working on behalf of the people.
"This was presenting an image of someone who can be close to civilians, someone who is a civilian leader and can be representative of the people," Beverly Ochieng, senior analyst with Dakar-based security intelligence firm Control Risks, told the BBC.
"In some ways this is distancing himself from what brought him to power – a coup - and the fact that his entire career has been in the military."
In the 15 years before he took power, Doumbouya gained extensive international experience, including being educated to master's level in France and serving in the French Foreign Legion. He was also in Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Central African Republic and worked on close protection in Israel, Cyprus and the UK.
But the donning of civilian clothes may not be entirely sincere, according to some analysts.
"I'm not sure that he has transitioned from a military man. I think that the military costume will remain even if he is conducting the return to civilian order," argued Aïssatou Kanté, a researcher in the West Africa office of the Institute of Security Studies.
She referred to a ban on political demonstrations, the exclusion of Doumbouya's main challengers in December's election and the suspension of key opposition parties.
Human rights campaigners have demanded to know the whereabouts of two activists - Oumar Sylla (known as Foniké Menguè) and Mamadou Billo Bah – who have not been seen since July 2024. They suspect the men were taken by the military.
Press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders has also expressed concern that journalist Habib Marouane Camara has been missing for more than a year. It has described how journalists are now censoring themselves and are fearful about what might happen to them.
Nevertheless, the 2021 coup was widely welcomed in the country and since then Doumbouya appears to have remained a popular figure.
Polling organisation Afrobarometer found that between 2022 and 2024 the proportion of people who trusted the president either "partially" or "a lot" grew from 46% to 53%.
Guinea Presidency
Doumbouya (R) welcomed Rwandan President Paul Kagame to the country in November for the start of operations at the Simandou iron-ore mine
The president-elect may not have a clearly defined ideology guiding him but for Kanté his emphasis on Guineans being in control of their own destiny has become very important.
"It's what keeps coming up in official speeches - this affirmation of political and economic sovereignty," she told the BBC.
In his address to the nation a few days into the new year, he struck a conciliatory tone, calling on all Guineans to build a nation of peace and "fully assumed" sovereignty.
In a country that continues to grapple with high levels of poverty despite plentiful natural resources – including the world's largest reserves of bauxite, which is used to make aluminium - this idea strikes a chord.
The government's messaging on the development of the vast iron-ore resources in Simandou underscores the possible benefits for the people.
The three billion tonnes of ore available in a remote southern part of the country, which began to be exported last month, could transform the global iron market, as well as Guinea's fortunes.
The authorities say earnings from the project, partly owned by Chinese miners as well as the British-Australian corporation Rio Tinto, will be invested in new transport infrastructure as well as health and education.
The success or otherwise of Simandou may define Doumbouya's presidency.
AFP via Getty Images
In 2021, Doumbouya wore formal military dress when he was sworn in as interim leader
He appears determined to keep some of the processing and added-value parts of the industry in Guinea to ensure greater benefits.
Across the broader mining sector, his government has cancelled dozens of contracts over the past year where it was felt that the companies were not investing in Guinea – a move that has led one UAE-based firm to take the country to an international court.
"This move towards resource nationalism makes him look like a local hero. He looks like he's really fighting for the rights of his citizens, even if that means business disruptions," said analyst Ochieng.
The emphasis on sovereignty has also led to a pragmatic approach to international relations, observers say. Unlike coup leaders elsewhere in West Africa, Doumbouya has not outrightly rejected the former colonial power France in favour of Russia.
Neither, despite his background in France and having a French wife, has he been accused of being a puppet of Paris.
Doumbouya very much wants to be seen as someone running things in the interests of the country.
Come Saturday, the president will preach a message of national unity and will hope that he can usher in a new era of prosperity for Guinea.
London’s Little Morocco is brimming with pride and anticipation. The Moroccan diaspora in North Kensington is in no doubt that on Sunday the Atlas Lions will triumph against Senegal in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.
“There’s not just an excitement, it has completely taken over everything else,” said Souad Talsi, who runs the Al-Hasaniya Moroccan women’s centre at the base of 31-storey Trellick Tower, at the north end of Golborne Road.
She added: “There is so much gloom and doom around at the moment and people are depressed about Gaza, but football has given us a respite from all that. It has completely united the Moroccan diaspora and given us a purpose and a sense of belonging.”
Mohamed Chelh said that if Morocco prevail it will be first time they have lifted the Afcon trophy since 1976, a tournament he cannot even remember.
Sipping mint tea in the Trellick Lounge cafe after Friday prayers, he said: “They should win. They’ve got the best team.” He points to Morocco’s success in the last World Cup when they reached the semi-finals and beat Spain and Portugal on the way.
Chelh, who works in a bakery, plans to head to Trafalgar Square to celebrate Morocco’s anticipated victory.
On a big screen at the back of the cafe, the Trellick Lounge has shown all of Morocco’s games in the tournament so far. On Friday, more than 48 hours before Sunday’s game, it was already showing a buildup programme on the satellite channel Maghreb TV. On Sunday there will also be a screen on the street outside the cafe.
Ali Mssr, who runs the cafe, predicts that hundreds will turn up to the watch the final. “Outside there will be even more,” he said.
Mohamed, a retired gardener, said he could hear the celebrations in the cafe from his flat down the street when Morocco scraped through on penalties against Nigeria in the semi-final.
“It was a beautiful atmosphere. They were really happy. And I’m very proud. I love Morocco, my mum and dad are there. And I love it when they play well and win.”
Further down Golborne Road, at Hakim’s cafe, Yassim, a courier, said: “The mood is very good. I have confidence we will win. We beat Nigeria and they are the toughest team in the tournament. We will win whether it is 90 minutes or 120 minutes.”
Talsi is planning to watch the game with her extended family, including her 85-year-old-mother, her brothers and their children, after a meal of couscous.
She said: “Football reminds us that people are not always bad and people can come together and forget their differences. Whether you are an international trader or a cleaner, all they want is for Morocco to win.
“It has also broken the gender barrier. At the semi-final there was an outdoor screen and there were as many loud girls as there were loud boys.”
Lailah Khallouk, a senior outreach worker at the women’s centre, said: “I hate football but I love to watch the Moroccan team. There’s huge excitement and a lot of organising about where to watch the game –in cafes or social clubs or house parties.
“My son Adam, who is 11, is passionate about it, he’s like a professional fan.
“It’s something that brings us all together. Despite where we were born, our ages, our social classes, is a just a great event. Finally we have something to be proud of.”
Mohamed Rhiam, an Uber driver, has just got back from a visit to relatives in Casablanca. “The atmosphere was crazy. There will be great disappointment if they lose, because everyone is into it now. But we’ll win.”
Rhiam witnessed protests before the tournament on the amount of money spent on stadiums rather than public services. “I share those concerns. I believe the money they spent on it they could have done more for the economy. But the football still makes me proud.”
Asked if an Afcon win would make up for the disappointment of the last World Cup, Rhiam said: “It wasn’t a disappointment, we got to the semi-final.”
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused the US and Donald Trump of being responsible for "casualties, damage and slander" in his country during recent protests.
In a speech on Saturday, Khamenei acknowledged that thousands of people had been killed during recent unrest, "some in an inhuman, savage manner" but blamed the deaths on "seditionists".
The US president has urged Iranian anti-government demonstrators to "keep protesting" and threatened military intervention if security forces kill them.
Protests in Iran have claimed 3,090 lives, according to US-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), in unrest that started over the economy on 28 December.
Since then, the protests have turned into calls for the end of the rule of Iran's supreme leader.
The Iranian government has called the demonstrations "riots" backed by Iran's enemies.
Protesters have been met with deadly force and there has been a near-total shutdown of the internet and communication services.
There have been fewer reports of unrest in recent days but with internet access still restricted developments on the ground remain unclear.
During his speech on Saturday, Khamenei also said Iran considered President Trump to be a "criminal" and said the US must be "held accountable" for recent unrest.
He also claimed on social media that "America's goal is to swallow Iran".
Trump has not yet responded to the supreme leader and the BBC has approached the White House for a comment.
Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had been told "the killing in Iran has stopped", but added that he had not ruled out military action against the country.
His comments came after the US and UK both reduced the number of personnel at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar.
Officials told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that a partial American withdrawal was a "precautionary measure".
Jessica Brady contacted her GP practice more than 20 times feeling unwell
A new system urging doctors to "think again" if they are unable to pin down a diagnosis after seeing a patient three times - named Jess's Rule - is to be advertised in every GP surgery in England from this week.
The NHS initiative is named after Jessica Brady, who died from advanced stage 4 cancer in 2020, at the age of 27.
Before her eventual diagnosis, Jess had contacted her GP on more than 20 occasions after feeling unwell. But she was told her symptoms were related to long Covid and she was "too young for cancer".
Her mother, Andrea Brady, welcomed the government rollout of the posters. She told BBC Breakfast: "We still need to trust our doctors but trust ourselves as well."
Under the patient safety initiative, GPs are asked to take a "fresh eyes" approach if they have been unable to offer a patient a substantiated diagnosis or their symptoms have escalated after three appointments.
Jess, an engineer at Airbus, became ill in June 2020.
Andrea said her family initially assumed it was something minor, "but that wasn't what happened for Jess".
Her symptoms, which included unexplained weight loss, night sweats and vomiting, escalated.
"It was very, very painful... to see the impact on Jess not just physically but the toll it was taking on her mentally," said Andrea.
Jess had contact with six different doctors at her GP surgery and three face-to-face consultations with a family doctor, but no referral to a specialist was made.
Her family then arranged a private appointment and she was referred to a specialist, who gave Jess a terminal cancer diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, cancer of the glands that line the organs, in November.
She died three weeks later, days before Christmas 2020.
Andrea said her daughter was "trying to be really resilient and advocate for herself" before her diagnosis
The government said posters in consultation rooms would improve patient safety by prompting doctors to "revisit patient records, challenge initial assumptions and remain alert to warning signs that might otherwise be missed".
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "Every patient deserves to be heard, and every serious illness deserves to be caught early.
"Jess's Rule makes that possible - reminding clinicians to take a fresh look when symptoms persist, and empowering patients to speak up about their care."
Andrea said the family wanted to follow what Jess had "really wanted to start when she was diagnosed, which was to create some positive change".
"It's taken five years but to know now that Jess's rule is out there and happening and is being received really positively and proactively by primary care colleagues is really, really important," she added.
She said the rule was a "two-way thing" intended to benefit both patients and GPs.
The posters were designed by the Department of Health and Social Care, Jess's mum Andrea and dad Simon, and NHS England.
Dr Claire Fuller, National Medical Director for NHS England, said: "Encouraging GP teams to challenge a diagnosis when it matters most could save lives by avoiding missed or late diagnoses."
The White House has released the names of the members who will form the Trump administration's new "Board of Peace" for Gaza.
With the US president as chair, the board will oversee the work of a committee of Palestinian technocrats tasked with the temporary governance of Gaza - and its reconstruction.
Each member of the "Board of Peace" is expected to be in charge of a portfolio that will be "critical to Gaza's stabilisation", the White House added. But it is not yet clear who will be responsible for which priorities.
Former UK Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair had long been talked about as a potential member of Trump's "Board of Peace, with the US president confirming back in September that he had expressed an interest in joining the body.
The former Labour Party leader was the UK prime minister from 1997 to 2007 and took the country into the Iraq War in 2003, a decision which means some may view his presence on the board as controversial.
After leaving office, he served as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of international powers - the United Nations, European Union, US and Russia - from 2007 to 2015.
Sir Tony is the only founding member of the executive board who is not a US citizen.
Sir Tony previously described Trump's plans for Gaza as the "best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering".
Marco Rubio
EPA
As US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is central to the Trump administration's approach to foreign policy.
Before Trump's return to office, Rubio had spoken out against a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that he wanted Israel "to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on".
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate and golf partner to Trump, will also be on the board.
Earlier this month, Witkoff announced the start of phase two of Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, adding that it would see the reconstruction and full demilitarisation of Gaza - including the disarmament of Hamas.
He added that he expects Hamas to "comply fully with its obligations" under the deal, or face "serious consequences".
Witkoff has been a central figure in US-led efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, including holding a five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December.
Jared Kushner
EPA
Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law, has also played a key role in the Trump administration's foreign policy negotiations.
Alongside Witkoff, Kushner has often worked as a US mediator for the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars.
At a talk at Harvard University in 2024, Kushner said "Gaza's waterfront property could be very valuable... if people would focus on building up livelihoods."
Marc Rowan
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Billionaire Marc Rowan is the CEO of Apollo Global Management, a large private equity firm headquartered in New York.
Rowan was seen as a contender to become US treasury secretary for Trump's second term.
Ajay Banga
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Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, has advised a number of senior US politicians, including President Barack Obama, during his lengthy career.
Born in India in 1959, Banga became a US citizen in 2007, and later served as the CEO of Mastercard for more than a decade.
Former US President Joe Biden nominated him to lead the World Bank in 2023.
Robert Gabriel
Robert Gabriel, a US national security adviser, will be the final member of the "founding executive board".
Gabriel has worked with Trump since his 2016 presidential campaign, shortly after which, according to PBS, he became a special assistant to Stephen Miller, another of Trump's key current advisers.
Nickolay Mladenov
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The White House statement also said that Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and former UN Middle East envoy, would be the board's representative on the ground in Gaza.
He will oversee a separate 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), charged with managing the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza.
The NCAG will be led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority (PA) which governs parts of the occupied West Bank not under Israeli control, will head that new committee.
The Syrian army is moving into areas east of Aleppo city, after Kurdish forces started a withdrawal.
Syrian troops have been spotted entering Deir Hafer, a town about 50km (30 miles) from Aleppo.
On Friday, the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia announced it would redeploy east of the Euphrates river. This follows talks with US officials, and a pledge from Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to make Kurdish a national language.
After deadly clashes last week, the US urged both sides to avoid a confrontation. President al-Sharaa is seeking to integrate the Kurds' military and civilian bodies into Syrian national institutions.
In a statement to state-run news agency Sana, the Syrian army said its forces "began entering the western Euphrates area", and declared it had established "full military control" of Deir Hafer.
The military urged civilians not to enter the operations area until it is secured and "cleared it of all mines and war remnants".
Images showed Syrian forces advancing towards the area, including with tanks.
The move comes after Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi agreed to pull back his US-backed SDF "towards redeployment in areas east of the Euphrates", responding to "calls from friendly countries and mediators".
US special envoy Tom Barrack and Mazloum Abdi are set to meet later on Saturday in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
In recent days, the Syrian army had urged civilians to flee the Deir Hafer area, with at least 4,000 people leaving, according to Syrian authorities.
EPA
Syrian civilians cross a water canal as they flee eastern Aleppo in northern Syria
Before the Kurdish withdrawal, President al-Sharaa said he would make Kurdish a national language, and recognise the Kurdish new year as an official holiday.
The decree, announced on Friday, is the first formal recognition of Kurdish national rights since Syria's independence in 1946. It stated that Kurds were "an essential and integral part" of Syria, where they have endured decades of oppression under previous rulers.
Despite the apparent easing of tensions, disagreements linger. In response to the decree, the Kurdish administration in Syria's north and north-east said it was "a first step" but called for "permanent constitutions that express the will of the people", rather than "temporary decrees".
Meanwhile, after Syrian troops entered areas east of Aleppo, accusing Damascus of "violating" the agreement by moving in earlier than agreed.
Syria's army also accused the SDF of "violating the agreement", saying two of its soldiers had been killed by Kurdish forces as the military moved in.
Kurdish forces have been controlling swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and north-east, much of it gained during the civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group over the past decade.
Following the ousting of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, President al-Sharaa has been seeking to integrate the Kurdish bodies into Syrian institutions.
In March 2025, the SDF signed a deal with the government to that effect. Almost a year on, the agreement is still not implemented, with each sides blaming the other.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused the US and Donald Trump of being responsible for "casualties, damage and slander" in his country during recent protests.
In a speech on Saturday, Khamenei acknowledged that thousands of people had been killed during recent unrest, "some in an inhuman, savage manner" but blamed the deaths on "seditionists".
The US president has urged Iranian anti-government demonstrators to "keep protesting" and threatened military intervention if security forces kill them.
Protests in Iran have claimed 3,090 lives, according to US-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), in unrest that started over the economy on 28 December.
Since then, the protests have turned into calls for the end of the rule of Iran's supreme leader.
The Iranian government has called the demonstrations "riots" backed by Iran's enemies.
Protesters have been met with deadly force and there has been a near-total shutdown of the internet and communication services.
There have been fewer reports of unrest in recent days but with internet access still restricted developments on the ground remain unclear.
During his speech on Saturday, Khamenei also said Iran considered President Trump to be a "criminal" and said the US must be "held accountable" for recent unrest.
He also claimed on social media that "America's goal is to swallow Iran".
Trump has not yet responded to the supreme leader and the BBC has approached the White House for a comment.
Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had been told "the killing in Iran has stopped", but added that he had not ruled out military action against the country.
His comments came after the US and UK both reduced the number of personnel at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar.
Officials told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that a partial American withdrawal was a "precautionary measure".
Yoweri Museveni first came to power in 1986 as a rebel leader
President Yoweri Museveni has been declared the winner of Thursday's election extending his four decades in power by another five years.
He gained 72% of the vote, the election commission announced, against 25% for his closest challenger Bobi Wine, who has condemned what he described as "fake results" and "ballot stuffing". He has not provided any evidence and the authorities have not responded to his allegations.
Wine has called on Ugandans to hold non-violent protests.
Museveni, 81, first came to power as a rebel leader in 1986 but since then has won seven elections.
The election process was marred by violence and Wine, a 43-year-old former pop star, says that at least 21 people have been killed around the country in recent days.
The authorities have so far confirmed seven deaths.
Access to the internet has been cut in the country since Tuesday, making it hard to verify information.
The authorities say the blackout was necessary to prevent misinformation, fraud and the incitement of violence - a move condemned by the UN human rights office as "deeply worrying".
Wine has demanded that the internet be restored.
Overnight, Wine's party said that he had been abducted from his home in the capital, Kampala - a claim denied by the police.
Wine later issued a statement on Facebook saying that he had managed to evade a night-time raid by security forces and was in hiding.
He had previously said he was under house arrest.
This has not been confirmed by the police but spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said Wine's movements were restricted because his home was an area of "security interest".
"We have controlled access to areas which are security hotspots," Uganda's Daily Monitor paper quoted him as saying.
"We cannot allow people to use some places to gather and cause chaos," he said.
The Syrian army is moving into areas east of Aleppo city, after Kurdish forces started a withdrawal.
Syrian troops have been spotted entering Deir Hafer, a town about 50km (30 miles) from Aleppo.
On Friday, the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia announced it would redeploy east of the Euphrates river. This follows talks with US officials, and a pledge from Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to make Kurdish a national language.
After deadly clashes last week, the US urged both sides to avoid a confrontation. President al-Sharaa is seeking to integrate the Kurds' military and civilian bodies into Syrian national institutions.
In a statement to state-run news agency Sana, the Syrian army said its forces "began entering the western Euphrates area", and declared it had established "full military control" of Deir Hafer.
The military urged civilians not to enter the operations area until it is secured and "cleared it of all mines and war remnants".
Images showed Syrian forces advancing towards the area, including with tanks.
The move comes after Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi agreed to pull back his US-backed SDF "towards redeployment in areas east of the Euphrates", responding to "calls from friendly countries and mediators".
US special envoy Tom Barrack and Mazloum Abdi are set to meet later on Saturday in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
In recent days, the Syrian army had urged civilians to flee the Deir Hafer area, with at least 4,000 people leaving, according to Syrian authorities.
EPA
Syrian civilians cross a water canal as they flee eastern Aleppo in northern Syria
Before the Kurdish withdrawal, President al-Sharaa said he would make Kurdish a national language, and recognise the Kurdish new year as an official holiday.
The decree, announced on Friday, is the first formal recognition of Kurdish national rights since Syria's independence in 1946. It stated that Kurds were "an essential and integral part" of Syria, where they have endured decades of oppression under previous rulers.
Despite the apparent easing of tensions, disagreements linger. In response to the decree, the Kurdish administration in Syria's north and north-east said it was "a first step" but called for "permanent constitutions that express the will of the people", rather than "temporary decrees".
Meanwhile, after Syrian troops entered areas east of Aleppo, accusing Damascus of "violating" the agreement by moving in earlier than agreed.
Syria's army also accused the SDF of "violating the agreement", saying two of its soldiers had been killed by Kurdish forces as the military moved in.
Kurdish forces have been controlling swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and north-east, much of it gained during the civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group over the past decade.
Following the ousting of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, President al-Sharaa has been seeking to integrate the Kurdish bodies into Syrian institutions.
In March 2025, the SDF signed a deal with the government to that effect. Almost a year on, the agreement is still not implemented, with each sides blaming the other.
Google has appealed a US district judge's landmark antitrust ruling that found the company illegally held a monopoly in online search.
"As we have long said, the Court's August 2024 ruling ignored the reality that people use Google because they want to, not because they're forced to," Google's vice president for regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland said.
In its announcement on Friday, Google said the ruling by Judge Amit Mehta didn't account for the pace of innovation and intense competition the company faces.
The company is requesting a pause on implementing a series of fixes - viewed by some observers as too lenient - aimed at limiting its monopoly power.
Judge Mehta acknowledged the rapid changes to the Google's business when he issued his remedies in September, writing that the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) had changed the course of the case.
He refused to grant government lawyers their request for a Google breakup that would include a spin-off of Chrome, the world's most popular browser.
Instead, he pushed less rigorous remedies, including a requirement that Google share certain data with "qualified competitors" as deemed by the court.
That data was due to include portions of its search index, Google's massive inventory of web content that functions like a map of the internet.
The judge also called for Google to allow certain competitors to display the tech giant's search results as their own in a bid to give upstarts the time and resources they need to innovate.
On Friday, Mulholland balked at being forced to share search data and syndication services with rivals as she justified the request for a halt to implementing the orders.
"These mandates would risk Americans' privacy and discourage competitors from building their own products — ultimately stifling the innovation that keeps the U.S. at the forefront of global technology," Mulholland wrote.
While the company has invested growing sums of cash into AI, those ambitions have come under scrutiny.
Last month, the EU opened an investigation into Google over its AI summaries which appear above search results.
The European Commission said it would probe whether Google used data from websites to provide the service and failed to offer appropriate compensation to publishers.
Google said the investigation risked stifling innovation in a competitive market.
This week, Google parent Alphabet became the fourth company ever to reach a market capitalisation of $4tn.
Official pictures of Mamadi Doumbouya have portrayed him in a more relaxed mode
From the moment he seized power in September 2021 Guinea's Mamadi Doumbouya struck an imposing figure.
Just 36 years old at the time, the broad-shouldered colonel, standing at well over six feet (1.8m), wearing military fatigues, mirrored sunglasses and a red beret certainly made an impression when announcing the coup.
A relatively unknown member of an elite army unit, he declared that the government of ousted President Alpha Condé had disregarded democratic principles and that citizens' rights were being trampled on.
After more than four years of acting as interim president, and going back on a promise not to run for leadership of the country, Doumbouya, now 41, is set to be sworn in as the elected head of state on Saturday.
The discreet, disciplined and private man won 87% of the vote in December's election against a severely depleted field.
Ex-Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, now in exile, described the process as a charade which generated "fabricated" results.
While seemingly enjoying some popular support, critics have questioned Doumbouya's democratic credentials as some political parties have been banned, activists have mysteriously disappeared and media outlets been shut down.
Reuters
Video footage shot in the aftermath of the 2021 coup showed Doumbouya being greeted by enthusiastic crowds
Scrolling back through the social media accounts from the president's office there is a sense of a carefully curated image.
The army man, now a general, has, for the main, ditched the camouflage in favour of the baseball cap and tracksuit, or a boubou - traditional Guinean attire of loose-fitting robes with elaborate embroidery. The shades though are still at times in evidence.
Pictures show him at the opening of schools, or transport and mining infrastructure or cycling through the streets of the capital, Conakry. The message is clear: this is a man of action who is working on behalf of the people.
"This was presenting an image of someone who can be close to civilians, someone who is a civilian leader and can be representative of the people," Beverly Ochieng, senior analyst with Dakar-based security intelligence firm Control Risks, told the BBC.
"In some ways this is distancing himself from what brought him to power – a coup - and the fact that his entire career has been in the military."
In the 15 years before he took power, Doumbouya gained extensive international experience, including being educated to master's level in France and serving in the French Foreign Legion. He was also in Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Central African Republic and worked on close protection in Israel, Cyprus and the UK.
But the donning of civilian clothes may not be entirely sincere, according to some analysts.
"I'm not sure that he has transitioned from a military man. I think that the military costume will remain even if he is conducting the return to civilian order," argued Aïssatou Kanté, a researcher in the West Africa office of the Institute of Security Studies.
She referred to a ban on political demonstrations, the exclusion of Doumbouya's main challengers in December's election and the suspension of key opposition parties.
Human rights campaigners have demanded to know the whereabouts of two activists - Oumar Sylla (known as Foniké Menguè) and Mamadou Billo Bah – who have not been seen since July 2024. They suspect the men were taken by the military.
Press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders has also expressed concern that journalist Habib Marouane Camara has been missing for more than a year. It has described how journalists are now censoring themselves and are fearful about what might happen to them.
Nevertheless, the 2021 coup was widely welcomed in the country and since then Doumbouya appears to have remained a popular figure.
Polling organisation Afrobarometer found that between 2022 and 2024 the proportion of people who trusted the president either "partially" or "a lot" grew from 46% to 53%.
Guinea Presidency
Doumbouya (R) welcomed Rwandan President Paul Kagame to the country in November for the start of operations at the Simandou iron-ore mine
The president-elect may not have a clearly defined ideology guiding him but for Kanté his emphasis on Guineans being in control of their own destiny has become very important.
"It's what keeps coming up in official speeches - this affirmation of political and economic sovereignty," she told the BBC.
In his address to the nation a few days into the new year, he struck a conciliatory tone, calling on all Guineans to build a nation of peace and "fully assumed" sovereignty.
In a country that continues to grapple with high levels of poverty despite plentiful natural resources – including the world's largest reserves of bauxite, which is used to make aluminium - this idea strikes a chord.
The government's messaging on the development of the vast iron-ore resources in Simandou underscores the possible benefits for the people.
The three billion tonnes of ore available in a remote southern part of the country, which began to be exported last month, could transform the global iron market, as well as Guinea's fortunes.
The authorities say earnings from the project, partly owned by Chinese miners as well as the British-Australian corporation Rio Tinto, will be invested in new transport infrastructure as well as health and education.
The success or otherwise of Simandou may define Doumbouya's presidency.
AFP via Getty Images
In 2021, Doumbouya wore formal military dress when he was sworn in as interim leader
He appears determined to keep some of the processing and added-value parts of the industry in Guinea to ensure greater benefits.
Across the broader mining sector, his government has cancelled dozens of contracts over the past year where it was felt that the companies were not investing in Guinea – a move that has led one UAE-based firm to take the country to an international court.
"This move towards resource nationalism makes him look like a local hero. He looks like he's really fighting for the rights of his citizens, even if that means business disruptions," said analyst Ochieng.
The emphasis on sovereignty has also led to a pragmatic approach to international relations, observers say. Unlike coup leaders elsewhere in West Africa, Doumbouya has not outrightly rejected the former colonial power France in favour of Russia.
Neither, despite his background in France and having a French wife, has he been accused of being a puppet of Paris.
Doumbouya very much wants to be seen as someone running things in the interests of the country.
Come Saturday, the president will preach a message of national unity and will hope that he can usher in a new era of prosperity for Guinea.
Watch: Canada-China trade relationship "more predictable" than with US, says Carney
Prime Minister Mark Carney's new approach to Canada's foreign policy can perhaps be distilled in one line: "We take the world as it is, not as we wish it to be."
That was his response when asked about the deal struck with China on Friday, despite concerns over its human rights record and nearly a year after he called China "the biggest security threat" facing Canada.
The deal will see Canada ease tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles that it imposed in tandem with the US in 2024. In exchange, China will lower retaliatory tariffs on key Canadian agricultural products.
Experts told the BBC the move represents a significant shift in Canada's policy on China, one that is shaped by ongoing uncertainty with the US, its largest trade partner.
"The prime minister is saying, essentially, that Canada has agency too, and that it's not going to just sit and wait for the United States," said Eric Miller, a Washington DC based trade adviser and president of the Rideau Potomac Strategy Group.
Carney told reporters on Friday that "the world has changed" in recent years, and the progress made with China sets Canada up "well for the new world order".
Canada's relationship with China, he added, had become "more predictable" than its relationship with the US under the Trump administration.
He later wrote, in a social media post, that Canada was "recalibrating" its relationship with China, "strategically, pragmatically, and decisively".
In Canada, as daylight broke on Friday, reaction to the deal was swift.
Some, like Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, hailed it as "very good news". Farmers in Moe's province have been hard hit by China's retaliatory tariffs on Canadian canola oil, and the deal, he said, would bring much needed relief.
But Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose province is home to Canada's auto sector, was sharply critical of the deal. He said removing EV tariffs on China "would hurt our economy and lead to job losses".
In a post on X, Ford said Carney's government was "inviting a flood of cheap made-in-China electric vehicles without any real guarantees of equal or immediate investment in Canada's economy".
Some experts said the electric vehicle provisions in the trade deal would help China make inroads into the Canadian automobile market.
With the lower EV tariffs, approximately 10% of Canada's electric vehicle sales are now expected to go to Chinese automakers, said Vivek Astvansh, a business professor at McGill University in Montreal.
The expected increase in Chinese EV sales could put pressure on US-based EV makers like Tesla which are seeking to expand their market share in Canada, he said.
"Carney has signalled to the Trump administration that it is warming up to China," Astvansh added.
Reaction from the White House, meanwhile, has been mixed.
In an interview with CNBC on Friday morning, US trade representative Jamieson Greer called the deal "problematic" and said Canada may come to regret it.
President Donald Trump, however, hailed it as "a good thing".
"If you can get a deal with China, you should do that," he told reporters outside the White House.
Since taking office for a second time last year, Trump has imposed tariffs on Canadian sectors like metals and automotives, which has led to swirling economic uncertainty. He has also threatened to rip up a longstanding North American free trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico, calling it "irrelevant".
That trade agreement, the USMCA, is now under a mandatory review. Canada and Mexico have both made clear they want it to remain in place.
But the decision to carve out a major new deal with China is a recognition by Carney that the future of North American free trade remains unclear, Miller of the Rideau Potomac Strategy Group told the BBC.
"There's a reasonable chance that we could end up in 2026 without a meaningful, workable trade deal with the United States," he said. "And Canada needs to be prepared."
Getty Images
China is the world's largest producer of EVs, accounting for over 70% of global production
The deal with China drops Canada's levies on Chinese EVs from 100% to 6.1% for the first 49,000 vehicles imported each year. That quota could rise, Carney said, reaching 70,000 in half a decade.
Canada and the US put levies on Chinese EVs in 2024, arguing that China was overproducing vehicles and undermining the ability of other countries to compete.
China is the world's largest producer of EVs, accounting for 70% of global production.
In exchange, China will cut tariffs on Canadian canola seed to around 15% by 1 March, down from the current rate of 84%. Carney said Beijing had also committed to removing tariffs on Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas "until at least the end of the year".
China also committed to removing visa requirements for Canadian visitors, Carney said.
Beijing did not corroborate the details in a separate statement, but said "the two reached a preliminary joint agreement on addressing bilateral economic and trade issues".
The introduction of Chinese EVs to Canada's market will likely mean cheaper prices for Canadian consumers, said Gal Raz, an associate professor of Operations Management and Sustainability at Western University and an expert on the EV supply chain.
But Raz acknowledged that the deal Canada struck could hurt Canadian car manufacturers if it comes without further action from the Carney government to help the domestic sector.
He said it was the result of an "unfortunate" deterioration of the Canada-US trade relationship, which he noted has also hurt Canada's automotive industry.
"The US has really put Canada in a corner," he said.
Asked why Canada is giving China access to its automotive market, Carney said that China produces "some of the most affordable and energy-efficient vehicles in the world". He said he expects the deal will spur Chinese investment into Canada's auto industry, though he did not provide further details.
Trump himself has signalled openness to China building plants in the US if it means creating more jobs for Americans, despite his tough-on-China stance.
"If they want to come in and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbours, that's great, I love that," Trump said at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday. "Let China come in, let Japan come in."
The US president is notably headed to Beijing for his own meeting with President Xi Jinping in April. He has also invited Xi for a state visit to Washington.
For Carney, though, Friday's deal may just be the first step in a "recalibration" of Canada's trade relations.
With additional reporting from Daniel Bush in Washington
Rhoda Levine in 1995 at a rehearsal for her production of Hindemith’s “Mathis Der Maler” at New York City Opera. She was acclaimed for clear, straightforward stagings of classics, rarities and new works.
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