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International atomic inspectors last week discovered that Iran has accumulated uranium enriched to levels just shy of what is needed for a nuclear weapon, according to a new report. Unnamed senior diplomats told Bloomberg that Iran has accumulated uranium enriched to 84% purity and a concentration to 6% below what’s needed for a weapon, marking the highest levels found by inspectors in Iran to date.

Sonic boom heard as meteor crashes into ground near McAllen, Texas A sonic boom was captured on a home video camera as a meteor crashed into the ground near McAllen, Texas. CREDIT: Fox 4 A nearly 1,000-pound meteor measuring two feet wide crashed into South Texas on Wednesday, according to reports. Fox station KDFW in Dallas reported that NASA confirmed the meteor broke apart as it fell through the atmosphere to its resting place near McAllen, Texas at about 6 p.m.

Nicola Bulley's partner Paul Ansell has told Sky News of his "agony" after police searching for the mother-of-two recovered an unidentified body from the river near to where she went missing. In a message sent to Sky News correspondent Inzamam Rashid, who has been in contact with the family throughout the three-week search, Mr Ansell said: "No words right now, just agony." "We're all together, we have to be strong", he added. The body was found around a mile from where Ms Bulley was last seen walking her dog, beside the River Wyre, in St Michael's on Wyre, after she dropped her daughters at school on 27 January. It is understood that a man and a woman walking their dog near to the river called the police to report seeing a person in the water, with officers then launching a search.

On the eve of the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine there are ominous warnings the Ukraine conflict could widen and draw in other countries. America says China is considering entering the conflict as an active partner of Russia and will start sending weapons. And there are very real fears Vladimir Putin is stepping up efforts to destabilise countries from Moldova to the Western Balkans.

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, officials said – the latest missile launch in recent days by the country. Japan’s Defense Ministry said officials were still analyzing the data but estimated both missiles were fired at around 7:00 a.m. local time on Monday and fell into the Sea of Japan “to the east of the Korean Peninsula, outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone,” its statement said. North Korea acknowledged the incident, calling it a “super-large multiple rocket launcher exercise, which is a means of tactical nuclear attack.” The country said the exercise was a response to the combined air force forces of the United States and South Korea.

Instagram and Facebook users will now be able to pay for a blue tick verification, parent company Meta has announced. Meta Verified will cost $11.99 (£9.96) a month on web, or $14.99 for iPhone users. It will be available in Australia and New Zealand this week. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta chief executive, said the move will improve security and authenticity on the social media apps. The move comes after Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, implemented the premium Twitter Blue subscription in November 2022. Meta's paid subscription service is not yet available for businesses, but any individual can pay for verification. Badges - or "blue ticks"- have been used as verification tools for high-profile accounts to signify their authenticity. The subscription would give paying users a blue badge, increased visibility of their posts, protection from impersonators and easier access to customer service, Meta said in a post on their website.

Beneath Moldova's soaring parliament building, a parade of its most precarious file slowly past - bussed in by the thousand from across the country, each with their private tale of poverty and frustration. "We're a laughing stock - the government is mocking us," some cry. Capped in a blue woollen hat, Ala thrusts her wide pale face close to mine, and says: "There are people with four or five children who literally have nothing to eat." Energy bills here now consume more than 70% of household income, according to Moldova's president. Ala tells me they swallow half of her pension. "When we elected this government, they promised to raise salaries and pensions, but so far we haven't seen a penny," she says. Sunday's protests, organised by Moldova's pro-Russian Sor party, are being closely watched by governments across Europe and beyond. Most protesters travelled to the capital city Chisinau by bus, with their costs reportedly covered by the Sor party.

West Ham Tottenham have called for social media companies to take action after Son Heung-min was subjected to "utterly reprehensible" racist abuse online. The abuse occurred during Sunday's 2-0 Premier League victory over West Ham, during which substitute Son scored Spurs' second goal. Tottenham posted on Twitter saying they had reported the abuse towards Son. "We stand with Sonny and once again call on the social media companies and authorities to take action," they said.

North Korea has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Japan's government has said. The defence ministry confirmed it was launched on Saturday, flew for 66 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan. It comes after Pyongyang showed off its massive military might in a parade that included more than a dozen ICBMs. On Friday, North Korea threatened to unleash an "unprecedentedly strong" retaliation to any military drills between South Korea and the US. The annual springtime exercises, which are due to start next month, are designed to help fend off North Korea's increasing nuclear threats. But Pyongyang has long insisted the drills are in preparation to invade North Korea. Saturday's missile, which is the first to be launched since new year's day, splashed down west of Hokkaido, in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) at 18:27 (09:27 GMT), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. An EEZ is an area of the sea that a country has jurisdiction over. Japan's is a 200-nautical mile area off its coast.

After well over a year of talks between the UK and the EU it appears that a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol is finally around the corner. The set of post-Brexit trading rules for Northern Ireland has split political opinion since its inception in 2021. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been to Belfast to brief Stormont politicians on what the solution might look like. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - among the protocol's most vocal critics - says progress has been made and describes this as a "big moment" in the path towards a deal. Now the prime minister will return to the table with the EU, aiming to secure the final stages of an agreement. So what could a deal actually look like? And will it appease those who oppose the existing set-up?

The mother of a six-year-old boy has been arrested after he brought a gun to his primary school in Virginia - the latest such incident in the US state. Police were called to Little Creek Elementary School in the city of Norfolk on Thursday afternoon, where staff gave them the handgun. No-one was injured, but one mother says the boy threatened to shoot her daughter in class. Last month another six-year-old shot and wounded his teacher in the state. In the latest incident, the boy's mother was charged on Friday with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and allowing access to a loaded firearm by children. The BBC is not naming her to protect the child's identity. Another mother told a local news station that the boy had brought a loaded gun to school in his backpack and threatened to shoot her daughter during physical education class on Thursday. But the woman only found out about the threat from another parent.

Bulgarian police have made four arrests after 18 people, including a child, were found dead in an abandoned truck in Bulgaria, its government says. The truck appeared to have been illegally transporting a group of migrants. Thirty-four people, including five children, were rushed to hospitals and some were in a critical condition, the health minister said. The people in the truck were cold, wet and had not eaten in days, he said. It is believed to be the deadliest incident involving migrants in Bulgaria. Bulgaria has long struggled to deal with large numbers of people trying to enter the European Union from Turkey. The truck - found near the village of Lokorsko, 12 miles (20km) north-east of Bulgaria's capital, Sofia - was illegally transporting the migrants in hidden compartments in which they had suffocated, police said.

A small military town in Sweden's frozen north is on course to produce Europe's first commercial green steel. Giant diggers and excavators are powering through layers of mud, ice and snow at the site of a new steel plant just outside Boden, 900 km (559 miles) north of Stockholm. At 09:00, the sun has only just risen and the temperature is -8C. Some of the workers are wearing three or four jackets, and have switched on the heated seats in their vehicles. Steel is usually made in a process that starts with blast furnaces. Fed with coking coal and iron ore, they emit large quantities of carbon dioxide and contribute to global warming. The production of steel is responsible for around 7% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. But in Boden, the new plant will use hydrogen technology, designed to cut emissions by as much as 95%.

Seven major German airports have been brought to a standstill after hundreds of ground crew walked out on strike in a row over pay. Aircraft are grounded at Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Hamburg, Hanover and Dortmund. More than 2,300 flights have been cancelled affecting 300,000 passengers, with air travel effectively wiped-out. Members of the Ver.di union and Civil Service Association are demanding a 10.5% pay increase for workers. At Leipzig Airport, a handful of international flights got away this morning but domestic flights were cancelled. At Frankfurt Airport, a couple of passengers wheeled suitcases through what is usually the bustling departures terminal. It was, one local TV reporter noted, almost as empty as it had been during the Covid pandemic. The action coincided with the start of the high-profile gathering of world leaders and defence experts at the Munich Security Conference.

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