BBC News Briefing

8 June, 2026

Alex has dark blonde, bobbed hair and is smiling. She is wearing a dark grey, high-necked top with a pink jumper on top.

Alex Binley

Hello. We take a look at what Iran may be signalling after launching missiles at Israel, the first exchange since a ceasefire was agreed two months ago. Banquets attended by thousands of people across France are becoming a hot political issue - we look into why. And watch as Mexico attempts a world record for its eponymous wave.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

What Iran's strike on Israel tells us about the regime

The blackened end of a missile is embeded in the ground which is dusty and rocky. Two men, both wearing white shirts and black trousers look at it. One man appears to be walking past it, while another is leaning towards it.

Part of a missile is seen protruding from the ground in the occupied West Bank, following strikes from Iran. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock

Iran and Israel have said they have halted attacks on each other, after exchanging fire. But both sides have promised to retaliate if fighting begins again, and Iran has warned of a "severe" response if the Israel Defence Forces continues striking southern Lebanon. For years, Iran has generally justified direct attacks on Israel as retaliation for actions against itself, BBC Persian editor Amir Azimi writes, but this time it acted after an attack on one of its allies - Hezbollah in Lebanon. But why did its leadership do so, he asks, when it risked renewed Israeli military action and potentially jeopardising fragile peace negotiations with the US? Part of the answer, Amir believes, may lie in how Iran's leaders now view their position after months of conflict.

Amir's analysis

GET UP TO SPEED

Children at a school in the Philippines wear a uniform of white shirts and black skirts or shorts. They are all crouching or running and palm trees can be seen in the background.

Children run from collapsing roof in Philippines quake

The school confirmed no-one was injured after the magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Mindanao island.

Watch the video >

Xi inping and Kim Jong UN stand next to each other on a red platform. Xi wears a dark blue suit and has greying black hair that is parted on the side. Kim wears a black suit and has black hair that is flat on top. Two women with black hair stand either side of them, dressed in white.

Friendship or leverage: Why is Xi Jinping in North Korea?

Beijing is trying to reassert influence over a strategically vital yet unpredictable partner, writes China correspondent Laura Bicker.

Read Laura's analysis >

A man in a very dark blue, almost black suit has short, grey, balding hair and is putting a ballot slip into a plastic box. He is surrounded by other men in suits and people taking pictures of him.

Armenia's pro-West government wins election

Sunday's vote was viewed as a test of the PM's push to deepen ties with the West while facing economic pressure from Russia.

What result means >

A crowd are seen celebrating in the street outside a New York subway station. They are all raising their hands in the air and cheering and a man in a blue anorak, jeans and a khaki-coloured turban holds a megaphone on his hand and sits on another man's shoulders.

Knicks' long-awaited NBA run electrifies NYC

At one of the Finals games on Monday, fans will be greeted by tight security, with US President Donald Trump also in attendance.

More on this >

Idris Elba has very short, black hair and a goatee, both of which have some grey in them. He is smiling and wearing a cream-coloured jacket over a white top. He is standing in front of a dark blue background.

Idris Elba: 'Don't try to make James Bond woke'

The actor, who has been a rumoured contender, also said some audiences would not accept a black man playing 007.

Read more >

NEWS FROM THE UK

David Sullivan: Multiple women have accused the West Ham co-owner and billionaire businessman of abusing his power and preying on them for sex.

Youth unemployment: The proportion of young people not in education or employment is three times higher in the UK than the Netherlands. Why is this?

Jeffrey Epstein: A woman abused by the convicted sex offender said they had dinner in Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's Buckingham Palace apartments.

AT THE SCENE

Colmar, France

Giant banquets rile radical left in France

A group of young men wearing matching black, red and green sports tops and black berets sit at a long table with platters of food and wine. Many of them are smiling at the camera and pointing their fingers in the air.

Berets are a kind of uniform at the banquets.

A feasting phenomenon is sweeping provincial France, run by a company called Le Canon Français (The French Cannon) and hosted across the country. For €81 (£70; $93) you get four courses of local gastronomy, all the wine you can drink, and several hours of sing-along camaraderie with the hundreds of other attendees. Yet as the banquets grow in popularity, they have also become a hot political issue for some.

Hugh Schofield has messy black hair that is greying. He is wearing frameless glasses and smiling. Only his head and shoulders can be seen but he is wearing a navy blue suit.

Hugh Schofield, Paris correspondent

For the radical left party La France Insoumise (LFI), the banquets have a dark side. LFI says it has evidence of racist chanting, and of immigrant staff being insulted. With pork regularly on the menu, they say the feasts are purposely designed to exclude Muslims and vegetarians. And they point to the financial involvement of ultra-conservative entrepreneur Pierre-Edouard Stérin as evidence of a masked ulterior motivation - to promote the agenda of the hard right.

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Here in Colmar, no-one wants to talk politics, except to say that they think the whole controversy has been blown out of proportion. "None of this was an issue, but then Stérin became a shareholder and that gave the LFI an excuse to attack. Don't forget there are elections next year," says Quentin from Besançon.

Keep reading

Presidential election: With less than a year to go, the big question is who can stop the vote from being a battle of the extremes, writes Hugh.

Quentin Deranque: A wave of arrests over the killing of a French nationalist in February has piled pressure on the far left.

Vegan croissants: Some people in France are finding the change to the breakfast staple hard to stomach. Here's why.