BBC News Briefing

3 November, 2025

Andy has short brown hair and wears glasses with a black rim. He is smiling and wearing an olive-coloured shirt

Andy McFarlane

In recent months, US military forces have been building in the Caribbean. But US President Donald Trump has said it's not a sign of impending war with Venezuela. We also have an exclusive interview with the only survivor of June's Air India plane crash and a look at why millions of people are visiting a Chinese region linked to alleged human rights abuses.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Trump speaks about Venezuela strikes

An aerial view of the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier shows dozens of warplanes on its deck and a smaller vessel alongside, on a cal, deep blue sea.

Washington ordered the world's largest warship, USS Gerald R Ford, to the Caribbean last month. Credit: Reuters

Donald Trump has played down the possibility of the US going to war with Venezuela, but suggested Nicolás Maduro's days as its president are numbered. Washington has deployed a force including warships, fighter jets and bombers to the Caribbean Sea, while carrying out strikes on small vessels it alleges were carrying "narcotics" or "narco-terrorists". The action prompted Maduro to accuse the US of "fabricating a new war". However, when asked on US TV network CBS if the US was going to war, President Donald Trump told the 60 Minutes programme: "I doubt it. I don't think so."

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The background: Ione Wells and Joshua Cheetham assess what's behind the US military build-up.

Weapons testing: Defence plans touted by Trump are "not nuclear explosions", US energy secretary says.

US politics: Actor George Clooney says it was a "mistake" for Kamala Harris to replace Joe Biden as Democratic candidate last year.

WORLD HEADLINES

Viswashkumar Ramesh has a thick, dark beard and wears a black baseball cap and black shirt. He is viewed close up, with his eyes glistening as he looks beyond the camera.

'I'm the luckiest man alive - but also suffering'

The sole survivor of June's catastrophic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad describes his pain and anguish.

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A police forensic officer wearing a white protective suit uses a camera with a large lens to photograph the front of an inter-city train as it stands at a platform. The scene is viewed from a height and the railway's overhead cables are visible in the foreground.

Man charged over knife attack on train in UK

A train worker hailed as a "hero" for protecting passengers is in a "critical but stable" condition in hospital.

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An Afghan woman lies on a hospital gurney with her right eye covered and her head and right leg wrapped in bandages. Another woman stands alongside her holding a baby.

Afghanistan earthquake leaves at least 20 dead

Rescue efforts continue after 320 people were injured in the magnitude-6.3 quake near one of the country's largest cities.

What we know >

A composite image shows head-and-shoulders pictures of Col Asaf Hamami, Staff Sgt Oz Daniel and Capt Omer Neutra.

Hamas returns bodies of three soldiers held hostage

Israeli authorities identify the remains handed over on Sunday, leaving eight hostages' bodies still to be found in Gaza.

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A composite image shows a man dressed as Spider Man holding two suspects in blue on the left, and a separate shot of a plastic pumpkin filled with white and black packets on the right.

Suspected cocaine found in trick-or-treat bucket

Police made the find during an operation involving officers wearing Halloween costumes in the Peruvian capital Lima.

Watch what happened >

NEWS FROM THE UK

Human rights: China intimidated UK university to ditch research, documents show.

Bella Culley: Pregnant teenager charged with drug trafficking "happy and relieved" after release from prison in Georgia.

'Forever chemicals': Firms ordered to reduce potentially harmful levels of pollutants in water sources.

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Tourism booms in troubled Chinese region

Two women - one in a flowing white dress with silver cardigan, the other in a pale blue dress with red jacket - wear straw hats as they stand on high, rocky ground, with snow-capped mountains behind them. They wrap one arm around each other as they stretch their opposite arms into the air. In the valley below, there is a clear lake, while there is a cloudless blue sky above.

China has moulded Xinjiang into a tourist haven, touting "ethnic" experiences that activists say it wants to erase. Credit: Getty Images

Home to rugged mountains, majestic canyons and pristine lakes, China's Xinjiang region is described by one tourist as "New Zealand, Switzerland and Mongolia all packed into one". Heavily promoted by Beijing, it welcomed 300 million visitors last year. But Kelly Ng reports on a side the tourists don't see.

Take a look