BBC News Briefing

12 March, 2026

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

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. Democrats in the US Senate have written to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding answers about a deadly strike on a primary school in Iran. My colleagues have the details. In Namibia, correspondent Johannes Dell reports on a green energy project that has raised concerns for the area's biodiversity. And finally, read about a fox's trans-Atlantic adventure.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Scrutiny over possible US role in Iran strike

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing on March 2 speaking from a lectern bearing the image of an eagle with its wings spread open and the words 'Department of War'. A US flag and a flag with the same eagle on it appears behind him.

The Senators' questions included whether old or faulty target analysis could have led to the school building being hit. Credit: Reuters

Nearly every Senate Democrat has signed a letter to Hegseth, asking a series of detailed questions about the strike in Minab, which Iranian officials say killed 168 people, including about 110 children. If a US role is confirmed, the strike would amount to one of its worst single cases of civilian casualties in decades of US conflicts in the Middle East, write James FitzGerald and state department correspondent Tom Bateman. US media have reported that US military investigators believe American forces were likely responsible for hitting the school unintentionally at the start of the joint US-Israeli operation, but that they have not reached a final conclusion. Last week, Hegseth said the US did not target civilians and was investigating the issue.

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GET UP TO SPEED

Aerial view of the synagoge shows smoke coming out of an opening on the roog and emergency vehicles including a firetruct and an ambulance parked outside.

Suspect dead after attack at Michigan synagogue

The suspect rammed a vehicle into the synagogue, injuring one security guard, police have said.

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A woman with blonde hair tied back, wearing a cream coat and gold-rimmed glasses lights a candle at a makeshift memorial in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow.

Nineteen jailed over deadly Moscow concert attack

A Russian military court handed life sentences to four gunmen and 11 of the accomplices, state media reported.

More details >

Close-up showing several live ants contained in clear test tubes

Man held over attempt to smuggle 2,000 queen ants

A Chinese national has been arrested in Kenya accused of attempting to smuggle more than 2,000 queen garden ants.

What happened >

NEWS FROM THE UK

Cyber-crime laws: A 60-year-old British man has been charged in Dubai after allegedly filming Iranian missiles over the city.

False imprisonment: Mandy Wixon, a mother-of-10 who kept a vulnerable woman captive as a slave for 25 years, has been jailed for 13 years.

Jo Malone: The British perfumier is being sued by Estée Lauder Companies for using her name in a collaboration with high street retailer Zara.

AT THE SCENE

Lüderitz, Namibia

Energy project threatens biodiversity

A plant with thick light green leaves springing in a dune near Lüderitz

The shifting sands of Tsau ǁKhaeb National Park have become a biodiversity hotspot. Credit: Getty Images

A near pristine desert and coastal wilderness in Namibia could soon host a huge green hydrogen production facility. The project is expected to bring jobs, but conservationists fear for the unique plant and animal life of the region, such as rare succulents and endangered African penguins.

Johannes Dell, BBC News

The plan to build solar and wind farms in Namibia's Tsau ǁKhaeb National Park, which means "Soft Sands" in the Nama language, is not supported by conservationists. The 26,000 sq km (10,000 sq mile) park was established in 2004 out of what was known as the "Sperrgebiet" - German for "Restricted Area" - a vast swathe of land sealed off by the German colonial authorities to protect their mining interests when diamonds were discovered there at the beginning of the 20th Century.

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The diamond rush came and went - allowing a unique richness of flora and fauna to flourish undisturbed, which the Namibian Chamber of the Environment says is now in danger. Its head Chris Brown said industrialised countries like Germany, which is actively supporting the green hydrogen project, are applying double standards. "The Germans would never allow their top parks to be turned into industrial sites," Brown says.

Keep reading

Listen now: The Witness History podcast looks at how Namibia's Kolmanskop became a ghost town after the diamond rush ended.

Emperor penguins: Scientists have discovered that shrinking ice surfaces in Antarctica are creating risks for the birds.