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Bill Gates plans to give away most of his fortune by 2045
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said he intends to give away 99% of his vast fortune over the next 20 years.
Gates said he would accelerate his giving via his foundation, with plans to end its operations in 2045.
“People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them,” he wrote in a blog post on Thursday.
Mr Gates, 69, said his eponymous foundation has already given $100bn (£75bn) towards health and development projects, and that he expects it will spend another $200bn, depending on markets and inflation, over the next two decades.
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Zelensky says Russia considering end to war a ‘positive sign’
Volodymyr Zelensky has said it was a “positive sign” that Russia was considering ending the war in Ukraine, after Russia offered “direct talks” this coming Thursday.
His comments come after Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Ukraine to take part in “serious negotiations” in a late-night address.
But the Ukrainian president said: “We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire – complete, lasting and credible – starting tomorrow, 12 May, and Ukraine is ready to meet.”
Western powers called for a 30-day pause in fighting to begin on Monday, after European leaders spearheading the so-called “coalition of the willing” met in Kyiv on Saturday.
What Trump does next on Ukraine is key – and he could go either way
Volodymyr Zelensky has given a cautious and diplomatic response to Vladimir Putin’s late-night offer of direct talks in Istanbul next Thursday.
The Ukrainian leader might have been expected to slam his opposite number in Moscow for not committing to a 30-day ceasefire, as demanded by Kyiv and its Western allies on Saturday.
Instead, writing on X, Zelensky called it “a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war”.
Zelensky added that Ukraine expected Russia to confirm it would abide by the proposed 30-day ceasefire, starting on Monday.
It’s hard to tell if Zelensky really sees Putin’s offer of direct talks as a “positive sign”. This is as much about optics as anything else.
Neither Putin nor Zelensky want to be seen by US President Donald Trump as the obstacle to peace.
Trump’s reaction was markedly upbeat. Writing on his Truth Social platform earlier, he hinted once again that this war was close to ending. He wrote: “A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!”
Putin said he wants to address what he calls “the root causes of the conflict”.
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Pope Leo prays at tomb of Francis ahead of first Sunday address
Pope Leo XIV will give his first Sunday blessing and address to a crowd in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican today.
He will recite the Regina Caeli prayer, in honour of the Virgin Mary, in his first public address since his election was announced with white smoke on Thursday.
After delivering Sunday mass, Pope Leo will bless those gathered on the square outside – and deliver his reflections.
On Saturday, he visited a shrine outside Rome and then prayed before the tomb of his late predecessor Francis inside the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Pope Leo will be formally inaugurated at a mass in St Peter’s Square next week on 18 May.
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India-Pakistan ceasefire appears to hold after accusations of violations
A ceasefire between India and Pakistan appears to have held overnight into Sunday, after the two nations accused each other of “violations” just hours after a deal was reached.
Days of cross-border military strikes had preceded the US-brokered deal, marking the worst military confrontation between the two rivals in decades.
US President Donald Trump praised India and Pakistan’s leaders for agreeing the ceasefire in fresh comments on Sunday morning, saying millions of people could have died without it.
This comes after explosions were heard in Indian-administered Kashmir hours after the deal was announced, with both sides accusing each other of violations.
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Trump praises ‘friendly, constructive’ US-China trade talks
Donald Trump says there has been a “total reset” in US-China trade relations following the first day of talks between American and Chinese officials in Switzerland.
In a social media post, the US president described the talks as being “very good” and said change had been “negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner”.
An escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing has seen the US president hit Chinese imports to the US with tariffs of 145%. China retaliated with levies of 125% on some US goods.
Following months of back-and-forth, the two countries are meeting in Geneva this weekend for the first time since Trump hit China with tariffs at the start of the year.
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One of Alcatraz’s last living inmates on Trump’s plan to reopen prison
When Charlie Hopkins thinks back to the three years he spent in one of America’s most famousprisons, he remembers the “deathly quiet” the most.
In 1955, Hopkins was sent to Alcatraz – a famed prison on an isolated island off the coast of San Francisco – after causing trouble at other prisons to serve a 17-year sentence for kidnapping and robbery.
Falling asleep at night in his cell on the remote island, he said, the only sound was the whistle of ships passing.
“That’s a lonely sound,” Hopkins said. “It reminds you of Hank Williams singing that song, ‘I’m so lonesome I could cry.'”
Now 93 and living in Florida, Hopkins said the San Francisco National Archives informed him that he is likely the last surviving former Alcatraz inmate. The BBC could not independently verify this.
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Soviet-era spacecraft ‘likely’ to have re-entered Earth’s atmosphere
Part of a Soviet-era spacecraft is likely to have re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere after being stuck in orbit for more than half a century, the European Space Agency said.
Kosmos 482, which launched in 1972 on a mission to Venus, never made it out of Earth’s orbit and instead broke into four pieces that have been circling the planet for more than five decades.
The EU Space Surveillance and Tracking centre (SST) said one fragment – believed to be the lander – “most likely” re-entered the atmosphere at about 06:16 GMT (07:16 BST) on Saturday.
It is unclear whether the object fell to the ground or burned up in the atmosphere.
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Eurovision 2025: The provocative Estonian pop song that has caused outrage in Italy
One of the most controversial entries in the Eurovision song contest is Espresso Macchiato by Estonia’s Tommy Cash. It mocks Italian stereotypes, and there have been calls to ban it.
The track by Estonian rapper and singer Tommy Cash is the country’s entry into the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place next week. When its inclusion in the competition was announced, some reacted with bemusement, and others with outrage, especially in Italy, due to the way Cash seems to mock the country with his faux-operatic, broken Italian accent and deployment of Italian stereotypes. “I love anything trashy,” Cash tells the BBC, giggling, explaining the simple thinking behind the track, which some Italians have even called on to be banned from the competition.
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How backchannels and US mediators pulled India and Pakistan back from the brink
In a dramatic turn of events, US President Donald Trump took to social media on Saturday to announce that India and Pakistan – after four tense days of cross-border clashes – had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire”.
Behind the scenes, US mediators, alongside diplomatic backchannels and regional players, proved critical in pulling the nuclear-armed rivals back from the brink, experts say.
However, hours after a ceasefire deal, India and Pakistan were trading accusations of fresh violations – underscoring its fragility.
India accused Pakistan of “repeated violations” while Pakistan insisted it remained committed to the ceasefire, with its forces showing “responsibility and restraint.”
Before Trump’s ceasefire announcement, India and Pakistan were spiralling towards what many feared could become a full-blown conflict.
After a deadly militant attack killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month, India launched air strikes inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir – triggering days of aerial clashes, artillery duels and, by Saturday morning, accusations from both sides of missile strikes on each other’s airbases.
The rhetoric escalated sharply, with each country claiming to have inflicted heavy damage while foiling the other’s attacks.
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Mexico sues Google over ‘Gulf of America’ name change
Mexico is suing Google for ignoring repeated requests not to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America for US users on its maps service, Claudia Sheinbaum has said.
The Mexican president did not say where the lawsuit had been filed. Google did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
On Thursday, the Republican-led House of Representatives voted to officially rename the Gulf for federal agencies.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office in January calling for the body of water to be renamed, arguing the change was justified because the US “do most of the work there, and it’s ours”.
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Hormone-treated beef will not enter UK after US deal, says government
The government has insisted that American hormone-treated meat will not start to seep into the UK market, following the tariff deal agreed this week that boosts the trade in beef in both directions.
Some farmers and consumers have expressed fears that the deal could open the door to beef from cattle raised using hormones to boost their growth.
However, the government said certification procedures and border checks would ensure hormone-reared beef would not enter the UK.
The National Farmers’ Union said it was asking the government to provide more details on how checks would work to ensure safety standards were maintained.
“The rules on food standards have not changed and they will not change as a result of the deal,” said Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren