BBC News Briefing

4 August, 2025

Fiona has brown curly hair and brown eyes.

Fiona Nimoni

Hello. The Kremlin has played down US President Donald Trump's orders to move two nuclear submarines, in the first official reaction from Russia since the president's comments on Friday. In Brazil, the BBC's Camilla Veras Mota has spoken to mothers who gave birth after contracting the Zika virus. And finally, we've got jaw-dropping footage of two huge waterspouts merging off the coast of Italy.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Kremlin reacts to Trump's nuclear order

A photograph of Donald Trump in a blue suit and red tie. He is waving one hand.

Donald Trump pictured outside the White House on Sunday evening Credit: Getty Images

The Kremlin has played down Donald Trump's orders to move two nuclear submarines closer to Russia. Trump said the move was in response to "highly provocative" comments by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has threatened the US following Trump's ultimatums to Russia to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said American submarines were already on combat duty and dismissed the idea that there had been an escalation. He also added that everyone should be "very cautious" with nuclear rhetoric. Washington and Moscow remain in contact and Peskov has welcomed US envoy Steve Witkoff's reported trip to Russia later this week.

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GET UP TO SPEED

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Farm worker 'forced to feed women to pigs'

A South African farm worker accused of killing two women was forced to feed their bodies to pigs, his lawyers said.

The latest >

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Israeli hostage's brother speaks to BBC

The brother of a hostage who appears in footage released by Hamas has told the BBC he looks like a "human skeleton".

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Nine kidnapped from Haiti orphanage

An Irish missionary, three-year-old child, and seven others have been kidnapped from an orphanage near Haiti's capital.

What we know so far >

AT THE SCENE

Maceió, Brazil

The forgotten Zika mothers raising their children together

Three mothers pose for a photograph. All of them are wearing yellow t-shirts and smiling at the camera.

Felix Lima/BBC News Brasil

Nearly 2,000 babies were born to women who contracted Zika in Brazil between 2015 and 2016. The mosquito-borne virus has since disappeared from the public eye, and the families dealing with its long-lasting consequences have been largely forgotten.

Camilla Veras Mota, BBC News Brasil

To deal with the challenges of raising her daughter, Rute Freires joined forces with other affected mothers. She first met them in a support group put together by local health authorities in 2016. But life was still difficult. A year on, the women felt they weren't getting enough support from local authorities. So they formed an independent group, with bespoke yellow shirts, to help each other - and demand more.

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After making an application to public housing authorities, almost 15 were able to move into the same complex, where they've now lived for five years. Living so close to one another means the mothers have been able to share tips on how to handle their children's complex health conditions. The mothers' decade-long battle for better financial assistance has also paid off.

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Love stories: BBC's William Kremer travelled to Brazil in 2018 to find out how families were coping.

Quirky science: Scientists may have found a way to fight mosquito-spread diseases like Zika, after showing deaf insects struggle to breed.
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A vanilla ice cream cone topped by colourful sprinkles melts in the hand of a child.

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SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Keeping its cool

It is possible to create ice cream that does not melt.

Would you eat it?

And finally... in Italy