BBC News with Eileen McCue.

President Trump has promised what he called a “historic increase” in defense spending. White House officials say he wants the Pentagon budget to go up by $54bn, almost 10 per cent. The administration hopes to pay for the increase by cutting non-military programmes, but the budget must be approved by Congress.

The former US President George W Bush has said America needs answers on the extent of contacts between President Trump’s team and Russia. Mr Bush also defended the free press as indispensable to democracy. President Trump has branded critical media outlets as enemies of the people.

The World Health Organisation says there’s an urgent need for new antibiotics to combat bacteria. The UN agency has published a list of 12 bacteria families that pose the greatest threat to human health as they are resistant to existing antibiotics.

Syrian government forces have reportedly gained a swath of territory from Islamic State militants in the north of the country. They would now seem to be in a position to block any possible advance by Turkish troops and their local allies reaching the main IS bastion in Raqqa.

Opposition leaders in Colombia have called for the suspension of peace talks with the rebel group, the ELN, after it took responsibility for a bombing in Bogota that killed a police officer and injured 30 people. The former president, Alvaro Uribe, said it was a joke to continue to talk to the ELN.

The authorities in El Salvador say that the country’s much-loved and only hippo has died after being attacked at the national zoo. The 15-year-old hippo, named Gustavito, was beaten and stabbed over the weekend by unknown assailants.

And the president of world football’s governing body Fifa, Gianni Infantino, says Africa will get more than seven places in the expanded World Cup. Forty-eight teams will take part in the 2026 World Cup.

BBC News.