BBC News Briefing

13 March, 2025

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

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said fighting in Ukraine must end, but added that any plan must lead to “enduring peace” as he listed unresolved questions about the details of the US ceasefire proposal. From the battlefield, defence correspondent Jonathan Beale reports on Ukrainian soldiers' reaction to the latest talks of peace. In Pakistan, my colleagues at BBC Urdu speak to survivors of the train hijacking in the Balochistan province. And finally, the depths of Lake Superior reveal a 130-year-old shipwreck in remarkable condition.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Ukraine's soldiers doubt war will end soon

Putin has short grey hair and blue eyes. He is pointing his index finger in front of him while speaking at a news conference. He is wearing a black suit, a white shirt and a red and blue tie.

US President Donald Trump called Putin's statement "promising" but "incomplete". Credit: Reuters

President Putin has expressed support for the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine, but said it should eliminate the “root causes of the conflict” - by which he means, as my colleagues Laura Gozzi and Paul Kirby write in their analysis of his response, Ukrainian sovereignty. Putin's position also indicated that battlefield success remains a priority for Moscow, notes Liza Fokht of the BBC Russian service. In eastern Ukraine, Jonathan Beale reports that soldiers on the front line do not believe this war will be ending any time soon.

Read his report

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AT THE SCENE

Quetta, Pakistan

How Jaffar Express hijacking occured

Freed train passengers sit in a crowded bus.

300 passengers have now been freed, but it's still unclear what happened to the remaining 140 hostages. Credit: AFP

Some 440 people were taken hostage on Tuesday when an armed group known as The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked a train in Pakistan. According to authorities, 33 BLA militants, 21 civilian hostages and four military personnel have been killed in the ensuing fighting.

BBC Urdu

Mehboob Hussain was riding the train home on Tuesday when the tracks under the front car exploded. In the depths of central Pakistan's Bolan Pass, a pocket of wilderness so remote that there is no internet or mobile network coverage, the nine-coach Jaffar Express ground to a halt. Then the bullets started flying.

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Information relating to the attack and the subsequent rescue operation has been tightly controlled throughout. The BBC was able to speak to multiple eyewitnesses. As Ishaq Noor told BBC Urdu of those first few moments: "We held our breath throughout the firing, not knowing what would happen next."

Read now

Train passengers: At least 100 of those on board were members of Pakistan's security forces, officials have said.

Violence in Balochistan: The fifth Baloch insurgency against the Pakistan state began in 2003 with guerrilla attacks by autonomy-seeking groups, who have become more radical over the years.

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