BBC: Jihadist groups are increasingly carrying out drone strikes in West Africa, raising alarm that they are building the capacity to wage a “war from the skies”. A leading violence monitoring organisation, Acled, has recorded at least 69 drone strikes by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Burkina Faso and Mali since 2023, while two Islamic State […]
BBC: Suspected attacks on northern Italy’s railway network have led to severe travel disruption in the region, the authorities say, as thousands gathered for the start of the Winter Olympic Games. Police reported three separate incidents involving damage to railway lines that they believe are connected to the Games. A fire hit rail infrastructure between […]
(Reuters) BANGKOK, Feb 8 – Polls opened in Thailand on Sunday in a general election defined by a three-way battle between the country’s conservative, progressive and populist camps, with no single party expected to secure a clear majority, prolonging the spectre of political instability. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul set the stage for the snap election in mid-December, amid a raging […]
BBC: People across Japan are braving snow to vote in a snap election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, whose coalition is expected clinch a decisive win, according to polls. This is first mid-winter election in 36 years in Japan, which usually holds polls during milder weather. But Takaichi called an election to seek the public’s mandate […]
BBC: Australia’s Liberal-National Coalition, the country’s main opposition, reunited on Sunday, more than two weeks after the centre-right partners split in a row over hate speech laws. “The Coalition is back together and looking to the future, not to the past,” Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley said, appearing alongside National Party leader David Littleproud in […]
BBC: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the US wants the war with Russia to end by June, adding that both sides had been invited to the US for talks next week. “America proposed for the first time that the two negotiating teams – Ukraine and Russia – meet in the United States of America, probably […]
(Reuters) CAIRO, Feb 7 – Iran will strike U.S. bases in the Middle East if it is attacked by U.S. forces that have massed in the region, its foreign minister said on Saturday, insisting that this should not be seen as an attack on the countries hosting them. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke to Qatari […]
(Reuters) SYDNEY, Feb 7- A light plane crashed into the ocean off South Australia on Friday killing the three men on board, police said. The plane went down in Long Bay near the port town of Goolwa South, about 63 km (39 miles) south of the state capital Adelaide, on Friday afternoon local time, police […]
BBC: Two million books, housed across a sprawling building, free for anyone to borrow and read. That’s the wealth that Anke Gowda, a retired sugar factory worker from India’s southern Karnataka state, has accumulated over the past five decades. The 79-year-old made headlines last month when he received the Padma Shri – a civilian honour […]
BBC: Japan heads to the polls again on Sunday for its second general election in as many years. The snap vote has caught the ruling party, the opposition and much of the electorate off guard. Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, is betting on her personal popularity, hoping to succeed where her party failed […]