BBC: President Donald Trump has suspended the US green card lottery scheme in the wake of a mass shooting at Brown University last week in which two people were killed. The suspect, a Portuguese man who was found dead on Thursday, entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and […]
BBC: Police in Sri Lanka have arrested three men for allegedly burning a wild elephant with flaming torches while trying to chase it away, local media reported. A video of the incident, which took place in a village in the country’s north, triggered fierce backlash as it circulated on social media this week. Despite receiving […]
BBC: European Union leaders have struck a deal to give Ukraine a €90bn (£79bn; $105bn) loan after failing to agree on using frozen Russian assets. The agreement, which leaders said would meet Ukraine’s military and economic needs for the next two years, came after more than a day of talks at a summit in Brussels. […]
Japan’s central bank has raised its main interest rate to the highest level in 30 years as the country faces a cost-of-living squeeze. In a widely expected decision, the Bank of Japan’s policy board, led by governor Kazuo Ueda, increased its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point to “around 0.75%” on Friday. […]
BBC: The Australian government has announced a gun buyback scheme in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack – its deadliest mass shooting in decades. The scheme is the largest since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which left 35 people dead and prompted Australia to introduce world-leading gun control measures. Fifteen people were killed […]
BBC: The costs of the border war between Thailand and Cambodia are cruelly obvious in the hospital in Mongkol Borei, a breezy, low-rise complex surrounded by trees. Wounded soldiers lie quietly on their beds. One man, his arm amputated from the elbow, has his wife sitting with him, smiling and trying to encourage him. The […]
BBC: Violence has erupted in Bangladesh following the death of a prominent leader of the youth movement that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sharif Osman Hadi was shot by masked attackers while leaving a mosque in Dhaka last week and died of his injuries on Thursday while being treated in Singapore. The shooting came […]
This National Day is especially meaningful as we celebrate the 70th Birth Anniversary of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, at a time when, in the nearly twenty years of my own reign, we are engaged in a national endeavour of profound significance which will shape the future of Bhutan. I am honoured to mark […]
BBC: India has lodged a strong protest against what it has called the “deteriorating security situation” around its mission in Dhaka. On Wednesday, India’s foreign ministry summoned Bangladeshi envoy Riaz Hamidullah to convey its concerns about the actions of some “extremist elements”, the ministry said in a statement. “We expect the interim government to ensure the safety […]
CNN: The United States and Taiwan have announced an $11.1 billion arms package that if completed would be one of Washington’s biggest-ever military sales to the island. The deal includes eight separate purchases, which cover HIMARS rockets systems, anti-tank missiles, anti-armor missiles, loitering suicide drones, howitzers, military software and parts for other equipment, according to […]