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There are now more North Korean defectors working in the South’s public sector than ever before, Seoul has said. By the end of 2024, 211 North Korean defectors held jobs in the public sector, 17 more than the previous year, the Ministry of Unification said in a statement on Wednesday. That number is the highest … Read more
The World Health Organisation has declared a polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea and called for an “immediate” vaccination campaign. Samples of the highly infectious virus were found in two healthy children during a routine screening in Lae, a coastal city in the country’s north east. Less than half of the country’s population are immunised … Read more
Former FBI director James Comey is being investigated by the Secret Service after he shared then deleted a social media post, which Republicans alleged was an incitement to violence against President Donald Trump. Comey posted on Instagram a photo of seashells that spelled the numbers “8647”, which he captioned: “Cool shell formation on my beach … Read more
New York University (NYU) has withheld the diploma of a student who used his graduation speech to accuse the US of supporting “genocide” in Gaza. Undergraduate Logan Rozos told the crowd on Wednesday that he condemned the “atrocities currently happening in Palestine”, drawing cheers and some boos. An NYU spokesperson accused Mr Rozos of lying … Read more
Australia’s most-decorated living soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, has lost an appeal against a landmark defamation judgement which found he committed war crimes. A judge in 2023 ruled that news articles alleging the Victoria Cross recipient had murdered four unarmed Afghans were true, but Mr Roberts-Smith had argued the judge made legal errors. The civil trial was … Read more
Motown legend Smokey Robinson is under criminal investigation in Los Angeles over accusations of sexual assault. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed it had launched a formal inquiry into the allegations, saying the probe was in the “early stages”. The investigation comes after a lawsuit was filed last week by four anonymous housekeepers against … Read more
AFP A man stands inside his shell-hit home in Salamabad, Uri, near the Line of Control in Indian-administered Kashmir To live along the Line of Control (LoC) – the volatile de facto border that separates India and Pakistan – is to exist perpetually on the razor’s edge between fragile peace and open conflict. The recent … Read more
The US Supreme Court listened to the birthright citizenship case on Thursday, which asked whether lower court judges should be able to block presidential orders for the entire country – as they have done in this case. The BBC’s North America correspondent Will Grant looks at what happened at the highest court, which has left … Read more
Mark Savage Music Correspondent Getty Images Yuval Raphael told the BBC she had practiced singing to the sound of people booing to prepare for Eurovision Israel has qualified for Eurovision’s grand final on Saturday, hours after protesters tried to disrupt the country’s dress rehearsal. Yuval Raphael, 24, was performing New Day Will Rise during a … Read more
A manuscript – once considered an unofficial copy of Magna Carta – is now believed to be a genuine version and ”one of the world’s most valuable documents”, according to UK academics. Harvard Law School paid $27.50 (then about £7) for it in 1946 and for years it has remained tucked away in its library, … Read more