Several prisons in France have been hit by a wave of attacks overnight, the justice minister has said. Gérald Darmanin said prisons had faced “intimidation attempts” ranging from vehicle burning to automatic weapon fire. La Parisien reports that vehicles were set on fire in several prison car parks, while a prison in Toulon was targeted … Read more
Annabelle Liang Business reporter Getty Images Xi started his South East Asia trip in Vietnam China’s President Xi Jinping has called on Vietnam to oppose “unilateral bullying” to upkeep a global system of free trade – though he stopped short of naming the US. It comes as Xi is on a so called “charm offensive” … Read more
Singapore will head to the polls on 3 May, in what will be the first electoral test for its new prime minister Lawrence Wong. The election campaign, which lasts just nine days, is expected to be the campaign dominated by the rising cost of living, housing needs, jobs, and a growing demand for healthcare amid … Read more
Ashraf Padanna Thiruvananthapuram Nikita Yadav BBC News, Delhi Vivek Nair Devotees pull ornate wooden chariots bearing temple idols along a 2km-stretch of the airport’s runway For a few hours on a warm April day, jets paused and silence reclaimed the skies above the international airport in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the southern Indian state of … Read more
Heba Bitar BBC Eye Investigations, el-Geneina Hafiza Hafiza and her brother lost their mother in August 2024 when a shell hit the market where she was working “She left no last words. She was dead when she was carried away,” says Hafiza quietly, as she describes how her mother was killed in a city under … Read more
Mahjooba Nowrouzi BBC Afghan Service BBC Carpet weaving is one of few professions open to women since the Taliban government took power in 2021 At a workshop in Kabul where carpets are made, hundreds of women and girls work in a cramped space, the air thick and stifling. Among them is 19-year-old Salehe Hassani. “We … Read more
US Vice-President JD Vance said there was a “good chance” a trade deal could be reached with the UK, as the dust continues to settle from America’s global trade shakeup. “We’re certainly working very hard with Keir Starmer’s government,” Vance said in an interview on Monday with the UnHerd website. The global stock market has … Read more
Alfie Tobutt BBC World Service Getty Images The sandstorm blanketed parts of southern Iraq in an orange haze More than a thousand people have been left with respiratory problems after a sandstorm swept across Iraq’s central and southern parts of the country, health officials said. One official in Muthanna province reported to the AFP news … Read more
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has taken the witness stand in a landmark antitrust trial to defend his company against allegations that his company operates a social media monopoly. His testimony is part of a case first brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2020 during the final days of the first Trump administration. The … Read more
Getty Images Mr Mahdawi participated in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University An organiser of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University has been arrested by immigration officials as he attended an interview as part of his application for US citizenship, his lawyer says. Mohsen Mahdawi, a green card holder who is due to graduate next month from … Read more