Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa has been replaced as the Eurovision 2025 spokesperson due to “unforeseen circumstances”. The 32-year-old actor was due to read out the UK jury votes at the Grand Final on Saturday but has now been replaced by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor. A BBC statement from Thursday evening said: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, … Read more
Ethiopia’s main opposition party has called for the African Union to mediate with the federal government after the electoral board revoked its legal status as a party. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said the move to ban it from any political activity was “dangerous” and posed a “serious threat” to the 2022 deal that … Read more
Roxy Gagdekar Chhara BBC Gujarati, Vadnagar Kushal Batunge/BBC The skeleton’s right arm rests on its lap and its left arm lies suspended in the air, as if resting on a stick A 1,000 year-old human skeleton which was buried sitting cross-legged in India has been moved to a museum six years after it was excavated. … Read more
What began as public calls to boycott travel to Turkey has now escalated into a broader rupture, with India severing links with Turkish businesses and universities. The diplomatic chill stems from Turkey’s recent vocal support for Pakistan during the recent India-Pakistan hostilities. On Thursday India barred Turkish firm Celebi from operating at its airports, citing … Read more
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