Mark Savage Music Correspondent David Sillito Culture correspondent Getty Images If it wasn’t for Nemo, Switzerland wouldn’t be hosting this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Twelve months ago, the singer lifted the trophy for their song The Code, an operatic pop track about their journey to realising they were non-binary. It was the first victory for … Read more
Rushdi Abualouf, Cairo; Yolande Knell, Jerusalem; Mallory Moench, London BBC News Reuters A mourner reacts during the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes at the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia Nearly 100 people, including children, have been killed in a large-scale Israeli ground, air and sea attack launched early Friday in north Gaza, the … Read more
Gabon’s former President, Ali Bongo, who was deposed in a 2023 coup, has left the country and is now in Angola, the authorities there have announced. The Angolan presidency added in a statement posted on social media that Bongo’s family had been released from detention and were with him in Luanda. Bongo’s wife and son, … Read more
Australia bowler Mitchell Starc will not return to the Indian Premier League when it resumes on Saturday. Starc, 35, has played in all 11 matches for Delhi Capitals, who remain in contention for the play-offs, but will not travel back to India, with Australia’s World Test Championship final to follow next month against South Africa … Read more
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 The 32-year-old actor was due to read out the UK jury votes at the Grand Final on Saturday but has now been replaced by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.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