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Besigye kidnapping: Uganda president's doctor turned rival

Leading Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye has been arrested multiple times, pepper-sprayed, faced spurious charges of rape and treason, and once fled the country in fear of his life.

ICC to sentence Timbuktu war criminal

The International Criminal Court will Wednesday sentence a jihadist police chief for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during a reign of terror in the fabled Malian city of Timbuktu.

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Ten deadliest quakes of the past 100 years

With the estimated death toll still mounting, the massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6 is among the 10 deadliest of the past 100 years, with over 41,000 dead as of Friday.

Colombia mulls proposal to benefit repentant narcos

Colombia's government on Thursday said it would submit a bill to parliament offering reduced sentences and other benefits to drug traffickers who quit and compensate victims.

Turkey rescues two 11 days after quake

Turkish rescuers on Thursday pulled a 17-year-girl and a woman in her 20s from the rubble of last week's devastating earthquake, as hopes fade of finding more survivors.

Climate, ice sheets & sea level: the news is not good

Parts of Earth's ice sheets that could lift global oceans by metres will likely crumble with another half degree Celsius of warming, and are fragile in ways not previously understood, according to new research.

Turkey quake tests Erdogan's all-powerful rule

When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assumed sweeping powers in 2018, he swore the state would deliver more under a centralised system that his critics compare to one-man rule.

French company charged over baby milk salmonella scandal

French food company Lactalis said Thursday it had been charged over a five-year-old global scandal in which dozens of babies fell sick from salmonella-contaminated powdered formula milk.

Pope resignations should not be the norm: Francis

The resignation of a pope should not become the norm within the Catholic Church, and that prospect is not "on my agenda", Pope Francis said in an interview published Thursday.

Turkey rescues girl from rubble 248 hours after quake

Turkish rescuers on Thursday pulled a 17-year-girl from the rubble of last week's devastating earthquake, as hopes fade of finding more survivors.

Mali junta cracks down on hookahs

The authorities in Mali have begun a crackdown on hookah smoking after giving a grace period to shisha bars to adjust to a ban.

As Spain advances trans rights, other early adopters hesitate

As Spain prepares to adopt a law simplifying the process for self-identifying as transgender, other early adopters are applying the brakes over the complexities involved in this highly sensitive issue.

Nicaragua yanks citizenship from 94 more dissidents

A Nicaraguan court under President Daniel Ortega stripped the citizenship from 94 exiled dissidents and declared them to be "traitors to the fatherland," drawing sharp criticism from a regional UN watchdog agency.

'No infighting': Iran opposition seeks elusive unity to unseat regime

Five months since protests broke out in Iran, a divided opposition in and outside of the country is seeking unity that has so far eluded foes of the Islamic republic.

Japan debates LGBTQ protections under G7 spotlight

G7 host Japan is the group's only member not to recognise same-sex unions, and ahead of this May's summit the government is under pressure to bolster its legal protections for LGBTQ citizens.

Racist US shooter jailed for life as man lunges at him in court

A white supremacist who murdered 10 Black people during a live-streamed supermarket rampage in New York state last year was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday during an emotional hearing that saw a man lunge for the shooter.

Two teenagers charged with murder of transgender girl

UK police said on Wednesday that two teenagers had been charged with the weekend murder of a 16-year-old transgender girl, in a case that has drawn national concern.

Blinken to pledge quake support on first Turkey visit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel Sunday to Turkey to discuss support after a massive earthquake, his first trip to the NATO ally which has had turbulent relations with Washington.

US aviation official pressed over January grounding

US aviation officials have taken steps to avert a repeat of January's emergency grounding, but a top regulator said Wednesday that a meaningful system upgrade won't be ready before 2025.

Nice football club file complaint after porn film shot in stadium

French Ligue 1 club Nice said on Wednesday they have filed a complaint for "damage to their image" after an amateur porn film was shot inside their Allianz Riviera stadium during a game.

AirTag stalking victims unconvinced by Apple fixes

Conceived as an aid for the absent-minded, AirTag sensors are being diverted towards more sinister ends, with manufacturer Apple facing anger -- and lawsuits -- over their use as a stalking tool.

'No toilets': Hygiene nightmare in Turkey's quake ruins

Sedef's relief at surviving Turkey's deadly earthquake is quickly giving way to fears she could succumb to diseases that threaten to take hold across shattered regions now devoid of basics including toilets.

Italy's Berlusconi acquitted in starlet bribery trial

An Italian court on Wednesday acquitted billionaire former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi of bribing witnesses to lie about his notorious "bunga bunga" parties.

Tax raids at BBC India offices enter second day

Indian tax department raids at BBC offices entered a second day Wednesday, journalists at the broadcaster told AFP, in an action rights groups linked to critical coverage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At 81, South Africa's fearless rights defender Navi Pillay fights on

At the height of apartheid, young South African lawyer Navi Pillay made history by securing better conditions for political prisoners incarcerated on the infamous Robben Island, including Nelson Mandela.

New hope for forests of ancient Athens' silver hills

It was once the source of Athens' fabulous golden-age wealth before its hillsides were blackened by fire after fire and scandalously torched by a foreign mining company.

'Crackland' clown seeks to bring hope to Brazil addicts

Every Thursday, Brazilian psychiatrist Flavio Falcone trades his white lab coat for a red clown nose and heads to a decidedly unfunny place: a squalid Sao Paulo neighborhood known as "Crackland."

Survivors plucked from rooftops as New Zealand cyclone kills four

Military helicopters winched stranded storm survivors to safety in New Zealand on Wednesday, after Cyclone Gabrielle killed four people and displaced 10,500 more.

'Lucky tiger': Fukushima fishermen pin hopes on pufferfish

The pufferfish filling nets in Fukushima are a delicacy that can kill if wrongly prepared. But to a community devastated by a 2011 nuclear disaster, they are also a lifeline.

Refugee from Taliban offers virtual tours of her homeland

Forced to flee by the Taliban, Fatima Haidari now offers virtual tours of Afghanistan from her new home in Italy -- with the proceeds funding secret English classes for women there.

Survivors plucked from rooftops as New Zealand cyclone kills three

Military helicopters winched stranded storm survivors to safety in New Zealand on Wednesday, after Cyclone Gabrielle killed three people and displaced 10,500 more.

Iraq dig uncovers 5,000 year old pub restaurant

Archaeologists in southern Iraq have uncovered the remains of a tavern dating back nearly 5,000 years they hope will illuminate the lives of ordinary people in the world's first cities.

Hundreds wed in Valentine's Day ceremony in Mexico

Hundreds of couples wed Tuesday in a mass ceremony on Valentine's Day in one of the last Mexican states to legalize same-sex marriage.

Verdict for Italy's Berlusconi in starlet bribery trial

An Italian court is set to rule Wednesday on whether billionaire ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi bribed witnesses to lie about his "bunga bunga" parties in an underage prostitution case.

Three dead in New Zealand cyclone

Authorities on Wednesday confirmed three deaths after Cyclone Gabrielle cut a trail of destruction across northern New Zealand, with helicopters plucking hundreds from their roofs as floods surged overnight.

Biden's antitrust enforcer Khan hit by resignation

A top competition enforcer for US President Joe Biden was accused Tuesday of abusing her power and bias against big tech as the last remaining Republican resigned from the Federal Trade Commission.

Air India unveils record plane order with Airbus, Boeing

Air India will purchase 470 planes from Airbus and Boeing under an historic pair of mega agreements announced Tuesday, transforming the former national carrier as it prepares for scorching growth.

New aid route to rebel-held Syria opens as quake toll nears 40,000

An aid convoy on Tuesday passed through a newly re-opened border crossing into rebel-held north Syria, where help has been slow to arrive since last week's earthquake, which killed nearly 40,000 people in the region.

Police find more body parts in popular Paris park

French investigators on Tuesday found more human remains including a head in Paris' busy Buttes-Chaumont park, prosecutors said, after part of a woman's body was discovered the day before.

Three students killed, five wounded in US campus shooting

A public tip-off led US police to the gunman who shot dead three people and severely injured five more -- all of them students -- during a deadly rampage on a university campus, police said Tuesday.

In Channel, major resources track small boats

Fifteen months after 27 migrants drowned in the Channel, the efforts to prevent another tragedy are visible from the bridge of the French navy boat BSAM Rhone as it patrols on a cold February night.

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