Tag: new stories

The English section of South Korea’s gruelling college entrance exam, or Suneung, is notoriously difficult, with some students comparing it to deciphering an ancient script, and others calling it “insane”. So intense was the criticism around this year’s test that the top official in charge of administering it resigned to take responsibility for the “chaos” read more

Reddit has launched a challenge in Australia’s highest court against the nation’s landmark social media ban for children. The online forum is among 10 social media platforms which must bar Australians aged under 16 from having accounts, under a new law which began on Wednesday. The ban, which is being watched closely around the world, read more

Residents in the Pacific Northwest of the US and Canada are bracing for what could be record-setting floods as an atmospheric river dumps heavy rain on already swollen rivers. On Thursday, the National Water Center reported major, in some cases record, flooding along the Skagit and Snohomish rivers in the state of Washington that is read more

Ethiopian police have arrested a sixth popular TikTok creator days after five other influencers were detained over allegations of wearing “indecent attire” at a public event in the culturally conservative country. Adonay Berhane, 25, is a lifestyle and motivational creator with close to four million followers, who was named “TikToker of the Year” at the read more

A judge has ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported and brought back to the US to face criminal charges, from immigration custody. US District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland said since returning to the US, Mr Abrego Garcia was re-detained “without lawful authority”. The order means he can at read more

Brandon Livesayand Bernd Debusmann,at the White House Watch: Video shows US military seizing oil tanker off Venezuela coast A US helicopter flies low over a hazy blue sea as it approaches a massive ship. It hovers as camouflaged soldiers holding rifles swing down ropes to the vessel’s deck. The video, released by the US government, read more

Kayla Epsteinand Ione Wells,São Paulo Watch: Video shows US military seizing oil tanker off Venezuela coast US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro’s government. Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the tanker was “the read more

Joshua Cheetham, Paul Brown, Richard Irvine-Brown & Matt MurphyBBC Verify BBC The oil tanker seized by US forces on Wednesday had a track record of faking or concealing its location information, apparently to hide its activities, ship tracking data shows. On Wednesday evening, the US confirmed that its forces seized a vessel during a helicopter-launched read more

Imran Rahman-Jonesand Liv McMahon,Technology reporters Getty Images Nvidia boss Jensen Huang is among the tech bosses the magazine has put on its biggest cover of the year Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2025 is not a single person. Instead, the magazine has recognised the year’s most influential figure as “the architects” of artificial read more

The government of Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov has resigned after protesters took to the streets in cities across the country and filled the centre of the capital Sofia on Wednesday night. Zhelyazkov’s dramatic move came ahead of a vote of no confidence in parliament, and 20 days before Bulgaria joins the euro. Protesters had read more

Polish authorities have arrested a prominent Russian academic from St Petersburg’s world-famous Hermitage Museum who is sought by Ukraine for allegedly conducting illegal excavations and partially destroying the ancient city of Myrmekion in Crimea. The suspect, identified under Polish law as Aleksandr B, is the head of the Ancient Archaeology of the Northern Black Sea read more

Ghana has deported three Israeli nationals who arrived in the country on Wednesday in what appears to be a tit-for-tat move over the alleged mistreatment of Ghanaian nationals at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel. Seven Ghanaians, including four members of an official delegation attending a cyber-security conference in Tel Aviv, were allegedly detained without read more

Austria has passed a law banning headscarves in schools for girls under the age of 14. The conservative-led coalition of three centrist parties, the ÖVP, the SPÖ and the Neos, says the law is a “clear commitment to gender equality”, but critics say it will fuel anti-Muslim feeling in the country and could be unconstitutional. read more

Kayla Epstein, Tiffany Wertheimerand Yang Tian Watch: BBC speaks to Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has been in hiding for months, has told the BBC that she knows “exactly the risks” she’s taking by travelling to Norway to collect her Nobel Peace Prize. Machado appeared in read more

At least 34 people have died and dozens more are injured after air strikes from Myanmar’s military hit a hospital in the country’s west on Wednesday night, according to ground sources. The hospital is located in Mrauk-U town in Rakhine state, an area controlled by the Arakan Army – one of the strongest ethnic armies read more

Two brothers wanted in connection with a deadly fire at their nightclub in India’s Goa state, which killed 25 people, have been detained in Thailand, India’s ambassador to Thailand, Nagesh Singh, told the BBC. Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, who own Birch By Romeo Lane club, fled to Phuket, shortly after the incident earlier this week. read more

Nicolas NégoceBBC Africa BTV Most of the soldiers who appeared on state TV early on Sunday morning are on the run A senior government official in Benin has told the BBC that the leader of Sunday’s failed coup is taking refuge in neighbouring Togo. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that the government read more

The number of Indigenous people who have died in custody in Australia has hit the highest level since records began in 1980. New data from the Australian Institute of Criminology showed 33 of the 113 people who died in custody in the 12 months to June this year were Indigenous, up from 24 compared to read more

President Donald Trump has launched a scheme offering fast-tracked US visas to wealthy foreigners who can pay at least $1m (£750,000). The card will give buyers a “direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people. SO EXCITING! Our Great American Companies can finally keep their invaluable Talent,” Trump said on social media on read more

Godwin AsedibaBBC News Komla Dumor Award winner, Eastern Province, Sierra Leone Andre Lombard / BBC Namina Jenneh is mourning her 17-year-old son who died while mining for gold There is a sense of disbelief in this Sierra Leonean village as people weep in front of the bodies of two teenage boys wrapped in white cloth. read more