Business

Thai army boycotts e-commerce giant Lazada over video

Thailand’s army has boycotted online retailer Lazada over an advert that the government is probing for allegedly insulting the country’s royal family. The move will see 245,000 members of the Thai military banned from using the e-commerce giant’s websites for official

Asia

Sri Lankan troops on streets after protesters torch leaders’ homes in night of unrest

A curfew is in force across Sri Lanka after mobs burned down homes belonging to the ruling Rajapaksa family amid mounting anger at the economic crisis. The overnight violence capped a day of unrest that saw PM Mahinda Rajapaksa quit, but this failed to bring calm. Crowds besieged his residence and tried to storm it […]

Africa News

South Africa kidnapping: ‘I survived but part of me died that day’

After a surge in the number of abductions in recent years, South Africa has one of the highest rates of kidnapping in the world, as Mpho Lakaje reports from Johannesburg. Lesego Tau did not panic at first when a stranger opened the back door of her grey Mercedes C-Class and climbed in. She had parked […]

Middle East

More than 20 injured in Israeli-Palestinian clashes around al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem

More than 20 Palestinians and Israelis have been wounded in several incidents in and around Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound, two days after major violence at the flashpoint site. The clashes on Sunday take the number of wounded since Friday to more than 170, at a tense time when the Jewish Passover festival coincides with the […]

Europe

Russia ‘can use any weapon’: Zelensky prepares for nuclear attack

In a chilling message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, urged leaders to stock up on antiradiation medicine and build air-raid shelters. The warning followed claims from Austrian leader Karl Nehammer that Putin believes he is winning the war in Ukraine. Chancellor Nehammer, who met the despot in Moscow last week, said he thinks the Russian president […]

Asia

Shanghai records first official Covid deaths since lockdown imposed

Three Covid-19 fatalities have been reported in Shanghai, the first to be officially counted since the beginning of the city’s lockdown. The three people reported on Monday included two women aged 89 and 91, and a 91-year-old man, who also had underlying health conditions, and were reportedly unvaccinated. Shanghai municipal authorities said the three were […]

Africa News

‘Lawless logging’ in DRC raises concerns over $500m forests deal signed by Boris Johnson

Environmental groups have raised concerns about a $500m (£380m) forest protection deal signed by Boris Johnson at Cop26, after a damning report into the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s “lawless” logging sector. Johnson signed the letter of intent on behalf of the Central African Forest Initiative (Cafi) for a 10-year agreement which includes objectives to protect

Latest News

Volunteers to drive ambulance cars as service continues to face pressure

Volunteers will drive ambulance cars for some patients in need as part of a pilot scheme due to launch next month. It comes as new figures last week showed ambulance response times and A&E performance in England have dropped to their lowest levels on record while the backlog of patients waiting for care has continued to grow. […]

Middle East

Egyptian activist gains UK citizenship while serving jail sentence

Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, a key figure in the country’s 2011 revolution, has obtained British citizenship from inside prison, where he is serving a three-year sentence, and his family has appealed to UK authorities to seek consular access to visit him in jail. Abd El Fattah, along with his sisters Mona and Sanaa, […]

Europe

Ukraine president warns of ‘new stage of terror’ as west probes chemical weapons claims

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has voiced concerns that Russian forces are preparing “a new stage of terror” that could involve the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, as the mayor of Mariupol said that more than 10,000 civilians had died so far in the Russian siege of his city. “Today, the occupiers issued a new statement, […]