News & Stories

Senior commanders accused of atrocities against civilians face asset freezes – but no action against key backer UAE Th

e UK has placed sanctions on four senior commanders of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces suspected of involvement in “heinous” violence against civilians in the city of El Fasher, but decided not to take any action against their key military and diplomatic backer, the United Arab Emirates, or their chief commander. British

officials suggested they preferred to use their leverage with the UAE and the RSF commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, privately, but admitted there was little sign of a ceasefire in Sudan’s near three-year civil war. They also

expressed fears that the war may spread to South Sudan and Eritrea. There were

also concerns among diplomats that rivalries between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, on display in the south of Yemen, could lead to a deepening of the conflict in Sudan. The UK est

imates there are as many as 26 possible arms supply routes into Sudan with 10 countries of origin. Saudi Arab

ia and Egypt have broadly supported the army, while the RSF has been backed by the UAE, a position the Gulf state denies despite evidence compiled by the UN, independent experts and reporters. In south Y

emen, the UAE is backing a separatist movement, the Southern Transitional Council, which is opposed by Saudi Arabia. The war be

tween the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has caused what the UN has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Communities

in the Darfur region are facing famine and malnutrition after an 18-month RSF siege around El Fasher, which fell to the group on 26 October. Those target

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A popular Ghanaian social media influencer known as Abu Trica, whose real name is Frederick Kumi, has been arrested over allegations he orchestrated a romance scam that defrauded elderly Americans of over $8m (£5.9m). P

rosecutors said he used AI tools to create fake online identities, targeting victims through social media and dating sites, earning their trust then extorting their money. K

umi faces charges in the US of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and a money laundering conspiracy and faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. T

he 31-year-old was arrested in Ghana following a joint operation between the two countries and the US will now seek to extradite him. K

umi, who is also known as Emmanuel Kojo Baah Obeng, flaunted luxury items online to his more than 100,000 Instagram followers. T

his raised suspicions about the sources of his income. '

'The perpetrators built trust through frequent, intimate conversations by phone, email, and messaging platforms" with victims, said prosecutors. "

They then requested money or valuables under false pretences, such as urgent medical needs, travel expenses, or investment opportunities.'' T

he monies, or valuables, were then directed to co-conspirators posing as third parties. K

umi allegedly distributed the money to his associates in US and in Ghana. T

Taylor Swift broke down in tears after meeting survivors and families of the victims of the Southport stabbing attack, backstage footage from her Eras tour reveals.

The star met privately with some of those affected by the attack in July 2024, which took place at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop, and claimed the lives of three young girls.

Afterwards, she sobbed in her dressing room, as her mother, Andrea, tried to comfort her.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but I know you helped them," she said.

Swift, who was already in her stage costume, then had to pick herself up and perform for three and a half hours at London's Wembley Stadium.

Speaking to select members of the media, including the BBC, at the New York premiere of her new six part Disney+ documentary, Swift revealed she had felt compelled to "create some form of escape" for her fans after the incident.

"From a mental standpoint, I do live in a reality that's unreal a lot of the time," the star says in the first episode.

"But I need to be able to handle all the feelings and then perk up and perform."

Adding to the emotional burden, the Wembley show also marked Swift's return to the stage after cancelling three concerts in Vienna, Austria, due to a terrorist threat.

In her own words, the tour narrowly "dodged a massacre situation" when the CIA identified a plot to explode a bomb at the concert.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named game of the year at this year's Game Awards.

The French-developed role-playing game (RPG) cleaned up in 9 of the 10 categories it was up for, with further wins in best narrative, best music and best performance.

It fended off competition from Death Stranding 2, Nintendo platformer Donkey Kong Bananza, indie games Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2, and medieval adventure Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to claim the top prize.

During the ceremony in Los Angeles, players also got their first glimpses of two new Tomb Raider games, sequel Control Resonant and a new Star Wars role-playing game.

Clair Obscur is set in a world where a supernatural being known as The Paintress prevents the population from growing past a certain age.

The game, which tells the story of a group of adventurers on a quest to destroy The Paintress, was praised for its emotional narrative and use of old-school turn-based battles.

Players were also won over by the story of developer Sandfall Interactive, formed by a group of employees who left gaming giant Ubisoft to make their dream project.

Accepting the game of the year award, director Guillaume Broche - wearing a red beret and striped t-shirt - said the year had been a "weird timeline" for the studio as he thanked his team.

He also extended thanks to the "unsung heroes" of the industry - "the people who make tutorials on YouTube on how to make a game, because we had no idea how to make one before".

Clair Obscur was the hot favourite going into the awards, and the most-nominated game in the ceremony's history with a total of 12 nods.

More than 800,000 Gazans are at risk from flooding, the UN says, as a powerful winter storm sweeps through the Strip.

The heavy rain has already deluged camps, and led several buildings to collapse.

A steady stream of water trickles through openings in the tent Ghadir al-Adham shares with her husband and six children in Gaza City.

Her family is still displaced after the war, and waiting for reconstruction to begin.

"Here we are, living a life of humiliation," she told the BBC.

"We want caravans.

We want our homes rebuilt.

We long for concrete to keep us warm.

Every day I sit and cry for my children."

Two months into an American-imposed ceasefire, Gaza is stuck in the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan - its territory divided between the warring parties, its people still displaced and surrounded by rubble.

The winner of last year's Eurovision Song Contest, Nemo, has said they are returning their trophy in protest over Israel's continued participation in the event.

The 26-year-old Swiss singer said there is a "clear conflict" between Israel's involvement in the competition and the ideals of "unity, inclusion and dignity" the contest says it stands for.

Israel's presence at Eurovision has been an increasing source of tension, because of the war in Gaza and a voting controversy during this year's event.

Five countries - Iceland, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands - have announced they will boycott next year's event because Israel has been allowed to compete.

Israel has previously called the decision to keep it in the contest a "victory" over critics who had tried to silence it and spread hatred.

Nemo became the first non-binary performer to lift the Eurovision trophy with their song The Code, which is about the path to realising they were non-binary.

After the win, Nemo told the BBC about the challenges they faced during the contest and their feeling that organisers didn't do enough to support participants who were caught up in the row over Israel's inclusion in 2024.

"I felt very alone.

I really hope they have things in place for the next year," Nemo said at the time.

It prompted a series of new measures to be introduced to protect the mental well-being of Eurovision's artists and staff.

Indiana Republicans have defied intense pressure from President Donald Trump by rejecting his demands that they pass a voting map meant to favour their party in next year's midterm elections.

In one of the most conservative states in the US, 21 Republicans in the Senate joined all 10 Democrats to torpedo the redistricting plan by a vote of 31-19.

The new map passed the House last week.

If it had cleared the legislature, Republicans could have flipped the only two Democratic-held congressional seats in the state.

Trump's call for Republican state leaders to redraw maps and help the party keep its congressional majority in Washington next year has triggered gerrymandering battles nationwide.

Republican-led Texas and Democratic-led California, two of the country's largest states, have led the charge.

Other states where redistricting efforts have been initiated or passed include Utah, Ohio, New Hampshire, Missouri and Illinois.

Republican state Senator Spencer Deery said ahead of Thursday's vote: "My opposition to mid-cycle gerrymandering is not in contrast to my conservative principles, my opposition is driven by them.

"As long as I have breath, I will use my voice to resist a federal government that attempts to bully, direct, and control this state or any state.

Giving the federal government more power is not conservative."

A former crypto entrepreneur who was behind two digital currencies that collapsed and lost an estimated $40bn ($29.9bn) has been sentenced by a New York judge to 15 years in prison for an "epic" fraud.

Do Kwon, a South Korean national, was co-founder of Singapore-based Terraform Labs, which developed the TerraUSD and Luna digital coins.

Kwon had admitted misleading investors about TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin that was supposed to maintain its value against the US dollar.

He was one of a number of crypto bosses to face charges in the US after digital tokens slumped in 2022, triggering the failure of several companies.

US District Judge Paul A Engelmayer, who handed down the sentence, said the Stanford graduate had repeatedly lied to investors who trusted him with their money.

"This was a fraud on an epic, generational scale," he said during Thursday's court hearing in Manhattan.

"In the history of federal prosecutions, there are few frauds that have caused as much harm as you have."

Kwon - who pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud - expressed remorse to the judge.

"I have spent almost every waking moment of the last few years thinking of what I could have done different and what I can do now to make things right," he said.

Prosecutors alleged that when TerraUSD fell below its $1 peg in May 2021, Kwon told investors that a computer algorithm had restored its value.

Warning: This report contains details of physical and sexual abuse and discussion of suicide.

Baobao's heart still races when she smells soil after morning rain.

It takes her back to early military drills behind locked gates - and the constant fear that marked every one of her days at Lizheng Quality Education School.

For six months, aged 14, she barely left the red and white building in a remote Chinese village where instructors tried to "fix" young people whose families considered them rebellious or problematic.

Students who failed to comply were beaten so severely they could not sleep on their backs or sit down for days, she says.

"Every single moment was agonising," says Baobao, now 19 and speaking under a pseudonym for fear of retribution.

She says she considered suicide, and knows other students who attempted it.

A BBC Eye investigation has uncovered multiple allegations of physical abuse in the school and others in the same network, and cases of young people being abducted and taken to the institutions.

Corporal punishment has been banned in China for decades, but we have collated testimony from 23 former students who say they were beaten or forced to do extreme amounts of exercise.

One says she was raped, and two others, including Baobao, say they were sexually assaulted or harassed, all by instructors.

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, was justified by campaigners and the government as necessary to protect children from harmful content and algorithms.

Reddit is complying with the ban, but in its case will argue that the policy has serious implications for privacy and political rights.

It is the second such legal challenge, with two Australian teens also awaiting a High Court hearing.

"Despite the best intentions, this law is missing the mark," Reddit said in an update on its website.

"There are more effective ways for the Australian government to accomplish our shared goal of protecting youth."

Australia's Communications Minister Anika Wells has previously said the government will not be swayed by legal threats.

"We will not be intimidated by big tech.

On behalf of Australian parents, we will stand firm," she told parliament after news of the first legal challenge broke last month.

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" it caused.

"We sincerely accept the criticism that the difficulty of questions... was inappropriate," said Suneung chief Oh Seung-geol, adding that the test "fell short" despite having gone through several rounds of editing.

Among the most daunting questions are one on Immanuel Kant's philosophy of law and another involving gaming jargon.

The latter, worth three points, asks students to pick where a sentence should fit in a given paragraph.

Here's the sentence in bold, followed by the paragraph:

The difference is that the action in the game world can only be explored through the virtual bodily space of the avatar.

A video game has its own model of reality, internal to itself and separate from the player's external reality, the player's bodily space and the avatar's bodily space.

(1) The avatar's bodily space, the potential actions of the avatar in the game world, is the only way in which the reality of the external reality of the game world can be perceived.

(2) As in the real world, perception requires action.