News
Afghan Capital Locked Down for Large Demonstration
Afghan authorities have closed off streets across the capital, Kabul, in preparation for a demonstration by ethnic Hazaras demanding a planned power line be rerouted through their poverty-stricken province. Police have been moving trucks and containers into the city overnight Friday to block roads and prevent marchers reaching...
Russian Balloonist Claims New Round the World Record
An official says a Russian balloonist has claimed a new 11-day round the world record. Support crew member Steve Griffin says Fedor Konyukhov's balloon on Saturday passed directly over the airfield at the Australian town of Northam where he began his journey on July 12. American Steve Fossett also started from Northam to...
India launches massive search operation for missing military plane
An Indian military plane with more than 20 people on board has gone missing over the Bay of Bengal, the Indian air force (IAF) has confirmed to the BBC. The Antonov-32 transporter aircraft took off from Chennai (Madras) at 08:30 local time (03:00 GMT), bound for Port Blair in the eastern archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar. It...
Turkey coup attempt: Detentions ‘tip of the iceberg’
Turkey's deputy prime minister has described as "the tip of the iceberg" the infiltration of state institutions by the group the government blames for last Friday's failed coup. Nurettin Canikli told the BBC that the number of arrests could grow. At least 60,000 state employees have been detained or suspended...
Nice attack: City refuses police call to delete CCTV images
The local authorities in Nice have refused a request by French anti-terror police to destroy CCTV images of last week's lorry attack. The Paris prosecutor's office said the request had been made to avoid the "uncontrolled dissemination" of images. But officials in Nice have responded by filing a legal...
Munich shooting: Police hunt ‘attackers’
Police in the German city of Munich say the perpetrators of a shooting attack are still on the run, and they advise people to avoid public places. There are reports of at least six people killed, but police have not confirmed that figure. A big security operation is under way at the Olympia shopping centre in the north-western...
Romanian man arrested in connection with £20 million cashpoint fraud
DETECTIVES have arrested the first of 10 people wanted in connection with a £20 million cashpoint fraud. Romanian citizen Marius Anton, 31, was held in Kent as he attempted to leave the UK on Wednesday, City of London Police have revealed. Anton is wanted by Cheshire police for allegedly committing multiple ATM fraud...
Pakistan row over future of Bin Laden’s compound
A row has erupted over what to do with the land in Pakistan's Abbottabad city where former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden lived and was killed. Local authorities want to construct a children's playground there, while the military wish to build a graveyard. The two sides have tussled over control of the land — and...
Munich shooting: Several killed in shopping centre
Several people have been shot dead in a shooting at a shopping centre in the German city of Munich, police say. A big operation is under way. Police are telling people to stay at home and avoid the streets. Several people have also been injured at the shopping centre in the north-western Moosach district. Reports speak of one...
A political convention like no other
This is my seventh US political convention and I have never seen anything quite like this. I've never heard a speaker booed on the stage or a party this beset by internal strife or a wing of a party drag the rest out to the fringes of political respectability. It's stunning and begs the question: Are we watching the...
Sex toy firm endorsed by the Queen airs TV ad tonight
A TV ADVERT from a sex toy firm which features romping rabbits, spanking and sexually suggestive fruit will hit TV screens tonight just days after the firm was endorsed by the Queen. The tongue-in-cheek ad for Lovehoney, which received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in April for boosting British exports, does not feature...
Tributes paid to academic who was knocked off his bike by driver trying to outrun police
A HIGH-respected academic died while out cycling after being ploughed into by a driver trying outrun police. Dr Andrew Platten, 55, died at the scene of the crash in Bingley, West Yorkshire, on Tuesday. He was knocked from his bike by a silver Vauxhall Vectra shortly before 7.35pm, after the driver had sped from police officers...