There was desperation in the voice of the young Ethiopian man when he managed to get through to the BBC from a phone in his prison cell on death row in Saudi Arabia. Habtom, whose name – like the other prisoner featured in this article – has been changed to protect his identity, has been…
US interest rates have been held for the fifth time in a row by the Federal Reserve. The decision, which was broadly expected, means rates remain between 3.5% and 3.75%. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive for people wanting to secure loans, mortgages and credit cards, but can lead to better returns on savings….
Published on 24/07/2026 – 20:08 GMT+2•Updated 20:37 The fallout from the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina has spilled over into music. In just a few days, the singer Rosalía has seen a tribute concert to her work cancelled in Argentina and calls grow for a boycott of her upcoming concerts in Buenos Aires….
“I perceived our relationship as a working one,” he wrote in an op-ed for the Militarny website. “If I offended anyone, Mykhailo Albertovych [Fedorov], I’m sorry.” The general said the issues of military contracts, procurement and mobilisation currently being aired in the press and boiled down to pithy slogans on pieces of cardboard carried aloft…
In a statement, the ministry described the US administration as “evil and psychopathic” and that it condemned the attacks which have damaged bridges and a railway route connecting Tehran to the city of Mashhad, where the late supreme leader Ali Khamenei is due to be buried at a funeral service later on Thursday. Iran’s Ministry…
The prime minister and foreign secretary were involved in arguing for the kick-off time for England’s World Cup match against Mexico not to be moved earlier – as mooted by Fifa in the days before the game. Sir Keir Starmer instructed officials to make the case, backed by the Football Association, that the match should…
A row has broken out in Germany after the coalition government announced changes to sick-leave rules, requiring Germans to provide a doctor’s note to their employers on the first day of their illness. The changes also mean workers will not be able to obtain the note by phone, scrapping a measure brought in due to…
Doctors on the island called off a planned walkout in January 2025 after a deal was reached covering two financial years from 2023-24. That saw the awarding of an 8% pay uplift for the first year, along with another 6% rise from April 2024 and a further 2% from February last year. The BMA said,…
Former Louisiana death row inmate Jimmie “Chris” Duncan is officially a free man following a unanimous ruling Monday by the Louisiana Supreme Court. In the opinion, justices upheld a lower court’s decision to toss out Duncan’s 1998 conviction for killing his former girlfriend’s toddler, Haley Oliveaux, citing flawed forensics practices used to convict him. Justice…
A row has broken out between Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the future of the Immigration Minister Mike Tapp. Tapp had written for the Times newspaper, external calling for foreign care workers to be exempt from Mahmood’s plans to change visa rules for migrants already living in the UK….
