Tag Archives: BBC News

By Sarah Rainsford, Eastern Europe Correspondent in Prague, and Christy Cooney BBC News The Czech Republic has declared Saturday a national day of mourning after a gunman killed 14 people and injured 25 at a university in Prague. President Petr Pavel expressed his “great sadness” and “helpless anger at the totally unnecessary” loss of life. The gunman, who police said ...

By Madeline Halpert BBC News, New York An Oklahoma judge has exonerated a man who was in prison for almost half a century for a 1974 murder, the longest wrongful sentence to be served in the US.  Glynn Simmons, 70, was freed in July when a judge ordered a new trial.  But a county district attorney said on Monday there ...

By Max Matza BBC News A father was Christmas shopping when his four children and a young relative died in an Arizona house fire, police said.  The fire tore through the two-storey home on Saturday evening, authorities said on Monday, leaving no survivors. Four children, ages 2, 4, 5 and 13 were siblings, while an 11-year-old was a visiting relative. ...

By David Gritten BBC News “When he asks me about his family I can’t answer. Instead, I take a deep breath and try to avoid the question in a childlike way by changing the subject.” Moein Abu Rezk is the only surviving relative of his four-year-old nephew, Omar, who is in a critical condition at Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir ...

Alfred Lasteck BBC News, Marieta Banga tells the BBC that eight members of her family were killed by the weekend’s flooding and mudslides in northern Tanzania – and that all she remains with is pain. Ms Banga, from the impacted Hanang district, said: “We heard a loud noise, rushed outside, and saw a mudslide and floods. Later, after the rain stopped, we… ...

By Kaine Pieri When a clip of two men dancing at a party in Ethiopia was posted to TikTok, it unleashed a torrent of homophobic hatred and eventually forced one of them to flee the country. The pair were unaware they were being filmed. The videos were initially posted to Instagram where someone took a screenshot of them to make ...

By Dorcas Wangira Africa health correspondent, BBC News, Nairobi Four women living with HIV in Kenya have each been awarded $20,000 (£16,000) in damages for being sterilised without their informed consent. They have spoken to the BBC about their experiences. The women fought a nine-year legal battle – and their names have been changed to protect their identities, which were ...

It is estimated that one in five girls across the world is married by the age of 18. Even countries that have laws against child marriage sometimes fail to enforce them. But in Malawi some are seeing the first signs of change. The third time we visited Tamara we were told she had left for the nearby fields early in ...

Image caption, The plane will fly from London Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport By Katy Austin Transport correspondent The first transatlantic flight powered only by alternative fuels is due to take off on Tuesday morning. Operated by Virgin Atlantic, it will fly from London’s Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport at 11:30 GMT. Airlines see the flight, which is supported ...

Image caption, Streets in Freetown were largely deserted on Sunday after a curfew was declared By Mayeni Jones & Umaru Fofana Lagos & Freetown Sierra Leone has been placed under a nationwide curfew after armed men broke into prisons, setting inmates free. Detainees from a number of “major” facilities were released on Sunday morning, said the West African nation’s information minister. ...