World

A plane with almost 100 people on board has crashed in Kazakhstan, officials say. They say the Bek Air aircraft went down shortly after taking off at Almaty airport on Friday morning local time. A Reuters reporter close to the scene said there was heavy fog in the area. The airport said there were survivors. […]

Scientists in the Seychelles have started the world’s first large scale coral reef restoration project to help stop the impact of rising sea temperatures. Over half of the world’s coral has succumbed to the effects of climate change so a team based in the Indian Ocean has been growing coral on land and planting them

Russian security forces have raided the premises of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, taking laptops and other equipment. CCTV video posted online by the group shows sparks flying as the door is forced open. Mr Navalny linked the raid to his refusal to comply with a court order to delete a 2017 online film

A balloon drop at Westfield Parramatta mall in Sydney went awry, when several people were injured in the chaos. Hundreds of shoppers were fighting for the balloons which were stuffed with prizes. The incident took place at the end of a marathon Christmas shopping event. There were children among those injured in the crush, and

In 2019, Russian opposition activist Anastastia Shevchenko was placed under house arrest in southern Russia. The case has transformed life for her 15-year-old daughter, Vlada, who now runs a popular blog about her mother’s arrest and attends events to speak on her behalf. Anastasia, a single mum, is facing up to six years behind bars,

British sign language is receiving an astronomical update thanks to a unique collaboration between a space scientist and a group of deaf astronomers. The University of Leeds based astrophysicist found that there were no signs for terms describing the latest discoveries in the world of astronomy. So she has decided to help create them. Reporting

Russell Scholes is a volunteer firefighter in Balmoral, New South Wales, which has been badly hit by the Australia bushfires. The BBC’s Shaimaa Khalil spoke to him by the ruins of his own home, which he left to burn while saving other properties in the area. He said protecting the community was more important than

Ecuador was fighting to contain the environmental impact of a fuel spill in the Galapagos Islands after a flatboat carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel sank. The Orca barge tipped over after a crane collapsed while it was loading a container onto it. Ecuador’s Integrated Security Service added, “the barge crew jumped into the sea

President Donald Trump became the third president in American history to be impeached, exactly one week before Christmas. He now faces a trial in the Senate that will decide whether he remains in office. The Washington International Chorus performs the 12 Days of Christmas carol, with specially adapted lyrics by BBC News, to explain how

Christians in the Indonesian province of Aceh are preparing to celebrate Christmas in makeshift tents in the jungle. Their churches were destroyed four years ago by Islamic vigilante groups and the police. Indonesia – the world’s largest Muslim population – has a pluralist constitution that is meant to protect the rights of followers of all