World

A nun who knelt in front of armed security forces in Myanmar to stop them firing on civilians has said she was prepared to die to save protestors’ lives. In extraordinary scenes in Myitkyina, Kachin State, Sister Ann Roza Nu Tawng can be seen pleading with police and soldiers not to shoot. The intervention has

The Pope has arrived in Iraq for an historic weekend visit which carries both symbolism and risk. With a message of inter-faith tolerance, Francis will spend four days in Iraq in what is his first foreign trip in more than a year and the first-ever papal pilgrimage to the war-hit nation. The Pope will visit

Australia has hit back at the EU’s move to block a shipment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine – suggesting the bloc was trying to “tear up the rule book”.  Italy earlier said it would block the export of about 250,000 vaccine doses from its Anagni plant, a decision that was later approved by the EU, after

Italy and the European Commission have blocked a shipment of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine destined for Australia. The British-Swedish drug manufacturer had failed to meet its EU contract commitments so the Italian government refused its request to export 250,000 doses from its Anagni plant near Rome. Italy made the request and it was signed off by

Dozens of scientists and doctors are demanding the release of Kathleen Folbigg, who is serving 30 years in jail after being convicted of killing her four children. Folbigg, 53, was jailed in 2003 for the murders of her children Patrick, Sarah and Laura – aged between eight months and 19 months – between 1991 and

An “incel” who admitted using a van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto has been found guilty of their murder. Alek Minassian faced 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in connection with the attack on 23 April 2018 that drew attention to an online world of sexual loneliness, rage and

School pupils from an all-girls’ boarding school in the town of Jangebe were required to attend a different sort of assembly this morning. Instead of the classroom, they sat in a building that government officials in the Nigerian state of Zamfara use to speak to the media. They were given a little food, then filmed

“Repentant bandits” helped secure the release of 279 girls kidnapped from a Nigerian boarding school, it has emerged – as the students open up about the horrors of their ordeal. A group of about 100 gunmen burst into the Girls Science Secondary School in the northwestern state of Zamfara on Friday and abducted the students.

A painting by Sir Winston Churchill and owned by Angelina Jolie has been sold for £8.285m. The sale price was almost four times the upper pre-sale estimate and it also beat the previous record price for a Churchill painting, which was just under £1.8m. Tower Of The Koutoubia Mosque was sold at Christie’s in London

The UK will discuss with the EU the bloc’s proposals to create a vaccine passport that could allow people to travel more freely in time for the summer holidays. The EU-wide “digital green pass” would provide proof a person has been vaccinated, as well as test results for those not yet inoculated and information on

Police in Myanmar have fired tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades at pro-democracy protestors, killing at least four and leaving several wounded. Violence erupted in the major city Yangon when a woman died after police broke up a teachers’ protest with stun grenades, though the cause of her death might have been a heart

A new lockdown has been imposed across the West Bank as Palestinians face a fresh surge of coronavirus cases and a continued wait for a proper vaccine rollout. The Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announced the 12-day shutdown late on Saturday and blamed it on the struggle to get vaccines delivered to the territory. In

Violence has returned to the streets of Spain after a few days of tense calm following the arrest of a rapper. Bank windows were smashed in Barcelona and at least 10 people were arrested after peaceful marches turned violent, with similar scenes in other parts of the Catalonia region. Officers also said they apprehended a

Pupils kidnapped from a boarding school in Nigeria alongside members of their family and teachers have been released, an official has confirmed. All 42 people, including 27 teenage boys, 12 of their relatives and three staff members were freed on Saturday by gunmen who had been holding them hostage since 17 February. Niger state governor

Axum is a historical city – an ancient site of pilgrimage in the Ethiopian region of Tigray. But a vicious conflict arrived in this community on the morning of 28 November, and it was signalled by the crack of gunfire from the surrounding hills. These shots would mark the beginning of 24 hours of unspeakable

A massacre in which Eritrean soldiers killed “many hundreds” of people in the Ethiopian city of Axum may amount to crimes against humanity, an Amnesty International report has said. The report describes what could be the deadliest massacre in the ongoing crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, with soldiers in late November gunning down civilians as