World

Tonight, Lebanon has been knocked into darkness. Again. The two state power stations are without fuel, and so the entire country is without electricity. Small mercy it’s no longer the height of summer, when air conditioning units and fans are literally life-saving for many. Lebanese are used to power shortages: for some time now, the

Lebanon’s electricity grid has shut down entirely after the country’s two main power stations ran out of fuel, according to reports. The al Zahrani and the Deir Ammar power stations stopped working after supplies of diesel were apparently exhausted, and energy production dropped to below 200 megawatts. The outage will continue for a few days,

We met an elderly man amongst the long stalks of sorghum in a valley – and a village – that local people called Alatti. He wore a sun-bleached jacket with a ‘Coca-Cola’ patch on the front and the back. I asked him his name and he said: “Ahmed. My name is Ahmed Seid.” He took

At least 46 people have been killed and more than 140 wounded after a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Afghanistan’s northeastern Kunduz province, a state-run news agency has reported. Photos from the scene show bodies and bloodstains surrounded by rubble inside the mosque. Rescuers could be seen carrying bodies wrapped in blankets from the

The big bold letters painted on a tall building on the main road leading to the dock are the first sign of the health crises that have gripped Homa Bay. “HIV SELF TEST KITS AVAILABLE HERE,” it reads. Then there’s the number of white four wheel drive SUVs cruising along the busy streets. Image: Homa

Governments are being urged to do what is “morally right” to ensure all countries have enough jabs – as the World Health Organisation set a target of vaccinating 70% of the world by the middle of next year. The agency also said countries need to help meet its fresh target of vaccinating 40% of the

At least 20 people have been killed and more than 200 injured after an earthquake in Pakistan. The 5.9-magnitude quake was about 12 miles deep and centred eight miles north-northeast of Harnai in Balochistan province. It hit at about 3.20am on Thursday, when most people were asleep. Image: Many people left their homes after the

The first vaccine against malaria could be rolled out to billions of people after key advisers to the World Health Organisation (WHO) gave it the green light. Experts on the WHO’s advisory bodies for immunisation and malaria concluded the vaccine Mosquirix could save tens of thousands of lives every year. The vaccine is now expected

Taiwan’s defence minister has warned that China will be capable of mounting a “full-scale” invasion of the island by 2025. Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Wednesday that the relationship between the two countries is the worst it has been in more than four decades. Mr Chiu said there was the risk of a “misfire” across the

The Catholic Church in France showed complete and sometimes cruel indifference to people who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of clergy for decades, a commission investigating the abuse has found. The investigation found that an estimated 330,000 children were victims of abuse between 1950 and 2020. The report said an estimated 3,000 child abusers

Heading north along Ethiopia’s A2 highway, we quickly noticed that the road had turned into an elongated car park for the country’s military – the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF). Near the city of Dessie in the region of Amhara, we saw dozens of trucks, tanks and armoured personnel carriers parked by the side of

Two more earthquakes have rattled the Spanish island of La Palma amid a fresh surge of lava from an erupting volcano. Part of the volcano’s crater has also collapsed – two weeks after the eruption on what is one of the Canary Islands situated off northwest Africa. Spain’s National Geographical Institute said it recorded two

North and South Korea have reopened their hotlines, around two months after they were cut by the North. At least 49 hotlines have been set up between the two countries since the 1970s and they are crucial in preventing misunderstanding resulting from unexpected military developments. They were also intended to arrange diplomatic meetings, economic and

An erupting volcano in the Canary Islands has turned “much more aggressive”, officials have warned, after two further cracks blew open, spewing lava. Amid reports of “intense” activity on La Palma, the fresh fissures, some 25m (50ft) apart, sent scorching rivers of molten rock down towards the sea, parallel to an earlier flow that reached

A huge blaze has torn through a Caribbean island resort, ravaging more than 200 homes and businesses and forcing hundreds of residents to flee. Dramatic video shared on social media showed rows of seaside properties engulfed in flames and collapsing on Guanaja, which lies around 44 miles (70km) off the north coast of Honduras. Image:

Donald Trump has asked a federal judge in the US to force Twitter to restore his account, which was shut down after his supporters attacked the US Capitol in January. The former US president has filed a request for preliminary injunction against the social media company in the US District Court for the Southern District