International

(BBC) At least 43 people have been killed over the past five days by severe storms across southern and western parts of the United States. Flash floods, tornadoes and now snow have destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses and snarled…

Eleven people have been killed in tornadoes in Texas, police say, raising the death toll to 29 in a week of storms across several US states. At least eight people died in Garland, near Dallas, five of them when their cars were blown off a…

Latest reports from southern Afghanistan suggest that Sangin District in Helmand Province is now almost entirely under Taliban control after days of fierce fighting. The police headquarters and the main government building fell to the…

Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, says he is considering applying for political asylum in the UK and he feels safe in London. He was speaking in a BBC interview after a Russian…

(Antigua Observer) A fire at a hospital in Saudi Arabia killed 25 people and injured more than 100 others as it ripped through the intensive care unit and the maternity ward before dawn, the Saudi civil defense agency said. Details of the…

(Antigua Observer) Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, said on Thursday Russia had identified groups behind the explosion of a Russian plane in Egypt, which killed all 224 passengers on board in October,…

(Antigua Observer) A Thai court sentenced two Myanmar migrant workers to death on Thursday after convicting them of the 2014 murders of two young British tourists on a holiday island in a case mired in controversy and a dispute over DNA…

Colombia's President has signed a decree fully legalising medical marijuana in a shift away from preventing drug crop production. Juan Manuel Santos said the move put Colombia "in the group of countries that are at the forefront...in the…

Bernard Cazeneuve said on Tuesday that two men, aged 20 and 24, were arrested on 19 December and were being held for questioning. Both are thought to have had contacts with a Frenchman who is believed to be in Syria. France saw its worst…

(BBC) A man buried in rubble for almost three days after a landslide hit an area of the south Chinese city of Shenzhen has been pulled out alive. The landslide, which struck early on Sunday, engulfed more than 30 buildings in an industrial…

(BBC) At least 200 civilians were killed in Russian air strikes in Syria from 30 September to 29 November, an Amnesty International report says. Quoting witnesses, the human rights group accuses Russia of using cluster bombs in civilian…

(BBC) Nigeria's president has announced plans to raise spending by 20% next year by borrowing heavily amid falling oil prices In his first budget since his election victory in March, Muhammadu Buhari said he would spend $31bn (£20.8bn) in…

(BBC) Iraqi forces are advancing into the centre of Ramadi, after launching a major assault to drive Islamic State militants from the city, officials say. Security sources told the BBC that troops and allied tribesmen, backed by US-led air…

(BBC) A grand jury has decided not to indict anyone in the case of Sandra Bland, who died in a Texas jail earlier this year. The jury ruled that neither sheriff's officials nor jailers committed a crime in their treatment of Bland. It has…

(BBC) Twelve Australian families have lost their homes to bushfires near Melbourne, days ahead of Christmas. Fire authorities are also warning of dangerous hot and windy conditions on Christmas and Boxing Day. Crews were still tackling a…