Author: BBC

35 minutes agoBy Tesfalem Araia & Netsanet Debessai, BBC TigrinyaNerayo Ghebru TesfamichaelLuwam Gebru said people smugglers were taking her across Sudan’s war zone to LibyaMihret Gebru was recently watching with concern two viral videos on her phone which showed people from the Horn of Africa being beaten and assaulted by armed men in Sudan – and was then horrified to spot her sister among the captives.“Instantly I was able to identify Luwam, who is wearing the orange scarf I know very well – and her shoes, which can be partly seen,” she told the BBC.The sisters are from Eritrea – and like…

Just nowBy Michelle Fleury, North America Business correspondentBBCQcells is investing billions in a solar panel factory in GeorgiaThe former “carpet capital of the world” is getting a multi-billion-dollar makeover.Here in the rural Georgian town of Dalton, once known for its fabric floor coverings, a Korean company called Qcells is spending $2.5bn (£2bn) to expand its solar panel factory, with another in the works.It’s a bold initiative that will create 2,500 quality jobs in the next 12 months, in an area where the average household income is roughly 27% below the national average. It is hoped the project will revitalise a corner of…

1 hour agoBy Annabel Rackham, Culture reporterBBCAvril Lavigne’s pop-punk set drew one of the biggest crowds The Other Stage has ever seenAvril Lavigne is the original pop-punk princess and she certainly showed it when she played to a huge Glastonbury crowd on Saturday evening.Her angsty teenage heartbreak anthems still resonate more than two decades after they were released.She played some of her biggest tracks including Complicated, Sk8er Boi and My Happy Ending.”I can’t believe its taken me 22 years to finally play Glastonbury, but it was amazing,” she tells the BBC.”The audience were incredible, everyone was up on shoulders, holding signs and…

The far-right National Rally (RN) has pulled off another victory and is now well on the way to its goal of turning French politics on its head.There will be much talk in the coming days of centrist and left-wing candidates standing aside in round two in order to concentrate the anti-RN vote – and much wailing about the disappearance of the old Front Républicain (when the other parties used to agree to keep out the far-right).But it would take an upset of monumental proportions to overturn the only conclusion that can be drawn from this first round of voting, which…

53 minutes agoBy Huw Thomas, BBC Wales business correspondent Getty ImagesUnite workers are set to start striking on 8 July over Tata’s plans to cut 2,800 UK jobsTata Steel has offered to meet unions for fresh talks on the condition strike action in south Wales is called off.In a letter to the UK Steel Committee, which represents the Community, Unite and the GMB unions, the company is believed to have offered to discuss future investment in Port Talbot.But the unions would be required to suspend future industrial action.Unite general secretary Sharon Graham told BBC Wales: “They suspend closure, we suspend action.”Unite workers…

2 hours agoBy Tom McArthur, BBC NewsX/@LLiamJLBanksy has appeared to confirm he was behind a stunt during a band’s headline set at Glastonbury Festival – involving an inflatable raft holding dummies of migrants in lifejackets.The boat was lifted above the heads the thousands-strong audience during Idles’ show on the Other Stage, with revellers believing the crowdsurfing was part of the Friday night performance.The mysterious artist posted a clip of the stunt – thought to symbolise small boat crossings of migrants in the Channel – on his Instagram account, his usual way of announcing a new creation. But a spokesperson for the British…

2 hours agoBy Lucy Williamson, Middle East CorrespondentBBCSamir said he was “waiting for death” after being picked up by Israeli soldiersTwo more Palestinian men, injured during a military operation in the occupied West Bank last week, have told the BBC that Israeli soldiers forced them on to the bonnet of an army jeep and drove them – sometimes at speed – along village roads.Their accounts came days after footage of 23-year-old Mujahid Abadi Balas clinging to the bonnet of what appears to be the same Israeli army jeep sparked international outrage.The BBC has now spoken to two men who allege similar treatment…

51 minutes agoBy Mark Savage, Music CorrespondentBBCThe star played a set full of country crossover hits including You’re Still The One, That Don’t Impress Me Much and Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”Hats off to you Glastonbury,” says Shania Twain, surveying a sea of people – many of whom are, ironically, wearing cowboy hats.”I feel and I see your support. Thank you so much for having me.”Few artists have ever embraced Glastonbury’s so-called Legends Slot so fully. The star has been talking up her appearance for months. Not only did she share her ambition to arrive at the festival on horseback,…

A man in his 30s has been killed and several others wounded in a shooting at a Turkish wedding in north-east France, police have said. French media report that three armed, hooded men arrived at the reception venue in Thionville late on Saturday night before opening fire on guests.Quoting police sources, Le Figaro newspaper says the attackers came at 01:15am local time to “settle scores between well-known gangs in Moselle”. A pregnant woman was among the wounded, police said, and three of the injured are reportedly in a critical condition at the Bel-Air hospital nearby.Around 100 people were celebrating at…

9 hours agoBy Angie Brown, BBC Scotland, Edinburgh and East reporterBBCJakub Parulski, who lives with his wife and two young daughters, said they were in a ‘horror story’Residents of affordable housing developments in Edinburgh have said they are “living in a horror story” after being hit with a massive rise in their gas bill as costs are beginning to fall across the rest of the country.The Harvester’s Way development has 180 properties which are all connected to a district heating system, where one huge gas boiler provides heating and hot water to all the homes.It is billed as a greener and more…