Author: BBC

The West African bloc Ecowas has warned that it risks disintegration and worsened insecurity after Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger formalised their breakaway union.The head of the Ecowas commission said the move was a major blow to the 50-year-old bloc and could have serious consequences if they do not reverse their decision.It comes after the military leaders of the three countries said on Saturday that they were “irrevocably” turning their backs on the 15-member Ecowas to form a confederation of their own states.The juntas came into power after a series of coups between 2020 and 2023, with Ecowas responding by…

Boeing is one of the largest and most important companies in the US but is it too big to be held to account? Source link

The chief organiser of a religious gathering in northern India, where 121 people were killed in a crush, has surrendered to the police, his lawyer says.The incident, which took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district last week, is one of the deadliest such disasters in the country in more than a decade.Nearly all those killed were women and children, who were attending the satsang – a Hindu religious gathering.On Thursday, police said they had arrested six people who were part of a group that organised the event.On Friday night, police said they had arrested Devprakash Madhukar, the main organiser of…

One of Hollywood’s oldest companies, Paramount Global, has agreed to merge with independent film studio Skydance Media.Under the deal, Paramount’s non-executive chair Shari Redstone will sell her family’s controlling stake in the company in a complex transaction that will result in a new firm worth around $28bn (£21.9bn).It marks the end of an era for the Redstone family, whose late patriarch, Sumner Redstone, transformed a chain of drive-in cinemas into a vast media empire.As well as Paramount, the group includes the television networks CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV.”Our hope is that the Skydance transaction will enable Paramount’s continued success…

The US state of Texas is bracing for the arrival of storm Beryl, which has strengthened into a hurricane again, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters say the storm could bring destructive winds, storm surges and up to 25cm (10 inches) of rain when it makes landfall early on Monday local time. Some of the state’s largest ports have closed in preparation, while residents have been warned of widespread power outages.Beryl caused at least 10 deaths in the Caribbean before being downgraded to a tropical storm as it hit Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.More than a million Texans were placed under…

Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after the US found the company violated a deal meant to reform it after two fatal crashes by its 737 Max planes that killed 346 passengers and crew.The Department of Justice (DoJ) said the plane-maker had also agreed to pay a criminal fine of $243.6m (£190m).However, the families of the people who died on the flights five years ago have criticised it as a “sweetheart deal” that would allow Boeing to avoid full responsibility for the deaths.By pleading guilty, Boeing will avoid the spectacle of a criminal trial…

40 minutes agoBy Paul Kirby, BBC News in ParisANDRE PAIN/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockRadical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon was quick to claim victory after the first projectionsNobody expected this. High drama, for sure, but this was a shock.When the graphics flashed up on all the big French channels, it was not the far right of Marine Le Pen and her young prime minister-in-waiting Jordan Bardella who were on course for victory.It was the left who had clinched it, and Emmanuel Macron’s centrists had staged an unexpected comeback, pushing the far-right National Rally (RN) into third.Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the veteran left-wing firebrand seen by his critics as an…

2 hours agoBy by Guy Lynn and Stephen Menon, guy_lynn, BBC Investigations, LondonBlavatnik School of GovernmentCiaran Martin, former head of the National Cyber Security Centre said hack was “one of the most serious cyber incidents in British history”A leading cybersecurity expert has warned that the NHS remains vulnerable to further cyber-attacks unless it updates its computer systems. This stark assessment comes in the wake of a major ransomware attack that has severely disrupted healthcare services across London.Prof Ciaran Martin, the founding CEO of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), told the BBC: “I was horrified, but not completely surprised. Ransomware attacks on…

1 hour agoBy Anagha Pathak, BBC MarathiBBC/MANGESH SONAWANESunita Bhurbade spends up to five hours a day collecting drinking water for her familyFetching drinking water is a gruelling daily routine for millions of women in India.Even without enduring the scorching summer months or the freezing winters, they walk for miles every day, balancing plastic or earthen pots on their heads and carrying buckets in their hands to manage the household water stock.“It’s a daily struggle. I get so tired that I collapse when I’m done,” says Sunita Bhurbade from Tringalwadi, a tribal village 180km (112 miles) from India’s financial hub, Mumbai.Ms Bhurbade spends…

1 hour agoBy Jonathan Josephs, Business reporter, BBC NewsGetty ImagesDr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says she is concerned about the growth of separate trade blocksGlobal trade “is not having the best of times at the moment”.That is the admission of the director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. “We are seeing increasing protectionism, some undermining of the WTO rules, and some of this is leading to fragmentation,” she tells the BBC.“Global trade is really part of the lifeblood for making countries resilient – and also for underpinning growth, so we are concerned about that.”In recent weeks and months these fragmentations…