BBC Forest officials have built a unique bridge for reptiles and other small animals to cross a busy highway in India’s mountainous Uttarakhand state. The 90-foot (27-metre) “Eco Bridge”, made from bamboo, jute and grass, is the first of its kind, local media say. Many animals have been run over by speeding cars on this
BBC The Indonesian army has deployed a special force to hunt for suspected Islamic State-linked militants behind a deadly attack on Christians. Four Salvation Army members were killed – one of them beheaded – in an ambush on Sulawesi island on Friday. Intolerance against Indonesia’s Christian minority has been rising as the Muslim-majority country battles
BBC Donald Trump has said he will leave the White House if Joe Biden is formally confirmed as the next US president. Answering reporters’ questions for the first time since losing the 3 November vote, Trump insisted, however, that “this race is far from over”. He has refused to concede, citing unsubstantiated claims of voter
BBC South Africa’s President Cyril Ramapahosa held phone talks with US President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday evening and discussed strengthening of US-Africa relations. The two leaders also talked about ways of overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a statement from President Ramaphosa’s office. “President-elect Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris have identified Africa as a major
BBC China has finally congratulated Joe Biden on his projected win in the US presidential election, breaking a frosty period of silence. “We respect the choice of the American people. We extend congratulations to Biden and Ms Harris,” a foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday. The China-US relationship is crucial to both sides, and the
BBC Former President Barack Obama has said senior US Republicans are undermining democracy by going along with President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. In an interview with CBS News, due to air on Sunday, Obama said President-elect Joe Biden had “clearly won” this year’s race for the White House. The result was called
BBC Joe Biden has said President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede victory in last week’s White House election is “an embarrassment”. But the US president-elect – who has been making contact with foreign leaders – insisted nothing would stop the transfer of power. Trump meanwhile tweeted he would ultimately win the race that all major
BBC US President Donald Trump’s spokeswoman has vowed the legal battle to contest Joe Biden’s White House election victory is only just beginning. “This election is not over,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told a news conference. “Far from it.” She made a flurry of allegations of election corruption, although no evidence of systemic
Africa News Tanzania’s president John Magufuli was Friday declared winner of a second term amid allegations of widespread election fraud, while the ruling party won an absolute majority in parliament. The national electoral commission late Friday said Magufuli received 12.5 million votes, or 84%, while top opposition candidate Tundu Lissu received 1.9 million, or 13%.
BBC VOTERS in America will decide on 3 November whether Donald Trump remains in the White House for another four years. The Republican president is being challenged by Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden, who is best known as Barack Obama’s vice-president but has been in US politics since the 1970s. As election day approaches, polling
AP Hospitals across the United States are starting to buckle from a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, with several states setting records for the number of people hospitalized and leaders scrambling to find extra beds and staff. New highs in cases have been reported in states big and small from Idaho to Ohio in recent days.
BBC WITH less than two weeks remaining before election day, the Biden campaign is putting one of its most valuable assets out on the field. Barack Obama remains highly popular, particularly among the Democratic base, and the choice of Pennsylvania for his first in-person campaign event suggests they recognise that the state is the most
AP Dark splotches that indicate zones of high coronavirus contagion are staining maps of Europe blood red as governments scramble to prevent another round of total lockdowns, even by taking unpopular decisions to close schools, bars and gyms. The Czech Republic, Belgium, and Netherlands have joined Spain as Europe’s current hot spots during the resurgence
AP The head of the World Health Organization warned against the idea that herd immunity might be a realistic strategy to stop the pandemic, dismissing such proposals as “simply unethical.” At a media briefing on Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health officials typically aim to achieve herd immunity by vaccination. Tedros noted that
AP The United Nations’ World Food Program on Friday won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity around the globe. The announcement was made in Oslo by Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Nobel Committee. The Nobel Committee said that the coronavirus pandemic has added to the hunger
AP President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that he is ready to resume campaign rallies and feels “perfect” one week after his diagnosis with the coronavirus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans, as his doctor said the president had ”completed his course of therapy” for the disease. The president has not been seen in public
AP The U.N.’s first virtual meeting of world leaders was set to start Tuesday with pre-recorded speeches from some of the planet’s biggest powers, kept at home by the coronavirus pandemic that will likely be a dominant theme at their video gathering this year. Among those expected to speak Tuesday are U.S. President Donald Trump
Times Live British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is pondering a second national Covid-19 lockdown as the novel coronavirus outbreak accelerates. New Covid-19 cases are rising by at least 6,000 per day in Britain, according to week old data, hospital admissions are doubling every eight days and the testing system is buckling. “We’re certainly at a
AP India has recorded nearly 87,000 new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, with another 1,130 deaths. With the Health Ministry announcement Monday, India now has more than 5.4 million reported cases since the pandemic began and within weeks is expected to surpass the United States, currently the country with the most
AP India’s confirmed coronavirus infections passed 5 million on Wednesday, still soaring and testing the feeble health care system in tens of thousands of impoverished towns and villages. The world’s second-most populous country has added more than 1 million cases this month alone and is expected to become the pandemic’s worst-hit country within weeks, surpassing
