BIG Wrap

(Al Jazeera Media Network) At least 51 people have died and others have been injured when a bus plunged into a polluted ravine outside Guatemala City, according to Guatemalan officials. Mynor Ruano, a spokesman for the city’s fire service, told reporters on Monday that efforts were under way “to save other people who are trapped” in the wreckage. The bodies of 36 men and 15 women have been sent to a provincial morgue. The bus was...

(BBC News) "What my parents taught me is that they used to live in peace and calm, without having to have any fear in their own country," says 19-year-old Nick. "I would like to live in a country where I don't have to be afraid." I meet him in a small bar on a street corner in the ex-mining town of Freiberg, Saxony – where he is playing darts. It's a cold, foggy night in February...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Libya authorities have uncovered nearly 50 bodies from two mass graves in the country’s southeastern desert, in the latest tragedy involving people seeking to reach Europe through the North African country. The security directorate said in a statement on Sunday that one mass grave found on Friday in a farm in the southeastern city of Kufra contained 19 bodies. The remains were taken for autopsy. Mohamed al-Fadeil, head of the security chamber...

(BBC News) There is a new race in space, but it is not where you might think. It is happening close to home – in the nearest bit of space, right on the edge of Earth's atmosphere. Just above the boundary where space begins, companies are working to create a new class of daring satellites. Not quite high-altitude planes and not quite low-orbiting satellites, these sky skimmers are designed to race around our planet in an...

(BBC News) Hamas has freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza, while Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners in the latest exchange as part of an internationally brokered ceasefire deal. The three hostages – Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy – were handed over to the Red Cross on Saturday morning before reuniting with their families in Israel. Concerns have been raised about their wellbeing, with Sharabi's family – who live in the UK – describing...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The United Nations has called for efforts to prevent the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from spreading across the region. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned on Friday that the “worst may be yet to come” as he addressed an emergency meeting of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. However, while he urged all parties to help halt the violence, the DRC and Rwanda continued to...

(BBC News) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, days after appearing with Donald Trump at the White House. The visit came as Trump has signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court for targeting the US and allies such as Israel, the BBC understands. Earlier, Trump restated his plan for a US takeover of the Gaza Strip, after his idea was rejected by Palestinians...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) During a visit to the Dominican Republic, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited a hangar where a plane allegedly belonging to the government of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro was located. Taping a large notice onto the door of the plane, Rubio and other US officials declared that the plane was now in the possession of the US government. This is the second time in less than a year that a plane belonging...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) United States President Donald Trump has unveiled a shocking plan to take over the Gaza Strip after Palestinians are forcibly moved out of the besieged enclave, spurring fears he would back an ethnic-cleansing campaign. During a news conference with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Trump said that Palestinians would “love to leave” Gaza, suggesting that the US would take long-term ownership of the Strip while it is rebuilt and redeveloped as the “Riviera...

(BBC News) China has accused the US of making "unfounded and false allegations" about its role in the fentanyl trade to justify tariffs on Chinese products. The complaint was lodged with the World Trade Organization (WTO) one day after US President Donald Trump raised border taxes on Chinese goods by 10%, a measure he said was intended to address an influx of illegal drugs. In the filing, China said the measures were "discriminatory and protectionist" and...