BIG Wrap

(BBC News) The US has charged former Cuban leader Raúl Castro with conspiracy to kill US nationals and other crimes over the 1996 downing of two planes between Cuba and Florida. The case unveiled on Wednesday accuses Castro and five others in the shooting down of the aircraft belonging to Cuban-American group Brothers to the Rescue and killing four people, including three Americans. Castro, now 94, was then head of the country's armed forces and faced...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz has said he will reorganise his cabinet as he faces calls to resign amid weeks of widespread protests. During a news conference on Wednesday, Paz said he would reshuffle his ministers in a bid to ease tensions with antigovernment protesters. “We need to reorganise a cabinet that must be able to listen,” Paz told reporters. Since taking office in November, Paz and his government have faced backlash to economic restructuring...

(BBC News) At least 100 deaths have been reported in an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 390 cases suspected, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has told the BBC. Jean Kaseya warned that with no approved drugs or vaccines people should follow public health measures, including at funerals of Ebola victims. There are also two confirmed cases and one death in Uganda, says the US...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) India’s Tata Electronics has signed a deal with the Dutch technology giant ASML (Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography) to build India’s first front-end semiconductor fabrication plant as New Delhi pushes to develop a domestic semiconductor manufacturing base. Front-end manufacturing refers to the building of microscopic circuits onto a blank silicon wafer using specialised lithographic machines. ASML is a pioneer of lithographic technology used in the mass production of microchips across the world. “India’s...

(BBC News) US President Donald Trump has cautioned Taiwan against formally declaring independence from China. "I'm not looking to have somebody go independent," the US president told Fox News on Friday, at the end of his two-day summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has previously stated that Taiwan does not need to declare formal independence because it already sees itself as a sovereign nation. The US has long supported Taiwan,...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) One day into US President Donald Trump’s visit to China for trade talks, both he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have exchanged toasts at a state banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, and hailed their relationship as the world’s most “consequential”. On Thursday, following a visit to the Temple of Heaven, a 600-year-old landmark in the Chinese capital, Xi spoke of a “shared US-China future”, while warning...

(BBC News) Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina has resigned following a political crisis over Russia-bound Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian territory. She had fired her Defence Minister Andris Spruds last week after two drones crashed down in eastern Latvia, criticising his response and appointing a replacement. In protest, Spruds's Progressives party pulled their support for Silina's governing coalition, causing it to collapse months before a planned general election in October. "Seeing a strong candidate for the post...

(BBC News) The Philippine Senate was locked down with military personnel seen entering the building where a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had sought refuge. Rounds of gunfire were heard but officials have not revealed who fired the shots. They said there were no casualties. Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said earlier he believed his arrest was imminent and urged Filipinos to prevent it. He is safe and with security personnel, officials said. He is accused by...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been sworn in for a seventh term, extending his 40-year tenure following a landslide victory in controversial January elections. One of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, Museveni took the oath of office on Tuesday at an event at the Kololo Independence Grounds in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, while being cheered by thousands of attendees. The election in January took place amid a nationwide internet blackout and reports of intimidation and abductions of the...

(BBC News) President Volodymyr Zelensky's former right-hand man Andriy Yermak appeared in a Kyiv court on Tuesday, after he was named by Ukraine's two anti-corruption agencies as a suspect in a money-laundering scheme. Yermak's lawyer had earlier denounced as "baseless" allegations that the former head of the presidential office had been caught up in a corruption scandal surrounding a $10.5-million (£7.5m) luxury construction project outside Kyiv. Hours before the court hearing Yermak told reporters "I do...