(BBC News) A Chinese national living in California has been arrested and charged with illegally sending weapons and ammunition from the US to North Korea, the justice department has said.
Shenghua Wen is alleged to have "successfully" exported at least two shipments of weapons, ammunition and other items that he purchased and shipped using the roughly $2 million North Korea had wired to him.
In September, federal agents said they seized 50,000 rounds of ammunition from...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) South Korea descended into political turmoil after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law late on Tuesday, saying he was acting to protect the country from “threats” posed by North Korea and accused the opposition of being “antistate forces”.
The military, following Yoon’s announcement, announced a series of measures, including prohibitions on all political activities and that all media will be placed under the control of the Martial Law Command.
But just hours...
(BBC News) Beneath our feet is an almost limitless source of energy, but while a few lucky locations have geothermal heat close to the surface, the rest of the world will need to dig a lot deeper. The challenge is how to get deep enough.
There are some spots around the world where energy literally bubbles to the surface. In Iceland, home to more than 200 volcanoes and dozens of natural hot springs, tapping into...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) US President Joe Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing for criminal cases related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm.
Here is what we know about the case and the pardon:
Hunter Biden is Joe Biden’s 54-year-old middle child. He is also his only surviving son and the first child of a sitting US president to face criminal trial.
In a 2021 memoir, Hunter and to...
(BBC News) “I had to work while I was nine months pregnant,” says Sophie, a sex worker in Belgium. “I was having sex with clients one week before giving birth.”
She juggles her job with being a mother of five – which is “really hard”.
When Sophie had her fifth child by C-section, she was told she needed bed rest for six weeks. But she says that wasn’t an option, and she went back to work...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Nine Russian and Ukrainian children will be returned to their families this week in the latest humanitarian exchange between Kyiv and Moscow mediated by Qatar.
Russian Commissioner for Children, Maria Lvova-Belova, told reporters on Thursday that seven children, aged six to 16, will be sent from Russia to live with close relatives in Ukraine.
Lvova-Belova said the children had been living in Russia under varying circumstances. Most were living with a grandparent,...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) The United States on Tuesday provided the first official confirmation that its long-range Army Tactical Missiles (ATACMS) were in use in Russia, as Europe absorbed the ramifications of Russia’s retaliatory response with an intermediate ballistic missile that could strike “anywhere in Europe”.
As the question of strategic escalation swirled around NATO capitals and Moscow, Russian forces continued a dogged advance through Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, seizing more villages.
“Right now, they are able to...
(BBC News) President Joe Biden has said the US will make another push with regional powers for a ceasefire in Gaza, involving the release of hostages and the removal of Hamas from power.
His remarks on X came just hours after a ceasefire came into force in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, ending nearly 14 months of conflict.
Hamas said it hoped for a similar deal in Gaza but continues to reject Israel's demands, which it perceives...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) The United Nations has ordered the evacuation of its staff from Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince as clashes between armed gangs, the police, and civilians armed with machetes intensified in recent days.
A UN helicopter on Monday ferried evacuees – 14 at a time – from the capital to the northern city of Cap-Haitien, with some scheduled to take flights out of the country. This comes after the main international airport in Port-au-Prince was closed...
(BBC News) Pakistani authorities say they have negotiated a seven-day ceasefire after more than 80 people were killed in renewed sectarian violence in the northwest of the country.
Another 156 are said to have been wounded in three days of fighting in the tribal district of Kurram, near the Afghan border.
The violence began on Thursday, when gunmen attacked convoys of Shia Muslims travelling through the area under police escort. More than 40 died in that incident, which...
