Drugs, arms, and terror: A high-profile defector on Kim's North Korea

Having to stay at home during the Covid pandemic has been tough on millions of people around the world. The restrictions have hampered training for elite athletes, especially ahead of Tokyo 2020. But some managed to keep themselves in shape through new and unusual methods.

Deaths from opioid use in the US have skyrocketed over the last year. Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that 88,000 people had died from drug overdoses in the 12 month period ending in August 2020 – an increase of 27% on the previous year. The US authorities say…

Afghan news anchor Behishta Arghand made history when she interviewed the Taliban.

Hundreds of Afghan children – some as young as seven or eight years old – are risking their lives to smuggle sweets and cigarettes into neighbouring countries. They’re hiding under lorries to cross national borders in the hope they’ll be able to get money for their families in exchange for these and other small, saleable…

Claims by Myanmar’s military that the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi illegally accepted $600,000 (£430,000) and 11kg of gold are “ridiculous”, Burmese journalist Thin Lei Win has said. The Rome based journalist told BBC World News the allegations were not unexpected. “A lot of people’s take is that what they are trying to do…

Hamas is willing to have a ceasefire but Israel is abstaining from accepting it, the secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative has said. Dr Mustafa Barghouti told BBC World News that a ceasefire meant both sides would not shoot, but if Israel continued to conduct airstrikes it could not expect the Palestinians to stop…