Previously a Dutch colony, Papua declared independence in 1961, but Indonesia took control two years later. The resource-rich region has been caught in a battle for independence ever since it was brought under Jakarta’s formal control in a UN-supervised vote in 1969.
Moldova, wedged between Romania and Ukraine, became a candidate for EU membership last summer. The country of 2.6 million people has struggled with an influx of refugees from Ukraine and tensions with Transnistria, a breakaway pro-Moscow region where some 1,500 Russian soldiers
Air New Zealand, the country’s national carrier, has announced it would cancel multiple long-haul international fights, Tasman and Pacific Island flights, and domestic services in and out of Auckland planned for Monday, when the worst of the bad weather is expected.
Ceyda’s apartment block, called Orcan, sat in a row of mid-rise pink and beige buildings with small balconies, in the centre of Iskenderun, all with shops on the ground floor. When the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck at 04:17 on Monday, Ceyda would
“Furgal may well have been involved in shadowy business in the past, but so too were many of the other regional leaders whom Putin has been happy to support,” Russia expert Mark Galeotti told the BBC. “It seems clear that this was
Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said his country could only act “within the entire formation of Nato”, while Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the issue had to be discussed behind closed doors. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola called on EU states
The Central Bank said the currency redesign and replacement policy, which was announced in October, would help it tackle inflation, which is currently running at about 21%, by reducing the amount of cash in circulation. It added that 80% of the notes
In government-controlled areas, all of the country’s emergency services have been made available, including the army and student volunteers. However, BBC Monitoring’s Hesham Shawish, a Middle East specialist, says this is not enough to deal with the scale of the destruction.
Hours later, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Jewish worshippers and passers-by outside a synagogue in occupied East Jerusalem, killing seven. The following morning, a 13-year-old Palestinian shot a group of people, also in East Jerusalem, wounding an Israeli father and son.
Defence officials also revealed on Saturday the balloon had first entered US airspace on 28 January near the Aleutian Islands, before moving to Canadian airspace three days later, and re-entering the US on 31 January. The object was spotted in the US