Africa
Russian drone hits Turkish ships in Ukraine
A Russian drone strike hit a Turkish-owned commercial vessel at Ukraine's Chornomorsk port. Ukraine said Odessa port was also hit and a total of three Turkish ships were damaged. Kyiv said Russian attacks on Black Sea shipping showed it wasn't serious about ending the war. Were South Africans lured into fighting for Russia's Ukraine war?
I thought I'd struck lucky on a dating app but invited a monster into my life
I thought I'd struck lucky on a dating app but invited a monster into my life Handsome, charming, a gentle giant - Katie Yates believed Jason Smith was a real catch after meeting him on a dating app. But within months he had subjected her to relentless physical and mental abuse before raping her and attempting to drown her in the bath just before Christmas. Katie, 42 and from Cardiff, has waived her anonymity as a victim of sexual assault to warn women to be wary of strangers they meet on dating apps who may pose as nice guys in an attempt to lure them in. You scroll on all the profiles with smiling photos and slick words but there are some people who should be looking for a therapist, not a girlfriend, she said. Katie had been single for five years when she signed up to a dating app in February 2018.
Ukraine's health supplies hit in series of Russian strikes on medical warehouses
Ukraine's health supplies hit in series of Russian strikes on medical warehouses Warehouses supplying the vast majority of Ukraine's pharmacies have been destroyed in a series of Russian attacks over recent months. Medical supplies worth about $200m (£145m) were destroyed in just two strikes in December and October. A large warehouse storing medicines in the city of Dnipro was destroyed in a Russian air strike on 6 December. As a result, about $110m worth of medicines were destroyed - estimated at up to 30% of Ukraine's monthly supply. It was a missile and drone strike against our facility.
Online gaming escaped Australia's social media ban - but critics say it's just as addictive
Online gaming escaped Australia's social media ban - but critics say it's just as addictive Wednesday afternoons have become a ritual for 15-year-old Sadmir Perviz. It's a circuitous route from home in Perth to the Fiona Stanley Hospital - but it's worth it, he says, to sit down for a game of Dungeons & Dragons with people he may not know but with whom he shares a great deal in common. Sadmir and his board game companions are just some of the 300 patients at the gaming disorder clinic, Australia's only publicly-run institution of its type, helping patients wean themselves off excessive online gaming habits. The room where they meet is a simple space in a faceless hospital but in the corner, there's a pile of boardgames on a chair. Jenga, Uno and Sushi Go are also popular choices at the informal group which is attended by both patients and clinicians.
Amazon pulls AI recap from Fallout TV show after it made several mistakes
Amazon has pulled a video recap made with artificial intelligence (AI) from its hit TV show Fallout after users said it got several facts wrong about the series. The firm said in November it was testing the first-of-its-kind tool in the US to help viewers catch up on some of its shows on streaming service Prime Video - including Fallout, its adaptation of the popular video game franchise. But it has since disappeared from the site after users highlighted mistakes in its video summarising the events of Fallout season one - including claiming one scene was set more than 100 years earlier than it was. The BBC has approached Amazon for comment. The move to apparently press pause on its AI-powered recaps was first reported by tech publication The Verge .
When football fought colonial rule
Football, under French colonial rule, was built to exclude them. So Algerians built their own club. The Sports Association in Constantine may have laid the foundations in 1898, but it was MC Alger, founded in 1921 who was the first football club that sparked a statement of identity, resistance and belonging. Samantha Johnson looks at how a football club fought colonial rule. Why does Israel play in European Football?
Watch: Clair Obscur sweeps The Game Awards with nine wins
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named game of the year in a record-breaking haul at this year's Game Awards. The French-developed role-playing game (RPG) cleaned up in nine of the 10 categories it was up for, with further wins in best narrative, best music and best performance. I think that's what I find really beautiful is that people really reacted strongly to all the passion we put into this game. Influencer Tallulah Metcalfe took part in the BBC Teen Summit in Bradford, and gave us her best tips. Dr Kaitlyn Regehr has this advice to help you stop looking at your phone and go on a digital detox.
Clair Obscur sweeps The Game Awards with nine wins
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named game of the year in a record-breaking haul at this year's Game Awards. The French-developed role-playing game (RPG) cleaned up in nine of the 10 categories it was up for, with further wins in best narrative, best music and best performance. It fended off competition from Death Stranding 2, Nintendo platformer Donkey Kong Bananza, indie games Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2, and medieval adventure Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to claim the top prize. During the ceremony in Los Angeles, players also got their first glimpses of two new Tomb Raider games, sequel Control Resonant and a new Star Wars role-playing game. Clair Obscur is set in a world where a supernatural being known as The Paintress prevents the population from growing past a certain age.
Abrego Garcia released as U.S. bid to detain him ruled 'constitutionally infirm'
Abrego Garcia released as U.S. bid to detain him ruled'constitutionally infirm' Salvadoran migrant and U.S. resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrives at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore, Maryland, on Aug. 25. A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant at the center of political and legal battles as a symbol of U.S. President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis held on Thursday that U.S. officials lacked legal grounds to keep Abrego Garcia in custody and that his ongoing detention appeared to be "constitutionally infirm." Abrego Garcia has been fighting Trump administration efforts to deport him while also defending against human smuggling charges in Tennessee. U.S. officials' latest plan had been to send him to Liberia, but a judge has blocked that for now.
Trump signs order to block states from enforcing own AI rules
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from enforcing their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations. We want to have one central source of approval, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. It will give the Trump administration tools to push back on the most onerous state rules, said White House AI adviser David Sacks. The government will not oppose AI regulations around children's safety, he added. The move marks a win for technology giants who have called for US-wide AI legislation as it could have a major impact on America's goal of leading the fast-developing industry.