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The Seychelles president has gone below the surface of the Indian Ocean to call for better protection for the world’s seas. Danny Faure said that a healthy ocean was “crucial for the survival of humanity” in a broadcast made 124m (406ft) below sea level. He had joined a British-led expedition …

Social networks Facebook and Instagram, as well as messaging service WhatsApp, were unavailable on Sunday for more than three hours, users said. The website Down Detector reported that thousands of people globally had complained about the Facebook-owned trio being down from 11.30 BST onwards. Facebook users were presented with the …

Tens of millions of Indonesians will vote in presidential and parliamentary elections this week after campaigns focused on the economy, but with political Islam looming ever larger in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation. President Joko Widodo, a former furniture salesman who launched his political career as a small-city mayor, is …

Iraq has begun trial proceedings for nearly 900 Iraqi members of the Islamic State group caught fleeing many territories in neighboring Syria, a judicial source said on Sunday. They were handed over to Iraqi authorities by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which ousted IS from swathes of eastern Syria including territory …

Iranian officials are warning that even though floodwaters have been receding in most parts of the country, several provinces remain under a flood warning due to renewed heavy precipitation. Vast expanses of the country are experiencing a new spell of rainfall, Ahad Vazifeh, an official with Iran’s Meteorological Organization, was …

Officers opened fire in west London on Saturday morning while responding to reports of a car collision, the Metropolitan Police has said. The Ukrainian embassy said its ambassador’s car was “deliberately rammed” as it sat parked outside the building in Holland Park. When officers arrived on the scene, a vehicle …

A man appears convinced he has found a flightless species lurking on the Red Planet’s surface that bears a striking resemblance to one typically spotted at the South Pole. One amateur stargazer is certain he has found tangible proof that there really is life on the Red Planet, arguing that …

A detailed scientific and technological analysis of Da Vinci’s earliest-known drawing has revealed a hidden, previously unseen sketch, as well as a special skill. In addition to being an inventor, painter, sculptor, mathematician, engineer, amateur botanist, cartographer, and all-around polymath, Leonardo Da Vinci was also ambidextrous, new research into a …

In a meeting with top national security advisors this week, US President Donald Trump discussed potentially increasing US military involvement at the United States-Mexico border to build migrant tent camps. As reported by NBC News, President Trump also enquired if the military could run the camps once migrants arrived. This …

A fertility doctor accused of illegally using his own sperm to inseminate patients has been found to be the father of at least 49 children. Jan Karbaat, who died two years ago, impregnated their mothers at his clinic near Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. None of the women were aware he …

Forces loyal to renegade field marshal Khalifa Haftar have deployed warplanes to hit Western-backed government positions in Tripoli, forcing more civilians to flee the Libyan capital. Warplanes bombed the camp of a force allied to the Government of National Accord (GNA), administered by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, near the town …

Iraq says negotiations are underway with Iran and Syria to develop a transnational railway line linking the three countries. Iraqi Republic Railways Company chief Salib al-Hussaini said a summit will be held between the countries to further discuss the matter. The comments made on the sidelines of the joint Syrian-Iraqi …

Britain’s high commissioner to India laid a wreath on Saturday on the 100th anniversary of the Amritsar massacre, one of the worst atrocities of colonial rule for which London is still to apologies. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, as it is known in India, saw British troops fire on thousands of …

The Zimbabwe government has come under fire after it emerged that it spent thousands of dollars on importing legal wigs from the UK for local judges, with critics lambasting the purchase as a colonial hang-up and a waste of money. The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported that the country’s Judiciary Service …

That black hole you’ve seen everywhere now has a name. It’s been named Powehi — a Hawaiian phrase referring to an “embellished dark source of unending creation.” The groundbreaking, first-ever photograph of a black hole was published around the world when it was unveiled on Wednesday, captivating viewers and providing …

A Chinese researcher who sparked improved cognitive function in monkeys by implanting human genes into their brains has defended his experiment, which has divided the scientific community. The research, undertaken by multiple universities and led by the Kunming Institute of Zoology in southwestern China, was intended to shed more light …

A tsunami warning that was issued after an earthquake struck off the east coast of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, has now been lifted. The quake, which hit at a depth of 43km, had a magnitude of 6.8, the US Geological Survey said. Authorities initially urged people to evacuate to higher ground. …

A bomb hidden among bags of potatoes at a Pakistani market killed at least 16 people, half of them ethnic Hazaras, officials said, in an attack apparently aimed at minority Shia Muslims. At least 30 people were wounded in the blast in the southwestern city of Quetta, capital of Baluchistan …

North Korea has named a new head of state, replacing a senior leader charged with representing Pyongyang in international engagements. Choe Ryong Hae was named President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea during the first session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly held Thursday, Korean …

Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft has crash-landed on the moon as the widely publicized event was being broadcast live. The spacecraft lost communication with ground control as it entered its final descent towards the moon on Thursday. The mission was declared a failure shortly after. “We definitely crashed on the surface of …