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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 …

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 …

Australia has issued a new 50 cent coin celebrating some of the country’s indigenous languages, many of which are at risk of extinction. The new design incorporates 14 translations of the word “coin” from languages native to the Australian continent, developed in collaboration by the Royal Australian Mint and the …

An “exquisitely preserved” trace of dinosaur skin has been discovered in South Korea. Researchers found a set of tiny tracks from a blackbird-sized Minisauripus, the smallest known theropod. The footprints themselves, which measured only an inch long, also contained perfectly preserved skin traces. “These are the first tracks ever found …

  Theresa May has told MPs it remains her “priority” to deliver Brexit, defending the decision to delay the UK’s exit from the EU by more than six months. The new deadline of 31 October, set following late-night talks in Brussels, means the UK is likely to have to hold …

A US domestic flight taking almost 12 hours has been launched – making it by far the world’s longest air route within a single country, and breaking the 5,000-mile barrier. Hawaiian Airlines flight 89 connects Boston with Honolulu, Hawaii, a distance of 5,095 miles. It is scheduled to take 11 …

Mount Everest may have shrunk as the result of a devastating earthquake – so a team of Nepalese surveyors is heading to the summit of the world’s tallest mountain to discover the truth. After two years of training, the four-strong group will try to work out whether the official height …

British police say they have arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where the whistleblower has been living since 2012. “Julian Assange, 47, has today, Thursday 11 April, been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at the Embassy of Ecuador,” police said. Police …

Indians have started voting in the country’s multi-phase parliamentary elections, in what is considered the biggest elections in history. India’s general elections kicked off early on Thursday, with about 900 million people being eligible to vote at about a million polling stations set up across the country. The voting takes …

A Sudanese government source says President Omar al-Bashir has stepped down and that consultation is underway to form a transitional council. Adel Mahjoub Hussein, the Sudanese minister of production and economic resources in North Darfur, told the Dubai-based al-Hadath TV on Thursday that, “There are consultations to form a military …

Astronomers have taken the first ever image of a black hole, which is located in a distant galaxy. It measures 40 billion km across – three million times the size of the Earth – and has been described by scientists as “a monster”. The black hole is 500 million trillion …

Pope Francis says arms sales by the United States and Europe are to blame for the deaths of people, including children, in such places as Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan. “The rich Europe and America sell weapons… used to kill children and kill people,” said the pontiff, in unprecedented remarks made …

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s party is on course to win a landslide victory in the Maldives parliamentary election, early result show. The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is projected to win almost 60 seats in the 87-seat parliament, local media report. Final results are expected to be declared on Sunday. An …

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations failed to reach consensus on key Middle East issues on Saturday as they wrapped up a meeting in France that was shaken by the absence of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The diplomats in attendance projected a united front while walking …

British Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged that the government’s strategies to get her Brexit deal approved in Parliament failed, saying Saturday there’s little prospect lawmakers will back the thrice-rejected divorce agreement “in the near future.” With the U.K. once again days away from a deadline for leaving the European Union, …

Democrats will “never” see President Donald Trump’s tax returns, said White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Sunday, as a new front opened in the confrontation between the administration and Congress. Mulvaney accused Democrats of engaging in a “political stunt” and wanting “attention” after the chairman of the House …

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing a major political setback after his party lost control of the capital, Ankara, in a keenly fought local elections battle. Preliminary results also showed the opposition narrowly ahead of the President’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul, the country’s largest city. The …