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Hello, I'm Eileen McHugh with the BBC News.
Thousands of people have held protests across Mexico to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Most of the disappearances are linked to the country's notorious drug cartels, which often target the young and the vulnerable. Here's Will Grant. Today's march wasn't just a march in Mexico City, it was marches the length and breadth of the country. That represents thousands of families, 10,000 in 2024 alone in terms of more disappeared people. Cases that remain open-ended, where the families themselves are going into the desert of Sonora and other parts of Mexico, digging themselves to look for their families' remains. Incredibly tough on the mothers, the fathers, the family members more widely and of course so often complete impunity for those involved. Yemen's Houthi movement has confirmed Israeli airstrikes on the capital Sana'a on Thursday killed its prime minister as well as other senior officials. The Houthis have vowed to avenge the prime minister's death. Emir Nader reports from Jerusalem. A Yemeni news presenter confirms the death of the prime minister and a number of other ministers by an Israeli airstrike during a routine government meeting on Thursday. Ahmed Ghalib al-Rahawi isn't thought to have played a role in the Houthis' military operations. The two sides have been attacking each other since early in the Gaza war. In response to one Houthi attack last week, Israel launched a series of airstrikes targeting Yemen's energy infrastructure and Sana'a's presidential palace. That was followed by Thursday's attack by Israel on the gathering of Houthi leaders. The Trump administration is moving to fire most remaining journalists at the federally funded broadcaster Voice of America. More than 500 employees to VOA's parent agency have been sent termination notices. From Washington, Rich Preston reports. The agency's acting head, Kari Lake, announced the latest round of job cuts on social media. She said it would help reduce bureaucracy and save taxpayers money. A union representative called the move illegal and it is likely to be challenged in the courts. The announcement comes only a day after a federal judge blocked Ms. Lake from firing the VOA director. The judge also ordered her to sit for a deposition, where she would be questioned by lawyers. Voice of America was set up during the Second World War to counter Nazi propaganda. The White House has repeatedly accused the news organization of being radical. British researchers have tested a revolutionary AI-powered stethoscope that can detect three heart conditions within seconds. It was more than twice as likely to identify signs of heart failure within 12 months as doctors using the traditional stethoscope. The device analyses subtle differences in heartbeat and blood flow that the human ear cannot detect, combined with a rapid test of the heart's electrical activity. BBC News. Ukrainian police are searching for a gunman who shot dead a prominent politician in the western city of Lviv. Andriy Parubiy was a member of parliament, former speaker, and played a leading role in protests that brought down a pro-Russian president in 2014. President Zelenskyy said the assassination appeared to have been carefully planned. Forensic tests have confirmed the identity of an Israeli hostage whose body was retrieved from Gaza on Thursday. The remains are of Idan Shtiiy, who was killed during the October 7 attacks on Israel two years ago and whose body was taken to Gaza. Nicaragua's opposition says a lawyer detained for political reasons has died after two weeks in police custody. Carlos Cárdenas was taken from his home in the capital Managua during an operation that targeted several people linked to the opposition. The details from our Americas Regional Editor, Leonardo Rocha. Mr. Cárdenas had worked as a legal advisor to Nicaragua's Catholic Church during talks between the opposition and the government of President Daniel Ortega in 2018. The roundtable talks came at the end of weeks of mass street protests, in which more than 300 people were killed. Thousands of people have since been arrested or forced into exile by Mr. Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, who now serves as co-president. The body of Mr. Cárdenas has been returned to the family, but Nicaragua media say no explanation has been offered as to the cause of death. The Latvian tennis player Jeļena Ostapenko has apologized for accusing her opponent, Taylor Townsend, of having "no education" or "class." The incident happened on Wednesday at the end of their U.S. Open match following Townsend's win. Writing on social media, Ostapenko says English is not her native language, so when she said education, she was speaking about what she believed to be tennis etiquette. BBC News. |