BBC News (World)

2022-11-11 17:01:06 Itaewon crush: Officer under investigation found dead at home

A South Korean police officer, under investigation over the deadly Halloween crush in Seoul, has been found dead at his home in a suspected suicide.

The 55-year-old, identified as Inspector Jeong, was an intelligence officer working with the local police.

Jeong was a suspect in an investigation over the police's response to the crush, which tragically killed 156 mostly young people, and injured 196.

He was suspended on Wednesday, after allegedly covering up police failings.

Jeong was accused of ordering colleagues to delete an intelligence report - written ahead of the Halloween event - which warned of the possibility of a serious incident taking place. read more Open / Comment

2022-11-11 16:00:12 Quick explainers of major money and tech news
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2022-11-11 09:00:24 Midterm elections results: Rivalry spills open as Trump lashes out at DeSantis

Rivalry between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis has spilt open after the Republican ex-president came swinging out against his one-time acolyte on Thursday night.

Mr Trump belittled the Florida governor as an "average" politician whose success was owed to his patronage.

Mr DeSantis, 44, stormed to re-election in Tuesday's midterms, making him the Republicans' biggest rising star and a clear challenger to Mr Trump.

The ex-president warned him against it.

In a lengthy statement, Mr Trump dismissed Mr DeSantis as a political lightweight who had come to him "in desperate shape" when running for his first term in office in 2017. read more Open / Comment

2022-11-10 17:00:38 Taraneh Alidoosti: Top Iranian actress poses without headscarf

A top Iranian actress has posted an image of herself on Instagram without a headscarf to signal solidarity with anti-government demonstrations.

Taraneh Alidoosti - best known for her role in the Oscar-winning film The Salesman - also held a sign reading "Woman, Life, Freedom" in Kurdish.

The slogan has become a common rallying cry among protesters.

Demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody are entering their seventh week.

The 22-year-old died after she was arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating Iran's strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or Islamic headscarf. read more Open / Comment

2022-11-10 09:01:37 FTX: Cryptocurrency giant Binance walks away from bailout

Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, has walked away from a bailout deal of its smaller rival FTX.

Binance said that after due diligence, it would not pursue the deal.

It said reports of "mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations" had swayed its decision.

FTX had been struggling with a surge in withdrawals that caused a "liquidity crunch".

Concerns about FTX's financial health reportedly triggered $6bn (£5.2bn) of withdrawals in just three days.

The Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was investigating FTX's handling of customer funds and its crypto-lending activities. read more Open / Comment

2022-11-09 21:01:16 Kherson Russian-appointed deputy governor Stremousov 'killed in car crash'

The Russian-installed deputy governor of Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, has been killed in a car crash, local officials and media say.

Mr Stremousov, 45, was appointed to his job two months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He was one of the most prominent proponents of the Russian occupation and became known for aggressive statements on social media.

He was wanted for treason by the Ukrainian police.

Kherson's Russian-appointed governor Vladimir Saldo said his deputy had been killed, but Ukrainian officials have expressed scepticism about the reports, which cannot be independently verified. read more Open / Comment

2022-11-09 15:02:02 Key Democrat wins push US Congress battle to the wire

- Results are being declared in the US midterm elections, with control of Congress hanging in the balance
- Republicans are likely to take control of the House of Representatives, according to projections, but the Senate fight is on a knife-edge
- If Democrats lose control of either, Republicans will be able to block President Joe Biden's agenda
- Democrat John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May, defeated his Republican seat opponent Mehmet Oz to flip a key Senate seat in Pennsylvania
- But the results of several tight Senate races have yet to be called, and in Georgia, the race is likely to go to another vote in early December
- Former President Donald Trump, who is expected to announce he will run for president in 2024, has seen some of his endorsed candidates fail
- Meanwhile Florida's Republican governor Ron DeSantis has won a large victory to stay in office, setting him up for a potential 2024 presidential bid
- Pro-choice advocates are celebrating victories to enshrine abortion rights in Vermont, Michigan and California read more Open / Comment

2022-11-08 16:00:55 Iran International: TV channel says Iran threatened UK-based journalists

Two British-Iranian journalists for the UK-based Persian-language TV channel Iran International have been warned of a possible risk to their lives, a UK law enforcement source has confirmed.

Parent company Volant Media said the Metropolitan Police had notified the pair of a recent increase in "credible" threats from Iranian security forces.

It denounced the "escalation of a state-sponsored campaign to intimidate Iranian journalists working abroad".

Iranian authorities have not commented. read more Open / Comment

2022-11-08 09:00:02 US midterms: Millions of Americans to vote with Congress at stake

Millions of Americans will vote in the midterm elections on Tuesday, with the balance of power in Congress at stake.

The entire US House of Representatives, about a third of the Senate and key state governorships are up for grabs.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and ex-President Donald Trump, a Republican, made their closing arguments in duelling rallies.

Mr Biden's ability to pass laws will be stymied if Republicans take the House, as most projections expect.

Democrats currently control the White House and - by razor-thin margins - both chambers of Congress. read more Open / Comment

2022-11-07 17:00:44 Twitter will ban unlabelled parody accounts, says Elon Musk

Elon Musk says Twitter accounts engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying they are a parody will be permanently suspended.

Twitter previously issued a warning before suspending accounts, but there would now be no warning, he announced.

A number of accounts that changed their name to Elon Musk and mocked the billionaire have already been suspended or placed behind a warning sign.

Twitter's billionaire new owner took over the company late last month.

At the end of last week he laid off around half of the company's workforce.

He has also confirmed plans to allow users to buy blue-tick, verified status. read more Open / Comment