World News

Police in Mexico are questioning 10 guards at a prison in the capital, Mexico City, after three high-profile inmates escaped. The three, including a man suspected of being the financier for the sons of jailed drug lord Joaquín Guzmán, walked through five gates before driving away in an official car. Three guards have reportedly confessed to helping the inmates escape. ...

US life expectancy rose in 2018 for the first time in four years, a welcome reversal for health officials combating a drug epidemic gripping the country. Deaths from drug overdoses declined for the first time in over 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Overall life expectancy improved by 0.1 years from 2017, to 78 years and ...

The Pentagon has said that 34 US troops were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) following an Iranian attack on their base in Iraq. Seventeen troops are still under medical observation, a spokesman said. President Donald Trump had said no Americans were injured in the 8 January strike, which came in retaliation for the US killing of an Iranian general. ...

Nigeria’s corruption watchdog, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has filed multiple corruption charges against former Attorney General Mohammed Adoke, who is suspected of taking bribes to facilitate a $1.3bn (£845m) oil block sale. Multinational oil giants Shell and Eni’s local subsidiaries were also charged with illegally assisting Mr Adoke. Mr Adoke has denied any wrongdoing. Shell and Eni ...

The US embassy serving Libya has warned that the shutdown of the country’s oil fields risks worsening the humanitarian emergency there. An embassy statement called for the immediate resumption of production. Libya’s state-run, National Oil Corporation says the forces of the rebel commander, General Khalifa Haftar, have in recent days halted oil field operations in the east and south. Oil ...

The Chinese government is carrying out an intense attack on the global system for defending human rights, Kenneth Roth, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said on Tuesday in releasing Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2020.  Decades of progress that have allowed people around the world to speak freely, live without fear of arbitrary imprisonment and torture, and enjoy other human rights are at ...

The regulatory environment for women’s economic participation has improved over the past two years, with 40 economies enacting 62 reforms that will help women – half the world’s population – realize their potential and contribute to economic growth and development, says a new World Bank study. Still, the results are uneven — women in many countries have only a fraction ...

Oil prices have risen after two bases hosting US troops in Iraq were hit by ballistic missiles. Brent crude was up by 1.4% at $69.21 per barrel in the middle of the Asian trade, easing back from earlier gains. So-called safe haven assets, like gold and the Japanese yen, also rose on the news. At the same time, global stock ...

American intelligence agencies face a significant reduction in their counterterrorism collection efforts in Africa if a proposed withdrawal of United States military forces is carried out by the Pentagon, intelligence officials said. The new planning to pull back intelligence officers deployed in Western Africa and other parts of the continent has been partly driven by the troop deployment review, which ...

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has decided to seek parliamentary immunity from prosecution over corruption charges. The move would likely delay a trial until after fresh elections next March. In November, the prime minister was charged by the attorney general with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases. Mr Netanyahu, who denies wrongdoing, would need the ...