MI5 lied to courts to protect violent neo-Nazi spy
Daniel De Simone
MI5 lied to three courts while defending its handling of a misogynistic neo-Nazi state agent who attacked his girlfriend with a machete, the BBC can reveal.
Arguing for secrecy, the Security Service told judges it had stuck to its policy of not confirming or denying informants' identities.
In fact, MI5 had disclosed the man's status in phone calls to me, as it tried to persuade me not to investigate the man - known publicly only as agent X.
She said no: marriages in China plummet to record low
Rate of marriages in China lowest since record keeping began in 1986, with cost of living and pushback against traditional gender roles contributing factors
Wed 12 Feb 2025 06.15 GMT
Marriages in China plunged 20% to a record low in 2024 as young people resisted government efforts to convince them to settle down and have more babies.
Marriages in China dropped from 7.7m in 2023 to 6.1m last year, data from China’s civil affairs ministry showed. The figure was less than half the number registered in 2013, and the lowest since record keeping began in 1986.
The data also showed that 2.6 million couples filed for divorce in 2024, up 1.1% from the previous year.
Austria: Far-right Freedom Party coalition talks collapse
Coalition talks between Austria's far-right Freedom Party and the conservative Austrian People's Party have buckled, with the two parties deadlocked over how posts should be assigned.
Far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Herbert Kickl on Wednesday said talks with the conservative People's Party (ÖVP) had failed after a meeting with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen in Vienna.
The parties had argued primarily about the distribution of government portfolios, with each side keen to take over the interior and finance ministries.
Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’ hits Indian bookshelves after bureaucratic blunder
As Salman Rushdie’s stabbing trial in the US grabs international headlines, bookstores in the author’s native India are now selling “The Satanic Verses”, almost four decades after banning it. The ban was lifted not over freedom of speech concerns but due to bureaucratic ineptitude.
At a bookstore in the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon, Neha Sharma has picked up a brand new copy of Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” – finally.
“One time, my relative was about to visit from the US and I almost considered asking her bringing this,” she said, holding up the Booker Prize-winning novel. “But I got scared at the last minute – what if they stopped her at the airport?”
India was the first country to ban “The Satanic Verses” in 1988, the year it was published, due to concerns that some Muslims could find parts of the novel blasphemous.
Ishiba doubles down on treating the injured from Gaza in Japan
By MIKA KUNIYOSHI/ Staff Writer
February 12, 2025 at 17:25 JST
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Feb. 12 reiterated Japan’s plan to accept injured people from the Gaza Strip for treatment but said that has nothing to do with President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate the Palestinian population.
“We are keenly considering the possibility of treating a very small number of patients in Japan who have difficulty being treated locally,” he said in response to a question from Hirofumi Yanagase of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) during an Upper House plenary session.
Ishiba also said, “The main premise is that they will return to their home (after treatment).”
Rwanda-backed M23 fighters resume attacks in DR Congo after two-day pause
The M23 rebels have resumed attacks on armed forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after a two-day lull in fighting.
Rebel fighters struck at dawn on Tuesday near the village of Ihusi, located 40km (25 miles) from a strategic military airport in Kavumu and about 70km (43 miles) from Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.
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