Oldest cave painting could rewrite origins of human creativity

Pallab GhoshScience CorrespondentA stencilled outline of a hand found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is the world's oldest known cave painting, researchers say.It shows a red outline of a hand whose fingers were reworked, researchers say, to create a claw-like motif which indicates an early leap in symbolic imagination.The painting has been dated to at least 67,800 years ago – around 1,100 years before the previous record, a controversial hand stencil in Spain.The find also strengthens the…

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Israel postpones demolition of Palestinian children’s football pitch in Bethlehem

BBC NewsThe Aida Youth Centre's pitch sits next to the barrier separating the occupied West Bank from IsraelIsrael has postponed the demolition of a Palestinian children's football club in the city of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank.It said the Aida Youth Centre's pitch was constructed without the necessary permits. It said the demolition was necessary for security reasons. An international campaign to save it, including a petition with more than half a million signatures, appears to have…

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Loved ones of victims reeling after high-speed rail crash in southern Spain

James Waterhousein Córdoba, SpainBBC/Moose CampbellYamilei's brother-in-law Victor was among the victims of Sunday night's crashEduardo Morán, a doctor at Córdoba's Reina Sofía Hospital, suspected it was serious.He and his wife, also a medic, had been asked to head to work after reports that two high speed trains had collided nearby."We were preparing different parts of the hospital," he recalls. "Not just the emergency room, but the intensive care unit, all the surgery theatres and the regular floor. Everybody…

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Israeli PM Netanyahu agrees to join Trump’s Board of Peace

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation to join US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace.A statement from his office said Netanyahu would become a member of the board "which is to be comprised of world leaders".The board was originally thought to be aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and oversee reconstruction. But its proposed charter does not mention the Palestinian territory and appears to be designed to supplant…

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Blake Lively called Justin Baldoni ‘a clown’ in text messages

BBC/Getty ImagesBlake Lively and Justin Baldoni have been at loggerheads since starring together in It Ends With UsBlake Lively referred to Justin Baldoni as a "doofus director" and a "clown", according to newly unsealed court documents from the actress's legal case.The pair starred together in It Ends With Us, but Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and waging a smear campaign against her. Baldoni strongly denies the claims and is defending the lawsuit.Text…

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Japan restarts world’s largest nuclear power plant

Getty ImagesThe Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant has the world's largest installed capacityJapan has restarted a reactor at the world's largest nuclear plant nearly 15 years after a disaster at the Fukushima power plant forced the country to shut all its nuclear reactors. Reactor no.6 at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant located northwest of Tokyo was restarted on Wednesday. It was delayed by one day because of an alarm malfunction and is expected to begin operating commercially next month.This is the…

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Could the US Congress stop Trump from taking Greenland?

Daniel BushWashington correspondentWatch: BBC on the mood in Davos ahead of Trump's arrival to the economic forumPresident Donald Trump's push to acquire Greenland has sparked a backlash from Republicans in Congress, as lawmakers voice growing concern about US military interventions overseas.But it remains unclear if enough Republicans are willing to join Democrats to block a takeover of the island territory - and whether Trump would bow to pressure from Congress, or act alone as he's done several times…

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Ugandan opposition figure critically ill in hospital, party says

The health of detained veteran Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye has "reached a critical and deteriorating state," his party says, after he was taken overnight to a medical facility in the capital, Kampala.The 69-year-old politician was driven to a private medical facility under "heavy security," the People's Front for Freedom (PFF) party said, without specifying what he is suffering from.However, prison authorities denied that Besigye's health was dire, describing his overnight visit to a doctor as a "general…

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Leaked photos show hundreds killed in Iran’s brutal crackdown

Merlyn Thomas,correspondent, BBC Verify,Shayan Sardarizadeh,senior journalist, BBC VerifyandGhoncheh Habibiazad,senior journalistBBCWarning: this story contains graphic content which some readers might find distressingHundreds of photos revealing the faces of those killed during Iran's violent crackdown on anti-government protests have been leaked to BBC Verify.The pictures, which are too graphic to show without blurring, reveal the bloodied, swollen and bruised faces of at least 326 victims - including 18 women. The images, displayed in a south Tehran mortuary, are one of…

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Man who killed Japan’s ex-PM Shinzo Abe gets life in prison

The man who killed Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been sentenced to life in prison, three and a half years after he fatally shot the ex-leader during a rally in the western city of Nara.Tetsuya Yamagami himself pleaded guilty to the crime at the trial's opening last year, but what punishment he deserves has divided public opinion in Japan. While many see the 45-year-old as a cold-blooded murderer, some sympathise with his troubled upbringing.Prosecutors said Yamagami…

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Trump doubles down on Greenland threats, saying there is ‘no going back’

Watch: BBC asks if breakup of Nato is price Trump willing to pay for GreenlandUS president Donald Trump has doubled down on his threats to take control of Greenland, saying on social media that there is "no going back" and that "Greenland is imperative". During a news conference at the White House, Trump was asked how far he was willing to go to acquire Greenland and replied, "You'll find out". Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron warned at a…

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Indian couple win $200,000 settlement over ‘food racism’ at US university

Urmi BhattacheryyaUrmi Bhattacheryya and Aditya Prakash sued their university for alleged racial discriminationA dispute that began over heating a dish in a microwave has ended with two Indian students winning a $200,000 settlement from a US university.Aditya Prakash and his fiancee, Urmi Bhattacheryya, told the BBC they filed a civil rights lawsuit against the University of Colorado, Boulder, after they faced a series of "microaggressions and retaliatory actions" following the microwave incident.The harassment began, the lawsuit alleged, after…

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