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Without cracking a single textbook, without spending a day in medical school, the co-author of a preprint study correctly answered enough practice questions that it would have passed the real US Medical Licensing Examination.

But the test-taker wasn’t a member of Mensa or a medical savant; it was the artificial intelligence ChatGPT.

The tool, which was created to answer user questions in a conversational manner, has generated so much buzz that doctors and scientists are trying to determine what its limitations are – and what it could do for health and medicine.

Two MEPs have had their legal immunity lifted by European lawmakers, following a request by Belgian authorities investigating a corruption scandal that has rocked the European Parliament.

Italian Andrea Cozzolino and Belgian Marc Tarabella deny wrongdoing.

The Qatargate affair unfolded when a Greek lawmaker and three other suspects were arrested on suspicion of corruption and money-laundering.

One of the suspects then agreed to "tell all" as part of a plea deal.

Pier Antonio Panzeri is alleged to have led a network that took bribes from Qatar and Morocco in return for influencing the European Parliament. Some €1.5m (£1.3m) was recovered in cash in a series of raids in Brussels and elsewhere.

Both Qatar and Morocco have strenuously rejected allegations that they sought to gain influence over MEPs. However, prosecutors said Mr Panzeri had admitted "criminal responsibility".

Iran has blamed Israel for a drone attack on a military site in the central city of Isfahan on Saturday.

Its ambassador to the UN said findings indicated Israel "was responsible for this attempted act of aggression".

Iran, he said, reserves the right "to respond resolutely to any threats or wrongful actions" by Israel.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it was behind the attack, which Iran said caused minor damage, though this has not been independently verified.

The two countries are arch-foes and in recent years have been engaged in what has been described as a "shadow war" of unclaimed attacks on each other's assets, infrastructure and nationals.

Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations and two-term governor of South Carolina, is reportedly poised to announce she is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

With a campaign kick-off planned for 15 February in Charleston, South Carolina, the 51-year-old would become the second major Republican candidate for the presidency, after her former boss Donald Trump launched his bid in November.

Ms Haley would be the third Indian-American to seek a presidential nomination. She follows Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, whose bid in 2015 never gained significant traction, and current Vice-President Kamala Harris, who sought the 2020 nomination.

Oil and gas giant Shell has reported record annual profits after energy prices surged last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Profits hit $39.9bn (£32.2bn) in 2022, double last year's total and the highest in its 115-year history.

Energy firms have seen record earnings since oil and gas prices jumped following the invasion of Ukraine.

It has heaped pressure on firms to pay more tax as households struggle with rising bills.

Last year, the UK government introduced a windfall tax - called the Energy Profits Levy - on the profits of firms to help fund its scheme to lower gas and electricity bills.

Energy prices had begun to climb after the end of Covid lockdowns but rose sharply in March last year after the events in Ukraine led to worries over supplies.

Allegations of brutal interrogations, where Ukrainian men were shot and threatened with rape, have been made by a former Russian military officer.

Konstantin Yefremov, the most senior officer to speak openly, told the BBC in an exclusive interview Russia now sees him as a traitor and defector.

At one site in southern Ukraine, he said "the interrogations, the torture, continued for about a week".

"Every day, at night, sometimes twice a day."

Mr Yefremov tried to resign from the army numerous times - but he ended up being dismissed for refusing to return to Ukraine. He has now fled Russia.

Sri Lanka is, in the words of its own president, "bankrupt".

The Indian Ocean nation defaulted on its sovereign debt in May 2022, plunging the country into economic and political chaos.

The Colombo government secured a $2.9bn (£2.4bn) International Monetary Fund bailout in principle the following September.

But the cash will not be released to Sri Lanka until its sovereign creditors in China and India first agree to a restructuring of the billions of dollars of bilateral debt they are owed.

Despite optimism over the past month that such an agreement was imminent, a deal has still not materialised - and Sri Lanka's economic agony, and the suffering of its population, continues.

Yet, even if the bailout cash does start to flow in the coming weeks or months, that will not mark the end of Sri Lanka's economic rebuilding programme, but merely the beginning.

Ukraine has launched a fresh wave of anti-corruption raids on high-profile figures, including one of the country's richest men, Ihor Kolomoisky.

The home of former interior minister Arsen Avakov was also searched, as part of the apparent purge.

Ukraine has launched an anti-corruption drive and officials said the leaders of the customs service had been fired.

President Volodymr Zelensky said raids were necessary to ensure "people do not abuse power".

Speaking on Wednesday President Zelensky said: "Unfortunately, in some spheres, the only way to guarantee legitimacy is to change leaders along with institutional changes implementation."

Ukraine has come under increasing pressure from its Western partners, notably the EU, to tackle corruption.