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Fang Bin, who documented the initial Covid outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has been freed from jail after three years, sources told the BBC. Mr Fang is one of several so-called citizen journalists who disappeared after sharing videos of scenes in Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic. After disappearing in February 2020, he was sentenced to three years in jail at a secret trial in Wuhan, sources said. He was released on Sunday and is in good health, they added. Mr Fang is now back home in Wuhan. The BBC could not reach his family for comment. The video that caught the attention of the outside world was one where he counted eight body bags outside a Covid hospital in the space of five minutes. He said he was detained that night but released. Then came a video with the message: "All people revolt - hand the power of the government back to the people". That was the last video he shared.

They look like unlikely allies, but on Wednesday the moustachioed, secular Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is warmly welcoming the bearded, turban-wearing Islamist cleric-cum-President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, to Damascus. It is the first such visit by an Iranian leader since 2010, before the Arab Spring uprisings. Since then, Tehran has proved the staunchest of allies, helping - along with Moscow - to save the Assad regime during a particularly bloody civil war. The trip comes amid dramatic shifts in the region. These have also seen the Syrian president and his entourage - long shunned as pariahs in the Arab world - recently being embraced, quite literally on occasion, by their neighbours.

9 One of the Minneapolis officers involved in the death of George Floyd has been found guilty of aiding and abetting manslaughter. A Minnesota judge issued the guilty verdict for Tou Thao on Monday night. Four former police officer were charged in the aftermath of Mr Floyd's death. His killing led to mass protests around the world. Thao's conviction on the latest charges marks the end in a series of state and federal cases against the four men. Minnesota's attorney general Keith Ellison said Thao's conviction is "historic and the right outcome". "While we have now reached the end of the prosecution of Floyd's murder, it is not behind us," he said. "There is much more that prosecutors, law-enforcement leaders, rank-and-file officers, elected officials, and community can do to bring about true justice in law enforcement," he said.

More than 100,000 people have fled Sudan since heavy fighting broke out between rival forces on 15 April, the UN has said. Officials warned of a "full-blown catastrophe" if fighting does not end. A further 334,000 people have been displaced within Sudan. Fighting is continuing in the capital, Khartoum, between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), despite a ceasefire due to be in force. On Monday, the UN special envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, told the AP news agency that the two sides had agreed to enter into talks to negotiate a "stable and reliable" ceasefire. Saudi Arabia was a potential venue for the talks, he added. If talks take place, it would be the first meeting between the two sides since the conflict started. Evacuation is almost over, says UK foreign secretary More than 500 people have been killed and more than 4,000 have been wounded in the fighting, according to Sudan's health ministry

The awkward response from a Q&A audience after they are asked if they will swear allegiance to King Charles III at his Coronation Only two members of a Q&A audience rose their hands when asked if they'd be pledging their allegiance to King Charles III at his Coronation

A massive car crash involving 72 vehicles in Farmersville, Illinois, Monday morning left at least six people dead and 37 people injured, police said. According to Illinois State Police, the surviving victims – whose ages ranged between 2 years and 80 years old – were transported to local hospitals with various injuries. Some of whom are said to be in critical condition. "At 10:55 a.m. there was a crash on northbound Interstate 55 at Milepost 76. At the same time, there were numerous crashes on southbound Interstate 55 at Milepost 76. The crashes occurred within a two-mile stretch — from roughly Milepost 76 to Milepost 78," the police statement read. It continued: "Reports show there are six fatalities, all occurring in the northbound lanes. At this time, one decedent has been identified as 88-year-old Shirley Harper of Franklin, WI. The Montgomery County Corner’s Office is working diligently to identify the other five individuals and notify their families."

When it comes to answering medical questions, can ChatGPT do a better job than human doctors? It appears to be possible, according to the results of a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, led by researchers from the University of California San Diego. The researchers compiled a random sample of nearly 200 medical questions that patients posted on Reddit, a popular social discussion website, for doctors to answer. Next, they entered the questions into ChatGPT (OpenAI’s artificial intelligence chatbot) and recorded its response. A panel of health care professionals then evaluated both sets of responses for quality and empathy.

A Chinese man's harrowing ordeal at a Tibetan hotel, where a corpse was found under his bed, has led to a murder investigation and a suspect's arrest. The man noticed a "strong" smell when he checked into his hotel in Lhasa on 21 April. After he moved to a different room, a body was discovered under the bed he had slept on for three hours. Later that night, police told him they had arrested a person in connection with the case. The man, identified in local media only as Mr Zhang, later told Shangyou News that he left Lhasa the next day. With its warm lights and wooden balconies, Guzang Shuhua Inn, where Mr Zhang stayed, is a so-called influencer hotel, popular on social media as an ideal spot for photos.

A prominent Palestinian prisoner has died in an Israeli jail after 86 days on hunger strike. Khader Adnan was a senior figure in the militant group Islamic Jihad who Israel had charged with terrorism offences. The Israel Prison Service said he had refused medical treatment before he was found unconscious in his cell on Tuesday. Hours after his death, militants fired three rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. No-one was hurt. The Palestinian prime minister accused Israel of "deliberately assassinating" Adnan, while Islamic Jihad warned Israel that it would pay "the highest price". Adnan, who was 45 and from the north of the occupied West Bank, had been in and out of detention by Isr

Recreational vaping will be banned in Australia, as part of a major crackdown amid what experts say is an "epidemic". Minimum quality standards will also be introduced, and the sale of vapes restricted to pharmacies. Nicotine vapes already require a prescription in Australia, but the industry is poorly regulated and a black market is thriving. Health Minister Mark Butler says the products are creating a new generation of nicotine addicts in Australia. Also known as e-cigarettes, vapes heat a liquid - usually containing nicotine - turning it into a vapour that users inhale. They are widely seen as a product to help smokers quit. But in Australia, vapes have exploded in popularity as a recreational product, particularly among young people in cities. "Just like they did with smoking... 'Big Tobacco' has taken another addictive product, wrapped it in shiny packaging and added sweet flavours to create a new generation of nicotine addicts," Mr Butler said in a speech announcing reforms on Tuesday.

Epstein's VERY tangled web: Pedophile met with current CIA Director William Burns, Obama White House lawyer, Noam Chomsky and music director for the American Symphony Orchestra in the years AFTER his sex offence conviction Jeffrey Epstein's private calendar revealed meetings with now-CIA Director William Burns and Obama's White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler The meetings with the prominent people were scheduled for between 2013 to 2017, after he had been time in jail in 2008 for sex crimes involving a teenager Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide

America will scrap vaccine mandates for federal employees and international travelers next week — finally bringing the US in line with the rest of the world.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the US may run out of cash by 1 June if Congress fails to raise or suspend the debt ceiling. Reaching the debt ceiling would mean that the government is unable to borrow any more money. On Monday, Ms Yellen urged Congress to act "as soon as possible" to address the $31.4tr (£25.12tr) limit. President Joe Biden has called a meeting of congressional leaders on the issue on 9 May. The debt ceiling has been raised, extended or revised 78 times since 1960. In this instance, House Republicans have demanded drastic spending cuts and a reversal of some aspects of President Biden's agenda - including his student loan forgiveness programme and green energy tax credits - in exchange for votes to raise the debt ceiling. This, in turn, has prompted objections from Democrats in the Senate and from President Biden, who said last week that the issue is "not negotiable". The president, however, is coming under increasing pressure from business groups - including the US Chamber of Congress - to discuss Republican proposals.

A.I. Developing out of control ?

Clever but scary stuff ! Can we really believe what we see anymore ?

Coastguards have recovered the bodies of 41 migrants off the Tunisian coast as the number of people dying as they try to reach Europe from Africa soars. A senior official said more than 200 people had drowned in the last 10 days. Tunisian morgues were running out of space and authorities were struggling to contain the surge in attempted crossings, he said. The north African country has taken over from neighbouring Libya as the main embarkation point for migrants. Parts of the Tunisian coastline are only about 150 kilometres from Lampedusa, an Italian island frequently used as a crossing point to the mainland. "On Tuesday, we had more than 200 bodies, well beyond the capacity of the hospital, which creates a health problem," said Faouzi Masmoudi, justice official in the port city of Sfax where the central morgue for an area of around a million people is sited.

The first of its kind in the world, the e-motorway may lead to an expansion of a further 3,000 km of electric roads in Sweden by 2045. As the EU passed a landmark law last month to require all new cars sold to have zero CO2 emissions from 2035, European countries are rushing to prepare the infrastructure needed for fossil fuel-free mobility. And Sweden is now turning a highway into a permanent electrified road - the first of its kind in the world. On an electric road, cars and trucks can recharge while driving. Experts say dynamic charging allows them to travel longer distances with smaller batteries, and to avoid waiting at charging stations.