Lin Taylor

Britain has signed a new deal with Rwanda in an attempt to overcome a top court decision to block its plan to deport asylum seekers to the east African country.

Under the new treaty, signed by British Home Secretary James Cleverly, Britain said Rwanda would not expel asylum seekers to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened - one of the court's major concerns.

When Taha Amin-Ismail Khalifeh dialled into a conference call with his Israeli employer last month, the Palestinian hotel worker expected a briefing on how the Israel-Hamas war was affecting business. Instead, he and 40 others were laid off.

Khalifeh, who lives in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, had worked as a housekeeper in the hotel in East Jerusalem for more than 20 years.

Britain will keep its foreign aid spending at 0.5% of economic output until its fiscal situation improves, according to a government White Paper on international development.

Britain's Conservative government reduced overseas aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income (GNI) in 2020 to free up cash for domestic spending during COVID-19, slashing billions from programmes supporting the world's poorest.

When Mishaal was granted refugee status in August after arriving in Britain in 2021, it was the first time the stateless Kuwaiti had received legal recognition in his life.

As a member of the bedoun community - which accounts for around 85,000 people in Kuwait, according to official data - Mishaal said he finally felt he was able to "live as a human being" and plan his future.

Thousands of miles from home, Thai labourer Kamlue was on his way to harvest courgettes on an Israeli farm near the Gaza border on Oct. 7 when the truck he was riding on came under heavy fire.

"They launched a relentless barrage of gunfire from every direction," he said, asking not to use his full name as he recounted his escape from the Hamas attack.

Australia on Saturday rejected a proposal to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in its constitution, putting the country out of step with many nations that already have Indigenous rights enshrined into law.

Some countries use parliamentary quotas or treaties to tackle inequalities that disadvantage Indigenous groups, while others protect land titles.

As a health worker in South Sudan, Night Stella Elias sees from year to year how rising temperatures are adding to the dangers faced by pregnant women and their babies.

Armed conflict, drought, widespread poverty and scarce rural health services already mean the world's newest country has one of its highest maternal mortality rates. Heatwaves linked to climate change are increasing the risks.

Unlike most 27-year-olds, Chung Ching Kwong does not want any of her life shared on social media.

Both her and her loved ones' safety and freedom are at stake, said Kwong, who left Hong Kong in 2020 to avoid arrest for her pro-democracy work after China imposed a sweeping national security law that year.

Lawmakers in India's upper house of Parliament on Thursday guaranteed to reserve 33% of seats for women in the lower house and state assemblies, in a bid to improve gender equality in the corridors of power.

Only 104 of India's 788 MPs, or slightly more than 13%, were women after the last national election, government figures show.

Thousands of Britons were unable to vote in recent elections because they had no photo ID, official data shows, raising concerns that marginalised groups - from minorities to the homeless - risk losing their right to vote.

Under new regulations, voters had to provide some form of photo ID to take part in local elections on May 4, in a bid to prevent voter fraud.

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