A viral video showing a woman scaling the wall of a well to access water has highlighted the acute shortage in several areas of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The video shows the woman going down the well without a rope or harness to access water. People in Ghusiya village have been forced to take such extreme measures after wells and ponds have dried. Several other areas across India are facing similar water crisis. Videos showing Indians risking their lives to get water frequently go viral. In April, a similar video showed a woman going down a well in Maharashtra state to get water. A 2019 global report had named India among 17 countries where “water stress” was “extremely high”.(BBC)…[+]

More than 2,000 confiscated motorcycle taxis are being crushed in Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos, following a ban on the vehicles, known as okadas. The move comes following the lynching of a man by suspected riders last month, which sparked outrage. Sunday David, a 38-year-old sound engineer, was killed in the upmarket Lekki neighbourhood after a disagreement over fares. His death sparked outrage and forced authorities to act. His wife, Grace Bolu, was distraught and left questioning how she will support her two children. “I’m just a civil servant. My husband does everything. How will I do it? How much is my salary to pay school fees, pay rent?” she told the BBC.(BBC)…[+]

The former head of Colombia’s once-powerful Cali drugs cartel has died in prison in the United States. At one point, Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela controlled the vast majority of the world’s cocaine trade and was an arch-nemesis of Pablo Escobar. The 83-year-old was even nicknamed the Chess Player for his skill at staying one step ahead of rivals and the law. But in 1995 his luck ran out – he was arrested in Colombia and eventually extradited to the US in 2004. The former cartel leader was serving a 30-year federal prison sentence in North Carolina where his family says he died of an illness on Tuesday. At the height of his powers, Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela ran the Cali drugs cartel with his brother Miguel. (BBC)…[+]

Less than a year after his sex assault conviction was thrown out and he walked free from prison, comedian Bill Cosby is facing another allegation in court. Mr Cosby, 85, is embroiled in a civil lawsuit over a claim he sexually assaulted Judy Huth, now 64, at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 1975. The case is one of the last remaining legal actions against Mr Cosby, who has faced numerous abuse claims. He has denied any assault took place, and is not expected to testify. According to a lawsuit filed by Ms Huth in 2014, the incident took place when she was 16 years old, days after she met Mr Cosby at a park near Los Angeles where he was shooting a film. After giving her alcohol “as part of a game”, Mr Cosby took her to the Playboy Mansion, she says. There, Ms Huth claims Mr Cosby took her to a bedroom and forced her to perform a sex act. During opening statements at the court in Santa Monica, California, on Wednesday, a lawyer for Ms Huth said the comedian “has a sense of entitlement, and no fear”.(BBC)…[+]

Turkey will be known as Türkiye at the United Nations from now on, after it agreed to a formal request from Ankara. Several international bodies will be asked to make the name change as part of a rebranding campaign launched by the Turkish president late last year. “Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization, and values,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in December. The UN said it made the change as soon as it received the request this week. Most Turks already know their country as Türkiye. However the anglicised Turkey is widely used, even within the country. State broadcaster TRT was quick to make the change as soon as it was announced last year, explaining that among the reasons for the image rebrand was the association with the bird traditionally associated with Christmas, New Year or Thanksgiving.(BBC)…[+]

The largest known plant on Earth – a seagrass roughly three times the size of Manhattan – has been discovered off the coast of Australia. Using genetic testing, scientists have determined a large underwater meadow in Western Australia is in fact one plant. It is believed to have spread from a single seed over at least 4,500 years. The seagrass covers about 200 sq km (77 sq miles), researchers from the University of Western Australia said.

The team stumbled upon the discovery by accident at Shark Bay, about 800km north of Perth. They had set out to understand the genetic diversity of the species – also known as ribbon weed – which is commonly found along parts of Australia’s coast. Researchers collected shoots from across the bay and examined 18,000 genetic markers to create a “fingerprint” from each sample. They had aimed to discover how many plants made up the meadow. “The answer blew us away – there was just one!” said Jane Edgeloe, the study’s lead author.(BBC)…[+]

Texas police have said the gunman who shot 21 people dead at a school last week entered through a door that was supposed to lock, but somehow did not. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), which is investigating the shooting response, confirmed a teacher had initially propped open the door. But a spokesman on Tuesday said the teacher closed the door once the gunman entered the campus. Public anger has risen as new details of the shooting emerge. Initial reports of the gunman getting into the school via an exterior door that was accidentally left open by a teacher had suggested a breach of school policy. Employees at Robb Elementary School are required to keep doors closed and locked. However, an attorney for the unnamed employee told the San Antonio Express-News on Tuesday that she had closed it and “thought the door would lock because that door is always supposed to be locked”.(BBC)…[+]

For the next three months, Germans will be able to travel the country for just €9 (£7.50; $9.50) a month in a drive to tackle the soaring cost of living. All local and regional transport on trains, buses and metro is included in the government’s initiative, although inter-city trains are not. The cheap tickets are also aimed at getting people to leave their cars. However, fuel tax has also been reduced by around 30 cents a litre for petrol, bringing prices down below €2. The tax has been brought down to the EU minimum, again for the next three months, so diesel prices are also being cut by around 14 cents a litre.(BBC)…[+]

Canada should introduce a total ban on the buying and selling of all handguns, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said. His government is proposing a new law that would freeze private ownership of all short-barrelled firearms. The legislation would not ban the ownership of handguns outright – but would make it illegal to buy them. Mr Trudeau’s proposal comes days after a deadly shooting at a Texas primary school, in the neighbouring US, killed 21 people. The bill, which was presented to Canada’s parliament on Monday, makes it impossible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in the country. “Other than using firearms for sport shooting and hunting, there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives,” Mr Trudeau told reporters.(BBC)…[+]

A judge in Mexico has delivered a fresh blow to the Maya train project, which aims to link archaeological sites with Mexican beach resorts. The judge ordered that a suspension of construction work on a stretch of the train line be extended until its environmental impact is determined. The ruling is a victory for a group of cave divers who fear that the works will threaten underground caverns. The Maya train is one of Mexico’s most ambitious infrastructure projects. This latest ruling could halt building work by months or even years unless an appeal by the authority behind the project is successful. The $9.8bn (£7.5bn) Maya train project is aimed at building a 1,500km-long (930-mile) railroad linking the south-eastern Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador argues that it will provide an environmentally friendly mode of transport for locals and tourists alike, as well as boosting development and employment in the underdeveloped region. But critics say the megaproject has been rushed and environmental concerns have been overridden. (BBC)…[+]