BBC News

An alleged Chinese spy with links to Prince Andrew has been named as Yang Tengbo after a court order protecting his identity was lifted.

The businessman, who previously could be referred to only as H6, was banned from the UK in 2023 by a semi-secret national security court.

The court who agreed to have his anonymity lifted said he had done "nothing wrong or unlawful" and descriptions of him as an alleged spy were "entirely untrue”.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith earlier warned his presence was "the tip of the iceberg" in the UK.

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People are "starting to die of thirst and hunger" on the French island territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, a senator says, after a cyclone brought wind speeds of 140mph (225kmh).

Several hundred people are already feared dead - Mayotte's prefect warns the final toll could reach "close to a thousand or even several thousand".

It's the worst cyclone to hit the islands in 90 years, with waves up to eight metres high.

Mayotte is one of the poorest parts of France - with many of the 300,000 population living in shanty towns.

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The German parliament is due to hold a vote of confidence in the government of chancellor, Olaf Scholz, which is expected to lose.

Scholz requested the vote and wants to lose it because he currently runs a minority government, which means he cannot do anything without the Conservative opposition who are not willing to help him, he claims.

This comes after Scholz’s coalition collapsed in November 2024, effectively over the country’s budget.

The one way Germany can get an effective functioning government is by dissolving the current parliament and stage new, early elections in February 2025.

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Hundreds of people are feared dead in Mayotte after the French Indian Ocean territory was devastated by a powerful cyclone.

Entire settlements were flattened when Cyclone Chido brought wind speeds of more than 225km/h (140mph), with the poorest living in makeshift shelters particularly hard hit.

Rescue workers, including reinforcements from France, are combing through the debris searching for survivors.

Some of Mayotte's population of 320,000 have said they are struggling with severe shortages of food, water and shelter.

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Syrian’s are gathering documentary evidence of the barbaric crimes of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the hope that those responsible can be brought to justice.

During decades of repression under Assad and his father, human rights abuse included torture, executions and the arbitrary imprisonment of thousands of people.

Now volunteers, including victims and their families, are determined to preserve evidence of the crimes as they demand truth and justice.

Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Jeremy Bowen.

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Deep inside the Arctic, Svalbard is a white wonderland.

But with heavy snowfall also comes the risk of avalanches, which can endanger the communities that live here.

Physical protective barriers have been built to hold back the snow - but the locals have also turned to tech, with the help of a telecom firm and the University of Svalbard.

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Australia says the five remaining members of the "Bali Nine" drug ring have returned home after almost 20 years in Indonesian prison.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote on social media: "I am pleased to confirm that Australian citizens, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush and Martin Stephens have returned to Australia this afternoon."

He thanked Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto "for his compassion".

The high-profile case began in 2005 when Indonesia caught nine young Australians trying to smuggle 8.3kg (18lb) of heroin out of Bali.

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Teams from around the world have been competing at Cybathlon - a competition to develop assistive tech solutions for people with disabilities.

67 teams from 24 countries are competing across eight disciplines, and each is an obstacle course full of everyday tasks that disabled people have to deal with.

Amongst others, there are races for robotic legs, motorised wheelchairs, and full-on exoskeletons.

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US President Joe Biden has issued presidential pardons to 39 Americans convicted of non-violent crimes, and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 others, including several convicted of multi-million dollar fraud schemes.

The White House described it as the most acts of presidential clemency issued in a single day. It comes after Biden made the decision to pardon his own criminally convicted son, Hunter Biden.

Announcing the move, Biden said those pardoned had "shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer".

The US Constitution decrees that a president has the broad "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment".

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Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former Manchester City footballer, has been appointed president by Georgia's disputed parliament, after 17 days of pro-EU protests that have swept this country's towns and cities.

The 53-year-old is a former MP from the increasingly authoritarian ruling Georgian Dream party and was the only candidate for the job.

On Saturday, 224 out of 225 members of Georgia's electoral college voted for him.

The four main opposition groups have rejected Kavelashvili and have boycotted parliament, insisting that the elections held in October were rigged.

Large crowds of protesters, facing freezing temperatures, gathered outside parliament from the early hours of Saturday morning ahead of the vote.

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