Happy 65th Birthday to Bono, the singer-songwriter of U2. With his rose-colored glasses, the businessman and philanthropist (in the ONE Campaign, Product RED, and The Global Fund) has dedicated more than 20 years to eradicating global poverty—especially south of the equator in Africa—and has worked with most US presidents going back to Bill Clinton to achieve…

South Africa has criticised the US as reports emerge suggesting Washington could receive white Afrikaners as refugees as early as next week. A document seen by the BBC’s US partner CBS describes the potential resettlement as a “priority” for President Donald Trump’s government, however the timing has not been publicly confirmed by the White House.…

Île Balabio, off the northern tip of Grande Terra, New Caledonia’s main island – credit NASA/GSFCLandsat 7 The Pacific island territory of New Caledonia has announced a moratorium on seabed mining for nickel across 1.3 million square kilometers of ocean. The rare and sweeping move places the French territory among the most restrictive in the…

Maria Zaccaro BBC World Service Reuters Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected pope and will be known as Pope Leo XIV. The 69-year-old is the first American to become as pontiff and will lead members of the Catholic Church’s global community of 1.4bn people. Born in Chicago, he is seen as a reformer and worked…

639 years ago today, the Treaty of Windsor, the world’s oldest international accord still in force, was signed between Great Britain and Portugal. It was signed and sealed by King Richard II of England and King John I of Portugal to cement commercial ties and mutual defense. Subjects of one king had the rights, under…

Microsoft founder Bill Gates said he intends to give away 99% of his vast fortune over the next 20 years. Gates said he would accelerate his giving via his foundation, with plans to end its operations in 2045. “People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that…

A mountain pygmy possum – credit, supplied by the New South Wales government As other endangered Australian wildlife, the mountain pygmy possum has recovered to its pre-wildfire population in the Snowy Mountains. While conservationists are to be applauded for the turn around, they maybe aren’t the experts you’d expect to be managing such a delicate…

The right-hander was realistically in England’s squad for the four-day Test as a spare batter, but the injury is a cruel blow. He was set to make his Test debut last November in New Zealand but broke a thumb in practice before the first Test. Cox has been in good form for Essex this season,…

This artist’s concept depicts a magnetar releasing material into space. The magnetic field lines, shown in green, influence the movement of charged material around the magnetar – credit, NASA/JPL-Caltech It’s long been suspected to the point of certainty that heavier elements like gold are created inside supernovae, and that over the billions of years Earth…

The first vote of the conclave – the secretive process to choose a new pope – has failed to reach a decision. After a lengthy wait, black smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney at around 9pm local time – meaning the 133 cardinals inside have not been able to choose a new pontiff. Crowds…