By George Wright BBC News Around six billion tonnes of sand is dredged from the world’s oceans every year, endangering marine life and coastal communities, the UN says. Sand is the most exploited natural resource in the world after water and is used to produce concrete and glass. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said some…

Switzerland is a nation of cheese. With a population of just under nine million, it produces 207,000 tons a year – and of the more than 450 kinds of cheese produced, there’s one that’s known as the “king of cheese”, a food so famous it has become synonymous with the country itself. That cheese, of…

By Anthony Zurcher BBC News The impeachment trial for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton began on Tuesday, setting the stage for a political and legal drama that exposes deep divides within the Republican Party. The fate of the state’s top lawyer, an ally of former President Donald Trump, is in the hands of the Republican-controlled…

Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, is set to be proscribed as a terrorist group by the UK government – meaning it will be illegal to be a member or support the organisation. A draft order to be laid in Parliament will allow its assets to be categorised as terrorist property and seized. The home secretary…

By Soutik Biswas India correspondent What does the biggest gathering of humanity on Earth have to do with antibiotics? Quite a bit, evidently. Researchers from US-based institutes, supported by Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University and Unicef, have found that clinics at India’s Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival and the world’s…

Hundreds of runners from 28 countries have begun running in what’s claimed to be the world’s toughest mountain race. A total of 298 athletes begun hot-footing it between Conwy and Cardiff castles on Monday in the hope of winning the Dragon’s Back. They will cover 236 miles (380 km) over six days over a route…

At least one person has died in Greece, after torrential rain triggered flash floods in parts of the country. The coastal port city of Volos, north of Athens, has seen the same mount of water falling in 24 hours that it usually gets for the whole of autumn – according to local experts. The mayor…

Richard Linklater’s New Orleans crime yarn starring Glen Powell is “delightful”, and has”‘humanity and charm”, writes Nicholas Barber from the Venice Film Festival. If you’re looking for a laidback, heartwarming comedy that happens to be about deceit, corruption and murder, then Hit Man is the film for you. Directed and co-written by Richard Linklater, the…

United Airlines has issued a nationwide ground stop on all flights, the Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed. In a statement, the airline said that all departures were halted due to a “systemwide technology issue”. Flights already in the air are continuing to their destination as planned, the airline said. United said more details will be…

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell did not suffer a stroke or a seizure disorder when he froze during a press conference in August, a doctor said on Tuesday. The Kentucky lawmaker, 81, has frozen twice in as many months, prompting concerns about his health. In a new letter, Brian Monahan, the attending physician of Congress,…