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By Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor for the BBC. In this pool photograph from Russian state agency Sputnik, President Vladimir Putin welcomes Russian citizens released in a major prisoner swap with the West, at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on August 1, 2024. Photo: AFP / Pool It's something Vladimir Putin does rarely: go to the airport to meet people off a plane. Personally. But he was there on Thursday night: on the tarmac at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport to meet and greet those Russians whose release he'd secured from foreign jails; part of the largest prisoner swap between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Out of the plane and down the steps came 10 people, including spies, sleeper agents and a convicted assassin. "Congratulations on your return to the Motherland!" he told them. You co...

By Max Matza and Sam Cabral for BBC News in Washington Vice President Kamala Harris is speaking at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boule at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on 31 July, 2024. Photo: Reginald Mathalone / NurPhoto / AFP US Vice-President Kamala Harris has passed the threshold to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination in a vote of party delegates. Speaking by telephone, Harris said she was "honoured to be the presumptive nominee" as the virtual roll call continues ahead of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago later this month. Harris is the first Black woman and first South Asian woman to become the White House standard-bearer for a major US political party. If she defeats Donald Trump, the Republi...

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign appearance on 31 July, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images / AFP The US criminal case accusing Donald Trump of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat resumed on Friday after a nearly eight-month pause, with the judge left to decide how to proceed after the Supreme Court's immunity ruling. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington was expected to decide in the coming weeks which aspects of the indictment obtained by Special Counsel Jack Smith must be tossed out after the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents were entitled to broad immunity for official actions taken as president. The high court's decision to take up the case, which it heard on its last day of arguments in April an...

Some of those freed in US-Russia prisoner swap: (L-R, top to bottom) US journalist Evan Gershkovich; Paul Whelan, a former US Marine; Alsu Kurmasheva, a US-Russian journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; and Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza. Photo: AFP By Andrew Osborn, Filipp Lebedev and Lucy Papachristou Jailed US Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and ex-US Marine Paul Whelan were among two dozen detainees from the United States, Russia and a number of their allies freed on Thursday in the biggest prisoner exchange since the Cold War. The White House said the US had negotiated the complex trade with Russia and other countries. It said eight prisoners held in the West were being sent back to Russia. Germany confirmed that they included Vadim Krasikov,...

From 15 August Korean Air will stop serving instant noodles to economy passengers. Photo: NongShim/Amazon By Annabelle Liang, BBC News If you're taking a flight on Korean Air, you might soon notice something missing from your menu - a cup of instant noodles. From 15 August onwards, the carrier will stop serving the noodles to economy class passengers. It said the increased risk of turbulence, narrow aisles and passengers sitting closely together could mean "burn incidents occur frequently". Business and first class fliers, however, will continue to enjoy the treat. The snack has long been a passenger favourite and something the carrier is widely known for. Many praise the fact that it is available for free on request. In a statement, the carrier said that since 2019 the number of times ...

By Rebecca Armitage, Toby Mann and Basel Hindeleh, ABC News Iranian mourners are holding portraits of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during a funeral ceremony for him and his bodyguard Abu Shaaban in Tehran, Iran, on August 1, 2024. Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via AFP Iran says it has a "duty" to avenge the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed during a visit to Tehran this week. Describing Haniyeh as a "dear guest", the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has placed the blame for Wednesday's assassination squarely on Israel. "Following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, it is our duty to take revenge," his account wrote on X. While Israeli authorities have neither confirmed nor denied th...

By Manon Cruz and Kylie MacLellan, Reuters Handout pictures released by Merseyside Police in London on 30 July, 2024, of nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar (left), seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and six-year-old Bebe King. Photo: AFP PHOTO / Merseyside Police A 17-year-old boy has appeared in an English court on Thursday (local time) charged with the murder of three young girls in a knife attack at a summer dance class that has shocked the nation and sparked two nights of violent protests. Axel Rudakubana first appeared at Liverpool Magistrates' Court over Monday's incident at a "Taylor Swift yoga and dance workshop" summer vacation event for children in the seaside town of Southport. He is charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one of possession ...