Currently News Report

Ecuador's president has declared a state of emergency in three western provinces because of rising crime. Guillermo Lasso tweeted that a curfew will be imposed and thousands of soldiers and police officers will be sent to Guayas, Manabí and Esmeraldas to "enforce peace and order". Ecuador has seen a sharp increase in murders and gang-related crime. This is the second time Mr Lasso has used emergency powers to curb violence since he took office last year. "The streets will feel the weight" of the security forces, Mr Lasso tweeted. He said 4,000 police officers and 5,000 troops from Ecuador's armed forces would be deployed throughout the three provinces. He also said the curfew, which would only be enforced in certain areas, would be from 23:00 to 05:00 local time. "Society will not be subdued," he wrote. "Our peace will never be sacrificed to criminal gangs." President Lasso has blamed drug trafficking for Ecuador's crime problems. The

Nikita Horban was sitting cross-legged on an old-fashioned steel hospital bed, running his fingers over the flat part of the bandage where his toes used to be. He was still wearing the clothes the Russians sent him home in - a military green t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. He looked pale and gaunt, older than 31. "I have lost a lot of weight," he said, looking down. "I don't look good." He shifted position on the bed. It had been about two weeks since he'd been able to stand, and he had to move his legs regularly to stop them aching. It was a bright spring day in Zaporizhzhia, in the south of Ukraine, but the Russians were running bombing raids in the region and the windows in the hospital were blacked out. The air on the ward was hot and stale. Nikita had been handed back to Ukraine just three days earlier, as part of a prisoner exchange, and brought to this hospital with another man. They had spent three grim weeks in a prison in Russia. The other man, Serh

The Central African Republic (CAR) has approved Bitcoin as legal tender - just the second country to do so. CAR is one of the world's poorest countries, but is rich in diamonds, gold and uranium. It has been wracked by conflict for decades and is a close Russian ally, with mercenaries from the Wagner Group helping fight rebel forces. Lawmakers voted unanimously to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, said a statement from the CAR presidency. The move puts CAR "on the map of the world's boldest and most visionary countries", it said. El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as an official currency in September 2021 - a move criticised by many economists, including the International Monetary Fund, which said it increased the risk of financial instability. Others have raised fears that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin could make it easier for criminals to launder money, and that they are environmentally damaging because they use so much electricity to generate. Th

The parents of a US Marine freed in a prisoner swap with Russia have spoken of their joy at his release. Trevor Reed had been held in a Russian jail since 2019. He was traded for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian jailed on drug-smuggling charges. Speaking outside the Reed home in Texas, his mother said she felt "almost as good as the day he was born". Reed has landed back in the US, a spokesperson said, where he is expected to spend several days in hospital. President Joe Biden said he had been "delighted" to share the news of Mr Reed's return with his parents in a phone call. "The negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly," he said. According to parents Joey and Paula Reed, their son was poorly treated in prison and appeared to have contracted tuberculosis. The couple protested outside the White House last month, ultimately securing a meeting with the president. In a media interview outsid

Poland and Bulgaria have accused Moscow of "blackmail" after the Russian energy giant Gazprom said it had cut off gas exports to the countries. Poland's deputy foreign minister, Marcin Przydacz, told the BBC that Russia was seeking to "foster divisions" between Western allies. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the move showed Russia's "unreliability" as an energy supplier. The Kremlin insists it is still a reliable energy partner. Gazprom's move follows Poland and Bulgaria's refusal to pay for gas in roubles. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed that all energy payments must be made in the Russian currency. The move, which was designed to shore up the faltering currency which has been battered by Western sanctions, has been fiercely resisted by European nations. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Gazprom said it had "completely suspended gas supplies" to Poland and Bulgaria in line with the decree

Johnny Depp has said text messages he sent about burning and drowning his former partner Amber Heard were a joke based on a Monty Python sketch. Testifying before a Virginia court on Monday, the actor said he was "ashamed" of the messages, and that they were an attempt at humour. Mr Depp, 58, sued Ms Heard, 36, over a story she wrote in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence. He denies any abuse. Ms Heard filed a $100m counterclaim. Taking the stand for a fourth day, Mr Depp responded to questions about a 2013 text exchange with British actor Paul Bettany. "Let's burn her," Mr Depp had written. "Let's drown her before we burn her." He then made a further obscene suggestion "to make sure she is dead". Asked about the messages in court, Mr Depp said the messages were "directly" from a Monty Python sketch about burning and drowning witches. "This is a film we'd all watch when we were 10 - it's jus

Before the caveats, it is only fair to acknowledge the scale of President Macron's achievement. Not enough is being made of this, but this is the first time ever that a governing president of the Fifth Republic has been re-elected. Yes, presidents have retained the Elysée before. But both François Mitterrand in 1988 and Jacques Chirac in 2002 were effectively in opposition in the period running up to the vote. In both cases, actual government was - as a result of mid-term parliamentary elections - in the hands of the president's foes. Though in office, Mitterrand and Chirac were politically impotent - but that helped when the wheel turned again and they found themselves back in favour. As for Charles de Gaulle's victory in 1965, he'd never been elected by the people in the first place. So, Emmanuel Macron is the first president in modern times who, after running every aspect of foreign and domestic policy for a full term, has once again won the trust of the people. When

A bomb attack on a Sunni mosque in the city of Kunduz in Afghanistan has killed 33 people and injured 43 others, including children, officials say. The attack on the Mawlawi Sekandar Sufi mosque is the second in as many days in the northern city. It follows four attacks across Afghanistan on Thursday - all claimed by the Islamic State group (IS). The Taliban say they have defeated IS but the group remains a key security challenge to Afghanistan's new rulers. No-one has admitted carrying out Friday's attack in Kunduz, which came as worshippers gathered to pray. A local shopkeeper told AFP news agency: "The sight at the mosque was horrifying." The explosion was similar to Thursday's bomb which tore through a Shia Muslim mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, killing at least 31 people and wounding 87. Thursday's attack in Kunduz killed four people and wounded 18. Admitting those attacks, IS said it was part of an ongoing global campaign to "avenge" the deaths of it