BBC -Japanese authorities say they have seized a Chinese fishing vessel that tried to flee when ordered to stop for an inspection, in a move that may further fuel tensions with Beijing.

The boat was in Japan’s exclusive economic zone off Nagasaki Prefecture in the south-west when it was intercepted and its captain arrested on Thursday, according to the country’s fisheries agency.

“The vessel’s captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but the vessel failed to comply and fled,” the fisheries agency said.

The seizure is the first time since 2022 that the agency has seized a Chinese fishing boat. China has yet to react to Japan’s statement.

There were 11 people aboard, including the captain who is a 47-year-old Chinese national, the fisheries agency said.

Authorities and Japanese media have described the seized vessel as a “tiger net fishing boat” with a high capacity.

“We will continue to take resolute action in our enforcement activities to prevent and deter illegal fishing operations by foreign vessels,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Friday.

Thursday’s incident comes amid strained relations after Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi enraged China in November by suggesting Tokyo would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.

China has long insisted that Taiwan, occupied for decades by Japan until 1945, is its territory.

It has not ruled out using force to achieve what it calls “reunification”.

In response to Takaichi’s remarks, which China’s foreign ministry described as “egregious”, Beijing summoned Tokyo’s ambassador and warned its citizens to reconsider travel and study in Japan.

That led to a sharp drop in visits to Japan by Chinese tourists, and a subsequent hit to Japanese stocks related to tourism and retail.

As the diplomatic spat deepened during the end of 2025, Beijing repeatedly demanded that Takaichi retract her comments, and its foreign ministry warned Japan to “stop playing with fire”.

Japanese artists touring China have also had shows cancelled and releases of popular Japanese movies have been postponed.

Japan’s last two pandas were even returned to China last month.

Tarique Rahman, Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) prime ministerial candidate, looks set to become the country’s next leader after the party claimed a “decisive victory” on Friday.

Rahman, 60, is the eldest son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rahman, the founder of the BNP.

He returned home in December after more than 17 years in self-imposed exile following mass protests in 2024 that toppled longtime premier Sheikh Hasina.

Rahman has served as the party’s acting chairman since his mother’s imprisonment in 2018, who died shortly after his return in December.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday congratulated Tarique Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, on his “resounding” election victory.

“I also congratulate the people of Bangladesh on the successful conduct of elections,” Sharif posted on X, adding that he looked forward to working closely with the new leadership to promote bilateral relations and advance shared goals.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated BNP chief Tarique Rahman on Friday on his “decisive victory” and said New Delhi would support “a democratic, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh.”

“This victory shows the trust of the people of Bangladesh in your leadership,” Modi said in a post on X, referring to Rahman.

“I look forward to working with you to strengthen our multifaceted relations and advance our common development goals.”

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) claimed a landslide victory in the first elections held since the 2024 student-led uprising, with leader Tarique Rahman positioned to become prime minister.

Rahman returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in self-exile in London. He is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who died in December.

The BNP’s media unit said that the party had won enough seats in parliament to govern on its own.

Final results have not yet been announced by the Election Commission, but a BNP victory is being widely reported in local media outlets.

“This victory was expected. It is not surprising that the people of Bangladesh have placed their trust in a party… capable of realising the dreams that our youth envisioned during the uprising,” Salahuddin Ahmed, a leading BNP committee member, told the AFP news agency.

BBC -A US Navy warship collided into a Navy supply vessel during a refuel operation, the US military’s Southern Command confirmed to the BBC.

Two people reported minor injuries during Wednesday’s replenishment-at-sea operation, Southern Command said, and are in stable condition.

The vessels – a guided missile destroyer and fast combat support ship – have both continued sailing safely from the site of the incident near South America.

Southern Command did not say what caused the collision and said the incident was currently under investigation.

The exact location of the crash between the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Truxtun and the Supply-class fast combat support ship USNS Supply was not immediately clear.

The USNS Supply ship has been operating in the Caribbean, according to the Wall Street Journal, which is part of Southern Command’s area of responsibility. Southern Command is also responsible for parts of the South Atlantic and the South Pacific.

US President Donald Trump has ordered a military buildup in the Caribbean the last few months as part of the administration’s stated aim to target drug trafficking.

Two people died on Thursday after the US military struck an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific, adding to a tally of least 38 lethal alleged drug boat strikes in the region since Trump has re-entered office.

The US has also used its military presence in the region to enforce sanctions against Venezuelan oil, after arresting the country’s president Nicolas Maduro in a middle-of-the-night raid in January.

A survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse has called on Buckingham Palace to proactively search files and emails relating to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with the paedophile financier.

Juliette Bryant told the BBC she welcomed a statement this week in which the King said he was “ready to support” the police as they consider allegations against his brother.

But Bryant, who said she was abused by Epstein in the early 2000s, called on the Royal Family to do more to help uncover the truth.

Bryant never met Andrew and has made no allegations against him. A Palace spokesperson previously said the King had “made clear…his profound concern” at allegations about Andrew.

Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to his friendship with Epstein.

Bryant, 43, spoke to the BBC at her home in Cape Town, South Africa.

In reference to the Palace, she said: “It’s great that they’ve made a statement, finally. But the thing is, are they going to actually act on it?”

The former aspiring model said both she and other victims were willing to be contacted by the Palace, adding “I just hope they’re not just saying this. I would like to see them actually taking action”.

Referring to the Palace, as well as the police and other authorities, she added: “They need to go through all Prince Andrew’s files and emails.”

Bryant said the authorities had previously gone through “all my information” in relation to her contact with Epstein.

“I think it’s about time they went through his information, since he was actually Epstein’s friend,” she said.

“I think that they should be releasing information if they have nothing to hide.”

A Palace spokesperson said: “The King has made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct.”

“While the specific claims in question are for Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to address, if we are approached by Thames Valley Police we stand ready to support them as you would expect,” they added.

“As was previously stated, Their Majesties’ thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse.”

The co-author of a recent memoir by Virginia Giuffre, Amy Wallace, also welcomed what she described as a seemingly strengthened response from the Palace.

Speaking to BBC Woman’s Hour on Wednesday, Wallace said “they’re calling him out specifically, as opposed to a general expression of concern for the survivors, which they had already done”.

But she added that she remained doubtful that Andrew would heed growing calls to testify in the US about his links to Epstein.

“The one thing that’ll make him do it is if King Charles tells him he has to,” said Wallace.

More than three million files relating to Epstein were released by the US department of Justice (DOJ) last month.

The latest tranche of documents included photos of Andrew, fully clothed, kneeling on all fours over a woman lying on the ground.

Material in the files also suggests he knowingly shared confidential information with Epstein from his official work as trade envoy in 2010 and 2011.

Bryant said she was 20 when she met Epstein – who was 49 at the time – at a restaurant in Cape Town in 2002.

She said he abused her multiple times on his island as well as his ranch in New Mexico between 2002 and 2004 and described feeling like a “scared mouse around a snake”.

“He was a mastermind criminal and highly manipulative,” she said. “I wasn’t able to deal with the situation as many of the other young girls weren’t.”

Bryant also said Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was central to her abuse and should never be released from prison.

Maxwell – who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking – this week declined to answer questions at a US congressional hearing, with her lawyer saying she would only speak if offered clemency.

“She was often there [on the island] but I was very scared of her,” said Bryant. “It was almost like she sort of was running the place, she was very well educated and very sure of herself. I was just petrified of her.”

At least 35 people have died after a powerful cyclone struck Madagascar, says the disaster authority in the Indian Ocean island.

Cyclone Gezani made landfall on Tuesday, hitting the island’s main port, Toamasina. Madagascar’s disaster management office said there was “total chaos” – reporting that houses collapsed in the impact zone, where the bodies were found.

Neighbourhoods were plunged into darkness as power lines snapped, while trees were uprooted and roofs ripped off.

As many as 250,000 people are “affected or displaced”, Environment Minister Max Fontaine Andonirina told BBC Newsday on Thursday.

Huge challenges include “disruptions to food-supply chains, to the fuel transport, to the medical access, because most of the major roads are cut”, he added.

One resident described to the BBC how she and her family cowered inside as wind and rain lashed their home for six hours straight, before the windows smashed and water poured in.

“We are trying to do our best… It’s dangerous and I don’t know if there will be enough people to help us, even though the authorities are trying,” the woman, who gave her name as Denise, told BBC Newsday.

“It’s real and its worse” than it looks in videos being shared online, she added.

Gezani is the second cyclone to hit Madagascar this year. It comes 10 days after tropical cyclone Fytia killed 14 and displaced over 31,000 people, according to the UN’s humanitarian office.

The island’s rulers are now pleading for international help.

“What happened is a disaster, nearly 75% of the city of Toamasina was destroyed,” the country’s military leader Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who seized power in October, told the AFP news agency.

“The current situation exceeds Madagascar’s capabilities alone,” he added.

The cyclone’s landfall is likely to have been one of the most intense recorded around the city in the satellite era, according to the CMRS cyclone forecaster on France’s Reunion island, AFP reports.

The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said many were killed when houses collapsed. Cyclone Gezani hit Toamasina – the country’s second-largest city – with winds reaching 250 km/hour (155 mph).

“It’s total chaos, 90% of house roofs have been blown off, entirely or in part,” the head of disaster management at the Action Against Hunger aid agency, Rija Randrianarisoa, told AFP.

All acknowledge that a huge amount of work needs to be done.

“It takes many, many years” to restore infrastructure and recover, Environment Minister Andonirina told the BBC, adding that parts of Madagascar ravaged by cyclones in the past three years still “have not been rebuilt as it was before”.

Cyclone season in the Indian Ocean around Madagascar normally lasts from November to April and sees around a dozen storms each year, AFP reports.

Madagascar’s disaster management office has evacuated dozens of injured people and hundreds of residents from a district around Toamasina, home to 400,000 people.

Residents in and around Toamasina described scenes of chaos as the cyclone made landfall. “I have never experienced winds this violent… The doors and windows are made of metal, but they are being violently shaken,” Harimanga Ranaivo told the Reuters news agency.

Ahead of the cyclone’s arrival, officials shuttered schools and rushed to prepare emergency shelters.

Later on Wednesday, its status was downgraded from cyclone to tropical storm.

As Gezani moves away from Madagascar and up through the Mozambican Channel, Mozambique’s National Meteorological Institute (INAM) say it does not expect it to make landfall, but that some inland areas may suffer heavy rain and wind.

Mozambique is still reeling from months of severe weather that has forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Aid agencies fear an already desperate situation will become worse, with Oxfam warning that Gezani risks heaping “disaster upon disaster”.

At least 21 people have died after a passenger boat sank in River Nile state in northern Sudan, a medical group has told the BBC.

The boat was travelling between the villages of Tayba al-Khawad and Deim al-Qarai, carrying nearly 30 passengers, including women, elderly people and children, the Sudan Doctors Network said.

“Rescue teams are continuing with their work since there could be more bodies,” said Dr Mohamed Faisal Hassan, the network’s spokesperson.

Authorities in River Nile state said on Thursday that 21 bodies had been recovered, AFP news agency reported.

Eyewitnesses said the boat capsized due to high waves on Wednesday evening in the Shendi area.

In an earlier statement, the medical group said six people had survived.

The group urged authorities to deploy specialised rescue teams and equipment to accelerate search efforts.

It urged authorities to “take immediate measures to ensure river transport safety and prevent the recurrence of such disasters that claim innocent lives”.

“This painful humanitarian tragedy once again reveals the fragility of river transport and the absence of basic safety requirements,” it added.

Dr Hassan told the BBC that weak regulation of river transport may have contributed to the tragedy.

He said many of the boats operating on the Nile were privately owned and that authorities lacked proper regulatory systems and safety measures.

Authorities did not immediately respond.

Sudan often sees accidents involving traditional boats, which are commonly used to cross the Nile because bridges are scarce, particularly in rural areas.

The country has been engulfed in a brutal conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The war has devastated large parts of the country, particularly the capital Khartoum and regions such as Darfur, displacing millions and crippling basic services.

River Nile State, where the boat accident occurred, has been largely spared from frontline fighting, though the broader instability has strained resources and infrastructure nationwide.