Australia parliament votes on tighter gun controls after Bondi shooting
Australia's lower house of parliament has voted in favour of a national gun buyback programme, firearms and hate speech reforms, a month after the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach, BBC reported.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the gunmen would not have legally had access to firearms if had such legislation was in place prior to the attack.
The individuals who killed 15 people on 14 December had "hate in their hearts and guns in their hands," Burke told parliament, according to BBC.
More than 160 churchgoers kidnapped in twin Nigeria attacks - clergy
Armed gangs have kidnapped dozens of people attending two churches in Nigeria's Kaduna state, according to local police, BBC reported.
A senior church leader said more than 160 worshippers were abducted by gunmen during Sunday service.
It is the latest mass kidnapping in Nigeria, where both Christians and Muslims have been targeted. Gangs, known locally as "bandits", frequently carry out such attacks in northern and central parts of the country to get ransom payments, according to BBC.
Spain high-speed train crash kills at least 40 as PM promises investigation
Spain is reeling from its deadliest train accident in more than a decade, with the death toll of a high-speed train collision rising to at least 40 people as emergency workers continue to search for victims and Spanish authorities promise an investigation into the accident’s causes, Aljazeera reported.
The incident occurred when a train heading from Malaga to Madrid, with about 300 passengers on board, derailed near Cordoba in southern Spain at 7:45pm (18:45 GMT) on Sunday and collided with a train coming from the capital to Huelva, another southern city, carrying about 200 passengers.
“We are wondering what happened. Time and the work of the experts will provide the answer,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said during a news conference. “We will uncover the truth with absolute transparency and make it known to the public.”
China's birth rate hits record low as population continues to shrink
China's birth rates sunk to a record low in 2025, despite the government rolling out a spate of incentives to boost it, as the country's population fell for the fourth straight year, BBC reported.
Government data on Monday showed that the country's birth rate fell to 5.63 per 1,000 people – a record low since the Communist Party took power in 1949 – while its death rate rose to 8.04 per 1,000 people, the highest since 1968.
Its population fell 3.39 million to reach 1.4 billion by the end of 2025, marking a quicker decline than the previous year, according to BBC.
