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Jim Watson was testifying at a public inquiry looking into whether it was warranted for Canada to invoke emergency powers to end the protests. The so-called Freedom Convoy protests began at the end of January and gridlocked Ottawa for three weeks. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on 14 February. The Public Order Emergency Commission began six weeks of hearings last week to examine the Trudeau government's decision to invoke the federal act, the circumstances that led to that declaration, and the measures put in place by Ottawa to clear the anti-vaccine mandate and anti-government protests. Invoking the law requires that a formal inquiry be held. The hearings have given a behind-the-scenes look at the confusion ...

Hyenas scavenging on the corpses of villagers, cities and towns hit in air strikes, elderly men and young women conscripted into armies - these are the horrific accounts emerging from a war that has left tens, if not hundreds, of thousands dead in Ethiopia's historic region of Tigray. The region was once a tourist attraction, with visitors drawn to its rock-hewn churches, Muslim shrines and ancient scripts in the Ge'ez language. Now Tigray is the site of a vicious war, as the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies on the one side, and the army of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on the other, fight for control in a region that has long been seen as the key to power in Ethiopia - or what was historically part of Abyssinia. It has been under a blockade ...

Russia has exchanged 108 Ukrainian women held as prisoners of war for 110 Russian captives held by Ukraine, officials on both sides say. Of the women, 37 were reportedly captured after surrendering at the siege of the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, which ended in May. Most of the Russians freed are sailors from merchant ships held in Ukraine. They also include members of pro-Russian separatist military units from the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. Daylight photos were released of the Ukrainian women boarding coaches in an unspecified area and later of them arriving after dark in government-held territory in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS Image caption, The freed Ukrainians were taken to safety in coaches...

At least four people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in the capital despite the attempts of security forces to down the slow-moving unmanned aircraft, which explode on impact. Four others also died in the northern region of Sumy in strikes reportedly targeting energy infrastructure. Calls went up in Ukraine and among EU leaders for sanctions to be slapped on Iran which continues to deny supplying Russia with the drones, in the face of all the evidence. We have this explainer on "kamikaze" drones. Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement last week that there was no need for further large-scale attacks for now, his military reported missile strikes on Ukraine's energy systems and military command facilities on Sunday. And fighting ...

Located 80 miles north of Alice Springs, the Nolans Project will be in one of the hottest and driest parts of the country. Despite the extreme conditions, Arafura believes the investment will be worth it. The planned mine and processing facility could satisfy up to 5% of global demand for neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), which are used in high-power magnets. They are two of a group of so-called rare earth elements, that are essential to the electronics industry. NdPr, europium, terbium and other rare earth metals that were once barely heard of are now commonplace in the manufacture of phone touchscreens, wind turbines and other modern technologies. The mining of these minerals is an industry currently dominated by China, but geopolitical an...

Up to 30 former UK military pilots are thought to have gone to train members of China's People's Liberation Army. The UK is issuing an intelligence alert to warn former military pilots against working for the Chinese military. Attempts to headhunt pilots are ongoing and had been ramping up recently, western officials say. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the training ​and the recruiting of pilots does not breach any current UK law but officials in the UK and other countries are trying to deter the activity. "It is a lucrative package that is being offered to people," said one western official. "Money is a strong motivator." Some of the packages are thought to be as much as £237,911 ($270,000). The retired Br...