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China has rejected international criticism for not allowing its most prominent critic, Liu Xiaobo, to be treated abroad for liver cancer. It said the case was an internal affair and that other countries were "in no position to make improper remarks". The activist, who had been serving an 11-year prison term for "subversion", died in a hospital in China aged 61. The Nobel Committee, which gave him the Peace Prize in 2010, said China bore a "heavy responsibility" for his death. Beijing is now being urged to free his wife, poet Liu Xia, from house arrest. Mr Liu died "peacefully" on Thursday afternoon, surrounded by his wife and other relatives, his main doctor Teng Yue'e said. His final words to Liu Xia were: "Live on well". In a  brief statement , officials said that Mr Liu had suffered multiple organ failure. International powers press China Calling the death "premature", the  Nobel Committee  said the Chin...

Indian soldiers, known as sepoys, set off a rebellion against the British rule in 1857, often referred to as the first war of independence. Ordinary farmers took up arms to support them in the fight against the British, but their contribution has been largely forgotten. A group of researchers is now trying to revive their memory, writes Sunaina Kumar. The village of Bijraul, on the outskirts of Meerut district in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, had a small celebration on 10 May to mark the 160th anniversary of the uprising of 1857 - a rebellion against the rule of the British East India Company. The residents of the village paid tributes to their ancestor Shah Mal for his role in the revolt. He inspired thousands of peasants across nearly 84 villages to leave their fields and take up arms in 1857. But not many people in India have heard of this prosperous landlord. "People of the district were in a fever of excitement to know whether 'their raj' or ours was ...

Paris Match does not need to pull an edition showing CCTV mages of the 14 July attack in Nice from France's newsstands but is forbidden from re-publishing it, a court has ruled. The ruling, made late on Thursday, came after the Paris prosecutor called for the magazine to be removed from sale. The images show the moment a lorry, which killed 86 people, drove into crowds celebrating Bastille Day. A victims' group has accused the magazine of morbid sensationalism. Nice's Mayor Christian Estrosi also criticised the publication on the eve of the first anniversary of the attack. On Thursday morning, the prosecutor asked the court to "order the (magazine's) withdrawal from sale" as well as a "ban on publication in all formats, particularly online". But the court did not order the retraction of the magazines currently on sale around France, Instead, it banned "any new publication", including online, of two images which the tribunal ...

A Chechen gunman and four accomplices have been given long jail sentences for the killing of leading Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov near the Kremlin. Zaur Dadayev was jailed for 20 years by a Moscow military court while the others were given 11 to 19 years. A vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, Nemtsov, 55, was shot dead in February 2015. His family fear the person who ordered the murder may never be caught. They say until then the case will not be solved. Their lawyers believe senior figures within Chechnya who are loyal to the Russian leader may be behind the killing. In the courtroom By Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, Moscow The small military courtroom was packed for the verdict, the men themselves in handcuffs inside a glass cage that soon began to steam up from the heat. Everyone stood as the judge took half an hour to read out his verdict. The five men were passive at first. Then they smirked and laughed openly as their verdicts were announced. Th...

he Iraqi government has said it is investigating a video seemingly showing troops killing suspected Islamic State militants detained in the Mosul area. In the footage, men wearing uniform throw an unarmed man over a cliff. They then shoot his motionless body. An interior ministry spokesman said that if the video was authentic those responsible must be brought to justice. Human rights groups say they have received numerous witness reports of torture and executions in Mosul. Iraq's prime minister declared victory over IS in the city on Monday, after a nine-month battle that left large areas in ruins, killed thousands of civilians and displaced more than 920,000 others. Troops are still clearing parts of the Old City, where as many as a couple of hundred militants may be hiding, according to commanders of the US-led coalition that supported the operation. The BBC was unable to verify the authenticity of the video appearing to show the extrajudicial killing of a detainee,...

Chinese scientists successfully teleported an object from the Earth's surface to an orbiting satellite  for the first time ever . A photon — a tiny sub-atomic particle — was "transported" from the Gobi Desert to China's Micius satellite some 310 miles above the surface.  The  Guardian  reported it's a new record distance for quantum teleportation, which occurs when the complete properties of one particle are instantaneously transferred to another — in effect teleporting it to a distant location. The technique has been in use since the 1990s, but it's the first time this has been done from Earth to space over such a long distance. It's hard to fully comprehend, but the photon wasn't physically transported,  Oxford University physicist Ian Walmsley  explained to the  BBC . Instead, he said the information from one photon on Earth was transferred to a second photon up in the satellite.  "It's certainly a scientific...

Consumers could buy more bare-bones health insurance for less money under an amendment to the latest version Senate health plan, but insurers warn the change could cause premiums for older Americans and those with pre-existing conditions to skyrocket. Premiums overall for those who buy their insurance on the market would rise much faster than they are now and there would be even fewer options for them, the trade group America's Health Insurance Plans said in a statement.  Insurers would be able to sell plans that don't cover nearly as much as required under the Affordable Care Act, as long as they sell at least one plan that does under an amendment sponsored by Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah. That would encourage young, healthy people to buy plans that don't meet the ACA, which AHIP says would lead to an "un-level playing field" for insurers selling to people who don't get their insurance from their employers or through governme...