BBC News Briefing

28 November, 2025

Alex has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She is smiling and wearing a black turtleneck

Alex Binley

Hello. The UN committee on torture has expressed concern at reported conditions for Palestinians held in detention in Israel - Geneva correspondent Imogen Foulkes has more on the findings. North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher looks ahead to next week's election that US President Donald Trump "can't afford to lose". Find out the latest twist in the tale of three runaway nuns. Plus, see what you can remember from the last seven days with our quiz of the week.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

UN panel says Israel operating 'de facto policy of torture'

A man wearing black clothes and sunglasses has a bald head and is slightly out of focus. He is stood outside on a sunny day next to two parked cars. A large grey prison building is seen in the background, along with road signs in Hebrew.

During Israel's review, it was alleged that it has held thousands of Palestinians since Hamas's 7 October 2023 attacks. Credit: Getty Images

There is evidence Israel is operating a "de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture", a UN committee has said, expressing concern at reported conditions for Palestinians in detention centres. The UN committee on torture heard from Israeli and Palestinian rights groups and concluded that Palestinian detainees are subjected to treatment that "amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity". Israel, which has long accused the UN of bias against it, has not publicly commented on the findings, but has previously described the allegations of torture as "disinformation". The committee also condemned the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 and acknowledged the security challenges Israel faces, but warned that violations of international law by one side did not justify the other side doing the same.

Read Imogen's report

GET UP TO SPEED

An imahe shows two men. The man in front is smaller and has dark brown hair and a beard and is wearing a black jacket. The man walking behind him is much taller and wears a dark green parka jacket over a khaki-coloured shirt and trousers.

Zelensky adviser resigns after anti-corruption raid

Andriy Yermak has come under increasing pressure over an escalating scandal - even though he is not accused of wrongdoing.

Read more >

Fire-damaged high-rise towers in the background. In front of it cutting through the image is red and white danger tape and blue and while police tape. It is day time

Eight more arrested over deadly Hong Kong fire

The arrests were made on suspicion of corruption over the renovation works the blocks had been undergoing before the fire.

More on this >

A white, pink and blue plane appears to be coming in to land. It appears to be just higher than a line of trees which can be seen in the background.

Airbus requests updates to thousands of planes

It was discovered that intense radiation from the sun could corrupt data crucial to flight controls on around 6,000 aircraft.

What this means >

Mars can be seen against a black background. It is a planet that is reddish in colour, with darker patches on it.

Lightning detected on Mars for first time

Scientists believe they have recorded electrical activity in the atmosphere of Mars, suggesting it's capable of lightning.

What they found >

AT THE SCENE

Sierra Leone

Hunting down those who kill people to sell body parts for 'magic charms'

A man wearing a red ceremonial mask covering his face sits in front of red and white clothes hung up in the bush to create a shrine for a juju practitioner in Sierra Leone. The man wears a white vest top.

One man who claimed he was a juju practitioner showed an undercover BBC reporter a human skull.

Belief in witchcraft is deeply ingrained in Sierra Leone, but "ritual killing" - when a person is murdered so that parts of their body can be used in so-called magic rituals by illicit juju practitioners - leaves tragedy and trauma in its wake. And with the authorities severely under-resourced, it is often impossible to gather the evidence needed to track down the culprits.

Warning: This article contains details some readers may find disturbing.

Tyson Conteh, BBC Africa Eye

"Today I'm in pain. They killed my child and now there is just silence," Sallay Kalokoh says, explaining how her son Papayo was found with parts of his body removed, including his vital organs, eyes and one arm. Four years on, no-one has been brought to justice for the 11-year-old's death.

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He had gone out to sell fish at the market and never came back. His family searched for him for two weeks - and finally found his mutilated corpse at the bottom of a well. "We always tell our children to be careful. If you are selling, don't go to a corner or take gifts from strangers. It happens frequently in this country," Ms Kalokoh says.

Keep reading

Election disappearances: Fears of abductions and killings of people for use in black magic rituals increase ahead of elections.

PICK OF THE WEEK

The looming election Trump can't afford to lose

Two yard signs showing support for Aftyn Behn and another for Matt Van Epps. One sign is white and the other is red with a white chinook on it. They are in a patch of dirt and cars can be seen parked behind them.

Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn and her Republican counterpart Matt Van Epps have both honed in on economic issues.

Voters in Tennessee's 7th District will head to the polls on Tuesday for America's last congressional election of the year. The district should be reliably conservative - Trump won there by 22 percentage points in last year's election - but amid a rising cost of living, the race could be closer than many people expect.

Read the analysis