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An Aberdeen woman has won one of the world's toughest ultra triathlons in Norway. The Norseman Xtreme Triathlon involves a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a marathon. Eilidh Prise qualified for the event, which doubles up as the XTri World Championships, after winning Scotland's Celtman event last year. She crossed the finish line at the peak of southern Norway's highest mountain in under 12 hours. Eilidh, 26, told BBC Scotland: "For me it wasn't a race,Mephisto Shoes  it was an individual battle of survival. I never had any expectations of winning. "At the mountain top plateau, the temperature was 2C (36.5F) with 30mph winds. "You are swimming in a fjord for almost four kilometres, that was 13C (55.4F). "It'...

Rescuers in France have launched an ambitious operation to save an ailing beluga whale stuck in the Seine river. The four-metre (13ft) whale - a protected species usually found in much colder Arctic waters - was first spotted a week ago north-west of Paris. It is now trapped more than 100km (62 miles) inland and its health has deteriorated after failing to eat. About 80 people are involved in the operation,Keen Canada including divers, vets, and police officers. Rescuers will try and lift the beluga onto a sort of hammock before moving it onto a refrigerated truck that will take it back to the sea, a local official said. They will then hope to treat the animal for several days before releasing it back into the open water. ...

One person has been killed after blasts rocked a military base in Crimea, the head of the Russia-appointed regional administration there said. Sergei Aksyonov wrote on social media that the blasts had taken place at the Saky military base near Novofedorivka on the peninsula's western coast. Footage circulating on social media appeared to show multiple explosions. Russia's defence ministry later said ammunition was detonated, but this has not been independently verified. The ministry said there was no "fire impact" on the ammunition storage area, Russia's state-run Ria news agency reports. The Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014 is a popular destination with Russian tourists, and one video appeared to show visitors fleei...

Former inmates have spoken to the BBC about being systematically raped and tortured in Russian prisons. Leaked footage of such abuse was circulated by an insider last year, and now victims have told the BBC why it happens and how they are fighting for justice. Warning: This article contains graphic images and descriptions of sexual abuse and violence Saratov prison hospital, in south-west Russia, came to public attention last year when videos of horrifying prisoner abuse were leaked to a human rights organisation and reported on by the international media. Alexei Makarov knew its reputation before he was transferred there in 2018 as part of a six-year sentence for assault. Prisoners who are sent to Saratov from other jails in the region have complained ...

Some are calling for a state of emergency in South Africa, after the vicious gang rape of eight women who were filming a music video last month. It happened at an abandoned mine in the town of Krugersdorp, yet none of the 130 arrested suspects have been charged with rape because police say they are awaiting DNA test results. Many of the suspects are thought to be miners working in disused mines without permission. Most are migrants from neighbouring countries and angry mobs have sought to track down foreign miners and torch their homes in retaliation. Three of the rape survivors have spoken about their ordeal, which has left them traumatised and in search of answers."We thought we were going to die," one of the survivors recalls. "They emerged from the ...

As 22-year-old Muhammad Aslam combs through the ruins of his home, he finds rubble where there were once walls, and piles of straw he's used as a thatch roof for his mud home. His village Sadori - in the Pakistani province of Balochistan - was devastated by flash floods that began in June and have since killed more than 500 people. Close to 50,000 houses have been either been damaged or flattened so far, displacing thousands of people. Mr Aslam and a few others have returned to their village see if they can rebuild their life here. But it's a grim sight that greets them. Nothing can be saved - even their farm land has been turned into a muddy swamp. "I lost everything," he says. The monsoons first hit Pakistan in the middle of June. The count...