World

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has said he hopes a ceasefire deal between Hezbollah and Israel will be announced “within hours”. Najib Mikati made the comments after speaking to US envoy Amos Hochstein. According to Israeli broadcaster Kan, which published details of Lebanon’s proposed draft, it would see Israeli forces pull out within seven days of

England rugby star Joe Marler has caused controversy after branding New Zealand’s pre-match haka “ridiculous” and saying it “needs binning”. The 34-year-old prop deactivated his X account following his comments over the All Blacks’ tradition – before later returning to social media and claiming he was “just having a bit of fun”. England are set

Russia is carrying out a new nuclear training exercise, President Vladimir Putin has said. Speaking to military leaders by video call, Mr Putin declared there would be “another exercise of strategic deterrence forces” on Tuesday – two weeks after the last. The previous drill took place on 18 October in Tver, northwest of Moscow, using

Multiple people are believed to be trapped after a 10-storey hotel building collapsed in Argentina. Rescue teams are currently working to remove debris after part of the Dubrovnik hotel in the coastal city of Villa Gesell, in Buenos Aires province, collapsed at around 1am local time, the local council said. Between seven and nine people,

Police in Australia are hunting for vandals who have destroyed nearly 200 trees and shrubs, including some “very rare” species. The plants were either ripped out of the ground or snapped or cut at the base with a hand saw, according to Glen Eira City Council, a suburb in the southeast of Melbourne. The council

Volkswagen is planning to shut at least three factories in Germany and lay off tens of thousands of staff. Its remaining plants in Germany are also set to be downsized, according to the head of the company’s works council Daniela Cavallo. Europe’s biggest carmaker has spent weeks negotiating with unions over its plans to revamp

Police in Shanghai have been targeting Halloween celebrations, seemingly due to costumes considered politically sensitive. At least half a dozen people in costumes in the city’s Zhongshan Park were seen being led away by officers on Friday night. Although there has been no official notice banning Halloween, local officials appear to be trying to prevent

An evocation of Nazism? Of course it was, and of course it wasn’t. Like everything else in this election, the narrative cuts both ways. Madison Square Garden is the iconic venue in New York City for spectacle. It’s a stage for the big event and lends cachet to a candidate closing out his campaign, no doubt.

A shock parliamentary election result in Japan has left the country in political limbo, after its ruling coalition suffered a rare defeat with no party winning enough seats to be given a clear mandate to lead. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito secured 215 seats in the

The dusty corridors, broken windows, and locked doors of the apartment block in central Beirut are testament to Lebanon’s ongoing economic disaster. But this relic of one crisis has been repurposed for the latest. Hundreds of people fleeing Israeli bombing in the south of the country have come here – and taken over the building.

Georgia’s ruling party has won the country’s general election, beating its pro-EU and pro-Western opposition. The Central Election Commission (CEC) said the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for 12 years, had won 54% of the vote with more than 99% of precincts counted. Both Georgian Dream and the opposition blocs trying

Iran’s president has warned against further attacks on his country after Israel targeted military sites in pre-dawn airstrikes on Saturday. In a statement on X, Masoud Pezeshkian gave his condolences to the families of the four people killed in the attacks and said Iran would continue to defend itself. “Enemies of Iran should know these

Donald Trump’s “obvious mental decline” and “history as a convicted felon” should be enough reason for Americans not to vote for him, Michelle Obama has said. Speaking at a rally for Kamala Harris, the former first lady said she was “angry” at the “indifference” towards the Republican candidate’s behaviour. “I hope you’ll forgive me if

Georgia’s ruling party is leading the crucial election race that could decide the country’s role in Europe. The Central Election Commission said the ruling Georgian Dream party had won 52.99% of the vote after 97% of the electronic vote was counted. Not all paper ballots and votes cast by Georgians abroad have been counted. Both

Israel’s unprecedented night of airstrikes across Iran may be just what was needed to pull the Middle East back from all-out war. That might sound odd because for hours, it seems, Israeli jets ranged freely across Iranian airspace, apparently attacking targets and air defences at will in a flagrant violation of Iranian sovereignty and provocation,

Ask people to predict the result in this weekend’s parliamentary election in Georgia, and you will get an “absolutely no idea” or a “totally up in the air” coming straight back at you. Which is strange when you consider the fact that the matter before the voters in this small but strategically vital nation goes

This was a royal tour that marked a number of firsts. It was the first real test of the monarchy in an overseas realm, the King’s first time at a Commonwealth leaders’ meeting as head of the Commonwealth. And for the King personally, this was his first big trip since his cancer diagnosis. It was

Several loud explosions have been heard in Iran’s capital Tehran and Israel has confirmed it has launched strikes on military targets. The Israeli military said it is conducting “precise strikes” on military targets in Iran in response to what it called “the continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against Israel”. An Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)

This set-piece speech was the most important moment of the King’s trip. It is his first meeting of Commonwealth leaders as head of the Commonwealth. But although the theme of this year’s meeting in Samoa talks of a “common future”, there are deepening divisions within the Commonwealth. Reparations for the slave trade remain an issue

Italy’s government is facing a backlash after it celebrated a major Second World War battle fought under the regime of fascist dictator Mussolini. The defence ministry said on social media that soldiers at the Battle of El Alamein had “sacrificed their lives for our freedom” and called the conflict “heroic and tragic”. Paola Chiesa, from