World

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

Multiple people have been killed in a terror attack in Turkey at the headquarters of a defence and aerospace company, the country’s interior minister has said. Local media reported a loud explosion and showed footage of an exchange of gunfire at the site in the Turkish capital Ankara. “A terrorist attack was carried out against

Turkey has launched a second day of successive strikes in Iraq and Syria after five people were killed, and 22 injured, in an apparent terror attack in Ankara. Interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said the two attackers – a man and a woman – were killed after the alleged terror incident at a defence and aerospace

Officers investigating the suspected murder of an eight-year-old boy in Ireland are searching his former family home, police have said. Irish police said last week they received a report Kyran Durnin was last seen in Drogheda, Co Louth, on 30 August. Officers said he is presumed dead and confirmed a murder investigation has been launched.

Moldova’s president has accused “criminal groups” of undermining a referendum on European Union membership. The EU referendum asked voters to choose whether to enshrine in the country’s constitution a path toward the EU. After around 95% of votes were counted, approximately 52% voted no, while 47% voted yes. However, ballots cast among the country’s large

Moldova has narrowly backed a move for closer ties to the EU in a referendum, electoral authorities say. The yes campaign won the vote with a margin of less than a per cent – just a few thousand votes. The referendum asked voters to choose whether to enshrine a path towards European Union membership in

Authorities in Cuba have suffered a third major setback to restoring power, leaving millions in the dark. The country’s national grid crashed around midday Friday after the Antonio Guiteras power plant, the island’s largest, shut down, causing the biggest blackout in at least two years. Despite the best efforts of authorities, the grid collapsed again