World

More than 50 candidates and their supporters have been attacked ahead of a second round of voting in France’s parliamentary elections. Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said politicians from across the spectrum had faced verbal and physical abuse – often while they were putting up campaign posters. He told BFM that several of the attacks had

Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has been elected as Iran’s new president, beating hardline conservative Saeed Jalili. The country’s interior ministry confirmed Mr Pezeshkian’s victory on Saturday, after he secured 16.3 million out of the 30 million votes cast on Friday – Mr Jalili gained 13.5 million. The election was called after the death of former

War in Ukraine will not “miraculously end”, Hungary’s prime minister has said as he defended his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Viktor Orban angered European Union leaders after holding talks with Mr Putin in Moscow over a potential peace deal in the war launched more than two years ago by Russia. While Mr Orban

Police in Ecuador say 49 kidnapping victims have been rescued from a crime gang in the south of the country. Two suspected kidnappers were arrested during the raid in a mining region in Azuay province. Police said the Los Lobos (The Wolves) crime gang was behind the kidnappings. An earlier statement from the armed forces

A volunteer search party has pulled out of the hunt for Jay Slater, insisting they have not seen a penny of the money raised to help find the missing teenager. Callum Fahim, who flew to Tenerife after contacting the 19-year-old’s mother online, said he has withdrawn after two weeks of looking – and receiving death

Militant group Hezbollah has said it has fired 200 rockets into Israel in one of its largest barrages yet. The Iran-backed organisation claimed it launched the attack on ten Israeli military sites using a “squadron of drones”. Tensions have been boiling around the border between Israel and Lebanon in recent weeks. The Israeli military said

Joe Biden has told an ally he is weighing up whether to run against Donald Trump in November’s US election, the New York Times is reporting. Joe Biden said overnight on Tuesday he “nearly fell asleep” during last week’s first presidential debate during which commentators widely said he performed poorly. He put his performance down

The chances of a newborn baby surviving in Gaza now are not good. On the malnutrition ward at The Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, babies only days old and often premature, fight for their lives. Mothers are so malnourished themselves that they cannot breastfeed, and so babies are dying, literally starving to death, because

A woman who pleaded for the release of her daughter held hostage by Hamas has died from brain cancer less than a month after she was rescued. Noa Argamani was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in October and video of her being taken away on a motorbike made headlines around the world. Her mother,

The Israeli army has ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from the eastern half of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Israel wrapped up its offensive in the city earlier this year and withdrew most of its forces, but this indicates that troops could soon return. Much of Khan Younis was already destroyed in a long

The US Supreme Court has sent Donald Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution for his actions while president back to a lower court. Trump faces prosecution over his role in the deadly January 6 riots in 2021 at the Capitol in Washington DC, after he encouraged his supporters to gather at Congress to

This is the story of how an obscure company based in an office block on a quiet street in Glasgow became an accessory in Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. It is the story of how Europe and Russia remain locked in a tense relationship of economic dependence, even as they supposedly cut their ties. It

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party will get the biggest vote share in the first round of France’s parliamentary elections, according to exit polls. As polls closed on the first round of voting on Sunday, National Rally had a strong lead at 33%, followed by the left-wing New Popular Front coalition on 28.5%. President

An Israeli woman who was taken hostage and rescued from Gaza says she wishes people could “learn to love and not hate”. Speaking publicly for the first time since her rescue, Noa Argamani said 120 hostages remain in “Hamas captivity” – including her boyfriend Avinatan Or. Video of her being kidnapped was widely shared after

A bid to cross the Atlantic for the first time in an open basket hydrogen balloon has been scuppered by the weather seven hours after launch. British explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, 67, set off from Presque Isle, Maine, with American balloon manufacturer Bert Padelt, 62, and Swiss scientist and entrepreneur Dr Frederik Paulsen, 72. The

A crossbow attacker has been killed after shooting a police officer in the neck while he guarded the Israeli embassy in Serbia, authorities have said. Interior minister Ivica Dacic said the assailant, who has not been identified, fired a bolt at the officer, who “used a weapon in self-defence to shoot the attacker”. The policeman

Ninety minutes is a long watch in politics – ask a Democrat, any Democrat. As the mist was hanging heavy over Atlanta the morning after the presidential debate, for them the metaphors were writing themselves. Hot takes from the night before gave way to clear-eyed, cold assessment that chilled the Democratic Party. Latest: Reaction to

A British man has died off the Greek island of Spetses. He had been taking part in a yachting regatta and authorities said he was found dead on Friday. The man, who was in his forties, was found in a bay area of the island with what appeared to be injuries on the left side

Five people have been killed after a train and a bus collided in Slovakia. A further five were injured in the southern town of Nove Zamky, 68 miles east of the capital, Bratislava, emergency services said on Facebook. The train’s engine was on fire, video footage showed, while the bus was badly damaged, railway officials

At least one person has been killed and 20 others injured after a cable car crashed in Colombia. Officials said the cable car in Medellin – which was part of the city’s public transport system – failed and plunged into a pavement next to a station platform. There were 10 people in the car when