World

Fifty feet underground, in one of the most secure rooms in Israel, is the country’s blood vault. We’re told we can’t say its exact location and they won’t reveal what measures have been taken to protect it, but it is safe against missile, chemical, and cyber attacks, and in the air-conditioned room are boxes and

A children’s hospital in Kyiv has been hit by missiles as Russia unleashed a deadly barrage across Ukraine. The attack is the biggest bombardment of the Ukrainian capital for several months, officials said. It was part of a wider strike across Ukraine that has left at least 20 dead and around 50 others injured, according

National Rally has come third in the second round of voting in France’s parliamentary election – according to exit polls. Marine Le Pen’s far-right party was being tipped to emerge as the dominant force in French politics following President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to hold a snap poll. But the left-wing New Popular Front coalition won

Ukraine’s air force has claimed it tricked Russian forces into hitting dummy versions of warplanes and air defence systems. Air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said mock-ups were put in place at an airfield near the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih and a district of the Black Sea port of Odesa. He shared a video

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

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

Vinod Kumar, 36, is inconsolable. He’s just identified the body of his wife and eight-year-old daughter at the district hospital in Hatras.  “My world has crashed, I can’t find my mother, I don’t know where she is. I can’t even find her body. And no one is telling me anything,” he told Sky News. The

Hurricane Beryl has battered islands in the eastern Caribbean, killing at least six people and is now barrelling towards Jamaica. Although it’s weakened to a category four storm, a hurricane warning is still in place for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac and Haiti’s southern coast. Beryl is the earliest storm on record to

Widespread damage has been reported only hours after Hurricane Beryl first made landfall in the southeastern Caribbean. Roofs were ripped off buildings, trees were uprooted and electricity lines brought crashing to the ground on several islands when the ferocious storm swept in earlier on Monday. Winds of up to 150mph were reported in some areas,

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

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

Voters in France are heading to the polls today for a parliamentary election that could usher in the country’s first far-right government since the Second World War. French President Emmanuel Macron called a surprise vote after his centrist alliance was soundly beaten in the European elections by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally earlier this

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

It is fair to say the people of France weren’t expecting to vote in a national election this summer. It is also fair to suggest the result will probably come as a shock – both to the nation and the rest of the world – with the electorate now strongly favouring the hard right. The