World

Japan has issued its first ever alert for a possible “megaquake” hours after a magnitude 7.1 tremor struck. The country’s meteorological agency said the chance of a major earthquake striking near the Nankai Trough is higher than usual, and estimated it could be as strong as magnitude 9.1. While it said the advisory – which

Police are searching sewers and closing zoo doors after a Catalonian separatist promised to return from exile. Carles Puigdemont announced he is heading back to Spain following seven years in exile to attend a parliamentary session on Thursday, where the next leader of Catalonia will be sworn in. The 61-year-old would likely be arrested upon

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of a “large-scale provocation” as his officials say they are fighting off cross-border raids for a second day. Mr Putin accused Ukrainian forces of “indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances with different types of weapons” in an incursion into Russia‘s south-western Kursk region. Ukrainian officials have

Parliament in Bangladesh has been dissolved after its 15-year leader fled the country and resigned following weeks of protests against her government. President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved parliament on Tuesday, clearing the way for new elections to be held. It comes after weeks of violent protests which resulted in more than 300 people being killed and

Student leaders in Bangladesh have called for the formation of a new interim government with Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus as its chief adviser, as protest coordinators are set to meet the country’s army chief on Tuesday morning. It comes as Bangladesh‘s prime minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, resigned on Monday and fled to India after

Bangladesh’s prime minister has resigned and fled to India following weeks of deadly protests in the country. Reports of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, resigning were confirmed by the army, as well as Bangladesh High Commission Officials in Delhi. According to the country’s leading national paper, she and her sister took a military helicopter to

Belgium has pulled out of the Olympic mixed relay triathlon after an athlete who swam in the River Seine fell ill. Claire Michel “is unfortunately ill and will have to withdraw from the competition,” the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee said on Sunday. Michel, 35, was taken to a clinic in the Olympic Village and

A Russian submarine has been sunk in Crimea, according to the Ukrainian military. Kyiv’s defence ministry said Ukraine had sunk the sub in Russian-controlled Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, in an attack on Saturday. The B-237 Rostov-on-Don attack submarine was sent “to the bottom of the Black Sea,” Ukrainian forces added. They also said

US President Joe Biden has said he hopes Iran will back down from threats of retaliation against Israel to avert a serious war in the Middle East. Tensions are rising in the region after Hamas’s top political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran’s capital, Tehran. Iran has pledged to avenge his death, with its

Imane Khelif, one of the boxers at the centre of a gender row at the Paris Olympics, is set to win at least a bronze medal following her successful quarter final fight. Khelif secured a second successive victory in the women’s 66kg bout against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori. She now advances to the semi-finals where,

Italy’s controversial plan to send asylum seekers to Albania is expected to begin within a few weeks, following many delays and strong criticism. The deal was initially announced by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama last November in Rome. The agreement allows up to 36,000 migrants – rescued by Italian ships

Access to Instagram was blocked in Turkey on Friday, in the latest example of a clampdown on websites in the country. The bar on access was in response to Instagram removing posts from Turkish users expressing condolences over the killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh, it has been reported. The Information and Communication Technologies

A boxer who was previously banned from competing in the world championships because she failed testosterone and gender eligibility tests has won her opening Olympic bout after her opponent quit. Algeria’s Imane Khelif won in just 46 seconds after the Italian Angela Carini quit in the 66kg category. The pair had only a few punch

The body of one of Hezbollah’s most senior commanders has been found in rubble in the southern Beirut suburb attacked by Israel, two Lebanese security sources said, Reuters reports. Hezbollah previously refused to confirm Israel’s claim that it had killed Fuad Shukr, described as ‘the right-hand man’ of their leader Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday night.

The Israeli military targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in retaliatory strikes in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces claimed the commander of the armed group was “responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams” – referring to the strike on a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights

Greece has banned the movement of goats and sheep from their farms to combat a deadly outbreak of “goat plague”. The minister of agriculture and rural development, Costas Tsiaras, announced the ban on the commercial slaughter of goats and sheep as well as movement for reproduction throughout the country. The move expanded measures already in

Hundreds of ardent Hezbollah supporters gathered in Beirut late Sunday afternoon amid promises of revenge attacks from a range of Israeli politicians, who blame the Lebanese group for the massacre of young football players in the Golan. “We don’t fear death,” one Hezbollah loyalist told us. “We don’t care even if we all die. We

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has won a third term, the country’s electoral authority has said – despite several exit polls which had pointed to an opposition win. The head of the National Electoral Council, Elvis Amoroso, said Mr Maduro had secured 51% of the vote, beating his opponent Edmundo Gonzalez, who won 44%. He said

Lebanon is once again on tenterhooks. Indeed, the whole region is. And there are very few who will bet against yet more bloodshed in the coming days and weeks. But will Saturday’s deadly strike on a football pitch in the occupied Golan Heights be what tips the region into all-out war? Middle East latest: ‘All-out

The Israeli military says it has struck Hezbollah targets “deep inside” Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon. “Overnight, the IAF struck a series of Hezbollah terror targets both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon, including weapons caches and terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Chabriha, Borj El Chmali, and Beqaa, Kfarkela, Rab El