World News

At least six people have been killed by an Israeli strike in Lebanon, the health ministry there has said.Officials said the strike, in which three others were wounded, hit a residential building in the city of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, early on Saturday. Tensions have soared in the region in recent weeks, after a deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that Israel blamed on Hezbollah.Israel responded by killing a […]

A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is "closer than we've ever been", according to Joe Biden.However, speaking at the White House, the US president cautioned an agreement was "not there yet". Following two days of talks in Doha, Qatar, senior officials made positive noises about the direction of negotiations. Image: Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages during a protest calling for their return in Tel Aviv, Israel, this week. […]

Venice is on the look out for new gondoliers to take on its centuries-old profession as the lagoon city is projected to see a record influx of tourists this year.The job involves balancing on the edge of a gondola and rowing through Venice's narrow canals, while guiding tourists through the city's main sites. But the application process to take on Venice's 1,000-year-old profession is far from plain-sailing. Just the opposite […]

At least one Palestinian has been killed after dozens of Israeli settlers, some wearing masks, attacked a village in the occupied West Bank.Video on social media showed cars and houses on fire in Jit, near the city of Nablus. Israel's military said petrol bombs and rocks were thrown at buildings and vehicles and that it used "riot dispersal means" to end the violence.It said one Israeli had been arrested after […]

A dramatic image of a whale shark rising from the depths to feed on a bait ball has won an international scientific photography competition. The BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology image competition is an annual contest between scientific researchers who snap shots of science and nature in action as they work. "The slow-moving whale sharks feed on snipefish, herded into tight groups at the surface by large schools of […]

Donald Trump is asking the judge in his New York hush money criminal case to delay his sentencing until after the November presidential election.The former US president was found guilty on 30 May of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 (around £100,000) payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump, who is the Republican nominee in this year's US election, is scheduled to be […]

A round of talks aimed to restore peace in Gaza will take place in Qatar on Thursday, with a deal the likeliest way of preventing a wider conflict from breaking out in the Middle East.Officials from the US, Qatar and Egypt will be meeting an Israeli delegation in Doha in the latest efforts by international mediators to strike a peace deal between Israel and Hamas, who have been at war […]

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has criticised an anonymous online petition attacking controversial breakdancer Rachael Gunn.Ms Gunn performed under the name Raygun in the inaugural breaking competition at the Paris Olympics this summer. She went viral for questionable dance moves in her routine, which included one dubbed the "kangaroo dance", as the 36-year-old Sydney university professor failed to score a single point. Image: Australia's Rachael Gunn failed to score a […]

There's been a furious flurry of diplomatic activity in the Lebanese capital Beirut ahead of crucial talks in Doha aimed at reaching a ceasefire deal in Gaza.The US special presidential envoy Amos Hochstein flew into Lebanon to try to avert a regional war, warning the escalating tension risks spiralling "out of control". Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah are both vowing to take retaliatory action for twin attacks in Tehran and Beirut, […]