World

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 Callum Fahim, who flew to Tenerife after contacting the 19-year-old’s mother online, said he has withdrawn after two weeks of looking – and receiving death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

UEFA has launched an investigation into Turkey’s Merih Demiral for allegedly making a political gesture as he celebrated his country’s Euro 2024 victory over Austria. The 26-year-old defender was the match-winner as he scored both of his side’s goals in a 2-1 win to secure his nation a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament

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,

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

A new political reality has been revealed in France, it has a new face and a new name – 28-year-old Jordan Bardella. Frontman of the hard-right, he has helped propel National Rally to a clear-cut lead in the first round of parliamentary elections. Bardella, the party’s choice for prime minister, stands on the brink of

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

Jay Slater’s mother has given an update via a £35,000 fundraising page set up to help the search for the missing teenager. Debbie Duncan, posting on the GoFundMe page “Get Jay Slater home”, said the family were working with the company to withdraw some of the money. She said the money would be used to

Bolivian armed forces have taken over the capital’s central square as an armoured vehicle rammed through the entrance of the presidential palace as the president said the country is facing a coup attempt. The country’s president, Luis Arce, warned an “irregular” deployment of troops had taken place and called for “democracy to be respected” on

Newly released footage shows the search for missing British teenager Jay Slater continues by both land and air. The search for the 19-year-old from Lancashire, who is missing in Tenerife, has now entered its tenth day. He has been missing since Monday 17 June. The friends he was holidaying with last heard from him at

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to one count of espionage as part of a plea deal with US authorities. The agreement means Assange will be sentenced to time already served in a British prison. His court appearance took place on the US territory of Saipan. He left the UK on Monday after being