Top World News

Apr 22, 2026 - World

Exclusive: McSweeney summoned by foreign affairs select committee in rare step, as Mandelson vetting row continuesMorgan McSweeney is facing a showdown with MPs who will grill him on whether he placed extreme pressure on the Foreign Office to approve Peter Mandelson as ambassador.The prime minister’s former chief of staff will be questioned next Tuesday by the foreign affairs select committee over allegations made by the former Foreign Office permanent secretary Olly Robbins, who said No 10 had questioned why Mandelson should be subject to any vetting. Continue reading...

Apr 22, 2026 - World

Health secretary says ‘I had nothing to do with the measles outbreak’ and claims to support measles and MMR vaccinesThe health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, faced intense questioning from several US senators on Wednesday during a hearing largely focused on how the administration has responded to the measles outbreak and the spread of vaccine misinformation.In his opening remarks to the Senate finance committee, the senator Ron Wyden criticized Kennedy’s messaging on vaccines, saying: “When it comes to vaccines, Robert Kennedy has used this once-in-a-lifetime platform to make parents doubt themselves and doubt their doctors,” before adding: “The secretary has ducked, bobbed and weaved without taking the responsibility of saying what needs to be said: vaccines save lives in America.” Continue reading...

Apr 22, 2026 - World

Police catch woman, 28, climbing colossal 16th-century statue of Neptune to touch its genitals as a dareA tourist has been charged after allegedly climbing a colossal marble statue in Florence to touch its genitals for a pre-wedding prank.Experts said the woman caused thousands of euros of damage to the Neptune fountain in Piazza della Signoria. Continue reading...

Apr 22, 2026 - World

Iranian forces seize two ships in critical waterway as Washington and Tehran maintain separate blockadesMiddle East crisis – live updatesIranian forces have seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz as the US and Iran doubled down on imposing separate blockades of the critical shipping waterway that have choked global energy markets.The standoff over the strait – through which about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied fossil gas passed through during peacetime – has raised doubts about whether stalled peace negotiations will resume. Continue reading...

Apr 22, 2026 - World

Backed by Abigail Spanberger, the measure could boost Democrats and counter Donald Trump’s redistricting pushVirginia voters will decide on Tuesday whether to adopt new congressional maps that could help Democrats win control of the House of Representatives and scuttle Donald Trump’s effort to use mid-decade redistricting to preserve Republican control of Congress.Polls show the referendum to redraw the maps has only a narrow lead in a state that Kamala Harris won two years ago. The issue appears to have engaged many voters, with nearly more than 1.37m ballots cast in early voting. Continue reading...