Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will stand in the country's next elections, his party said on Wednesday, which is scheduled to take place in late October. The announcement came after US President Donald Trump questioned whether Netanyahu wanted to continue in politics in an interview with ABC News.

Pakistan on Wednesday launched deadly air strikes on Afghanistan after a period of relative calm following months of fighting at the beginning of the year. Pakistan's government said 26 "militants" were killed while Afghan authorities said at least 12 people, including children, died in provinces near the border.

Pope Leo will bless the Sagrada Familia's soaring central Jesus Christ tower in Barcelona on Wednesday, ahead of a visit to the Canary Islands where he will focus on immigration. The Pope has received a rapturous reception during his visit to Spain where he on Sunday held an open-air mass with 1.5 million people.

The US military said on Tuesday it carried out strikes on Iran after an Army helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, an incident President Donald Trump blamed on Tehran. Iran denied responsibility and vowed to respond. Washington called the attacks a “proportional response", while Iranian media reported explosions on Qeshm Island.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had struck four targets at a US base in Jordan and one in Bahrain, as Tehran pressed its attack in response to fresh US strikes over the downing of a helicopter. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

The US Congress on Tuesday passed a $70 billion funding bill for President Donald Trump's immigration agenda, sending the measure to the White House after months of partisan debate. The legislation allocates $38 billion for ICE, $26 billion for Border Patrol and $5 billion for contingency costs through fiscal 2029.

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday urged greater attention to mental health after hearing emotional testimonies from young people at a prayer vigil in Barcelona, including a woman who described surviving a suicide attempt. He called on public health systems to address the "invisible and widespread malaise" of depression and warned that mental well-being is increasingly under threat.

Thousands of demonstrators blocked a major avenue leading to Mexico City's Azteca Stadium on Tuesday, days before the 2026 World Cup opens at the venue, as teacher-led protests disrupted the capital. The demonstration, organised by a dissident faction of the CNTE teachers' union, followed a week of unrest that President Claudia Sheinbaum described as a "provocation".

The United States expects to complete construction of President Donald Trump's long-promised southern border wall by late 2027, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said on Tuesday. Speaking at an event in Washington, Scott said the reinforced barrier would extend along most of the US-Mexico border, with limited exceptions where officials deemed it unnecessary.

Protesters on Tuesday set vehicles on fire and blocked several central roads in the Northern Ireland city of Belfast after police charged a Sudanese national suspected of violently stabbing another man in the street the night before. The attack was caught on video and prompted far-right figures to call for anti-migrant protests across the United Kingdom.

Michael Olise's dazzling hat-trick for France in their final World Cup warm-up sends an ominous warning to rivals of Les Bleus, adding further firepower to a formidable attack that already includes the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Désiré Doué and the current Ballon d'Or holder, Ousmane Dembélé.

Dozens of men on Tuesday took to the streets of the western Afghan city of Herat to protest the multiple arrests of women in recent days. The women were detained by the morality police for not properly adhering to the Taliban-ordered dress code, which requires them to fully cover themselves when in public. According to several protesters, security forces used sticks and whips to disperse them, and “even fired shots in the air”.

Iran's allocation of fan tickets for the group stage of the World Cup has been revoked just days before the start of the tournament, the country's football federation said Tuesday, in the latest controversy surrounding the Iranian squad as it prepares to play its group matches on US soil.

At least one person has been killed during a demonstration protesting the construction of an Ebola quarantine centre in the Kenyan city of Nanyuki. The centre is set to host Americans who have been extracted from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where an outbreak is currently taking place. Kenya has never registered an Ebola case. 

France on Tuesday banned Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entry, slamming the far-right politician’s calls for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, new settlements in the area and the “recolonisation” of Gaza. Smotrich was among dozens of Israelis who were slapped with sanctions by France, Britain, Canada, ​Australia, New Zealand and Norway.

French singer and actor Patrick Bruel will be held in police custody until Wednesday as investigators questioned him over allegations of sexual assault and rape involving at least a dozen women, prosecutors said, adding that two new rape complaints had recently been filed.

Nithya Raman, a left-wing candidate who ran on a democratic socialist platform will face incumbent Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral election in November. Her surprise primary success knocks the Trump-backed Republican candidate Spencer Pratt out of the race, US media projected.

China said Tuesday that it “firmly opposed” the US decision to blacklist major Chinese companies including Alibaba and Baidu, after Washington accused them of aiding the Chinese military. Beijing warned against what it called the “unreasonable suppression” of Chinese firms and called on Washington to correct its decision.

Seven Georgian nationals are due in court in Paris on Tuesday for the theft of rare works by Russian literary giants including Alexander Pushkin from prestigious French libraries, in a case prosecutors say formed part of a Europe-wide organised theft operation.

Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan has been ruled out of officiating at the 2026 World Cup after being denied entry to the United States, FIFA said Monday, in a decision that prevents him from becoming the first Somali official to referee at the tournament.