Pressure on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer escalated sharply on Tuesday, with reports that Cabinet ministers have urged him to weigh his future and a string of government aides walking out, in what has become the most serious threat yet to his leadership. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is understood to have privately argued for an orderly transfer of power last night, after 75 MPs called on Mr Starmer to step aside in the wake of Labour's punishing election losses last week. Senior minister Darren Jones said Mr Starmer…

As Israeli airstrikes hit more than 30 sites across Lebanon despite a ceasefire, the country’s top leaders pressed the US ambassador in Beirut to intervene and push Israel to stop the attacks. Lebanese officials said the total number of people killed in Israeli strikes since 2 March has risen to 2,869. The toll includes dozens of deaths recorded after the truce took effect on 17 April. Israel’s military, meanwhile, said one of its soldiers was killed a day earlier in fighting near the Lebanese border, raising its losses…

Ukrainian investigators have cast a harsh spotlight on President Volodymyr Zelensky's influential former chief of staff, naming him as a suspect in a sweeping corruption case that threatens to intensify pressure on the president's office at a delicate stage of the war with Russia. Kyiv's political establishment was jolted last year by the sprawling inquiry, which stirred public outrage and ultimately drove the former senior adviser — once Mr Zelensky's closest aide — Andriy Yermak, from office. Ukraine's anti-corruption…

The final two evacuation flights carrying passengers and crew from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius have landed in the Netherlands, AFP reported. On board the two aircraft were 28 people evacuated from the vessel, the Dutch foreign ministry said, including passengers, crew members and medical personnel. The first flight brought in six former Hondius guests: four Australians, one New Zealander and one British national living in Australia. Those six are expected to remain at a quarantine facility near the airport before…

Israel’s military has jailed two soldiers after a widely circulated image showed one of them appearing to place a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon. The photograph, shared online last week, showed an Israeli soldier draping an arm around the statue of Christ’s mother while lifting a cigarette toward her mouth. The military said the episode happened several weeks ago in southern Lebanon and was later examined by commanders in the field. "At the conclusion of the investigation, the…

Live Labour says it will place Britain back at the 'heart of Europe' Politics

A dramatic security scare at last month’s White House press gala has now moved into the courtroom, where a California man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump entered a not guilty plea. Cole Allen, 31, of California, remained silent during the hearing as his lawyer, Tezira Abe, submitted the plea on his behalf. Mr Allen appeared before the court in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. He is charged with four offences tied to the 25 April attack at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at a…

Cheers rang out outside Bangkok’s Klong Prem prison on Thursday as Thailand’s billionaire former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra walked free on parole, eight months after a court ordered him to serve prison time he had earlier avoided through an extended stay in hospital. Now 76, the business magnate spent a quarter-century reshaping and dominating Thai politics. Yet his grip on the country’s political landscape has weakened in recent months after his jailing and after his once-powerful Pheu Thai Party suffered its…

A diplomatic logjam that dragged on for months may finally be breaking: the European Union was poised to approve new sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians, with a change of government in Hungary removing a key obstacle. "I expect political agreement on the sanctions on violent settlers, hopefully we will get there," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers. The proposed measures, crafted in response to escalating violence and continued…

A French woman who was aboard a cruise ship struck by a hantavirus outbreak has tested positive for the virus and her health is worsening, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said. The woman was one of five French nationals on the vessel who have since returned to Paris. The other four passengers tested negative, though they will be tested again, Ms Rist told France Inter radio. She added that French authorities have so far identified 22 contact cases. In the United States, health officials said one of 17 American citizens…