live U.S. launches strikes on Iran over Hormuz commercial vessel attack
The UN's International Maritime Organization has paused escort operations through the Strait of Hormuz after a cargo ship was reportedly attacked near...
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will face bids to remove her for the second time in three months when hard-right and left groups in the European Parliament present no-confidence motions this week.
Although the motions of censure have almost no chance of reaching the two-thirds majority of votes required to unseat von der Leyen, according to experts, they could expose more general disquiet over her leadership and destabilise the EU assembly, whose backing is required to pass legislation.
The motions are set to be proposed on Monday by France's far right and hard left - Jordan Bardella, President of the National Rally, and Manon Aubry of France Unbowed - followed by von der Leyen's defence, and spots for leaders of all party groups.
The vote will take place on Thursday 9 October.
For von der Leyen this is not a new experience. She also faced a no-confidence motion in July from mainly far-right lawmakers, which she comfortably survived.
However, parties outside the mainstream have realised that triggering previously seldom-used censure motions is easy to achieve after the 2024 elections swelled the far right to more than 100 lawmakers, with only 72 required to back one.
In the case of the left, it has also co-opted one lawmaker from the centre-left Socialist and Democrats group and several Greens.
The two censure motions differ, the right says it's complaining about "misguided" green policies and a failure to address illegal migration, while the left says they're complaining about the EU's inaction over Gaza.
However, both sides agree that von der Leyen accepted an unbalanced tariff deal with the United States and that the Commission's proposed EU-Mercosur trade deal is a threat to farmers and the environment.
Both will be put to votes in the parliament in the coming months, with the outcomes unclear.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck Japan's northeast coast on Thursday, but no tsunami warning was issued, no injuries were immediately reported and no irregularities were found at nuclear facilities, the authorities said.
As Western Europe battles a deadly heatwave that has shattered temperature records, disrupted transport and power supplies, and forced the closure of schools and cultural landmarks, attention is turning to whether El Niño is playing a role in the extreme conditions.
The U.S. Senate rejected a resolution on Wednesday that would have directed President Donald Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress formally authorised military action.
The Kremlin has denied a Wall Street Journal report claiming Moscow is pressuring Belarus to support an expanded Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of people are still unaccounted for after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela. At least 589 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds are believed to be trapped under rubble, as emergency crews and international rescue teams race to respond.
The United Nations' top human rights official has called for independent investigations into deaths in U.S. immigration detention facilities, citing a rise in fatalities among people held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
An aircraft roughly the size of a car crashed into Beijing's tallest skyscraper on Friday evening, triggering a major emergency response and a heavy police presence as authorities sealed off the area and gave no immediate explanation for the incident.
Montenegrin police, working alongside the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, have arrested an Iranian national accused of carrying out a series of cyberattacks that allegedly caused an estimated $3.4 billion in damage to U.S. infrastructure.
South Korea is set to dramatically expand its unmanned warfare capabilities, with plans to integrate drones across all branches of its military as tensions with North Korea continue to shape the country's defence strategy.
Fertiliser shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have begun to recover following an interim U.S.–Iran agreement aimed at stabilising the waterway after months of disruption during conflict, industry data shows.
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