At least 24 people have been killed in a Russian air strike in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, civil defence authorities said on Monday. President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media that another five people were injured in the attack on a school distributing humanitarian aid in Komyshuvakha. Zelensky described the strike as an “utterly horrific Russian attack”, saying the settlement had been hit several times by aerial bombs over the course of the day. Zelensky said Russia had dropped more...

Britain watered down plans on Monday to impose long delays on immigrants seeking to receive permanent residence, announcing exemptions for hundreds of thousands of care workers to defuse a political outcry within the governing Labour ‌Party. The government had announced plans last year to require lower-skilled workers to wait 10 to 15 years to receive permanent residence, up from five years previously. But under the plans unveiled on Monday, it said hundreds of thousands of workers in the care...

On Monday, the ⁠eve of the US midterm elections, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters who federal officials allege are probably non-US citizens. Escalating a legal fight that could affect thousands of voters, the Justice Department filed the emergency request as it seeks to prevent counting the disputed ballots until each voter’s citizenship status can be verified. A federal appeal...

American lifestyle guru Martha Stewart has apologised for an “insensitive and not funny” Halloween costume after she appeared to dress up as a homeless person. “It’s hard to admit when you’ve really screwed up,” the billionaire, 85, wrote on Instagram after she deleted a photo of herself in ripped jeans, a torn jumper and a dirtied face. Stewart also held a clipboard that read “I Am Hungry Help Me!!” Social media users quickly slammed her as out of touch. “I know many people are suffering...

A 72-year-old woman on Monday went on trial in France accused of torturing her four-year-old daughter to death in the 1980s, after a DNA match reopened the cold case. The main defendant walked briskly, head dropped and face hidden with a scarf, as she left the courtroom in the town of Blois at lunchtime, pursued by child rights activists crying “shame” and calling for justice. Her husband, a 74-year-old from whom she is now separated, earlier struggled up the courthouse’s steps with a cane,...

From longer hours and extra staffing to special lines in its branches, the US Postal Service (USPS) ⁠is taking an array of special actions ⁠to make sure mail-in ballots for the midterm elections are ⁠counted on Tuesday. This year more than ever, the pressure is on the USPS to deliver. US President Donald Trump ordered the agency to write rules that would bar it from delivering ballots if the states did not agree to turn over lists of eligible voters and some voters have expressed concern about...

Over 40 per cent of stray animals taken in by shelters in Hong Kong in the first half of the year came from the Northern Metropolis development area, a study has found, with volunteers warning that more than 1,000 face abandonment as land resumption accelerates. The Animal Welfare Advocacy Alliance, which released the findings on Monday, called for a review of euthanasia policies, the relaunch of a “trap-neuter-resettlement” programme, and the introduction of a positive duty of care for...