World

The court filings claim that, on one occasion, Indyke took two cheques to a New York bank to withdraw cash – $7,500 from one of Epstein’s personal accounts and $4,000 from Indyke’s business account. He cashed one of the cheques and, the papers claim, said he would return the following …

The city’s biggest ever evacuation comes after the British flying bomb was discovered near a collapsed bridge. BBC News

Two more members of the Iranian women’s football team have been granted asylum in Australia, taking the total to seven, amid fears for their safety after they were criticised for not singing their national anthem. They were in Australia for the Asian Cup when the Iran war began just over …

At least six people have died in a bus blaze in Switzerland, which was allegedly started by a man inside the vehicle, according to police and local media reports. Police said the blaze took place in Kerzers, in the canton of Fribourg, at around 6.25pm on Tuesday. The victims have …

Police do not yet know the cause of the fire in the western Fribourg canton, which also injured a number of people. BBC News

The children who manage to return suffer from “trauma, anxiety and fear of abandonment”, the report says, often due to harsh treatment in Russia. One child was told by staff in a Russian orphanage that his country, Ukraine, “does not exist anymore, everything has burnt down, and your parents have …

It is understood most of the team left Australia on Tuesday night after losing their Sunday game in the Asian Cup. BBC News

In Monday’s telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, according to the Kremlin, Putin “expressed several thoughts aimed at a swift diplomatic resolution of the Iran conflict, based among other things on contacts with leaders of Gulf states, the president of Iran, and leaders of other countries”. BBC News

A shooting outside the US consulate in Toronto is being investigated by police as a “national security incident”. The Canadian city’s deputy police chief Frank Barredo said officers were called to the scene at around 5.30am on Tuesday, where they found spent shell casings and ⁠damage to the building. Witnesses …

Iran’s move to shut the Strait of Hormuz has brought shipping through the 24-mile stretch of water close to a standstill. Only a handful of vessels have transited in recent days, many switching off their tracking systems or linked to “shadow fleets”. “They can’t physically close a waterway of that …

Air strikes have damaged at least four oil facilities since US-Israeli attacks on Iran began last month. BBC News

Trade through the Middle East’s biggest port has been hit hard since Iran began its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s most important global shipping routes. Oil prices rose to a peak of $120 (£89.2) a barrel on Monday and experts have told the BBC …

Salem Michel Al-Salem, accused of crimes committed in Syria in 2011 and 2012, has been named for the first time. BBC News

👉 Listen to This Is Why on your podcast app 👈 After a phone call with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump announced the US could ease oil sanctions on some countries to combat the rise in prices brought about by the Iran war. It wasn’t clear whether Russia would be included, …

The purchase is part of wider plans to prevent major artworks from being bought by private collectors. BBC News

Who says the world is impossible to predict these days? Two things have just happened that we could have seen a mile off. Events in the Middle East have followed the exact script for “what happens if you attack Iran”, a scenario analysts have been predicting for decades. If you …

The feature allows both women riders and drivers to be matched with other women for trips on the ride-sharing app. BBC News

Death Valley in California – the hottest place on Earth and the driest place in North America – is currently carpeted in wildflowers in what is shaping up to be the best bloom in a decade. The National Park Service (NPS) officially categorised this as an above-average bloom year on …

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, enters power as the Islamic republic faces its most serious crisis. BBC News

Metula in northern Israel is like a ghost town. Shops are shut, hotels closed and there’s very little sign of life. This is the frontline of the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and it feels other worldly. Middle East crisis: Follow live updates Image: Metula is on the frontline of …