By Ido Vock BBC News A Russian drone attack on western Ukraine likely targeted a nuclear power plant, President Volodymyr Zelensky says. Iranian-designed Shahed drones struck the area around the power plant in the western Khmelnytsky region early on Wednesday, he said. The attack injured 20 people and caused light damage, including broken windows. The…

By Kathryn Armstrong BBC News The family of an Al Jazeera news reporter has been killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza, the network has confirmed. Wael Al-Dahdouh’s wife, son and daughter were all killed at a refugee camp in central Gaza on Wednesday, Al Jazeera said in a statement. It later reported that…

Hurricane Otis rapidly transformed from a tropical storm into a devastating category five hurricane. Cutting-edge saildrones are helping to reveal how this process happens. Hurricane Otis made landfall on the coast of southern Mexico on Wednesday as a category five hurricane, battering towns and cities in its path with 165mph (270km/h) winds. It has caused…

By Nicholas Yong BBC News, Singapore Police in China have rescued more than 1,000 cats from being slaughtered and sold as pork or mutton, state-affiliated media report. Acting on a tip from animal welfare activists, police intercepted the truck that was carrying the felines in the eastern city of Zhangjiagang. The cats were moved to…

By Andrew Thomson & Steven McKenzie BBC Scotland A sculpture bought for £5 by a town council and later found propping open a shed door could be sold for almost £3m. The marble bust of Highland landowner Sir John Gordon was made by French artist Edmé Bouchardon in 1728. Invergordon Town Council bought the artwork…

Hezbollah Media OfficeCopyright: Hezbollah Media Office In the last 24 hours, a photograph has emerged of the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Lebanon, where they were meeting Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shia Muslim militia and political movement Hezbollah. It’s the most powerful body in Lebanon, more powerful than the Lebanese state,…

A retired Taiwan air force colonel has been jailed 20 years for running a military spy ring for China. Liu Sheng-shu was convicted of recruiting other active-duty officers to transmit military secrets to Beijing. Five other officers – from the navy and air force – were jailed from six months to 20 years for their…

By Joel Guinto BBC News US President Joe Biden has warned China that the US will defend the Philippines in case of any attack in the disputed South China Sea. The comments come days after two collisions between Filipino and Chinese vessels in the contested waters. Mr Biden reiterated his “ironclad” defence commitment to the…

Video shows armed police in the US city of Lewiston, Maine searching a multi-storey car park for a gunman who is on the loose after killing at least 16 people. Maine state police have called for residents to stay inside their homes with doors locked. Follow the latest on the story here.

BBCCopyright: BBC Billie Jayne Cooke, a shocked Lewiston resident, told the BBC she was just leaving a public event on Wednesday evening when she first heard of the attack and that the shooter was on the run. “The entire ride home was just solid sirens, one siren after another. Helicopters, sirens, I’ve never heard so…