By Brandon Drenon & Sam Cabral on Capitol Hill BBC News Republican Jim Jordan has lost his third bid to become US House of Representatives Speaker, amid signs of growing rebellion in the party. The right-wing Ohioan again fell well short of the 217 votes needed with 25 Republicans voting against him, three more than…

By Hugh Schofield BBC News, París French football’s “bad boy” Karim Benzema is threatening to go to court after Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused him of having links with the Muslim Brotherhood. The minister was reacting to remarks made by Benzema on X, formerly Twitter, in which he offered prayers to the people of Gaza…

A spectacular meteor shower that is lighting up the skies for two months will peak on Saturday. The Orionid display started on 2 October and will last until 7 November. In the UK the rainy weather brought by Storm Babet will probably block views, but elsewhere on Earth, lucky skygazers could catch a glimpse of…

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. By Sam Francis Political reporter, BBC News Record-breaking wins in two by-elections are a “game changer” which shows Labour can now win anywhere, Sir Keir Starmer has said. Labour secured two new MPs on Friday, by overturning…

Maryland police are hunting for a suspect in the killing of a judge, who was shot outside his home and later died in a hospital on Thursday. Police identified the victim as Washington County Circuit Court Associate Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52, of Hagerstown. The local sheriff’s office is looking for Pedro Argote, 49, who it…

A second person has died as Storm Babet brought high winds, torrential rain and severe flooding to parts of Scotland. The Met Office has now issued a new red “danger to life” weather warning for some eastern areas. Police have confirmed that a falling tree hit a van near Forfar in Angus on Thursday, killing…

By Rob Cameron BBC News, Prague A Czech parish priest has apologised to local children after stomping on Halloween pumpkins near his church. Father Jaromir Smejkal destroyed the carved pumpkins on two successive days in a park in Kurdejov, a village in the wine-making region of South Moravia. He has apologised for the vandalism in…

By Liv McMahon & Joe Tidy Technology team Meta has apologised for adding “terrorist” to the biographies of some Instagram users describing themselves as Palestinian. Meta said it fixed a problem “that briefly caused inappropriate Arabic translations” in some of its products. “We sincerely apologise that this happened,” it told the BBC. The platform has…

English actress Haydn Gwynne, known for roles in TV shows including Drop the Dead Donkey, Peak Practice, Merseybeat and The Windsors, has died aged 66. She also had an acclaimed stage career, being nominated for both Tony and Olivier awards in the West End and on Broadway for Billy Elliot the Musical. She was Queen…

By Mark Lowen in Rome and Laura Gozzi BBC News Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has announced she has separated from long-time partner Andrea Giambruno. She announced the split on social media hours after a TV show broadcast explicit comments made off-air by TV host Giambruno to female colleagues. Ms Meloni said the relationship, “which…