Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the US House, has died aged 84. Once one of Washington’s most powerful figures, his political legacy was destroyed after a federal case exposed sexual abuse committed during his earlier career as a high-school wrestling coach and led to a prison sentence.

Lord Jeffrey Archer has died aged 86 after a five-decade writing career that sold more than 300 million books worldwide. The Kane and Abel author died peacefully at home between writing sessions, just one day before his final novel, Adam & Eve, was due to be published. His life spanned bestselling fiction, Conservative politics, scandal, prison and an extraordinary return to writing.

Robert Kelker-Kelly, best known for playing Bo Brady in Days Of Our Lives, has died aged 62. The veteran soap actor also appeared in Another World and General Hospital before building a career as a professional pilot. Here is what is known about his death and the television roles that made him a familiar face to millions.

Olivia Rodrigo has condemned Cornell University and backed Jane Doe, the former student whose lawsuit alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven fraternity members in 2024. The intervention comes as New York’s attorney general takes over the reopened criminal investigation and Cornell faces mounting questions over its original response.

Donald Trump says the United States is prepared to help Russia after a mysterious death at a Siberian plague research institute triggered quarantines and international monitoring. Pneumonic plague can spread between people and become deadly quickly, but the central facts remain unresolved. Here is what would have to happen for this scare to become something much larger.

Jordan Pickford has pleaded guilty to driving without due care or attention after an April incident involving his Lamborghini Urus in Knutsford. Court documents say two motorists had to brake sharply before police followed the England goalkeeper along Toft Road. He will appear at Chester Magistrates’ Court in December to present mitigation before sentencing.

The US trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi has been reset for January 2027 after newly disclosed evidence forced an eleventh-hour postponement. The former Libyan intelligence operative denies building the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, killing 270 people.

The International Criminal Court has unsealed arrest warrants for four senior Taliban leaders, including supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada. Judges allege the men ordered, induced or solicited gender persecution against women, girls and others targeted under Taliban policies. The decision reveals more of the legal case while leaving one major problem unresolved: all four suspects remain at large.

A Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 carrying 25 passengers and seven crew members has crashed near Igbokoda in Ondo State after disappearing from radar on a routine flight to Lagos. President Bola Tinubu has mourned those aboard and ordered an investigation as authorities begin examining why aircraft NGR 931 went down.

Taylor Swift made an unannounced Saturday Night Live appearance during Dakota Johnson’s opening monologue, where the pair joked about Johnson’s dating history and Swift’s supposed role as her “literal therapist”. The singer later returned with a birthday cake, capping a cameo that reunited the friends just days after their “Patient Zero” collaboration.

The United States is monitoring a Siberian health scare after a 28-year-old employee of Russia’s Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute died from pneumonia of unknown cause. Russian officials say tests have not linked her illness to laboratory pathogens, but quarantines and medical observation of contacts have intensified scrutiny over what happened.

The FBI has arrested Wanying “Heather” Zhang at Los Angeles International Airport after federal investigators accused her of surveilling Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s son and family for China. A criminal complaint alleges she filmed their home and vehicles, passed licence plate details to Chinese government contacts and acted as an unregistered foreign agent.

Seven months after an Iranian drone killed six American soldiers at Port Shuaiba in Kuwait, wounded survivors are publicly questioning decisions that placed them there — and describing a military medical system they say failed them after the blast.

Iran has executed Alireza Sepahi and Alireza Raeisi after death sentences tied to January unrest in Isfahan were upheld. The case sits inside a broader wave of protest-linked executions, while rights monitors continue to raise allegations of torture, forced confessions and serious fair-trial failures.

The civilian cargo ship Royad Mammadov has sunk in Romania’s Black Sea exclusive economic zone after a fire killed two crew members and left 11 rescued. Ukraine says two Russian drones struck the Turkish-owned vessel carrying corn from Ukraine to Italy, but Romanian authorities have not yet publicly confirmed what caused the deadly incident.

Two men were killed and 35 people injured when gunfire erupted during a homecoming weekend block party in Vienna, Georgia. More than 1,000 people had gathered before shots rang out across multiple locations. Investigators are now trying to establish how many people opened fire, what triggered the violence and who was responsible.

US Marine Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard has been arrested on suspicion of robbery and murder after Anna Yagi, 39, was found dead in a Naha hotel. The Marine denies the allegations. The case has triggered formal Japanese protests and renewed pressure over the US military presence and legal arrangements on Okinawa.

The Flydubai investigation has moved beyond the cockpit. Officials familiar with the UAE probe say the co-pilot accused of attacking Flight FZ1073 planned an attack before he was hired and deliberately searched for an airline serving Tel Aviv. The allegation raises new questions about recruitment, vetting and how he came to operate the Israel route.

A 15-year-old pupil has lost his left hand after an anti-riot grenade exploded during protests in Lens. The devastating incident comes as a rapidly expanding student movement disrupts hundreds of French schools — and an even larger nationwide mobilisation approaches.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called an early general election for 29 November after parliament rejected key housing measures and protests spread across the country. The vote will test whether Sánchez can rebuild a governing majority or whether Spain’s opposition can turn anger over housing, migration and political deadlock into a change of government.