Poland is holding its largest military parade in decades on Tuesday, in a flex of defensive muscle that comes as tensions rise on the border between the NATO nation and key Russian ally Belarus.

Watch live as Hakim Jeffries, minority leader of the House of Representatives, and other Democrats hold a news conference ahead of a vote on the US debt ceiling on Wednesday evening (31 May). The House is due to vote on a bill to lift the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, a critical step to avoid a destabilising default that could come early next week without congressional action. Republicans control the House by a narrow 222-213 majority, meaning the bipartisan deal - agreed days ago - will need support from both Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Republicans and Joe Biden’s Democrats to pass. Mr McCarthy has predicted that the vote will succeed. “It’s going to become law,” he told reporters. Meanwhile, Mr Biden took to Twitter to outline what failure to pass the bill could mean for America. “Our bipartisan budget agreement prevents the worst possible crisis: a default for the first time in our nation’s history – an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, and millions of jobs lost,” he wrote. Read More Biden and McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal expected to go to full House vote today – live Australian Parliament takes step toward holding a referendum on Indigenous Voice this year Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment fight isn't finished yet

Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant reached out to a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase & Co. more than four years

Wall Street drifted lower following a rally that sent it roaring 16% higher for the year so far

By Cassandra Garrison GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -Guatemalans began casting their votes on Sunday in a presidential run-off election that many

Omar Morales, who attends college just up the way at UCLA, has taken the early lead in the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club

Conditions in Greece have been compared to those in Africa as southern Europeans suffer through a heatwave forecast to only worsen in the coming days. Europe’s highest ever recorded temperature – 48.8C (119.8F) – could be breached in Sicily and Sardinia next week and Spain is expected to reach 45C, experts say. Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland and Croatia have all been hit, and officials in several countries have been preparing emergency measures, including mobile phone heat alerts. “It’s like being in Africa,” said 24-year-old tourist Balint Jolan, from Hungary. “It’s not that much hotter than it is currently at home, but yes, it is difficult.” Officials in Athens shut the ancient Acropolis for several hours on Friday to protect visitors as the Greek meteorological service forecast temperatures peaking at 41C in the city. Read live updates on Europe’s heatwave here Hellenic Red Cross workers handed out bottled water to tourists in long queues fanning themselves, and paramedics gave first aid to tourists fainting and suffering dehydration. The mercury on Acropolis Hill is usually even higher due to its altitude and lack of shade, but the last-minute decision left some people frustrated. “I even bought a €50 ticket to skip the line to enter and I couldn’t enter the place,” one said. Elsewhere in Athens, tourists huddled under mist machines. There and in other Greek cities, working hours were changed for the public sector and many businesses to avoid the midday heat, while air-conditioned areas were opened to the public. In the Spanish capital, Madrid, zoo animals were fed fruit ice pops, while authorities in Cyprus urged residents to avoid forest areas where wildfires could be sparked accidentally. Swathes of the Balkans also sweltered. In Croatia, the village of Grebastica near the Adriatic coast was devastated by a wildfire that destroyed cars and homes. Dozens of firefighters and three aircraft struggled to contain the blaze that spread rapidly due to strong southerly winds. The Earth steamed to its hottest June on record, smashing the previous global mark by nearly a quarter of a degree, with global oceans setting temperature records for the third month running, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – considered the gold standard for record-keeping. Europe’s monster heatwave, called Cerberus, has already claimed at least one life as it brought temperatures surpassing 104F (40C) across the continent this week. On Tuesday, the land surface temperature in parts of Spanish region Extremadura exceeded 140F (60C). A 44-year-old man painting road markings in northern Italy collapsed and died. Many people are worried about next week, when the heat in the country is expected to intensify, and temperatures are forecast to climb to above 45C (113F) in the centre and south, under a new heatwave named Cheron. According to La Repubblica, the heat this weekend could be trumped by 12C in the following days, particularly in Tuscany and Lazio. If so, it would break Europe’s current record of 48.8 Celsius recorded in Sicily in August 2021. The impact of such extremities has been brought into focus by a new study that found up to 61,000 people died in Europe’s sweltering heat last summer. The forecast has also raised fears about the impact on crops and animals. The European Space Agency said: “Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing a major heatwave, with temperatures expected to climb to 48 degrees Celsius on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia – potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe.” Emergency services in Turkey have been grappling with both fires and floods, in which three people have died. “While there are heat and fires on one side of the country, there are floods and deluges on the other,” said deputy agriculture minister Veysel Tiryaki. Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald said: “We are just getting a small taste for the types of impacts that we expect to worsen under climate change.” Climate scientist Friederike Otto of the Imperial College of London said: “Until we stop burning fossil fuels, this will only get worse. Heat records will keep getting broken, people and ecosystems are already in many cases beyond what they are able to deal with.” Additional reporting by agencies Read More Why is there no UK heatwave as Europe swelters during Cerberus? Earth sets its hottest day record for third time in a week Cities in the US are sinking due to the climate crisis

Provides an overview of Lebanon, including key dates and facts about this Middle Eastern country.

Nearly 100 people attending a planned concert Wednesday evening at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver were injured after being pelted with large hail during severe storms that moved across the area, the West Metro Fire Department said.

Russian forces are suffering a shortage of tanks, the nations’s defence minister has admitted during a visit a military factory in western Siberia. Sergei Shoigu has called for more tanks to be manufactured "to meet the needs of Russian forces" in Ukraine, with Kyiv having launched a counteroffensive involving Western tanks and weapons. Mr Shoigu said there was a need "to maintain the increased production of tanks" and better security features in armored vehicles, the Defense Ministry said in a statement about the visit. Ukrainian deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said on Saturday that Kyiv’s forces were making progress – or having “registered tactical successes” as she put it – in the southern Zaporizhzhia region Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is to host a group of African leaders who travelled to Russia on a self-styled "peace mission" after a trip to Ukraine on Friday. Seven African leaders - the presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt's prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda – have travelled to St Petersburg to meet Mr Putin. Read More Why Russia’s attempts to get round oil sanctions risk ecological disaster Ukrainians leaving UK because they cannot get housing, volunteer made MBE says

A “superfog” of smoke from south Louisiana marsh fires and dense morning fog has caused massive vehicle crashes, killing at least seven people

Tens of thousands of drenched festivalgoers were stranded Sunday in deep, sticky mud in the Nevada desert after torrential rain turned the annual Burning...