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By Rebecca Armitage, Toby Mann and Basel Hindeleh, ABC News Iranian mourners are holding portraits of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during a funeral ceremony for him and his bodyguard Abu Shaaban in Tehran, Iran, on August 1, 2024. Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via AFP Iran says it has a "duty" to avenge the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed during a visit to Tehran this week. Describing Haniyeh as a "dear guest", the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has placed the blame for Wednesday's assassination squarely on Israel. "Following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, it is our duty to take revenge," his account wrote on X. While Israeli authorities have neither confirmed nor denied th...

By Manon Cruz and Kylie MacLellan, Reuters Handout pictures released by Merseyside Police in London on 30 July, 2024, of nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar (left), seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and six-year-old Bebe King. Photo: AFP PHOTO / Merseyside Police A 17-year-old boy has appeared in an English court on Thursday (local time) charged with the murder of three young girls in a knife attack at a summer dance class that has shocked the nation and sparked two nights of violent protests. Axel Rudakubana first appeared at Liverpool Magistrates' Court over Monday's incident at a "Taylor Swift yoga and dance workshop" summer vacation event for children in the seaside town of Southport. He is charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one of possession ...

In this image released by the US Government, US journalist Evan Gershkovich (L), former US Marine Paul Whelan (2R) and US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva (R) are seen on a plane after their release from Russia on August 1, 2024. Gershkovich, Whelan, Kurmasheva and Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza were part of a 24-prisoner swap with Russia. Photo: HANDOUT / US Government / AFP A plane carrying detainees released by Russia has landed in the United States at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, media footage showed. Earlier, tears of joy flowed in the Oval Office the moment families of prisoners such as Evan Gershkovich, freed by Russia in the biggest such swap since the Cold War, first spoke by phone to their loved ones, a White House video showed on Thursday. Happening Now: ...

By Lewis Jackson, Reuters Palestinians are standing next to a vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on April 2, 2024, where employees from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), including foreigners, were killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to the NGO. Photo: MAJDI FATHI / NurPhoto via AFP Israeli air strikes that killed international aid workers in Gaza in April were the result of serious operational failures but were not intentional, according to a Australian government review of the incident released on Friday. Three Israeli air strikes hit the convoy of aid vehicles travelling through Gaza on 1 April, killing seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) staff. The dead included Palestinians and citizens of Australia, Britain and Poland. The killings drew widespread condemnati...

Trish McKay was run over and killed during a botched robbery in July in California. Photo: Supplied US media report the three men facing murder charges in the botched robbery attempt that led to the death of a 68-year-old New Zealand tourist in California have pleaded not guilty. Patricia McKay died outside a Newport Beach mall during an attempted robbery when she was hit by one of the alleged offenders' cars. Leroy Ernest Joseph McCrary, Jaden Cunningham, and Malachi Eddward Darnell are charged with murder. The Los Angeles Daily News reported there was a brief hearing today in a Santa Ana courtroom. The newspaper reported the suspects watched the proceeding from a holding cell on the side of the courtroom and spoke only briefly. They had earlier refused to leave their cells for another...

By Kanishka Singh and Matt Spetalnick, Reuters Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia talks to supporters as Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado (L), his wife Mercedes Lopez (R) and his daughter Mariana Gonzalez (2nd R) listen during a rally in front of the United Nations headquarters in Caracas on July 30, 2024. Photo: AFP / YURI CORTEZ The United States on Thursday recognised Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's opponent and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of Venezuela's disputed presidential election, rejecting Maduro's claim of victory. "Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela's Ju...