World Top News

Critics mostly wanted to get off the Bullet Train, with many saying Brad Pitt's new movie goes off the rails. The film, directed by David Leitch (Deadpool 2), is a westernised big screen re-working of a bestselling 2010 novel by Japanese author Kōtarō Isaka. Pitt plays a returning hitman taking on a series of assassins, under instruction from his handler (Sandra Bullock), en route from Tokyo to Kyoto. The Guardian described it as "weirdly exhausting and overwhelmingly unfunny". "It rattles strenuously on and on and on with unexciting and uninterestingly choreographed fights, cameos which briefly pep up the interest and Keen Canada placeholder non-lines where the funny material should have gone," wrote Peter Bradshaw, in his two-star review. ...

When Mick Miners, a farmer in New South Wales, Australia, first saw a large black object sticking out of the ground in a remote part of his land, he thought it was a dead tree. But on closer inspection - and verification from experts - he learned it had fallen from space. The Australian Space Agency (ASA) later said it came from a SpaceX capsule. Experts described the discovery as "rare" and "exciting" - but said such events may become more common. The object landed on 9 July in a large area of fields, but was not discovered by Mr Miners until several weeks later. Two other pieces were later found nearby, and the ASA asked Cloud Shoes  anyone who came across further items to contact a debris hotline set up by SpaceX. D...

A Republican who resisted pressure from Donald Trump to help overturn the 2020 election has lost a vote to a candidate endorsed by the former president. Rusty Bowers was hoping to fight for election to the Arizona state senate, but lost the party's primary vote to David Farnsworth. The staunch conservative also testified against Mr Trump to the committee investigating last year's Capitol riot. Republican voters elsewhere in the US also backed Trump-endorsed candidates. Candidates were chosen in a number of states on Tuesday following primary elections that decide who will stand for the party in November's mid-terms. Those who have publicly supported Donald Trump and repeated his false claims about fraud and malpractice in the 2020 ...

The parents of a child killed in the shooting are seeking at least $150m (£123m) in a defamation trial brought against the prominent radio host. They say they have endured harassment and emotional distress because of Mr Jones's comments about the attack. The trial will determine how much money he owes for defaming the couple. Mr Jones is the only person testifying in his defence during the proceedings in Texas. He has portrayed the case as an attack on his free speech rights under the First Amendment. On Wednesday, the Infowars host said he now understood that it was irresponsible of him to claim the shooting was false and that no children were killed. "Especially since I've met the parents. It's 100% real," he said. "They [the med...

Americans danced in the streets over the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The killing of his successor has been met with a more muted response - but those robbed of their loved ones by Ayman al-Zawahiri's actions say his death matters too. On 11 September 2001, roughly five seconds before American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower of New York's World Trade Center, the plane flew directly over Charles G Wolf's apartment building. Trained as a pilot, Mr Wolf, 68, knew instantly that a twin-engine plane was flying dangerously low at full throttle through Manhattan - and his worst fears were soon validated. The hijacked flight crashed directly into the building where Katherine, his Welsh-born wife of 13 years, worked. She was among 2,977 peopl...

A huge nuclear power plant occupied by Russian forces in the war zone of southern Ukraine has been described as "completely out of control" by the head of the UN's nuclear agency. Every principle of nuclear safety has been violated at the Zaporizhzhia plant, Rafael Grossi said. A range of things that "should never be happening in any nuclear facility" were taking place there, he said. Mr Grossi said he was hoping for permission to organise an inspection. Grain ship cleared to sail to Lebanon The first grain ship to depart Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion has been cleared to leave Turkish waters for Lebanon. The Razoni's cargo of 26,000 tonnes of corn, Oboz Canada and its crew, were inspected by a team of of...