Hurricane Irma has caused widespread destruction across the Caribbean, reducing buildings to rubble and leaving at least nine people dead. The small island of Barbuda is said to be "barely habitable". Officials warn that St Martin is almost destroyed, and the death toll is likely to rise. Irma, a category five hurricane, the highest possible level, is passing north of Puerto Rico. Two...

South Korea has conducted a missile drill simulating an attack on the North Korean nuclear site, in response to Pyongyang's sixth test. The live-fire exercise saw rockets launched from fighter jets and ballistic missiles from the ground. It came as US defence chief James Mattis warned that any threat to the US or its allies by Pyongyang would be met with a "massive military response". The...

A suspected acoustic attack on US embassy staff in Cuba was reported as recently as last month, US officials have revealed. It was originally thought that the incidents had ended several months ago. The US State Department also said the number of staff who have reported health problems had increased to 19. It comes as the union representing diplomatic staff says some victims suffered mild...

The US-led coalition says it will keep blocking a convoy of evacuated Islamic State militants in Syria from reaching IS-held territory on the Iraq border. The hundreds of fighters recently surrendered an enclave on Syria's border with Lebanon. They agreed with Hezbollah and the Syrian government that they would leave with their families and head eastwards. But the coalition says it and...

The Canadian Transportation Agency is holding an inquiry into two Air Transat flights held on the tarmac at Ottawa for hours in conditions passengers called "deplorable". The flights from Brussels and Rome were diverted on 31 July amid bad weather in Montreal and Toronto. The flights were stranded for between five and six hours without adequate air conditioning, food or water. Passengers...

A 12-year-old schoolgirl from southern India has killed herself after a teacher allegedly humiliated her over a blood stain from menstruation. In a suicide note, she accused the teacher of "torturing" her. Although the girl did not mention period shaming in her letter, the mother says her daughter was asked to leave the class because of the stain. Menstruation is taboo in India. Women are...

Iraq's prime minister says Nineveh province has been "fully liberated" from so-called Islamic State, after the district of Tal Afar was recaptured. Haider al-Abadi's announcement followed the defeat of the jihadist group in the town of Ayadiya, where the militants had fled to from Tal Afar. It leaves IS in control of just a few urban areas and some barren desert in central and western...

German police will evacuate about 70,000 people from their homes on Sunday after an unexploded World War Two bomb was discovered in Frankfurt. It will be one of the biggest operations of its kind carried out in Germany since the war. The 1.4 tonne British bomb, nicknamed 'blockbuster' during the war for its ability to wipe out whole streets, was found near Goethe University Frankfurt. The...

A Catholic bishop in the Central African Republic (CAR) has given refuge to 2,000 Muslim refugees who are living in fear of attacks from a mainly Christian militia. Juan José Aguirre Munoz says that the refugees cannot leave the seminary's compound in the south-eastern city of Bangassou. He told the BBC that the refugees "risk death" from anti-Balaka militias. The UN's humanitarian chief...

President Emmanuel Macron's government has begun its drive to overhaul France's rigid labour laws, giving the details first to the unions and bosses' organisations and later to the public. He has promised a "revolution" to free up the energy of the workforce, making it easier for bosses to hire and fire. But since he came to power in May his popularity has waned. Protests against the plan...