
A large asteroid barely known to science zoomed past the Earth on Thursday, speeding by within 73,000km of the planet. That might sound far but it's about a fifth of the distance to the Moon, scientists said, and a pretty close call.

Spain's caretaker socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez lost a crunch post-election vote of confidence on Thursday after coalition talks with the far-left failed, pushing the country closer to repeat polls.

British police on Thursday charged four teenage boys over an alleged homophobic attack on a lesbian couple who refused to kiss in front of them on a London night bus.

The Argentine media is pointing out that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Argentine president Mauricio Macri first met when they were mayors of London and Buenos Aires, --and full of ambitions--, and have since had a cordial standing personal relation. The first meeting took place at the Davos summit, Switzerland, in January 2009, and according to witnesses the chemistry was immediate.

Iran has threatened to cut its imports from Brazil unless it allows the refuelling of at least two Iranian ships stranded off the Brazilian coast, a sign of the global repercussions of U.S. sanctions on the Islamic republic.

By Gwynne Dyer - It has been suggested that Boris Johnson (who becomes the prime minister of the United Kingdom, UK) is what you would get if Donald Trump had been educated at Eton and Oxford. Maybe, although there is a great gulf between Trump’s bombastic self-promotion and Johnson’s self-deprecating, rather shambolic persona.

British lawmakers gave outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May a standing ovation as they applauded her out of the House of Commons chamber after her final, at times emotional, appearance as leader on Wednesday.

Temperatures continue to soar around the UK as forecasters anticipate what could be the hottest day on record. The Met Office said the highest temperature reached so far on Wednesday was 33.7C at Cavendish in Suffolk.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson sacked most of Britain's cabinet on Wednesday as he took office vowing to get a new divorce deal with the European Union or leave without one by Oct 31. The former London mayor has pledged to break the political deadlock that has left Britain in crisis and forced his predecessor Theresa May to delay Brexit twice.

The U.S. government will pay a minimum of US$ 15 per acre to farmers hurt by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China under an aid package to be unveiled before the end of the week, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said.