INTERNATIONAL

Up to 300 people are missing after a dam collapsed at an iron ore mine in south-eastern Brazil, officials say. The break caused a sea of muddy sludge that buried the dam’s cafeteria where hundreds of workers were eating lunch. Rescue teams used earth-moving machinery at the site near the town of Brumadinho, in Minas Gerais state. Governor Romeu Zema ...

President Donald Trump has yielded to political pressure to end the longest US government shutdown in history. After 35 days, he backed a deal to fund federal agencies for three weeks, but it includes none of the money he has demanded for a US-Mexico border wall. The Republican president previously vowed to reject any budget unless it included $5.7bn (£4.3bn) ...

The new president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, has been sworn into office. He told supporters at a ceremony at the presidential palace in Kinshasa he wanted to build a “reconciled Congo”. Mr Tshisekedi was briefly taken ill before resuming his speech. He is taking over from Joseph Kabila in the first peaceful transfer of power in ...

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has responded with defiance after the US recognised opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president. Mr Maduro said Venezuela was breaking off relations with the US and gave diplomats 72 hours to leave. But the US said “former President Maduro” no longer had the authority. Mr Guaidó and the US have urged the army to abandon ...

US President Donald Trump says he will not deliver his annual State of the Union speech until after the government shutdown is over. On Wednesday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi withdrew an invitation for him to address Congress, saying government services should fully reopen first. The shutdown has left 800,000 federal staff without pay since 22 December. Mr Trump wants $5.7bn ...

A government-appointed human rights group in Zimbabwe has accused soldiers of using “systematic torture” in a crackdown on protests. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission strongly criticised authorities for using troops to quell demonstrations. Unrest broke out more than a week ago following a sharp rise in fuel prices. A government spokesman defended the crackdown, telling the BBC: “When things get ...

Delaying or cancelling Brexit would be a “calamitous” breach of trust with the electorate and worse than leaving the EU with no deal, Liam Fox has said. The Brexiteer minister told BBC’s Radio 4’s Today programme MPs pushing for a delay actually wanted to stop Brexit. He said this was the “worst outcome” of the current wrangles. MPs are proposing ...

Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi has won DR Congo’s presidential election, electoral officials say. The announcement, made overnight, sparked accusations of an “electoral coup” from runner-up Martin Fayulu. France said the figures did not match results collated on the ground by monitors from the Catholic Church. The ruling party, whose candidate finished third, has not yet contested the result, sparking accusations ...

An 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled her family at the weekend has reiterated her plea for asylum in Canada, the United States, Australia or the UK. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun refused to board a flight from Bangkok to Kuwait on Monday and barricaded herself into her airport hotel room. She said she feared her family would kill her for renouncing Islam. ...

An 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled her family at the weekend has left Bangkok airport “under the care” of the UN refugee agency, the head of Thailand’s immigration police says. Thai immigration officials had tried to return Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, to Kuwait, where her family is. But she refused to board a flight on Monday and barricaded herself into ...