INTERNATIONAL

Argentines are going to the polls to choose their next president in a general election that ends 12 years of rule under the Kirchners. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has served two consecutive terms and, under Argentina’s constitution, cannot run again. Her hand-picked successor, left-winger Daniel Scioli, is leading polls. But he is expected to face stiff competition from Mauricio ...

Tanzania is holding its most tightly contested general elections, as a new opposition coalition tries to end the governing party’s 54-year grip on power. There has been a high turnout at voting stations, reports say. Opinion polls have put the governing Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party ahead, but the result is expected to be close. Four opposition groups are backing ...

Balkan countries at the front line of the migrant crisis say they could close their borders to avoid becoming buffer zones for new arrivals. Bulgaria said it, Romania and Serbia would act if states further north, which migrants hope to reach, close their doors. The threat comes ahead of talks between Balkan states and EU members. Slovenia’s president said his ...

Israel and Jordan have agreed on moves aimed at reducing tensions surrounding a prominent holy site in Jerusalem, US Secretary of State John Kerry says. Issues relating to the complex have been at the centre of fresh violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Mr Kerry was speaking after talks in Jordan, the formal custodian of what is known to Jews as ...

Mexico’s president has warned that Hurricane Patricia still poses a threat of floods and landslides as it brings heavy rain to parts of the country. President Enrique Pena Nieto said Patricia – the strongest storm recorded in the Americas – had so far caused less damage than feared. The US National Hurricane Centre said the hurricane hit as a Category ...

Mexico’s president has warned that Hurricane Patricia still poses a threat of floods and landslides as it brings heavy rain to parts of the country. President Enrique Pena Nieto said Patricia – the strongest storm recorded in the Americas – had so far caused less damage than feared. The US National Hurricane Centre said the hurricane hit as a Category ...

The strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Americas is bearing down on Mexico’s Pacific coast, threatening a “potentially catastrophic” landfall. Mexican authorities have begun evacuating residents ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Patricia. The storm is comparable to Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 6,300 people in the Philippines in 2013, the World Meteorological Organization says. A state of emergency has been ...

A masked man who killed a teacher and a pupil at a school in Sweden had “racist motives”, police believe. Police chief Niclas Hallgren said they had based their conclusion on what was found at the killer’s apartment and “his behaviour during the act”. Media reports suggest the 21-year-old attacker had far-right sympathies. Armed with a sword and wearing a ...

A masked man armed with a sword has killed a pupil and a teacher at a school in Sweden. The suspect, clad in black, apparently posed for photos with students ahead of the attack, in the western town of Trollhattan. Two further victims, a pupil and a teacher, are seriously injured. The attacker was shot by police and has died ...

An American was killed in an operation involving the U.S. military to rescue dozens of Kurdish hostages in Iraq overnight, two U.S. officials told CNN on condition of anonymity Thursday. Seventy hostages were liberated in the operation, which involved U.S. special operations troops as well as Kurdish and Iraqi forces, U.S. officials said. The operation took place in Hawija in ...