INTERNATIONAL

Greeks are voting in a general election which could result in Greece trying to renegotiate the terms of its bailout with international lenders. The leader of the leftwing Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, has pledged to write off Greece’s huge debt and revoke austerity measures. However, the current conservative prime minister, Antonis Samaras, says the austerity measures are working. He’s urged ...

Brazil’s Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira has said the country’s most populous region is experiencing its worst drought since 1930. The states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais must save water, she said after an emergency meeting in the capital, Brasilia. Ms Teixeira described the water crisis as “delicate” and “worrying”. Industry and agriculture are expected to be ...

Saudi Arabian King Salman has pledged continuity, hours after his accession to the throne following the death of his half-brother, King Abdullah. The new king moved swiftly to appoint heirs and ministers, including one prince from the ruling dynasty’s third generation. King Abdullah died overnight, weeks after being admitted to hospital with a lung infection. He was buried in an ...

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has died, royal officials have announced, weeks after he was admitted to hospital. King Abdullah, who was said to be aged about 90, had been suffering from a lung infection. A statement early on Friday said his 79-year-old half brother, Salman, had become king. Abdullah came to the throne in 2005 but had suffered frequent ...

The European Central Bank (ECB) says it will inject at least €1.1 trillion into the ailing eurozone economy. The ECB will buy bonds worth €60bn per month until the end of September 2016 and possibly longer, in what is known as quantitative easing (QE). The ECB has also said eurozone interest rates are being held at the record low of ...

Ukraine’s defence ministry says its troops have withdrawn from the main terminal of Donetsk airport, the scene of bitter fighting in recent weeks. It said the military retained control of parts of the airport, but that six soldiers had died and 16 were wounded. In central Donetsk, 13 people were killed when a civilian bus was hit by shelling. Fighting ...

The AirAsia flight that crashed in the Java Sea, killing 162 people, climbed too fast before stalling, Indonesia’s transport minister has said. Ignasius Jonan told a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta that flight QZ8501 had ascended at a speed of 6,000ft (1,828m) per minute. No passenger or fighter jet would attempt to climb so fast, he said. There were no survivors ...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its forecast for global economic growth for this year and next. The IMF now expects growth of 3.5% this year, compared with the previous estimate of 3.8% which it made in October. The growth forecast for 2016 has also been cut, to 3.7%. The downgrade to the forecasts comes despite one major boost ...

The EU’s foreign policy chief has called for a broad alliance to tackle terror, including with Muslim nations, at a summit of EU foreign ministers. Federica Mogherini said there had to be more co-operation both with Muslim countries and internally within the EU. The Brussels summit follows gun attacks in Paris that killed 17 people and anti-terrorism raids in Belgium. ...

Huge crowds have gathered to see Pope Francis celebrate an outdoor Mass in the Philippine capital Manila. Thousands of people arrived at Rizal Park on Sunday morning, hours before the Mass is due to begin. Twenty years ago, more than five million people attended a Mass celebrated here by Pope John Paul II. The Vatican said Pope Francis would dedicate ...