INTERNATIONAL

 Nearly five million people living illegally in the US can escape deportation under sweeping changes to the immigration system. “Come out of the shadows and get right with the law,” urged President Barack Obama in a televised address. Republicans say the action, without Congress, is beyond his authority and relations will now be poisoned. There are about 11m illegal immigrants ...

Police in Japan have raided the homes of a 67-year-old Japanese woman arrested on suspicion of poisoning her husband, as details of six former partners’ deaths emerge in local media. The raids on Chisako Kakehi’s homes come a day after she was detained. An autopsy on her 75-year-old husband, who died in December 2013 weeks after their wedding, had found ...

An average of 13 people have been killed daily in eastern Ukraine since a 5 September ceasefire came into place, the UN human rights office says. In the eight weeks since the truce came into force, the UN says 957 people have been killed, amid continuing violations on both sides. A new report by the office describes a total breakdown ...

Another 3ft (1m) of snow is expected to hit upstate New York after a massive snowstorm that left at least seven dead on Wednesday. Parts of the city of Buffalo are already under 5ft (1.5m) of snow. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the snowstorm a “historic event” that would break records. Freezing temperatures have continued across all 50 US ...

France has confirmed that a second Frenchman features in a video showing the beheading of Syrian prisoners, and a US hostage killed by Islamic State (IS). He has been identified by French media as Michael Dos Santos, 22, an Islamic convert from an eastern Paris suburb. Earlier, the government identified the first French militant as Maxime Hauchard, a convert from ...

A suicide car bomber has killed at least four people in the Iraqi Kurdish capital, Irbil, local media say. The blast, accompanied by gunfire, was reported outside the governor’s office, close to the historic citadel in the city centre. Iraqi Kurds and Iraqi government forces have been battling an advance by Islamic State (IS) militants, but Irbil has largely avoided ...

Four Israelis have been killed and eight injured as two men armed with a pistol and meat cleavers attacked a West Jerusalem synagogue. The attackers – Palestinians from East Jerusalem – were shot dead. There have been several deadly attacks and clashes recently in Jerusalem, which has also seen heightened tension over a disputed holy site. Israel has vowed to ...

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called an early election, two years ahead of schedule. At a news briefing, he said he would dissolve parliament later this week and was also delaying a planned but unpopular increase in sales tax. Mr Abe was elected two years ago with an ambitious plan to revive the economy, but has struggled to do ...

Thai police have issued arrest warrants for two American men who tried to post baby body parts to the United States. The two men, Ryan McPherson and Daniel Tanner, have reportedly left for neighbouring Cambodia. They were detained earlier but police released them after concluding that they had not broken laws, apart from violating customs rules. The men said they ...

At least four Israelis have been killed and seven injured in what police say was a “terrorist attack” at a Jerusalem synagogue. Two men armed with axes and knives carried out the attack in the Har Nof neighbourhood. Police say they shot both the attackers dead inside the synagogue. The city of Jerusalem has seen months of heightened tension and ...