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Elodie Gossuin, a mother of four, is known for her work on French television, including hosting shows.

Originating from the Arabic and Persian languages, the term Ayatollah symbolises a sign of god or religious authority. The title is granted to high-ranking clerics in Shia Islam to demonstrate their advanced theological knowledge in the community.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader since 1989, was assassinated on Saturday by the United States and Israel, despite Tehran and Washington being in the middle of talks to reach a deal.

As the military conflict in the Middle East spirals, the US is targeting Iranian aircraft and drone hangars. The US Central Command shared visuals of the strikes.

EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, warns against further escalation following US and Israel strikes on IranIn the last few minutes, Cyprus has confirmed that a planned meeting of EU ministers in Lefkosia has been postponed after last night’s drone incident at the British military base RAF Akrotiri.The Czech Republic is among the EU countries actively looking to take some of its citizens out of the region, with the prime minister, Andrej Babiš, confirming plans to run first flights in the coming hours. Continue reading...

Israeli military says fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah could take ‘many’ more days; US crew bailed out safely after crash-landing, says KuwaitPodcast: The assassination of Iran’s ayatollahHave you been affected by events in the Middle East?Bahrain has said that one person was killed by shrapnel from an intercepted missile. The death of a foreign worker at Salman Industrial City, working on a boat there, marks the kingdom’s first reported fatality in the war.Bahrain, home to the US navy’s 5th fleet, said it intercepted 61 missiles and 34 attack drones launched against it. It said some shrapnel had gotten through, striking buildings and the naval base. Continue reading...

Hartlepool leaders ‘furious and appalled’ after meeting with Steve Reed about growing cost of social careThe housing, communities and local government secretary has been accused by a Labour council of showing “arrogance, indifference and moral bankruptcy” towards children in social care.In an unusually forthright attack, Labour leaders of Hartlepool council said they were “furious and appalled” at Steve Reed after a meeting with him last week. A cross-party delegation had asked the secretary of state for £3m to help alleviate the growing cost of social care. Continue reading...

Yvette Cooper says plans under consideration to evacuate about 300,000 Britons from Middle East amid Iran warUS-Israel war on Iran – live updatesIt is “simply not true” that the UK is being dragged into another Iraq-style conflict in the Middle East, Yvette Cooper has said, after an RAF base in Cyprus was struck by an Iranian drone.The attack was part of a barrage of strikes by Tehran around the Middle East after a US-Israeli attack on Saturday that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The UK foreign secretary confirmed ministers were considering possible plans to evacuate about 300,000 Britons from the region. Continue reading...