Five people from three families in Logan in Queensland's south-east were hospitalised for rat poison contamination. The state's health department says they are investigating the source, but are not treating the incidents as suspicious.

Logan City

Queensland Police have begun an investigation after five people from three families in Logan ingested a chemical commonly found in rat poison. Initial reports suggesting a connection to a takeaway food outlet have been corrected, with authorities confirming no such link.

Health officials are working with the affected families to determine the source of the contamination, including reviewing their homes and pantries. Two individuals required brief hospitalisation, but none experienced serious health effects. The incident is not currently being treated as suspicious.

Three Logan families affected by rat poison contamination

Ursula, it's been confirmed Queensland Police have launched an investigation into what's been labelled a potential contamination incident after five people from three families and Logan somehow ate a chemical found in rat poison. It's also been confirmed today that earlier reports the poisoning incidents were linked to a takeaway food outlet were incorrect. Interviewing with the families to try and understand where they've been, where they've eaten, what any connection might potentially be between the different families. It involves going to their homes, reviewing their pantry, finding things. Two of the patients spent a couple of days in hospital but none suffered any serious health effects. Queensland's Chief Health Officer says the contamination is not being treated as suspicious at this stage.

A planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was put on hold on Tuesday, as Moscow's rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine cast a cloud over attempts at negotiation.

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Russian demands on Ukraine jeopardize Putin-Trump summit

A posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who accused Britain's Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her as a teenager, went on sale in London on Tuesday (October 21, 2025), days after the disgraced prince gave up his Duke of York title.

London

More scrutiny piles on Prince Andrew as new Giuffre book released

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy began his five-year prison sentence in Paris on Tuesday (October 21) for conspiring to raise campaign funds from Libya, in a stunning downfall for a man who led the country between 2007 and 2012.

Paris

France's Sarkozy begins five-year prison sentence in Paris

US Vice-President JD Vance visits Israel amid concerns that the US-brokered peace deal between the country and Hamas will not hold. The Trump administration has redoubled its efforts to cement the fragile Gaza peace agreement after Israel accused Hamas of stalling the hand-over of hostages' bodies and deadly violence flared up in the territory days before.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

U.S. Vice-President Vance visits Israel as Gaza ceasefire falters

Amazon.com cloud service returned to normal operations on Monday (October 20) afternoon, the company said, after an internet outage that caused global turmoil among thousands of sites.

Amazon says AWS cloud service back to normal after outage

Japan's parliament has elected the country's first female leader. Sanae Takaichi, 64, of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is seen as a hardline conservative who supports traditional gender roles and hawkish foreign policy.

Tokyo

Sanae Takaichi elected Japan's first female prime minister

Three days after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said Ukraine “could still win” its war with Russia, but added, “I don’t think they will,” raising new questions about Washington’s support for Kyiv.

Washington

Trump doubts Ukraine will win war against Russia

Former FBI Director James Comey is asking a judge to dismiss the criminal charges against him, claiming the prosecution is vindictive and unlawful.

Ex-FBI director James Comey seeks to toss indictment

An appeals court panel is allowing the White House to federalize and deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon.

Portland

Appeals court rules Trump can deploy National Guard to Portland

U.S. President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a rare earths and critical minerals agreement aimed at ensuring a steady supply of the materials at a time when China is trying to tighten control over global supply.

Washington County

U.S. and Australia boost rare earths supply with new agreement

A global outage hit Amazon Web Services (AWS), disrupting platforms like Amazon Prime, Fortnite, Alexa, Snapchat, and Duolingo. The issue, caused by increased error rates, took about three hours to mostly resolve.

AWS outage mostly resolved after hours-long global disruption

Centrist Rodrigo Paz won Bolivia's presidential runoff, defeating conservative rival Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, as the country's worst economic crisis in a generation helped propel the end of nearly two decades of leftist rule.

La Paz

Centrist Rodrigo Paz wins Bolivian presidency

After 10 years in prison without charge, a Lebanese judge has ordered the release of Hannibal Gadhafi, son of the late Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi. But it’s on condition that he pays $11 million bail, something his lawyers say they will contest.

Beirut

Lebanon orders Hannibal Gadhafi’s release after 10 years

A cargo aircraft skidded off a Hong Kong runway and collided with a security patrol car before both fell into the sea early Monday, killing the two people in the car, authorities said.

Kowloon

Two killed after cargo plane veers off runway in Hong Kong

Thieves wielding power tools have struck at the famed Louvre Museum in Paris, stealing priceless jewels in a brazen heist that took just four minutes, according to the government. The thieves struck after the museum had already opened its doors to the public, with a major investigation now underway.

‘Priceless’ jewels stolen from France’s Louvre Museum in four-minute heist

U.S. President Donald Trump says he is ending aid to Colombia after the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, accused the U.S. of ‘murder’ when it struck a small boat within Colombian territorial waters in September.

Bogotá

Trump ending aid to Colombia after 'murder' accusation

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire is under pressure, as the Israeli military carries out strikes on southern Gaza and accuses Hamas of opening fire on its forces. Meanwhile, Israel alleges Hamas is stalling on returning the remains of deceased hostages.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Israel, Hamas clash in major test of U.S.-backed ceasefire

The National Guard could soon be on Chicago’s streets after US President Donald Trump took his case to the country’s highest court - the conservative-leaning Supreme Court.  The President says the city is a war zone - and is in the midst of a rebellion, as residents protest his migrant deportation policy.

Chicago

Supreme Court to decide on sending the National Guard to Chicago

China's second-highest ranking general and eight other senior officials have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and the military on suspicion of serious misconduct linked to corruption.

Beijing

China expels nine senior officials from Communist Party

The United States is sending the two survivors of a Thursday (October 18) strike in the Caribbean to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador to be detained and prosecuted, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday.

U.S. will repatriate survivors of Caribbean strike, Trump says

The two sides have agreed to hold follow-up talks in Qatar to establish conditions and a framework for lasting peace, bringing an end to a week of deadly cross border skirmishes, which have killed dozens of people.

Doha

Afghanistan, Pakistan agree to immediate ceasefire, Qatar says

France's world-famous Louvre museum in Paris was forced to close on Sunday after thieves broke into Apollo Gallery and stole valuable crown jewels.

Jewels of 'inestimable' value stolen from Louvre in major heist

U.S. President Donald Trump's critics took to the streets Saturday, with millions nationwide participating in "No Kings" rallies, protesting Trump's demonstrations of power.

Anti-Trump "No Kings" protests held across U.S.

The Trump administration is awaiting word from the Supreme Court after asking it to allow the immediate deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. A lower court blocked the move.

Tensions rising in Portland, Oregon over immigration tactics

President Trump posted a video of a U.S. military strike on a submersible suspected of smuggling drugs. Two people were killed in the strike but the survivors were brought to a Navy ship. Trump says the U.S. will send the them back to their home countries for prosecution.

Trump says survivors of U.S. drug submersible will be sent home

The U.S. State Department issued a warning that Hamas appeared to be planning an attack 'against Palestinian civilians,' warning that such an attack would 'constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement'.

State Dept. flags ceasefire violation by Hamas

Britain's Prince Andrew said on Friday he would give up using his title of Duke of York following years of criticism about his behavior and connections to the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Windsor

Prince Andrew gives up title of Duke of York

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy came to the White House on Friday looking for weapons to keep fighting his country's war with Russia, but met an American president who appears more intent on brokering a peace deal than upgrading Kyiv’s arsenal.

Trump pauses on sending Tomahawks to Ukraine

Tension is rising between the U.S and Venezuela. The latest threats from the US warning of stronger measures against Nicolas Maduro’s government — have sparked both fear and fragile hope across Venezuela.

Caracas

Venezuela on high-alert amid U.S strikes

In the aftermath of a destructive Typhoon Halong, historic floodwaters have destroyed remote communities across western Alaska, forcing hundreds of evacuations that could continue for days.

Breakdown