The world of beauty pageantry is firmly under the spotlight after both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA abdicated their positions amid accusations of unprofessional behaviour, workplace bullying and harassment from management.

The Biden administration has said that Israel&s use of US-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented US officials from determining that for certain in specific air strikes.

Heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah has left crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible and forced more than 110,000 people to flee north, UN officials said yesterday.

Ukraine rushed reinforcements to its north-eastern Kharkiv region on Friday to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defences, authorities said, signalling a tactical switch in the war by Moscow that Ukrainian officials had been expecting for weeks.