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This combination photo shows singers Ariana Grande at the 13th annual Billboard Women in Music event in New York on Dec. 6, 2018, left, and Taylor Swift at the Time 100 Gala in New York on April 23, 2019. Grande and Swift are the top contenders at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, each scoring 10 nominations. The 2019 VMAs will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Aug. 26. (AP Photo)

Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift score 10 MTV VMA nominations

Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift are the top contenders at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, each scoring 10 nominations.

Former Chinese premier Li Peng (Ng Han Guan/AP)

Li Peng, Chinese premier who backed Tiananmen Square crackdown, dies aged 90

Li Peng, a former hardline Chinese premier best known for announcing martial law during the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests which ended with a bloody crackdown by troops, has died aged 90.

McDonald’s apologised to those who felt insulted (Yui Mok/PA)

Austrian McDonald’s to paste over slogan after Italy-themed ad campaign

The Austrian branch of McDonald’s says it will paste over a slogan that drew the ire of Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini on posters in an Italy-themed ad campaign.

The pangolin is said to be the most widely trafficked mammal in the world (WWF/PA)

Singapore seizes tonnes of elephant tusks and pangolin scales

Singapore has seized about 12 tonnes of pangolin scales belonging to about 2,000 of the endangered mammals, and nearly nine tonnes of elephant ivory.

Donald Trump said Narendra Modi recently asked him whether he would like to be a mediator or arbitrator on Kashmir (Patrick Semansky/AP)

Indian PM urged to clarify Trump’s Kashmir mediation claim

Opposition leaders in India have demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi clarify his position in parliament about Donald Trump’s claim he was asked about mediating on India’s long-running dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir.

A damaged police vehicle at a police station in Sydney (NSW Police via AP)

£112m drug haul found after van crashes into police cars outside Sydney station

Police have charged a driver after methamphetamine valued at more than 200 million Australian dollars (£112 million) was found in a van that crashed into police cars parked outside a Sydney police station.

A Russian Beriev A-50 airborne early warning and control training aircraft (Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool/AP)

South Korea fires 360 rounds of warning shots at Russian warplane

South Korean air force jets fired 360 rounds of warning shots after a Russian military plane briefly violated South Korea’s airspace twice, Seoul officials have said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly inspected a newly built submarine (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP)

Kim Jong Un inspects new submarine as he orders military to be bolstered

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected a newly built submarine and ordered officials to further bolster the country’s military capabilities, state media reported Tuesday.

People wait for public transportation during a blackout in Caracas (Ariana Cubillos/AP)

Lights flicker back on in Venezuela after massive power cut

The lights are flickering back on across much of Venezuela following a massive blackout.

Andrew Warren (San Francisco Sheriff’s Department/PA)

British man to give evidence against professor in Chicago stabbing case

A British man accused in the fatal stabbing of a hairstylist in Chicago has agreed to plead guilty and give evidence against his co-defendant in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence.

David Hedison (Alexandra Hedison via AP)

Bond movies actor David Hedison dies at 92

David Hedison, a US actor who starred in two Bond films and the original version of sci-fi classic The Fly, has died at the age of 92.

Anna Sorokin (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Prosecutors ask judge to stop fake heiress profiting from Netflix show

Prosecutors have asked a New York judge to prevent a con artist who posed as a German heiress from cashing in on a Netflix production expected to highlight her extravagant ruse.

Cristiano Ronaldo will not face rape charge over Vegas allegations

Cristiano Ronaldo will not face criminal charges after a woman accused the football star of raping her in his suite at a Las Vegas resort more than 10 years ago, the city’s senior prosecutor has said.

Art Neville (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen, File)

Veteran soul and funk star Art Neville dies at 81

Art Neville, a member of one of New Orleans’ most storied musical families the Neville Brothers, has died at the age of 81.

Iran’s claimed arrests of 17 CIA spies ‘totally false’, says Trump

Donald Trump has said Iran is lying about having arrested 17 Iranian nationals recruited by the CIA to spy on the country’s nuclear and military sites.

Sonja Sohn, (Dare County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

The Wire actress charged with drug possession

Actress Sonja Sohn, who played a detective in HBO series The Wire, is facing charges of felony possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

ASAP Rocky (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Swedish prosecutors end probe into man involved in ‘fight’ with ASAP Rocky

Prosecutors in Sweden are dropping their investigation into a man they say was involved in a fight with American rapper ASAP Rocky.

Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire in central Portugal (Sergio Azenha/AP)

32 hurt as firefighters battle wildfire in Portugal

More than 1,000 firefighters were battling a major wildfire amid scorching temperatures in Portugal on Monday, where forest blazes wreak destruction every summer.

People awaiting rescue stand on the balcony (Rafiq Maqbool/AP)

89 rescued from blazing Mumbai office building

Firefighters rescued 89 people after a nine-storey office building caught fire on Monday in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, an official said.

A vandalised tombstone at Hadsund Cemetery, in eastern Jutland, Denmark (Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix/AP)

Danish police investigate after 100 gravestones vandalised

About 100 gravestones in Denmark have been found vandalised with graffiti in a cemetery next to Hadsund Church in the eastern part of the Jutland peninsula.

Equifax to pay up to 700 million dollars in data breach settlement

Equifax will pay at least 700 million dollars (£560 million) — and potentially much more — to settle lawsuits over a 2017 data breach that exposed the social security numbers and similar sensitive information of roughly half of the US population.

A man at New Delhi’s Nehru Planetarium takes pictures of a web cast of the lift off (Manish Swarup/AP)

India sends unmanned mission to moon’s far side

India’s space agency says it has launched an unmanned spacecraft to the far side of the moon, a week after aborting the mission due to a technical problem.

The city has been affected by high heat and humidity (AP)

Power restored in some areas amid New York heatwave

Thousands of people across New York City went without power overnight as the Big Apple deals with high heat and humidity.

Israeli forces destroy a building in a Palestinian village of Sur Baher, east Jerusalem (AP)

Israeli work crews demolish Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem

Israeli work crews have begun demolishing dozens of Palestinian homes in an east Jerusalem neighbourhood.

Philippine Rodrigo Duterte will give a speech to Congress (Robinson Ninal Jr/Malacanang Presidential/AP)

Rodrigo Duterte to address Philippine Congress amid protests

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will address a joint session of a Congress led by his allies as thousands of protesters gather to call for his removal.

Protesters clash with police in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP)

China lashes out at Hong Kong protest targeting its office

China has harshly criticised a weekend demonstration in which eggs were thrown at its office in Hong Kong, accusing the demonstrators of violence without mentioning an attack against protesters and civilians the same night.

Robert Mueller will testify in Washington DC on Wednesday (J Scott Applewhite/AP)

Mueller to air ‘very substantial evidence’ of wrongdoing by Trump – official

This week’s congressional hearings with Robert Mueller will air “very substantial evidence” of wrongdoing by US President Donald Trump and make a public case for impeachment, the House Judiciary Committee chairman has said.

Soldiers from the National Guard, State Police officers of Guerrero and Municipal Police officers of Acapulco guard an area where gunmen killed and wounded multiple people inside a bar in Acapulco, Mexico, Sunday July 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Bernardino Hernandez)

Man arrested after five people killed in shooting at popular Acapulco bar

A man has been arrested after five men were killed and six others wounded when gunmen opened fire at a popular bar in Acapulco, south-western Mexico.

Hong Kong police launch tear gas in bid to end protest

Hong Kong police launched tear gas at protesters on Sunday, as a massive pro-democracy march continued late into the evening.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (Koji Sasahara/AP)

Japan’s ruling coalition secures upper house majority

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition has secured a majority in Japan’s upper house of parliament, according to vote counts by public television and other media.

The National Emblem of the People’s Republic of China is covered in black paint at the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong (Bobby Yip/AP)

Hong Kong protesters deface Chinese emblem in latest demo

Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday, with some of the marchers defacing a national Chinese emblem in their latest expression of protest against mainland authorities.

A voter casts her ballot in the upper house elections at a polling station in Tokyo (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

Exit polls show Abe’s ruling bloc wins elections in Japan

Exit polls in Japan show Prime Minster Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition is certain to secure the majority of 124 seats contested in upper house elections.

Vice President Mike Pence with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin (John Raoux/AP)

Vice President Mike Pence marks Apollo 11 anniversary at launch site

Vice President Mike Pence has marked the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first moon landing at the Apollo 11 launch site.

A woman holds a ballot at a polling station during a parliamentary election in Kiev, Ukraine (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

Ukrainian leader seeks backing to fight corruption in vote

Ukrainians are voting in an early parliamentary election in which the new party of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to take the largest share of votes.

Emergency services try to extinguish wildfires in Vila de Rei, Portugal (TVI via AP)

1,000 firefighters battle wildfires in central Portugal

Portuguese authorities say 1,000 firefighters are working to contain wildfires that have injured at least nine people.

Protesters take part in a march in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP)

Hong Kong protesters call for inquiry into police tactics

Tens of thousands of Hong Kong protesters have kicked off a march from a public park to call for an independent investigation into police tactics.

Pakistani security officials examine the site of a bombing (Ishtiaq Mahsud/AP)

Nine dead after female suicide bomber targets hospital in Pakistan

A female suicide bomber struck outside a hospital in Pakistan on Sunday as the wounded were being brought in from an earlier shooting incident against police.

A police officer stands in front of the Kyoto Animation Studio building (Jae C Hong/AP)

Police get arrest warrant as survivor recalls Kyoto arson

Japanese police have obtained an arrest warrant for a suspect as soon as he regains consciousness from injuries in a deadly arson at a Kyoto anime studio.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (J Scott Applewhite/AP)

Ocasio-Cortez: Trump enjoyed crowd saying Send her back

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says President Donald Trump enjoyed hearing a crowd at his rally call for a US congresswoman to return to the country where she was born.

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-13 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)

Russian capsule carrying three astronauts docks with space station

A Russian space capsule with three astronauts aboard has docked with the International Space Station after a fast-track trip to the orbiting laboratory.

Mike Pence, left, with Buzz Aldrin (John Raoux/AP)

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin marks Apollo 11 anniversary at launch site

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin marked the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first moon landing at the Apollo 11 launch site.

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-13 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station blasts off at the Baikonur cosmodrome (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)

Astronauts blast off on moon landing anniversary

A Russian space capsule with three astronauts aboard has blasted off on a fast-track trip to the International Space Station.

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur (Danny Lawson/PA)

Famed architect Cesar Pelli dies aged 92

Famed Argentine-American architect Cesar Pelli, known for designing some of the world’s tallest and most well-known buildings, has died aged 92.

Relatives and friends of the victims gathered at a football stadium in Kozarac near the town of Prijedor (Almir Alic/AP)

Funeral service held for 86 Muslims killed by Serbs

Several thousand people have attended a funeral service in northwestern Bosnia for 86 Muslims who were killed by Serbs in one of the worst atrocities of the country’s 1992-95 war.

A friend of the Orlandi family holds a T-shirt with pictures of Emanuela Orlandi and Pope Francis (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Vatican college space holds bones of dozens, expert says

A genetics expert retained by the family of an Italian girl who went missing in 1983 said Saturday that an underground space near a Vatican cemetery holds thousands of bones that appear to be from dozens of individuals, both “adult and non-adult”.

ASAP Rocky is in custody in Sweden (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Trump offers to ‘vouch for bail’ of US rapper jailed in Sweden

Donald Trump said he has spoken to Sweden’s prime minister about jailed US rapper ASAP Rocky and “offered to personally vouch for his bail”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel adjusts a wreath during a memorial event at the Defence Ministry in Berlin (Michael Sohn/AP)

Merkel urges Europeans to confront populism after tribute to Nazi resistance

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Europeans to confront populism, nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism as she paid tribute to the Nazi resistance in her own country.