Maricarmen ​Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked housing ​protests in Spain, has died, Madrid's tenants' union said on Wednesday. Massive protests following Abascal's eviction spiralled into a political crisis, eventually leading Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap election.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday urged Western nations to return to what he called their civilisational roots and ensure the West "maintains its place at the head of the world" in a speech delivered against the backdrop of the Acropolis in Athens. The top US diplomat called on Europe to follow President Donald Trump's America in choosing the "unapologetic pursuit of national power" over the "global community".

A court on Wednesday ordered the former head of Germany's foreign intelligence service August Hanning to remain in pretrial detention after his arrest on suspicion of espionage and treason, along with a former deputy who allegedly supplied him with secret files. Here's what we know about one of the biggest security breaches in German history.

The World Health Organization joined Western leaders on Wednesday in urging Russia to share more information about what killed a plague institute worker in Siberia as reports emerged of a second suspected case. The Kremlin said Moscow had shared what it knew and accused the media ​of spreading "false information".

Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for solving a 100-year-old chemical mystery, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Wednesday. Nobel Prize recipients receive a prize of 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million).  

Assassinated Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya "predicted" Moscow's trajectory under President Vladimir Putin 20 years ago,  her former editor said ahead of the anniversary of her death on Wednesday. Politkovskaya had reported on the war in Chechnya and Putin's rise before she was gunned down in her Moscow apartment block on October 7, 2006.  

Russian missiles and drones killed at least 21 people in Ukraine, including four children, in what President Volodymyr Zelensky ‌called a “massive” strike on Wednesday. Ukraine has come under increased attack in recent weeks as Russian attacks have targeted energy infrastructure and rail and road transport.   

Haiti has indefinitely postponed elections scheduled for December and February, the electoral council said Tuesday, citing technical and operational requirements as gang violence continues to disrupt preparations. The delay leaves Haitians without a democratic process as authorities struggle to register voters and secure areas needed for the poll.

Christa Pike is "angry and confused" after regaining consciousness almost six days after Tennessee's failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection, one of her attorneys said Wednesday. Pike, the first woman the state has attempted to put to death in 200 years, remains hospitalised with severe injuries to both arms.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would speak “very soon” with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the reported death from plague of a laboratory technician, as Washington and the World Health Organization pressed Moscow for greater transparency and clarity over conflicting accounts of the incident in Siberia.

Former German spy chief August Hanning was detained Tuesday on suspicion of treason and espionage after prosecutors accused him of paying for secret intelligence documents and using them to prepare an analysis for a foreign intelligence service, in a case that could strain Berlin’s ties with allied spy agencies.