Regional leaders called for calm Saturday as fears of a new escalation between the U.S., Israel and Iran grow

© AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi

Regional leaders called for calm Saturday as fears of a new escalation between the U.S., Israel and Iran grow

© AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi

Regional leaders called for calm Saturday as fears of a new escalation between the U.S., Israel and Iran grow

© AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi

Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine have arrived in Belarus as part of a major rescue operation

© Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine

Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine have arrived in Belarus as part of a major rescue operation

© Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine

Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine have arrived in Belarus as part of a major rescue operation

© Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine

BoM predicts hail, damaging winds and possible flash flooding across Victoria, NSW and parts of Queensland into Sunday

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Storm warnings are in place for multiple capital cities across Australia’s east and south-east as a severe weather front sweeps across the country.

Heavy rain, winds and thunderstorms are forecast to hit Melbourne and eastern Victoria throughout Saturday afternoon as a cold front meets warm, humid air.

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© Photograph: James Ross/AAP

© Photograph: James Ross/AAP

© Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Marco Rubio pulls plug on traditional photo op at meeting of foreign ministers after about one-third of countries threaten boycott

The traditional “family photo” to open the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting has been abruptly cancelled in the US after a host of nations – including Australia and the UK – refused to appear beside the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, pulled the plug after several European officials, the UK and Australia made it known they would boycott or walk out of the snapshot that often kicks off such international gatherings.

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© Photograph: Megan Varner/Pool Reuters/AP

© Photograph: Megan Varner/Pool Reuters/AP

© Photograph: Megan Varner/Pool Reuters/AP

Miami-Dade officials drop charge of battery by strangulation against rapper due to ‘insufficient evidence’

Florida prosecutors on Thursday dropped a felony charge against rapper Rick Ross nearly a month after he was arrested in Miami Beach when a woman he was living with told police he hit her, court records said.

The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office filed paperwork on Thursday to drop a felony charge of battery by strangulation because of “insufficient evidence”. Ross, whose legal name is William Roberts II, still faces a misdemeanor charge of battery domestic violence.

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© Photograph: Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

© Photograph: Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

© Photograph: Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

Saudi Arabia says it intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels near Islam’s holiest city, a claim the Houthis denied

© AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi