Questions are being raised about Spain's rail safety as authorities launch an official investigation into the cause of Wednesday's high-speed train collision, which killed at least 68 people and wounded around 100 more, in the country's second fatal rail crash this year. 

As winter approaches, the price of European natural gas has topped €100 per megawatt hour, its highest level since 2022. The EU says it's not worried about supplies, although its storage facilities are only 72 percent full, but warns households of a "difficult" season to come. Also in the show: the UK government tries to cushion the impact of high energy bills, and 200 passengers are stranded in Cambodia after their multi-year cruise was cancelled because of high fuel costs. 

In tonight's edition, a summit with nearly two dozen African leaders opens in Moscow with the Kremlin describing their countries as natural allies against the West. Also, Nigerian investigators say that dozens of detained miners who died in a crowded jail cell screamed for help as jailors ignored their suffering. And ahead of the Youth Olympics in Senegal, Kenya's ramping up support of its women's sportspeople. 

Two Arab-majority parties are set to win a historic 19 seats in total, amid a record turnout at the polls in Israel on Tuesday. Voters from the community, descendants of Palestinians who stayed after Israel's creation and who make up around 20 percent of the population, have been enraged by the Netanyahu government's ultra-nationalist Jewish vision for the country and the Palestinian territories. FRANCE 24's Emerald Maxwell reports.

Alvin Hellerstein, a top US judge who was handling the trial against deposed Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro and previously oversaw lawsuits stemming from the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and multiple cases involving President Donald Trump, died on Wednesday aged 92.

Brazil's defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro arrived in Florida by private plane Wednesday after fleeing his country in defiance of a court order to surrender his passport. Bolsonaro, who lost a runoff election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday, is under investigation in Brazil for alleged corruption and money laundering and, with his defeat, is set to lose parliamentary immunity. FRANCE 24's international affairs editor Kethevane Gorjestani explains.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Vitalii Kim, Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine. “If Europe will not support us, we also will fight because it's our motherland,” says Kim, insisting that Ukraine's determination to resist Russian aggression will endure regardless of the outcome of negotiations over European financial assistance. Yet behind this assertion of national resolve lies a more complex reality: a country confronting not only the immediate pressures of war, but also its mounting psychological, social and institutional consequences.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Vitalii Kim, Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine. “If Europe will not support us, we also will fight because it's our motherland,” says Kim, insisting that Ukraine's determination to resist Russian aggression will endure regardless of the outcome of negotiations over European financial assistance. Yet behind this assertion of national resolve lies a more complex reality: a country confronting not only the immediate pressures of war, but also its mounting psychological, social and institutional consequences.

Flavio Bolsonaro's clandestine escape to the United States bewildered Brazil and triggered a frantic search for his whereabouts. The Supreme Court had ordered the son of jailed ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro to forfeit his passports after his electoral loss on Sunday, amid fears he would leave the country due to ongoing investigations against him. But the defeated right-wing presidential candidate failed to hand them in, choosing instead to flee to the US via Argentina and Ecuador. FRANCE 24's Tim Vickery reports from Rio de Janeiro.

In Israel, the surprises only start with election night: they're still counting ballots in a vote that featured the highest turnout in decades, historic inroads by Arab parties, Benjamin Netanyahu’s worst result since 1999 and yet Israel’s longest-serving prime minister still has a path to staying in power. As we await the definitive makeup of the next parliament, our panel breaks out the calculators and pie charts: in what scenario does Netanyahu survive? Is the issue with the right-wing Likud leader or his policies? 

A high-speed train collision south of Madrid killed 68 people and injured scores more on Wednesday, with the toll likely to rise, authorities said, in one of Europe's deadliest such disasters this century. The second such accident to strike Spain this year will raise fresh questions about the country's rail safety, with the transport minister speaking of an "error" and "inexplicable circumstances" that led to the collision. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports from Urda, south of Madrid.

Erin Ogunkeye is pleased to welcome Dr. Shira Efron, RAND's Distinguished Israel Policy Chair. “Many of us, myself included, underestimated the extent of the fracture in Israeli society.” It reflects a political system in which ideological polarisation, the rightward shift of the Jewish electorate and the contested legitimacy of Arab political participation have sharply narrowed the possibilities for coalition-building. Dr. Efron illustrates a political landscape in which Netanyahu’s governing bloc has lost ground, yet still has “more cards, or better cards, to play,” she argues, whether through another election, a national unity government or attempts to draw opposition partners into his orbit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to woo African leaders and government delegates on Wednesday as they gathered in Moscow for the third Russia-Africa Summit to discuss trade, security, arms deals and grain supplies as part of the Kremlin's strategic efforts to expand its footprint in Africa.

Influential US labour union co-founder, feminist, and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta died on Wednesday in Bakersfield, California, her family said. Credited with coining the enduring "Si, se puede!" rallying cry later adapted by former US president Barack Obama, Huerta continued her activism on race, poverty, LGBTQ and women's rights issues until the last months of her life. 

Brazil's defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro and his immediate family landed in Miami, Florida on Wednesday after he refused to surrender his passports as ordered by his country's Supreme Court in connection with a money-laundering probe. The US State Department on Tuesday announced it had granted entry visas to the senator and his family. France 24's Kethevane Gorjestani explains. 

Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to face greater constraints as Israel’s caretaker prime minister following Tuesday’s election. However, experts say his government could retain significant powers, including the authority to wage war against Iran. So what impact will the election have on Israel’s approach to Iran? France 24’s International Affairs Editor Angela Diffley shares further insights. 

It has been five days since a gunman opened fire in the Paris suburb of Trappes in a racist attack that left one person dead and five others injured. Over the weekend, hundreds of people marched through the town to pay tribute to the 26-year-old victim, Bossio Wangi, and show solidarity with his family. The attack has left a deep mark on the local community, and mediators have been mobilised to provide support. Eliza Herbert reports.

Brazilian Senator ​Flavio Bolsonaro and his family arrived in Miami on Wednesday, where the United States government granted them ​entry visas after he refused to comply with a Brazilian Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. Bolsonaro lost Sunday's presidential election to leftist incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The outbreak of fighting between rival forces in southern Ethiopia last week has led some 50,000 people to seek refuge in neighbouring Kenya, the United Nations said Wednesday, citing local authorities.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed the nation from the site of the train collision in Toledo province, expressing his full solidarity with the victims, their families and all those injured in the tragedy. Earlier, Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a computer malfunction had disrupted the railway’s safety system. He said the RENFE train had been instructed to resume its journey despite an active stop signal, before crashing into the stationary IRYO train. The collision on Wednesday killed at least 64 people and injured 58 others. Rescue teams continue to search the wreckage for survivors and bodies. It is Spain’s second deadly high-speed rail collision this year, following a January crash that killed 46 people.