ISRAEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his far-right government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel’s long-running attacks on the channel.

Mr Netanyahu’s office said the decision goes into immediate effect and could include closing the channel’s offices in Israel, confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites.

CHINA: President Xi Jinping left Beijing today for state visits to France, Serbia and Hungary.

President Xi’s first stop will be Paris where, on Monday, he will meet French president Emmanuel Macron and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

The most symbolic stop on the tour will be Mr Xi’s visit to Belgrade, around the 25th anniversary of the United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in the Serbian capital. Three Chinese journalists were killed during the attack.

PANAMA: Panamanians headed to the polls today for a general election to choose the nation’s next president and vote for hundreds of lawmakers and officials.

More than three million voters will choose between eight candidates.

Jose Raul Mulino, a former minister who remained on the ticket after his running mate, popular ex-president Ricardo Martinelli, was barred from running due to a money laundering conviction, led in opinion polls running to polling day.

UNITED STATES: A driver died after a vehicle crashed into an outer perimeter gate of the White House complex, and the incident late on Saturday was being investigated as a traffic accident, police said. 

The male driver, who was not immediately identified, was found dead in the vehicle following the crash, according to a Secret Service statement.