World

Vladimir Putin was “playing hockey” at the weekend, the Kremlin has said, dismissing rumours the Russian president may be suffering from a secret medical illness. Barely a day has passed without fresh speculation about the health and welfare of the Russian leader since his country’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine news live: First Russian vessel destroyed

A Russian journalist awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has sold his medal for £84 million – and donated the money to Ukrainian refugee children. Dmitry Muratov, editor of the Russian Novaya Gazeta newspaper fiercely critical of the Kremlin, was jointly awarded the prize last year with fellow journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines. But on

The Israeli government has collapsed, sparking fresh elections and a possible return to power for Benjamin Netanyahu. After weeks of speculation, the current Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced the government would submit a bill to dissolve the Knesset next week, thereby ending Israel’s 36th government, assuming it passes. Mr Bennett’s coalition partner, the current

The ward for severely malnourished children was full. They were putting patients on mattresses on the floor. One-year-old Mohamed was having a nasal drip inserted to make sure he gets vitally-needed fluids. On the bed above him another Mohamed was being examined. Just two months old, he was born two months premature. He is his

Deep in the woods in eastern Ukraine, a tank unit has hidden itself underneath the trees.  Their giant machines, which include Soviet-era T-72s and a more advanced T-84 are protected by summer foliage in a luxurious stand, the plump leaves blocking out most of the light. Still, that is not enough to reassure the tank

Dozens of people have died and millions of homes are underwater following huge floods in north-eastern India and Bangladesh. At least 59 people have been killed according to the AFP news agency. Lightning storms have killed at least 21 people in Bangladesh, while the remainder were lost to floods, lightning and landslides in India, the

Boris Johnson has said he hopes Ukraine will be able to host next year’s Eurovision song contest, after the country was ruled out due to the war with Russia. Ukraine won this year’s contest, but the event’s organisers said the 2023 edition could not go ahead in the war-torn country, with the UK being considered

It’s dark in the bunker and the air is thick with smoke. There is not much room to move around with wooden crates full of weapons and cigarettes stacked in every available space. The living conditions are hardly ideal but the commander of Ukraine’s Svoboda or Freedom Battalion does not seem worried. His name is

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the United States acts as if it is “sent by God to Earth with their sacred interests” in a combative speech delivered at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday. He vowed that nothing will be as it used to be in global politics and accused the US of

Russia has “strategically lost” the war in Ukraine and is a “more diminished power”, the head of the UK’s armed forces has said. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said Vladimir Putin had lost 25% of Russia’s land power for only “tiny” gains. And while Russia may achieve “tactical successes” in the coming weeks, he said any

The wife of a British journalist killed in the Amazon has said his family can “say goodbye with love” after his body was found. The remains of Dom Phillips and his companion, indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, were found near where the pair disappeared on 5 June, the Brazilian justice minister Anderson Torres said. A suspect

The main suspect in the killings of a British journalist and indigenous expert has confessed to fatally shooting them in a remote part of the Amazon, police have said. Police told reporters that the suspect confessed on Tuesday night and also took officers to the spot where the bodies of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira

After months of fighting and a brutal artillery duel, much of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine has been deserted by those who lived here. There are few pedestrians and even fewer shops and services to be seen. When you do see traffic, it is generally connected to the war. Tanks and troop carriers –

Russia has demanded that Ukrainian forces holed up in a Severodonetsk chemical plant lay down their weapons and surrender this morning. It comes as Moscow’s forces inch closer to gaining control of the strategically important city – one of the last in the Donbas region that they have yet to win. Ukraine has said that

Pope Francis has said the war in Ukraine was “perhaps in some way provoked or not impeded”. While condemning “the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops”, he said “we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved” – including the armaments industry among the factors that provide incentives for war.

All bridges to the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk are now impassable, making it impossible to get civilians out and humanitarian aid in. Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region, which includes Severodonetsk, said that Russians had destroyed two of the three bridges connecting the city with Lysychansk, and the third is old and unsafe. Mr

The Court of Appeal has ruled the first deportation flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda can go ahead tomorrow. Rights campaigners have argued that the government policy is inhumane and will put migrants at risk. But officials have said the strategy will deter people from making dangerous Channel crossings from France in flimsy small boats

Throughout the war in Ukraine, Russia has carried out consistent attacks on the country’s rail system. Ukraine‘s state-owned railway, Ukrzaliznytsia, is the country’s largest employer with over 200,000 staff across 233,000 square miles. During the war it has been a lifeline for millions of people who fled the country and has proved essential to Ukraine’s

Rwanda is a densely populated country of 13 million people and the capital Kigali is bursting with life and energy. With a compulsory monthly street clean and a ban on single use plastics, parts of the country are pristine and picturesque. The east African nation is now getting ready to welcome the first group of

Morocco has banned controversial British film The Lady Of Heaven over its “blatant falsification of established facts in Islamic history”. UK cinema chain Cineworld has already cancelled screenings of the film after protests over its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter Lady Fatimah. Now the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre (CCM) has issued a statement to say