World

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has been while giving a speech in the western city of Nara, according to reports. Public broadcaster NHK said he appeared to be in a state of cardiac arrest. The channel said shots were heard and a white puff of smoke was seen as Mr Abe made a campaign

Weapons supplied by the West are starting to have an impact on the war in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Ukrainian fighters are making “tangible strikes” on Russian logistical targets, the president revealed in his nightly video message, adding that strikes were affecting Moscow’s offensive potential. He said: “The Western artillery – the weapons we

The heads of MI5 and the FBI have used an unprecedented joint speech to warn that China is their biggest “game-changing challenge”, with the UK doubling efforts to combat Chinese threats. Christopher Wray, the director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, said Beijing is drawing lessons from Russia‘s war in Ukraine. Talking about the Chinese

Beijing will introduce a vaccine mandate for certain venues – the first of its kind in China since the start of the pandemic, as the country deals with the recent arrival of the highly contagious Omicron BA.5 variant. The Beijing Health Commission announced that from next week anyone entering libraries, museums, cinemas, art galleries, sports

Rescuers have found body parts in the search for hikers missing after a powerful avalanche killed at least seven people in Italy. Officials initially feared 13 hikers were still missing on the Marmolada glacier, east of Bolzano in the Dolomite mountains, but the province of Trento reduced the number to five after eight others checked

Whenever Oleksiy was planning a trip from his home in the occupied region of Kherson, he would come prepared with a “legend” for the journey, a persona that helped him avoid suspicion at Russian checkpoints. He found playing the character of an elderly Russian farmer worked best. He brought props to back up his story

Increasing number of pictures are appearing on Ukrainian social media showing a US-made rocket launcher being used against Russian targets. At the start of June, the US Department of Defence said it would be sending four HIMAR systems to Ukraine to help the country defend itself from attack. It said Ukrainian soldiers would be trained

Russian troops are ratcheting up their efforts to secure full control of the entire Donbas area in eastern Ukraine – and from what we have witnessed, there’s very little which is going to stop them right now. A huge chunk of the industrial heartland has already fallen to the Russian military, allowing President Vladimir Putin

At least two people are reported to have been killed in a shooting at a July Fourth parade in a Chicago suburb, with witnesses describing seeing bloodied bodies covered with blankets. Local news channel WGN TV, citing unidentified police officer, said at least two people were killed and that the suspect was still at large. According

Police in Denmark say several people have been hit by gunshots at a shopping mall in Copenhagen. The shooting took place at the Field’s shopping centre, one of the largest in Scandinavia. “One person has been arrested in connection with the shootings,” Copenhagen police tweeted, adding: “We currently cannot reveal more about the person’s identity.”

Pro-Moscow separatists say they have taken control of Lysychansk, Ukraine’s last bastion in the eastern province of Luhansk. Rodion Miroshnik, ambassador to Russia of the pro-Moscow Luhansk People’s Republic, told Russian television: “Lysychansk has been brought under control. Unfortunately, it is not yet liberated.” Russian media showed footage of Luhansk militia fighters marching in the

More than two dozen crew members are missing from a ship which snapped in half after being hit by a tropical storm. Workers were forced to abandon the industrial vessel which sank after Typhoon Chaba unleashed perilous conditions in the South China Sea, hampering rescue efforts. Dramatic aerial footage showed people being hoisted into a

Two British men detained by Kremlin forces in separatist-held eastern Ukraine have been charged with “mercenary activities”, according to Russian state media. Dylan Healy, 22, and Andrew Hill, 35, were both reported to have been captured in April. Mr Healy, from Cambridgeshire, was working for British non-profit organisation Presidium Network when he was seized at

Two women have been arrested after trying to smuggle 109 live animals out of Thailand in their luggage. Officers discovered 35 turtles, 50 chameleons, 20 snakes, two white porcupines and two armadillos in their bags. The pair were trying to board a Thai Airways flight to India, and suspicions were raised following what was meant

There’s fighting everywhere in Lysychansk city, the last Ukrainian holdout in the east. The artillery sounds never stop as the city is pounded by the Russians. The city goes to sleep with the constant rumble of war. We can hear it above ground from the basement where we’ve spent the night sheltering with families. And

Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has defended Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, insisting he would “take a bullet” for the Russian leader. Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday morning, Mr Ecclestone described Mr Putin as “sensible” and “a first class person” who “believed he was doing the right thing for Russia”. “Unfortunately he’s

The woman whose photograph of her burnt and screaming in pain became the image of the Vietnam War has had her final skin treatment, 50 years after an American bombing raid changed her life forever. In 1972, a photojournalist captured the moment the then 9-year-old Kim Phuc Phan Ti was seen running down a road,

NATO has confirmed that Sweden and Finland will be formally invited to join the military alliance as it vowed to “significantly strengthen” its “deterrence and defence” in a “new strategic concept”. It also warned Russia that it must “immediately” withdraw from Ukraine, condemning the conflict in the “strongest possible terms”. It added that Moscow’s invasion

The trial of 20 men accused of carrying out one of the worst peace-time terror attacks in Europe is expected to conclude in Paris later on Wednesday. The men, all suspected Islamic State terrorists, are accused of killing 130 people and injuring hundreds more in coordinated attacks on 13 November 2015. Within minutes of each,

The Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian shopping centre amounts to a war crime, according to the G7. On Monday, two air strikes in the city of Kremenchuk left at least 18 people dead and dozens injured. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said shortly after the attack that more than 1,000 civilians were inside the mall at