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
World
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
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
Maryna Berlizova is sitting on her low bed, a photo of her youngest daughter taped to the wardrobe and a pram in the corner, overflowing with baby clothes. She is absent-mindedly stroking her tummy and looking out the window of her mother-in-law’s small three-bedroom house she now shares with her children. In a few weeks’
The treeline gives a little respite from the blazing sun and cover for the soldiers on the frontline. A spotter crouches, binoculars to his eyes, scanning the woods in the distance for movement. The Russian forces are close. Each side knows where the other is; the Russians used to occupy this small camp until they
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered his ministers to do “everything in their power” to secure the release of two Britons captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine and sentenced to death. Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were captured in Mariupol in April during the intense fight for control of the port city and were
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has raised the issue of two British men sentenced to death by a Russian-backed court with her Ukrainian counterpart. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was said to be “appalled” by the sentences handed to Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and has ordered ministers to do “everything in their power” to secure their
A Paris police chief has apologised for tear-gassing Liverpool fans at the Champions League final, adding “maybe I was wrong”. Some supporters were pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed as they tried to enter the Stade de France for the game between Liverpool and Real Madrid. Speaking at the French Senate on Thursday, police chief Didier Lallement said
Ukraine’s president says the fate of the Donbas hinges on “very brutal” fighting in Sievierodonetsk, a city that’s emerged as a key battleground in recent weeks. Russia is laying siege to the eastern city as it pursues its aim of capturing the sprawling Donbas region. “This is a very brutal battle, very tough, perhaps one
Fourteen children were injured and their teacher killed when a car was driven into a crowd of people in a busy Berlin street, German police have said. The children were from the central German state of Hesse. “Their teacher died at the scene,” Berlin police wrote on Twitter. “Their loved ones have been informed and
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and blockade of its ports is having a direct impact on food crises around the world, say charities. The World Food Programme has highlighted the impact on Somalia in particular. Spokesperson Petroc Wilton told Sky News the war is making a terrible situation even worse. He said: “Food prices were already
Angelina Jolie “sought to inflict harm” on her former husband Brad Pitt by selling her stake in a vineyard they co-owned to a Russian oligarch, legal documents claim. The sale helped launch a “hostile” takeover of the wine business that the Fight Club actor had “carefully built” and forced him into partnership with “a stranger
Russia has begun handing over the remains of Ukrainian fighters killed in the Azovstal steelworks, the scene of the last stand in the battle for Mariupol. Dozens of bodies from the complex and its maze of tunnels are being taken to Kyiv for DNA testing, according to an Azov Regiment spokeswoman and one of its