Russia’s defence minister has accepted an invitation to meet his UK counterpart Ben Wallace amid fears that an invasion of Ukraine is “imminent”. The British defence secretary offered earlier this week to hold talks with Sergei Shoigu in London to discuss mutual security concerns, against heightened tensions with the Kremlin over its former Soviet neighbour.
World
It doesn’t matter that I lived in Russia and experienced its winters for a number of years. It doesn’t matter that I reported on the wintry months of the Ukrainian separatist uprising in 2014 into 2015. Because each time one comes back, the weather is as horrendous and painful as ever. Looking out across miles
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said that any movement of “Russian military forces across Ukraine’s border” will be met with a “swift, severe and united response”. He also warned Moscow’s “extensive playbook of aggression” would also be met with action – following his crunch talks with his counterpart foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, aimed
Austria’s parliament has approved a universal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for adults – the first of its kind in Europe. The mandate will come into force next month, with authorities writing to every household to inform them of the new rules. From mid-March, police will start checking people’s vaccination status during routine checks. Those who cannot
Britain’s armed forces have flown some 2,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine this week amid fears of an imminent, new Russian invasion. British surveillance aircraft have also been spotted. Open source flight-tracking software has plotted Royal Air Force C-17 transport aircraft flying back and forth between the UK and Ukraine. Image: A British military cargo C-17
The first planes carrying foreign aid have arrived in Tonga five days after the South Pacific island nation was hit by a tsunami following an undersea volcanic eruption. A state of emergency has now been declared in the wake of Saturday’s eruption and subsequent tsunami which killed at least three people and has devastated communities
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned Russia that the world is watching as Moscow continues military manoeuvres involving 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine. After talks with Ukraine’s government in Kyiv, America’s top diplomat said Russia could double that number in short order and launch an attack on its neighbour. Mr Blinken
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant, combined with the roll-out of up to 20bn doses of vaccine means the COVID-19 pandemic could be over this year, according to one of the world’s leading public health experts. But Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust and former SAGE adviser told Sky News that more
A battered army ambulance pulls up in the freezing, snowy yard of a long-since abandoned factory in eastern Ukraine that is now the headquarters of the army’s 24th battalion. The Soviet-era vehicle has been converted into a troop carrier; I say converted, in fact I mean everything has been torn out, plywood lines its
Satellite pictures have emerged showing Tonga covered in ash after a huge undersea volcano erupted. A plume of smoke can be seen rising from Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano in images taken before the eruption, with the volcanic island appearing to have all but disappeared afterwards. Australia and New Zealand sent military surveillance flights to assess damage to
The body of a British woman swept away by the tsunami in Tonga has been found, her brother has confirmed. Angela Glover, from Brighton, disappeared after an undersea volcano erupted near the country on Saturday, sending large tsunami waves crashing across the island’s shore. The 50-year-old’s family and friends had appealed for information on her
A series of website defacements in Ukraine this week were “cover for more destructive actions” according to a government official and a technical warning from Microsoft. The high-profile but ultimately ineffective defacements – which came with a fake ransomware notices, according to Microsoft – were immediately reported, but behind the scenes malicious software was really
Tsunami-hit Tonga has remained largely uncontactable due to telephone and internet links being severed. An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted yesterday, triggering warnings of 1.2-metre tsunami waves and evacuation orders on the shores of the island and several others in the South Pacific. The eruption caused internet and phone lines to go down at about
Novak Djokovic is set to be deported from Australia after losing a court appeal against the cancellation of his visa. Three Federal Court judges upheld a decision made on Friday by the immigration minister to cancel the unvaccinated tennis star’s visa on public interest grounds The full reasons behind the court’s unanimous ruling will be
Lake Annecy is so beautiful and peaceful that it is easy to imagine that bad things can’t happen here. Today, the mist is sitting over the water and, in the distance, there are mountains reaching into the sky. It’s picture postcard pretty in the actual sense that there are lots of postcards of this scene.
A tsunami alert has been issued by the Pacific nation of Tonga after an undersea volcano erupted. Video posted on social media platforms showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas. The Tonga Meteorological Services said a tsunami warning had been put in force for all of Tonga. It is the latest in a series