World

China’s foreign minister has warned of likely conflict should the US continue its “reckless” approach to relations with Beijing. Qin Gang said rising tensions between the two powers were the fault of Washington, with last month’s downing of a suspected surveillance balloon the latest flashpoint. The mysterious reconnaissance aircraft was taken out on the orders

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his top military commanders have pledged to continue defending the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut in the face of intense Russian pressure. The Ukrainian president said the generals agreed at a meeting to strengthen the defences and the top brass would “find the appropriate forces to help our guys” there. It comes

Temperatures have reached 40C in parts of eastern Australia as an autumn heatwave saw fires threaten properties and forced schools to be closed. Sydney recorded its hottest day in more than two years with temperatures reaching 37.6 (99.7F) as nearly 40 bushfires broke out, while many people flocked to the beach to enjoy the hot

Dozens of Israeli air force reservists will refuse to turn up to training drills in protest over controversial plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country’s legal system. Demonstrations have taken place nationwide for nine weeks running because of the proposals, which critics have warned would limit the power of judges and weaken

After 15 years of disagreement, failures and stalled formal and informal talks, there is finally a UN high seas treaty that will help to protect vast swathes of the planet’s oceans. The legally binding agreement was reached after five rounds of protracted United Nations-led negotiations that ended in New York on Saturday, a day after

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s longstanding foreign minister, provoked laughter from an audience at an international conference in India when he attempted to portray his country as the victim of the war in Ukraine. Addressing the Raisina Dialogue, an event in New Delhi that debates the major challenges facing the world in politics and economics and one

When Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury city centre – five years ago to this day – few would have known that a huge diplomatic crisis was about to erupt. Mr Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer turned British double agent, had been targeted with the deadly

A sixth person has been arrested in connection with the murder of a Hong Kong model whose dismembered legs were found inside a fridge. Abby Choi was a model and influencer who shared her glamorous life of photoshoots and fashion shows with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. The 28-year-old was reportedly last seen more

A mother who killed her five children has been euthanised at her own request – 16 years to the day after their murders, her lawyer has said. Genevieve Lhermitte slit the throats of her son and daughters – aged three to 14 – with a kitchen knife at their family home in the Belgian town

I’ve been to Huwara many times, but never seen it like this. Driving in feels like you’re nearing the frontline of a war. The streets, normally heaving with shoppers and cars parked bumper-to-bumper, are now quiet. The shops are all closed, metal shutters pulled down. There are Israeli soldiers everywhere. The IDF (Israeli Defence Forces)

The police wave us through. We are allowed to drive off the motorway, down a rutted track and into a field, and there, in front of us, is a sight at once extraordinary and terrible. A railway carriage, slumped on its side, its windows broken. The graffiti is still all over the paintwork, like a

At least 43 people have died in a train crash in Greece, with the country’s prime minister saying the disaster appeared to be mainly down to “tragic human error”. The search continues for survivors after a passenger service collided with a freight train carrying shipping containers and travelling in the opposite direction but on the

At least 36 people have been killed and dozens injured after two trains crashed head-on at high speed in Greece. A passenger train travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki collided with a freight train outside Larissa just before midnight. The collision occurred as the passenger train emerged from a tunnel near the

Police are searching a landfill site as they investigate the murder of a Hong Kong model whose dismembered legs were found inside a fridge. More than 100 officers wearing protective suits used excavators and shovels to search for Abby Choi’s hands and torso which remain missing. A young woman’s skull, which is believed to be

The US has asked Mexico to extradite Ovidio Guzman, son of notorious drug boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Two Mexican government sources told Reuters news agency that the US government wants the younger Guzman to face criminal charges in a US court. The 32-year-old has been charged in the US with conspiracy to traffic cocaine,

The scarred and battered mining town of Vuhledar sits perched on a hill in the Donetsk region. It comes into view as we make our way along boggy farm tracks. It’s a desolate place of burned out buildings, another casualty of this gruesome war. It’s held by Ukraine but is being attacked continuously by Russian