World

Robert Fico is a populist leader who staged a political comeback last year. The 59-year-old has previously been compared to former US president Donald Trump. But his election victory last autumn meant NATO also had another leader who was sympathetic to Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Robert Fico in ‘life-threatening condition’ after assassination attempt – follow live

A suspected drug boss nicknamed “The Fly” is at the centre of police manhunt after escaping from a prison van in France. Two prison officers were killed and three others seriously wounded when a convoy transporting prisoner Mohamed Amra from court to jail was ambushed near Rouen in Normandy by gunmen wearing balaclavas. Image: Mohamed

Two prison officers have been killed after an attack on a convoy carrying an inmate – with the convict reportedly on the run. Three other people are seriously injured after the reported “ramming car attack” on a motorway in Incarville in the northwestern France region of Eure. Footage from the scene shows two hooded men

Watching a live drone feed, it was possible to make out three people running down a street in a frontline town in northeastern Ukraine. “Are they Russians?” I asked a Ukrainian soldier, who was also on the ground in Vovchansk and was showing us the footage from a secret location as we spoke to him

He is the puppet master of Georgian politics – a man of fabulous wealth and extraordinary power.  And Georgian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili is the focus of intense opposition as unrest sweeping his country reaches boiling point. From humble origins, he left Georgia to accumulate immense wealth in Russia through close ties with Putin’s chosen few,

Tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets of Tbilisi, kicking off a week of rolling protests against a Putinesque new law threatening press and civic freedoms. Massive crowds lined both embankments of the Kura River and the streets and parks beyond. The demonstrators see their country at a crossroads. They oppose a new

Russia has reopened a major front in its war with Ukraine in a move that will stretch Kyiv’s already undermanned and outgunned forces as they wait for Western weapons. The Russian military unleashed a ferocious barrage of artillery and airstrikes in the early hours of Friday morning as ground troops attempted the most significant incursion

Flames and black smoke chugged from the windows of a two-storey apartment block in a frontline Ukrainian town. Residents said a Russian missile or bomb had punched a large crater into the soil in front of the building, devastating their homes. The attack had only happened a short while ago and the scene on Saturday

Russia’s defence minister is set to be replaced, more than two years into the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed replacing his long-time ally, Sergei Shoigu, with civilian and former deputy prime minister Andrei Belousov, who specialises in economics. Mr Shoigu, who has served as defence minister since 2012, will take up

The European Hospital, in southern Gaza, is a dangerous place to be.  The facility is the only remaining hospital east of the city of Rafah and an Israeli military operation has come perilously close to its doors. It was a hazardous time then, for three British medics to begin a short placement, arriving at the

Russian forces launched a surprise attack early on Friday in an attempt to open a new front in the war. Vovchansk – a town 5km from Ukraine’s border with Russia – was one of its targets. The Russian forces reportedly advanced 1km before Ukrainian reinforcements held them off. Sky’s Deborah Haynes was there. Terror and

When Nahed Abu Eyada woke up on Monday morning, flyers were littering the streets outside her flat in Rafah. The flyers, dropped by Israeli planes, warned of a coming offensive and ordered residents to evacuate the city’s eastern districts. Hours later, the bombing started. Nahed, 42, was staying in the Tal al Sultan neighbourhood, more

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Israel will “stand alone” if it has to in its war against Hamas, after the US threatened to stop sending some weapons to its ally. President Joe Biden earlier said the US would halt offensive munitions supplies to Israel if it attacks the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Israeli prime

Setting red lines is all very well, as long as you follow through when they are crossed. President Joe Biden knows that all too well. But he also knows that if he follows through on this big new red line of withholding offensive weapons for Israel it could cost him dearly domestically. The push-me-pull-you balance

The mother of two Australian surfers allegedly shot dead by thieves in Mexico says “the world has become a darker place for us” after their deaths. The bodies of brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and American Jack Carter Rhoad were found south of Ensenada in northern Mexico last week, after the men went missing on

There are moments, more than others, that scream the humiliation of it all. Take this, before Tuesday’s proceedings got under way. “No descriptions of genitalia or anything but it’s important to elicit that she had sex with him.” It was the prosecution’s assurance prior to questioning Stormy Daniels after Donald Trump’s lawyers had objected, in

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed the name of the contractor running the Ministry of Defence’s payroll system that was hacked by China. Mr Shapps told parliament that SSCL (Shared Services Connected Ltd) is the contractor and their work is being reviewed across government following the cyber attack – which China has denied. Politics Live:

Israel has rejected a ceasefire proposal accepted by Hamas and announced it is pushing ahead with an assault on the town of Rafah in southern Gaza. The Israeli military said it was conducting “targeted strikes” against Hamas in the east of the city, which is the group’s final stronghold in Gaza. Soon after Israeli tanks

A week that started with cautious optimism for a breakthrough in negotiations between Israel and Hamas has ended, perhaps unsurprisingly, with the prospect of peace in Gaza looking as distant as ever. It has taken two days of talks in Cairo, with a delegation from Hamas – and intermediaries from Egypt, Qatar and the United

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected ceasefire proposals because he says Hamas’s call for a withdrawal of all troops from Gaza and an end to the war is unacceptable. Mr Netanyahu said agreeing to such proposals would “leave Hamas intact” and leave the possibility of another attack in future. “Surrendering to the demands of