World

Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have joined world leaders in congratulating Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his election win. In a letter to president Erdogan celebrating his narrow run-off victory on Sunday, Mr Putin addressed the Turkish leader as “Dear Friend” and praised his efforts at strengthening Russian-Turkish relations. “From the bottom of my

Paris St Germain goalkeeper Sergio Rico is in intensive care following a riding accident. The French football club confirmed reports that Rico is in the ICU at a hospital in Seville. The 29-year-old Spaniard joined PSG in 2020 after a season-long loan at the club. He previously played in the Premier League with Fulham. Advertisement

Serbia has condemned NATO-led peacekeepers in neighbouring Kosovo for allegedly failing to stop “brutal actions” by Kosovo’s police against ethnic Serbs. More than a dozen people were injured in violent clashes on Friday. The violence erupted when ethnic Serbs tried to block recently elected Albanian mayors from entering local government buildings. Police fired tear gas

The 41-degree heat rises like steam from every rock and roof but as sunset approaches the sky breaks into a thunderstorm. A woman, deep in a latrine, pauses her digging to run under a corrugated zinc roof held up by a square wooden frame for shelter from the rain. It is her new home in

F-16s are on the way to Ukraine. US President Joe Biden‘s approval of the move at the G7 conference will certainly provide Ukraine with some much-needed aerial firepower – but combat air power is heavily dependent on modern technology and some F-16s are vintage jets. When the F-16 Fighting Falcon first flew in the late

Brian Laundrie’s mother offered him “a shovel and garbage bags” if he needed to dispose of a body, according to a “burn after reading” letter, court documents show. The parents of Laundrie’s fiancee Gabby Petito have been given the letter after a Florida judge denied a request from his parents to withhold it. The Petitos

The head of the Wagner Group says his forces have started pulling out of Bakhmut and are handing over control to the Russian military. It comes days after Yevgeny Prigozhin said mercenaries from his private military had captured the city in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine war latest: British troops ‘to prevent Russian invasion’ of European country

Police are photographing an excavation site near the banks of a remote reservoir in Portugal as the new search for Madeleine McCann enters a third day. Teams were seen early on Thursday cutting wood on the banks of a reservoir 30 miles from where the toddler went missing in the Algarve in May 2007. Officers

A group claiming to be behind a recent strike in the Russian border region of Belgorod have said they will launch more incursions in future. Denis Kapustin (also known as Denis Nikitin), the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, was speaking on the Ukrainian side of the border with Russia a day after his group

A 95-year-old grandmother who was tasered by a police officer has died, Australian police have confirmed. Clare Nowland, who had dementia, died in Cooma Hospital, New South Wales, where she was receiving palliative care, one week after being tasered and fracturing her skull. It comes just after detectives charged Senior Constable Kristian White with three

When Nasreen was just a young child, she saw her 12 -year-old sister forced into marriage, and her mother warned her she would be next. At the age of around nine, with the help of a male cousin, she fled her small rural Nepalese village – she can’t say exactly how old she was because

Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr has renewed his attack on La Liga and the Spanish authorities, revealing he received death threats this season. It comes as Real Madrid have lodged a hate crime complaint with Spanish prosecutors after the Brazilian player was targeted with racist abuse during their away game against Valencia over the weekend.

The search of a reservoir by police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will begin this morning. Officers will begin working within hours at the Arade dam, which is located about 31 miles (50km) from where the British toddler went missing in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, 16 years ago. British police will also

China poses “the biggest challenge” to global security, Rishi Sunak has said at the end of a G7 summit. The Prime Minister added: “China poses the biggest challenge of our age to global security and prosperity, they are increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad.” “This is all about de-risking, not de-coupling.” Advertisement

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said “there is nothing left” in Bakhmut, as Russia claimed control of the city after months of fierce fighting which has left it in ruins. The country’s president said the invading forces had “destroyed everything”. Mr Zelenskyy was speaking alongside US President Joe Biden at the G7 summit in Hiroshima,

The US has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to enhance the country’s air defence in the wake of a barrage of Russian missiles. But how many will be delivered, and which countries will provide them? US President Joe Biden authorised Western allies to give advanced F-16 fighter jets – a move the UK,

As Western supplies of high-tech weapons flow into Ukraine in preparation for the anticipated spring offensive, Russia is also trying to bolster its arsenal. It has resorted to trading SU-35 fighter jets to Iran in return for continued supply of Iranian Shahid 136 attack drones, and also fielded state-of-the-art missile systems for the first time.

“It really hurts to think about Azovstal,” Yevgen says, remembering how bombs rained down as defenders made their last stand inside the steelworks. “Not all of us came back.” It was a desperate situation. Medical staff worked around the clock treating the wounded in a bunker, as fighters outside mounted fierce resistance against appalling odds.

It is a long, nervy and treacherous walk to the frontline trenches around Bakhmut. As we make our way through woodland, the war crashes and booms around us. Although Ukraine has made small gains in the open ground around the flanks, its hold inside the city is looking increasingly desperate. Ukraine war latest live as

Rishi Sunak will announce a ban on Russian diamonds coming to Britain as the prime minister and other G7 leaders step up sanctions against Putin. The diamond ban is part of a wider package of sanctions as the prime minister and allies use the annual G7 summit in Tokyo to redouble support for Ukraine. Sanctions