World

Police reinforcements have been arriving in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia as part of a major security crackdown following days of deadly rioting. An extra 1,000 personnel have been sent to the archipelago in addition to the 1,700 already deployed, after France imposed a state of emergency to tackle the unrest, which included

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is “under missile attack”, its mayor has said. Ihor Terekhov made his comment not long after regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least five Russian drones had struck the northeastern city late on Thursday. Mr Terekhov said the city’s Osnovyanskyi district had been hit, triggering a fire. It is unclear whether

Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked Xi Jinping for China’s efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The two leaders met in Beijing where the Chinese president said he hoped Europe will return to peace and stability soon. Ukraine war latest:Putin in China; Russia advancing Image: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchange

You’ve heard of the transatlantic ‘Special Relationship’. This is the “No Limits” partnership – a term coined when Vladimir Putin visited Beijing in February 2022. It was just days before he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A lot’s changed for Russia since then, of course. It’s now an international pariah. One thing that hasn’t

Robert Fico: A divisive figure sympathetic to Putin Robert Fico is a populist 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 its first leader who was sympathetic to Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Critics have voiced

An Australian doctor who applied his own pioneering research on melanoma to the incurable brain cancer he was diagnosed with almost a year ago is still cancer-free. University of Sydney Professor Richard Scolyer said he “couldn’t be happier” after the results of a recent MRI showed there was still no sign of recurrence of his

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,

Police in Amsterdam have moved in to end a pro-Palestinian protest after demonstrators occupied university buildings. Footage from the Dutch capital showed a line of officers in riot gear holding back demonstrators, some of whom could be seen making peace signs with their hands while others held signs. Students could be heard chanting “we are

A deluge of cold lava and mudslides have killed 43 people in Indonesia after monsoon rains triggered flash flooding. Another 15 people are missing after the landslides and rain also caused a river to breach its banks, according to the authorities. Nearly 200 homes and buildings were buried or damaged as the extreme conditions swept

Russia was able to open a new front in northeastern Ukraine because of delays in the supply of Western weapons to the frontline, the head of the region under attack has claimed. Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, rejected criticism about an alleged lack of Ukrainian fortifications on a long border shared with Russia, insisting

Elections bring out the best but also the worst of democracy. The long seven-phase process that stretches for 44 days is fraught with the menace of communal friction. India is now more polarised than before, with an ever-widening gap between the majority Hindus and minority Muslim population. Over the last 10 years fault lines have

Novak Djokovic says he will have medical tests after being struck on the head by a metal water bottle and then suffering a shock exit at the Italian Open. The world number one said how he felt on court on Sunday was “completely like a different player entered into my shoes. Just no rhythm, no

Russia claims its troops have seized control of four more Ukrainian villages as intense fighting continues in the Kharkiv region. Ukraine‘s military chief said on Sunday its forces are doing all they can to hold the line in Kharkiv – with Moscow claiming another five villages on Saturday – but they are facing a “difficult

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

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

Switzerland has won Eurovision, topping the leaderboard in a competition fraught with last-minute changes and backstage incidents. Non-binary performer Nemo used their childhood opera experience to pull together an impressive performance mixing rap, rock, drum ‘n bass and classical opera, as well as balancing on a revolving disc spinning at speed as they sang. The

Israel has called on residents from more areas of Rafah in the Gaza Strip to evacuate and head to the “expanded humanitarian area” as it prepares to ramp up its military assault. Despite heavy US pressure, Israel has said it will proceed with an assault on the southern city, where more than 1.4 million people

Russian forces will push into the heart of Ukraine if they succeed in capturing the frontline town of Chasiv Yar and the wider Donbas region, a Ukrainian governor has warned. Vadym Filashkin, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, told Sky News his country’s soldiers would not allow this to happen and would do “everything possible

It’s hard to overstate the importance of Victory Day in Russia, which marks the anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The patriotic fervour has been building for the past fortnight. Moscow has been coloured red with giant flags on almost every corner. Buses, rubbish lorries and even tractors bear some reference to