World

The image of Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi being released from Gaza a little over two weeks ago, looking gaunt and weak, shocked and angered Israel and leaders around the world. His brother Sharon, who fought for months to secure his release, has told Sky News that Eli was tortured by Hamas and barely saw daylight

How much have America, Britain and the rest paid Ukraine in aid since the Russian invasion? And do they have any hope of getting money back in return? These are big questions, and they’re likely to dominate much of the discussion in the coming months as Donald Trump pressurises his Ukrainian counterparts for a deal

Pope Francis’s health has shown a “slight improvement” but he remains in a critical condition, the Vatican has said. The Pope, 88, has been at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital since 14 February and is being treated for double pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. In a statement on Monday evening, the Vatican said: “The clinical conditions of the

In a strictly military sense, the war in Ukraine is not going so badly for Kyiv.  Russian territorial gains on the ground have slowed to a crawl since last November for which they are losing, on average, some 1,500 men every day. They have almost – but still not quite – taken Toretsk. And after

Ukraine’s president has said he would step down in return for peace and NATO membership for his country. “If (it means) peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a news conference. “I can exchange this for NATO [membership], if that condition is there,

Pope Francis is still receiving a high flow of oxygen – but has suffered no further crisis, Vatican sources have said. The sources added the Pope is eating normally, and that clinical tests are ongoing. The 88-year-old has been at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for more than a week as he receives treatment for double pneumonia

The US is “with” Ukraine and any deal to end the fighting with Russia should ensure there is no “next war”, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Kyiv and Moscow has said. Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg’s comments, on a visit to a Ukrainian military hospital on Friday, are in stark contrast to the aggressive rhetoric

The Pope will not lead Sunday prayers for the second week running, the Vatican has said.  The 88-year-old has been in hospital for more than a week being treated for double pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. In an update on Saturday morning – the shortest since Francis was admitted to hospital on 14 February – the

A newly discovered bat coronavirus could at some point spread to humans like COVID-19, Chinese researchers have found. The virus, HKU5-CoV-2, does not enter human cells as readily as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, the scientists reported in the journal Cell. However, they found that the bat virus uses the same cell-surface protein, ACE2, as SARS-CoV-2

The body of hostage Shiri Bibas has been returned, her family has confirmed. The remains were released by Hamas overnight and Israel’s army radio earlier said they had been identified as the Israeli mother-of-two. The radio station said that Ms Bibas was likely to have been killed while in captivity with her two young sons,

Pope Francis is “not out of danger” and will remain in hospital for at least one more week, doctors treating him have said. However, in their first in-person update a week after the pontiff was taken to hospital, medics have also said he was not at risk of death. Sergio Alfieri, the chief of the

The outgoing deputy commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon has been injured after protesters attacked a convoy near Beirut airport. Demonstrators have been blocking the road to the airport to protest against a decision to revoke permission for a passenger plane from Iran to fly to Beirut on Thursday. The move had left

With tripods and light-stands bashing the legs of world leaders, or at the very least their staff, TV crews squeeze up and down staircases overloaded with suits and military braids at an annual security conference in Munich. Speeches and panel sessions are the main public spectacle inside a luxury hotel surrounded by tight security, but

A drone with an explosive warhead has smashed a hole in the radiation shield at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine. The plant’s chief engineer, Alexander Titarchuk, said there was a “possibility of a leak of radioactive substances, but the situation is under control”. “The barrier which was supposed to prevent the spread of radioactive

We are witnessing one of the biggest shifts in geopolitics since the Second World War. This week one of the fundamental assumptions underpinning European security was put in doubt. American military might has underwritten the defence of Europe since 1945 – Donald Trump says that can no longer be America’s primary focus. Follow latest: Ukraine

The three hostages due to be released by Hamas later as part of its ceasefire deal with Israel have been named. Iair Horn, 46, US-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, and Russian-Israeli Alexandre (Sasha) Troufanov, 29 are set to be freed after 498 days in captivity. All three men were taken from the same hard-hit kibbutz

Ukraine is still on an “irreversible path” to joining NATO, Sir Keir Starmer has told Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The UK and Ukrainian leaders spoke on the phone early on Friday, according to Downing Street. The conversation came less than 24 hours after Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he didn’t see any way

This was the day Spain – but most of all Jenni Hermoso – had been waiting for. The day in court when Luis Rubiales would have to start answering questions about the kiss the player says tarnished the high point of Spanish women’s football. Amid the euphoria of the 2023 World Cup final, did the

The Gaza ceasefire will end if Hamas does not return Israeli hostages by midday on Saturday, Israel’s prime minister has said. It comes after Hamas said it would postpone Saturday’s planned release, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire. Trump latest: ‘We’re going to take Gaza’ under ‘US authority’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned

Sir Salman Rushdie has described in court the moment he was attacked on stage. The British-Indian author, who was stabbed as he was preparing to give a speech on 12 August 2022, took the stand in a New York courtroom to give evidence against the man charged over the attack. Rushdie, 77, was blinded in