World

At least one person has been killed and dozens of others injured after a car was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germany, local media reports. News agency dpa said the driver had been arrested following the incident in the eastern city of Magdeburg, while AFP news agency reports 60-80 people have

Vladimir Putin has said Russia should have invaded Ukraine earlier, in a national address spanning more than four hours. Russia began the conflict with its neighbour in February 2022 and at his annual televised news conference, Mr Putin claimed the war has made Russia “stronger”. The decision to invade “should have been made earlier” he

It is a crime so brutal and depraved it defies words – so outside the court, they applaud instead. Warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual abuse Since September, people have lined the route in Avignon clapping as Gisele Pelicot walks past. It is a wordless act of support for the 72-year-old woman at the

A man who repeatedly drugged his then wife and invited strangers to rape her while she was unconscious has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after a historic mass trial. Dominique Pelicot, 72, had confessed to all the charges and admitted he mixed sedatives into the food and drink of his wife, Gisele Pelicot,

Ukraine cannot remove Russian troops from the land they occupy in the east of the country and Crimea, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has admitted. While Kyiv would never recognise Russia’s rule, he said diplomacy is the only option to get President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his army. It comes less than a month after he gave similar

A citizen from Uzbekistan has been detained over the killing of Russian nuclear forces general Igor Kirillov, Russia’s investigative committee has said. The committee says the suspect was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services. The senior general was killed on Tuesday by a bomb hidden in an electric scooter outside an apartment block in Moscow. His

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks, Reuters has reported. The news agency added, citing sources briefed on the meetings, that a deal is expected to be signed in the coming days. However, this wouldn’t be the first time there have been positive noises about a potential ceasefire, only

For Ukraine – pitched against Russia’s larger and more powerful military – the use of unconventional tactics such as assassinations is seen as a vital way to fight back. There is no official confirmation yet of who was behind the killing on Tuesday in Moscow of the head of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical defence

Bashar al Assad’s cousin has said Syria’s new leaders cannot be trusted to turn away from their extremist past and unite the country. Ribal al Assad, an exiled critic of his cousin, was scathing in his assessment of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) and claimed it was already committing killings of retribution. Referring to HTS

Former Syrian leader Bashar al Assad has issued his first statement since the fall of his regime. In a social media post, he claimed he had planned to keep fighting rebel forces before Russia evacuated him. The comments, the first in public since his regime was toppled more than a week ago, were made on

At least 54 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in different parts of Gaza on Sunday, including two schools, according to health officials in the besieged enclave. An airstrike in the southern city of Khan Younis hit a school, killing at least 16 people including several children, according to Nasser Hospital where bodies were taken.

Close to 1,000 people may have been killed after Cyclone Chido hit the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, the island’s top official has said. Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told local TV station la 1ere: “I think there are some several hundred dead, maybe we’ll get close to a thousand, even thousands… given

The billionaire founder of fashion chain Mango Isak Andic has died in a mountain accident today, according to police. The 71-year-old businessman reportedly slipped and fell from a 150-metre cliff while hiking with relatives in the Monserrat caves near Barcelona, a police spokesperson said. His family called the emergency services at about 12.30pm local time,

South Korea’s parliament is set to vote again on whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his short-lived attempt to declare martial law earlier this month. It was a decision that plunged the country into a constitutional crisis and triggered calls for Mr Yoon to step down on the grounds he had broken the

A popular Indian actor has been arrested after a woman died in a crush at the premiere of his latest movie Pushpa 2: The Rule. Allu Arjun, a top star in the Telugu film industry, also known as “Tollywood”, was making an appearance at the event in Hyderabad on 4 December when the incident happened.

An international charity which has rescued thousands of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea says it will stop using its rescue boat because new Italian laws “have made it impossible to continue”. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – has been using the Geo Barents vessel since June 2021 on a

Children are among the dead after an Israeli airstrike on a block of flats in a Gaza refugee camp killed at least 33 people, according to Hamas-run health authorities. The attack – which Israel said targeted a “senior terrorist” but may have caused a secondary blast – came hours after the US national security adviser

The Kremlin has praised Donald Trump after he criticised Ukraine’s use of US-supplied weapons for attacks deep in Russian territory. Western allies have provided Ukraine with air defence systems to help it protect critical infrastructure, but Russia has sought to overwhelm the air defences with combined strikes involving big numbers of missiles and drones. “It’s

Francois Bayrou is the new prime minister of France following Michel Barnier’s resignation. The centrist politician met President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace early this morning. The 73-year-old is a crucial partner in Macron’s centrist alliance and has been a well-known figure in French politics for decades. Image: Emmanuel Macron and Francois Bayrou. Pic:

Russia has established “direct contact” with Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) rebel group, according to state media outlet Interfax. It reported that deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov told journalists that Russia was aiming to maintain its military bases inside Syria. Mr Bogdanov said contact with HTS was “proceeding in constructive fashion” and that Moscow