World

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had a “huge impact on the course of world history” who found his “own solutions to urgent problems”, Vladimir Putin has said. Expressing his condolences to his family, the Russian president said in a statement: “He led our country during a period of complex, dramatic changes, large-scale foreign policy, economic and

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has died aged 91 – with Joe Biden leading tributes and calling him “a man of remarkable vision” who helped avert the prospect of nuclear war. One of the most significant figures of the 20th century, Mr Gorbachev was known for ending the Cold War without bloodshed, but failed to

The devastating floods in Pakistan are “probably the worst in the country’s history”, according to its prime minister, as the UN appeals for $160m (£136m) in emergency funding to help the nation. The floods have affected more than 33 million people, or one in seven Pakistanis. More than 1,150 have been killed, including over 300

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned Russia that his troops will “push them to the border” after Ukraine launched a counterattack to retake territory in the south. “We will push them to the border. To our border, the line of which has not changed. The invaders know it well,” said the Ukrainian president in his nightly address.

Ukrainian forces have begun an offensive operation against Russian troops in the Kherson region – a key, Russia-occupied part of southern Ukraine, two Ukrainian sources have told Sky News. There have been growing expectations that Ukrainian troops were planning to launch an operation to recapture Kherson, which was the first regional capital that Russia seized

Widespread floods in Pakistan that have killed more than 1,000 people since mid-June may not have reached their peak yet, experts have warned. All four of the country’s provinces have been hit by the unusually heavy rains, with over 30 million people affected. Flash floods have swept away villages, crops, and 800,000 livestock, as soldiers

A seven-year-old girl on holiday with her parents in Germany has died after a marble statue collapsed on her. Lavinia Trematerra, from Italy, was struck by the object weighing around 200kg (440lbs) in the courtyard of a hotel in Munich on Friday evening. People at the scene were able to free the child and call

Tens of thousands of people in Pakistan have been forced to flee their homes following deadly floods, as the country’s prime minister warned the “magnitude of the calamity is bigger” than expected. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in the floods since mid-June, which have been triggered by heavy monsoon rains. The latest destruction saw

Drones and rockets have been deployed in China to make clouds produce rainfall during a record-breaking heatwave and severe drought. The devices have been sowing silver iodide, which has a similar structure to ice, into clouds. Water droplets cluster around the particles, modifying the structure of the clouds and increasing the chance of rainfall. The

Residents near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are being handed iodine tablets in case of a radiation leak. The move comes two days after the plant was temporarily knocked offline because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission line. Iodine tablets, which help block the absorption of radioactive iodine by the thyroid

Pakistan wants international support to help with a “humanitarian disaster of epic proportions” as the death toll from months of flooding reached nearly 1,000. It comes amid exceptionally heavy rain that has been lashing the country since mid-June. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif met with foreign diplomats in the capital Islamabad to discuss damage caused by

Russia has put all Europeans “one step away” from a radiation disaster at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in a dire warning. The Ukrainian leader said the world narrowly avoided a catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia facility, which is being reportedly being used as a base by Kremlin troops. He blamed

Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia’s military to expand with another 137,000 personnel starting from next year. The announcement by the Russian president came a day after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine reached its six-month mark. Moscow has not revealed any losses in the conflict since the first weeks, but Western officials and the Kyiv government believe

A rocket attack on a train station in central Ukraine as the country marked its Independence Day has killed 22 people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. The Ukrainian leader had warned for days that Russian forces might attempt “something particularly cruel” this week. The lethal attack hit the town of Chaplyne in the central Dnipropetrovsk region,

Boris Johnson says high energy bills are something UK households must endure as part of the effort to resist Vladimir Putin, as he returned to Ukraine to mark its independence day. The prime minister was pictured in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and received an award from the Ukrainian leader. The Prime Minister said “if

Today marks six months since Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine. The war’s half-year point coincides with Ukrainian Independence Day, which in normal circumstances would see citizens celebrating 31 years of independence from the former Soviet Union. Follow Ukraine war live updates But instead, curfews are in place in the cities of Kyiv or

Putin ally Alexander Dugin has said his daughter told him she felt “like a warrior” and a “hero” before she died in a car bombing Russia has blamed on Ukraine. Darya Dugina, 29, attended a festival on Saturday night before a remotely-controlled explosive device planted in her 4×4 blew up as she was driving on

Russia is planning to launch fresh attacks against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities soon, a US intelligence official has warned. “Given Russia‘s track record in Ukraine, we are concerned about the continued threat that Russian strikes pose to civilians and civilian infrastructure,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. The warning led

Ukrainian special forces were behind a Moscow car bombing that killed the daughter of an ally of Vladimir Putin, Russia’s security service has claimed – as her father called on his country to win the war in “revenge”. The FSB, as reported by the Interfax news agency, said the attack was carried out by a

Floods and landslides triggered by intense monsoon rains have killed at least 40 people in northern India over the last three days, and others are missing. Heavy rainfall overwhelmed hundreds of villages, as mud houses were swept away, roads were covered by water, bridges were destroyed, and rescuers raced to help stranded residents. In the