World

A two-time Olympic silver medallist canoeist and his brother have been found guilty of plotting to smuggle £110m worth of cocaine into Australia. Nathan Baggaley, who won two silver medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and his brother, Dru Baggaley, were charged with attempting to import 650kg of cocaine in 2018. The Australian brothers, who

At least 43 children have died in violence during Myanmar’s coup, according to reports described as “horrifying”. The death toll of children has more than doubled in the past 12 days and the total number of people killed now stands at 521, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) says. The youngest victim was a

Above the Elysee Palace, the sky was big and blue. It could have been a perfect Paris day, except that the topic for debate was pressing, and grim.  As the sun beat down, the president was talking to his senior ministers about how to react to the rapid rise in infections, hospitalisations and admissions to

France will widen strict lockdown restrictions – which have already been in place in several areas including Paris – to the whole country to combat a third wave of coronavirus sweeping Europe. In a televised address to the nation, President Emmanuel Macron said the measures will come into effect on Saturday and be in place

The heads of all three branches of Brazil’s armed forces have resigned in another blow to President Jair Bolsonaro’s leadership. The shock departure of the country’s three top military commanders comes after the president carried out a cabinet reshuffle which included the replacement of defence minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva, who said in his resignation

Germany will suspend using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the under-60s over concerns about rare blood clots. Officials agreed unanimously to only give the jab to people aged 60 or older, unless they are at high risk from COVID-19 or are health workers, following a recommendation from the country’s independent vaccine expert panel. The country’s medical

The most likely origin for coronavirus was transmission from a bat to humans via an unidentified intermediate animal species, according to a long-awaited World Health Organisation (WHO) report due to be published today. The WHO team state that “it remains to be determined where SARS-CoV-2 originated”, according to a draft copy of the report seen

The stranded container ship blocking the Suez Canal has been freed, allowing traffic in the channel to finally resume. Egyptian authorities said other vessels were moving again after the gigantic Ever Given ship was refloated, which was seen by witnesses for the Reuters news agency. The Ever Given has started heading towards the Bitter Lakes

Petr Kellner, the Czech Republic’s richest man, has been killed in a helicopter crash in Alaska. The billionaire’s death, along with those of four others, was announced by his financial group PPF. An investigation into the crash has been launched by the National Transportation Safety Board. Image: The crash happened near Knik glacier, about 50

The mother of a man killed by suspected Islamist insurgents in Mozambique has told of the moment he was shot as he tried to flee a hotel. Meryl Knox’s 40-year-old son Adrian Nel was shot dead in a vehicle he was trying to escape in with his father and younger brother. They were fleeing after

The killing of reportedly at least 114 unarmed civilians – including a five-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl – by Myanmar’s security forces in the single deadliest day since the military coup on 1 February has drawn strong condemnation from around the world. The shootings came as people took to the streets again on Saturday to protest

A convoy of fleeing civilians, including foreign nationals, was ambushed by suspected Islamist insurgents in a northern Mozambique town, officials have said. At least one person in the convoy was killed, according to security and diplomatic sources who spoke to Reuters, as an Islamist insurgency in the northern province of Cabo Delgado continues. Mozambique conflict:

At least 50 people have been killed across Myanmar after security forces opened fire on protesters, according to local media reports. The deadly tally is said to include 13 in the country’s second-biggest city, Mandalay, nine in the nearby region of Sagaingand seven in the commercial capital Yangon. The shootings came as a rebel leader

In the Ethiopian city of Adigrat, the general hospital may be the only thing that actually works in a community which now lacks all government-run services. The health facility’s front door is firmly open and the wards are full. In fact, there are far more patients than beds, and we watched the staff treat gunshot

EU leaders have told AstraZeneca that it must “catch up” on vaccine deliveries in Europe before it is allowed to export jabs to other countries. Frustration is growing in Brussels over a massive shortfall in the number of jabs that EU countries are receiving – with the continent’s vaccination programme lagging behind the UK. At