World

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would be open to peace talks with Ukraine in Slovakia “if it comes to that”.  Mr Putin said Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who this week visited the Kremlin, had offered his country as a location for negotiations as the war in Ukraine nears the three-year mark. The

Azerbaijan is observing a national day of mourning after 38 people were killed in a plane crash – as footage from inside the aircraft emerged. People can be heard praying as oxygen masks are lowered on board the Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190, in a clip filmed by a passenger before the plane went down. The

Syrian officials say 14 of its forces, part of the group which toppled Bashar al Assad’s regime, have died in clashes with supporters of the ousted dictator. Another 10 members of the security forces from Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) were also injured after being ambushed in northwest Syria, according to Syria’s interior ministry. They

Ukrainians sheltered in metro stations on Christmas morning as Russian missiles and drones rained down on their cities. Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that he said sought to plunge his people into darkness. “Putin deliberately chose Christmas,” he said on Wednesday. “What could be more inhumane?” Russia’s defence ministry said it

The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch may have dementia and a competency hearing is needed to assess whether he can face sex charges, defence lawyers have said. Mike Jeffries, 80 and who was CEO of glitzy retailer Abercrombie & Fitch for more than two decades, is free on $10m (£7.7m) bond after pleading not

A huge snowstorm has left tens of thousands of homes in Bosnia without power on Christmas Eve and caused traffic chaos. The blizzard has wrought havoc across the Balkans, with snow drifts closing motorways in Croatia and also affecting travel in Serbia. Movement of heavy vehicles has been banned in the three countries and trains

The preserved remains of a juvenile mammoth are being studied by scientists after it was discovered in thawing permafrost after more than 50,000 years. The creature was recovered from the Batagaika crater in Russia, a huge depression more than 80m (260ft) deep which is widening as a result of climate change. The carcass, weighing more

The iconic crocodile who starred in hit film Crocodile Dundee has died, his zoo has announced. Crocosaurus Cove, where Burt had been kept since 2008, said he passed away “peacefully” over the weekend. He was estimated to be over 90 years old, well over the usual life expectancy. “Burt was truly one of a kind.

A small plane has crashed into a popular Brazilian tourist town, killing all 10 people on board, according to officials. More than a dozen people on the ground were also injured when the aircraft came down in the centre of Gramado in the south of the country on Sunday, Brazil‘s civil defence agency said. In

A US fighter jet has been shot down after it was mistakenly hit by an American missile cruiser over the Red Sea. Both pilots in the aircraft ejected and were rescued – one of them had minor injuries. An investigation is under way after what the US military described as an “apparent case of friendly

At least 38 people have been killed in a crash involving a bus and a lorry on a major road in southeastern Brazil, authorities have said. Another 13 people were taken to hospital following the crash in the country’s eastern state of Minas Gerais, the local fire department said. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da

The doors of the white van are thrown open. Dozens of armed French police jump on board, their colleagues on the ground form a human chain and get to work. The van is carrying precious cargo. Water. Small plastic bottles stacked roof high and van deep. It’s chaotic. Orders are being shouted in French and

The moment the suspect in a fatal attack on a German Christmas market was arrested has been captured on video by a passer-by. At least two people were killed, including a small child, and dozens of others injured when a car was “driven at speed” into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, according

A seven-year-old girl has died and a teacher and five other students have been wounded in a knife attack in the Croatian capital, officials have said. The incident took place at a primary school in Zagreb, according to state news agency Hina. Police said the attack happened just before 10am on Friday in the Precko

For days the world has been told how Cyclone Chido has laid waste to the small Indian Ocean island of Mayotte. But few can truly understand just how devastating the most powerful cyclone to hit this region has been. The few pictures leaving Mayotte struggle to show the true scale of the crisis. The island

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