World

A stolen portrait of Sir Winston Churchill that was swapped with a forgery during the pandemic has returned to its rightful place in a Canadian hotel. Police said The Roaring Lion portrait – which appears on the UK’s £5 note – was stolen from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa at some time between

UN climate talks are “no longer fit for purpose” and should only be hosted by countries who are trying to give up fossil fuels, veterans of the process have said. An open letter to the United Nations, signed by former UN chief Ban Ki-moon, made a dramatic intervention in the 29th COP climate summit, under

Sexual assault and indecent exposure are among the crimes alleged to have been committed by people with diplomatic immunity last year. The Foreign Office has revealed that, in 2023, nine serious and significant offences were allegedly carried out by overseas officials who are exempt from being prosecuted. Politics live: PM ‘may have heeded warning’ from

Argentinian negotiators have been summoned home from global climate talks in Azerbaijan by the President Javier Milei’s government. The team were ordered to pack up and leave on Wednesday, just three days into the two-week COP29 summit in Azerbaijan. No reason was given, but the Argentinian president – a right-wing populist who has previously dubbed

A video showing a “white orb” UFO coming out of the ocean off Kuwait has been found on the US Department of Defense’s own network, a congressional hearing has heard. Giving evidence to House representatives on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), the now-preferred term for UFOs, journalist Michael Shellenberger said he had been told of the

Headlights illuminate a group of soldiers smoking and drinking steaming cups of coffee on the side of a road in northeastern Ukraine. A fine sleet on another freezing night falls on the silhouetted barrel of a Soviet-era anti-aircraft gun mounted on an ancient, battered lorry. These are the men of a mobile air defence unit,

At least 14 people have been killed after a bus carrying wedding guests crashed into a river in Pakistan. The bus was carrying around two dozen passengers. Searches continue for bodies and survivors. There are differing reports about the number of people who have died, with some local officials saying 18 people had been confirmed

Satellite images show that smog in Pakistan can be seen from space, as the country battles record levels of air pollution. Images from NASA Worldview show the east of the country cloaked in a toxic haze, with smog also reaching into India’s northern regions and New Dehli. Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab region and

Ireland’s prime minister has branded remarks made by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary about teachers “crass and ill-informed”. Taoiseach Simon Harris also said Mr O’Leary would not have any further involvement in his party’s campaign. The CEO of Irish budget airline Ryanair said during a Fine Gael event over the weekend he would not hire teachers

A clampdown has been enforced to curb a social media trend in China – where thousands of students rent bikes late at night to buy soup dumplings. Police in Henan province closed bike lanes connecting Zhengzhou and Kaifeng in a bid to reduce the number of students making the 37-mile journey. Pictures showed that the

One person has been killed and 16 others were injured in a shooting at a US university. Homecoming week at Tuskegee University, in Alabama, was marred early on Sunday by the attack on campus. An 18-year-old man died in the assault. He was not a university student, but some of the injured were. Of the

At least 10 people have been killed after gunmen attacked a bar in central Mexico, local officials say. Four people armed with “long weapons” arrived at Los Cantaritos bar in the city of Queretaro on Saturday night before opening fire on those inside, Juan Luis Ferrusca, the head of the local public security department, said

Thousands of people have marched in Valencia and demanded the resignation of the region’s president over the response to devastating flooding that left more than 220 dead. Protesters filled the centre of the eastern Spanish city and chanted “killers!” as they called for Carlos Mazon to go. Some dumped muddy boots outside a regional government

At least 24 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a bomb blast at a train station in Pakistan. The bomb exploded in the southwestern city of Quetta when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to Rawalpindi. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group, have claimed responsibility

Nearly 70% of deaths in the Gaza war, which have been verified by the United Nations, were women and children, its Human Rights Office has said. The UN has analysed killings in the first 11 months of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Palestinian territory and managed to verify 8,119 victims, including 2,036 women and 3,588