World

China will never renounce the right to use force over Taiwan, President Xi Jinping has declared at the opening of a major party meeting. China views democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, but the island’s government has strong objections and believes sovereignty should be claimed by its people. Speaking at the opening of the

Two men opened fire on volunteer troops at a Russian military shooting range near Ukraine, killing 11 and wounding 15 others, the Russian defence ministry has said. The shooting is said to have taken place in the Belgorod region in southwestern Russia, which borders Ukraine. Moscow’s defence ministry said that the two men from an

Vladimir Putin has said he has “no” regrets over the war in Ukraine and warned that any direct clash of NATO troops with Russia could lead to a “global catastrophe”. On Friday, the Russian president spoke at a news conference in the Kazakh capital, Astana, and also said that his country’s partial mobilisation will be

Human rights groups have warned of Iranian security forces’ escalating response to demonstrations in the western province of Kurdistan. Clips from the regional capital Sanandaj appear to show security forces firing weapons in residential neighbourhoods and large groups of anti-riot police moving around the city. The city was one of the first to see demonstrations

Deep in the Buloburde bush in the Hiiraan region of central Somalia, there’s a ragtag regiment gathering around a missile launcher. Huddled tightly with their ears pressed against a small black phone, they receive intelligence and feed it back to the troops positioning the launcher. The Ma’awisley militia is made up of farmers turned fighters

A Florida jury has recommended a sentence of life in prison for gunman Nikolas Cruz who killed 17 people at a Parkland school in 2018. Jurors could not unanimously agree he should be given the death penalty, despite the prosecution requesting he be executed and arguing the deadly attack was cold, calculated and meticulously planned.

A senior Iranian official has questioned excessive state enforcement of the country’s compulsory hijab laws – following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody. Ali Larijani, 65, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and a former parliamentary speaker, warned in an interview with Iranian daily Ettela’at that a “rigid response” to the widespread

Ireland’s football association and the women’s team manager have apologised after players sang a song referencing the IRA while celebrating their World Cup qualification. Videos circulated on social media showing them singing the song after Tuesday night’s 1-0 play-off victory over Scotland at Hampden Park. A statement by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) apologised

Nagib’s small feet poke out from a bundled blue shroud. His body is far too small for his three years of age. He is shrunken by malnutrition and marked by the measles that eventually took his short life. Nagib is carried out of the emergency care ward in Baidoa and into a white van as

A deliberate attack on NATO energy supplies will be met with a “united and determined response”, the alliance’s chief has vowed. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pledged to boost protection of critical infrastructure in response to the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The EU believes three leaks in the pipelines last month were the work

A “historic deal” has been signed by Lebanon and Israel that has the potential to ease security and economic concerns in both countries. The neighbours have backed a final draft of a US-mediated maritime border deal that will resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern tip of the Mediterranean Sea. The agreement has the potential

Russian forces will soon be down to their last supplies of fuel and unable to transport their troops in Ukraine after the crippling attack on the Kerch Bridge between Crimea and Russia, say analysts. “If we’re talking about the ability to manoeuvre, ie drive places, I think we are talking days into very short weeks

Vladimir Putin has said Monday’s deadly missile strikes targeting cities in Ukraine were in retaliation for its “terrorist action” against Russian territory. In televised remarks, the Russian president said Moscow had launched long-range missile attacks against Ukraine’s energy, military and communications infrastructure on Monday. Cities including Lviv, Ternopil, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, and Zaporizhzhia were targeted, with

The hunger is sharp in Lyman but the instinct to survive, even sharper. It’s been exceptionally honed in those Lyman residents who’ve remained through months of fighting, bombing and Russian occupation. And there are a surprisingly large number of them. We see crowds on the outskirts of the town, gathering around a small warehouse where

All 10 people killed in an explosion at a petrol station in County Donegal have been named by police. The blast in the village of Creeslough on Friday afternoon left a scene of debris and devastation, and claimed the lives of four men, three women, two teenagers and a five-year-old girl. In a news conference

The British government has been accused of “dragging its heels” over trade linked to forced labour.  A Chinese labour camp survivor is preparing to sue the UK’s trade secretary for allowing cotton imports from the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, where it has been alleged local minority groups such as the Uyghurs have been subjected

Russia says three people have been killed after a key bridge to Crimea was partially destroyed in an explosion. Kerch Bridge – which is also known as the Crimean Bridge – spans 12-miles and is a key supply route for Moscow as they continue their attack on Ukraine. Ukraine war latest: Putin sends ministers to

There are a quite shocking number of Russian corpses left in the wake of the Ukrainian blitz on their eastern front. Kyiv’s troops are moving so fast and methodically, there’s no time to collect the enemy’s dead. It’s a grim illustration of Ukraine’s current battlefield successes. As we followed their route through the village of

The US president is hardly unique in saying the risk of a nuclear “Armageddon” is higher now than it has been since the Cuban missile crisis – or as it is known in Russia, the Caribbean crisis. Anyone who has thought for more than five seconds about Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats given the geopolitical state

At Udon Thani hospital, we witness an unbearable procession of grief.  We’re standing by a narrow road as a convoy of vehicles arrive. Inside, are the bodies of the dead from the worst mass shooting in Thailand‘s history. A freezer truck pulls up and coffin after coffin emerges. Medical workers line the street frantically trying