World

When it comes to artistic swimming, Russia is an Olympic powerhouse. The national team has won every single event – team and duet – for the last six games in a row. But they won’t be taking any gold medals home from Paris. As a nation, Russia has been banned following its invasion of Ukraine.

Audiences for Veep, the TV series broadcast on Sky, have shot up since Kamala Harris became the Democratic candidate for the White House. Like Selina Meyer, the fictional vice president in the show, she is closer than ever to becoming the first woman president. The prospect is tantalising for Harris but the omens are not

Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu at his Florida resort as he dismissed reports of tensions between the pair and attacked Kamala Harris’s “disrespectful” comments about the Gaza war. The former US president welcomed the Israeli prime minister to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach for their first meeting since September 2020. The Republican presidential nominee

Former president Barack Obama told Kamala Harris he “couldn’t be prouder” as he endorsed her to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate for the US election. Mr Obama had so far remained quiet after other top Democrats gave the US vice president their backing in the days after Mr Biden pulled out of the

Kamala Harris’s step-daughter has pushed back against JD Vance after a clip resurfaced of him calling the vice president one of the Democrats’ “childless cat ladies”. The Republican nominee for vice president – picked by Donald Trump as his running mate earlier this month – attacked Ms Harris and other Democrats for being “a bunch

It may be the smallest planet in the solar system but Mercury could be hiding a big secret.  A layer of diamond beneath the crust of Mercury could be up to 10 miles (18km) thick, new research suggests. Scientists from China and Belgium used data collected by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft between 2004 and 2015 to

At least 25 people have been killed in landslides and massive flooding after a typhoon swept through Taiwan and worsened monsoon rains in the Philippines. A Tanzania-flagged freighter has sunk off the southern coast of Taiwan in the storm, with its nine crew members now missing. Searches are ongoing for the crew, who are all

Russian authorities are investigating a suspected car bomb attack in Moscow that left two people injured, following conflicting reports a military official was targeted. Footage of the blast, posted on Telegram, appears to show a man and a woman getting into a vehicle before it suddenly explodes. Initial reports in state media outlets named the

Police in Paris have said they are investigating the alleged “gang rape” of an Australian woman. The 25-year-old was said to have been allegedly attacked before midnight on 19 July or in the early hours of 20 July. Paris prosecutor’s office said an investigation has been launched into the possible gang rape. It said the

Joe Biden has vowed “I’m not going anywhere” and he is “going to be working like hell” in his final months as US president and as he campaigns for Kamala Harris to be his successor. He was speaking in a phone call to workers at the campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, in his first public

Israel’s military has confirmed the deaths of two men who were taken as hostages by Hamas on 7 October. “Today, the IDF informed the families of the two hostages Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab that they are no longer alive,” the Israeli Defence Forces said in a statement on X. “Alex and Yagev were brutally

Western leaders have showered Joe Biden with praise for his efforts to bolster democracies against the rise of authoritarian powers after he bowed out of the US presidential race. But there will doubtless be anxiety behind closed doors at how his flip-flopping over whether or not to run again for the White House may have

China and the Philippines have reached a deal they hope will end confrontations over a disputed territory in the South China Sea. The Philippines occupies the Second Thomas Shoal, which is also claimed by Beijing. The years-long territorial stand-off has flared repeatedly since last year – with increasingly hostile confrontations sparking fears of a larger

The virus that causes polio has been detected in sewage samples in Gaza, according to its health ministry. It said tests had been carried out with UNICEF and that the finding “exposes thousands of residents to the risk of contracting poliomyelitis”. It warned of a potential “new health disaster” if action isn’t taken. Polio mainly

More than a dozen students have been taken to hospital after they became ill from eating extremely spicy crisps, reportedly given out by a fellow pupil “for fun”, officials in Japan have said. Rokugo Koka High School in Tokyo called for help on Tuesday lunchtime after 13 girls and one boy, all first-year students, complained

Donald Trump appeared to try to woo independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr in a leaked video of a phone call, where he also spoke about the assassination attempt, vaccines and babies. In the footage posted by Mr Kennedy’s son Bobby Kennedy III, the Republican Party’s nominee was heard on speaker phone saying: “I

Rising sea levels caused by climate change are making the Earth “fatter” at the equator – slowing down its rotation and making the days longer.  As polar ice caps have melted, water has shifted from the poles to the equator, “significantly” increasing how oblate – or fat – the Earth is since 1900, and lengthening

An underground cave stretching tens of metres below an open pit on the moon has been discovered which could be a potential base for future astronauts, say scientists. This is the first lunar tunnel to be found which could be accessible to humans, according to researchers. The hollowed passage lies beneath a pit about 100

Thomas Matthew Crooks has been named as the gunman in the assassination attempt against Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday evening. Described as a “outcast” who regularly wore hunting outfits to school, Crooks lived in a well-to-do city an hour from scene of his assassination attempt. Read more: Trump arrives for Republican National

Donald Trump has said was it was “God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening” and vowed to “fear not” after surviving an assassination attempt as footage emerged of the gunman prior to the shooting. In a statement on his Truth Social platform following the attack at a campaign rally, the former president urged Americans