World

President Joe Biden has warned that “Russia will pay a heavy price” if it invades Ukraine. Speaking on Thursday, the US leader said he has been “absolutely clear with President Putin” that “if any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion”. That invasion, he said, would be met with a

The first planes carrying foreign aid have arrived in Tonga five days after the South Pacific island nation was hit by a tsunami following an undersea volcanic eruption. A state of emergency has now been declared in the wake of Saturday’s eruption and subsequent tsunami which killed at least three people and has devastated communities

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned Russia that the world is watching as Moscow continues military manoeuvres involving 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine. After talks with Ukraine’s government in Kyiv, America’s top diplomat said Russia could double that number in short order and launch an attack on its neighbour. Mr Blinken

Twelve of the UK’s most wanted fugitives believed to be hiding in Spain are the subject of a new appeal – over crimes including drive-by shootings and major drug dealing operations. National Crime Agency (NCA) officials want people to contact them with information about any of the suspects, insisting the country that has long been

A battered army ambulance pulls up in the freezing, snowy yard of a long-since abandoned factory in eastern Ukraine that is now the headquarters of the army’s 24th battalion.   The Soviet-era vehicle has been converted into a troop carrier; I say converted, in fact I mean everything has been torn out, plywood lines its

Satellite pictures have emerged showing Tonga covered in ash after a huge undersea volcano erupted. A plume of smoke can be seen rising from Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano in images taken before the eruption, with the volcanic island appearing to have all but disappeared afterwards. Australia and New Zealand sent military surveillance flights to assess damage to

Britain will provide Ukraine with “light armour defensive” weapons and training as Western powers fear an “increasingly threatening” Russia will invade the country. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the weapons being supplied are “short range” and to use in “self-defence”, adding that they are not “strategic” and “pose no threat to Russia”. Mr Wallace added

Drones may have caused an explosion on three oil tankers and a minor fire at airport extension in Abu Dhabi, police in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) say. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement later claimed responsibility for the Monday attack on the UAE. Abu Dhabi police said three fuel tankers had exploded in the industrial Musaffah

Tsunami-hit Tonga has remained largely uncontactable due to telephone and internet links being severed. An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted yesterday, triggering warnings of 1.2-metre tsunami waves and evacuation orders on the shores of the island and several others in the South Pacific. The eruption caused internet and phone lines to go down at about

Novak Djokovic is set to be deported from Australia after losing a court appeal against the cancellation of his visa. Three Federal Court judges upheld a decision made on Friday by the immigration minister to cancel the unvaccinated tennis star’s visa on public interest grounds The full reasons behind the court’s unanimous ruling will be

Lake Annecy is so beautiful and peaceful that it is easy to imagine that bad things can’t happen here. Today, the mist is sitting over the water and, in the distance, there are mountains reaching into the sky. It’s picture postcard pretty in the actual sense that there are lots of postcards of this scene.

A tsunami alert has been issued by the Pacific nation of Tonga after an undersea volcano erupted. Video posted on social media platforms showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas. The Tonga Meteorological Services said a tsunami warning had been put in force for all of Tonga. It is the latest in a series

Novak Djokovic’s visa has been cancelled by Australia’s immigration minister, casting further doubt over his participation in the first grand slam of the year. The tennis player previously won his court appeal against the cancellation of his visa but the Australian government said it would continue to explore ways to deport him. “Today I exercised

Novak Djokovic will be detained again in Australia from tomorrow morning after his lawyers appealed a decision by the country’s immigration minister to cancel his visa for a second time. The tennis star first had his visa revoked on arrival in Melbourne last week when his COVID vaccination exemption was questioned. Please use Chrome browser

A man arrested in connection with the suspected murder of a young woman in Ireland while she was out for an afternoon jog is to face further questioning. The woman has been named locally as primary school teacher Ashling Murphy, from Tullamore, County Offaly. She died after being attacked while running along the canal bank

People travelling from the UK to France will no longer have to self-isolate on arrival or show proof that their trip is essential from Friday morning, tourism minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne has announced. However, the requirement for a negative COVID test, conducted 24 hours before their visit, remains in place. Those who provide a negative result

“It’s a Russian military ship… The distance from us is about four and a half miles,” the young commander of a Ukrainian naval vessel said, pointing to a marker on his radar screen. Senior Lieutenant Denis Bakumov, 23, was steering his small, armoured boat through waters shared by Ukraine and Russia, where tensions are high

A person has been arrested in the unsolved case of three members of a British family and a cyclist shot dead in the French Alps more than nine years ago. Saad al Hilli, 50, was killed with his wife Iqbal, 47, and mother-in-law Suhaila al Allaf, 74, near Lake Annecy on 5 September 2012. A

North Korea has carried out a successful test of a hypersonic missile in a launch attended by leader Kim Jong Un, the country’s state media has reported. Authorities in South Korea and Japan detected the suspected launch on Tuesday, leading to condemnation from authorities in Washington and Tokyo. After its release from a rocket booster,

Ukraine’s military chief has said his forces would defend the country “until the last drop of blood” as he urged people to calm down about threats of a new Russian invasion. Lieutenant-General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, 48, repeatedly underlined that Ukraine has been at war with Russia since 2014, telling Sky News in an exclusive interview: “It