World

A suspicious aerial object looking like a weather balloon has been spotted flying in Romania’s airspace. The country’s air force scrambled two MiG 21 LanceR jets to the area in the southeast 10 minutes after its surveillance system detected the object, but they were unable to confirm its presence, the defence ministry said. The planes

Qatar has donated 10,000 mobile homes to help the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The cabins and caravans had previously provided accommodation for some of the 1.4 million visitors to the 2022 World Cup. The Qatar Development Fund said some 350 mobile homes have already been sent to the affected areas in

Indian tax officials have raided the BBC’s offices in New Delhi. Teams from the tax department surveyed the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting officials who were not identified. A BBC spokesperson said: “The income tax authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and

Two new border crossings have been opened between Turkey and Syria to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid following last week’s devastating earthquake, the United Nations (UN) has said. Syrian President Bashar al Assad has agreed to allow UN deliveries to opposition-held northwest Syria through the crossings for three months, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

The White House has determined that China has a “high-altitude balloon programme” for intelligence gathering. It comes as tensions are mounting between the US and China after the US shot down a fourth unidentified object over North American airspace. It was downed over Lake Huron in Michigan at 2.42pm local time on Sunday on President

The Philippines has accused a Chinese coast guard ship of hitting a Philippine coast guard vessel with a military-grade laser and temporarily blinding some of its crew in the disputed South China Sea. In an incident which it called a “blatant” violation of Manila’s sovereign rights, the Chinese ship reportedly manoeuvered dangerously close, about 137m

The Kansas City Chiefs fought back to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in a classic Super Bowl that will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time. The Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes shrugged off an ankle injury to lead his side to a dramatic 38 to 35 victory and claim their second Super Bowl

Hugging a cow on Valentine’s Day is no longer being encouraged by the Indian government – despite it previously asking people to do so to promote Hindu values. The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) retracted its “Cow Hug Day” appeal after it attracted criticism from political rivals and social media users. The Indian government

A dog breeder was shot and killed on Monday night after a planned sale of a French bulldog went wrong, police have said. Lonnie A Ray, 76, organised to sell the dog in Bishopville, South Carolina. Authorities described Mr Ray as “probably the best breeder” in the area. Mr Ray had planned to meet the

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spent two decades in power, serving as Turkey’s prime minister from 2003 to 2014, when he was elected president.  He now faces the enormous challenge of rebuilding swathes of the country that have crumbled to rubble in the most devastating earthquake since 1999. He is also seeking re-election in May. Who

Australia is to remove security cameras made by firms linked to the Chinese Communist Party from its defence department buildings. At least 913 cameras, intercoms, entry systems and video recorders made by Hikvision and Dahua are in government offices, including the defence and foreign affairs departments, said The Australian newspaper. China‘s government partly owns the

A three-year drought may have led to the collapse of the ancient Hittite civilisation in the Middle East 3,000 years ago, a study suggests. The Hittites, with their capital Hattusa situated in central Anatolia, were one of the ancient world’s great powers across five centuries. They became the main geopolitical rivals of ancient Egypt during

The heart of this disaster lies at the end of the highway which leads to Kahramanmaras, a bustling city of a million people, perched up in the mountains of central Turkey. The setting is spectacular but this community also sits along the East Anatolian Fault. When two major earthquakes ruptured the surface on Monday, the

No new COVID variants have emerged during China’s recent surge in cases, according to new analysis. The country ended its strict zero COVID policy in December after rare protests threatened the regime’s authority, leading to a large outbreak and almost 60,000 confirmed deaths in just over a month. Large numbers of infections have previously proved