World

Buryatia feels like it is a world away from war in Europe. It is a different Russia. Vast snowy plains and Buddhist temples, closer at first glance to Mongolia next door than it is to Moscow, five time zones away. But the motifs of Russia’s war in Ukraine are everywhere. A huge Z and V

Ukrainians have proven themselves to be “invincible”, a defiant Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, as he attended a parade and memorial service in central Kyiv – marking a year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On a day of commemorations, the Ukrainian president presented awards in the capital to surviving soldiers and relatives of fallen “heroes”, describing

Russia’s tanks were rolling towards Kyiv, their fighter jets screaming overhead. Vladimir Putin was hoping for a blitzkrieg strike that would see the Ukrainian president dead and the nation subjugated. But his plan failed, and a year later Ukraine’s armed forces have thrown back the “second army in the world” and are preparing to launch

A British national captured by Russian forces while fighting alongside Ukrainian troops has recalled how he was tortured and left unable to walk during his ordeal. Shaun Pinner was among five Britons released from Russian detention in Ukraine in a prisoner swap last September. Appearing on this week’s Beth Rigby Interviews, the former soldier also

A teacher has been stabbed to death by a pupil during a lesson at a school in southwest France, government officials have said. The victim, a 50-year-old Spanish teacher, was stabbed in the chest at Saint Thomas d’Aquin private high school in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, near Bordeaux, broadcaster BFM TV reported. A 16-year-old student at the Roman

Russia’s president had a message of defiance for the West as he suspended participation in the last major nuclear arms control treaty with the United States. Vladimir Putin also vowed to conduct nuclear weapons tests if Washington chose to do so and challenged the nuclear weapons posture of the UK and France. If anyone in

Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for starting the war in Ukraine and claimed Russia responded with force “in order to stop it”. In a speech describing his aims as the first anniversary of the conflict nears, the Russian president said Ukraine was in talks with the West about weapons before Russia invaded its neighbour

Three people have been killed and more than 200 injured after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Turkey-Syria border two weeks after massive quake in the region left more than 45,000 dead. More buildings have collapsed, trapping some people, while more than 130 injuries were recorded in neighbouring Syria. Turkey’s AFAD disaster management agency said

US President Joe Biden has visited the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on his first trip to the country since Russia’s invasion on 24 February last year. The president said Washington would provide Kyiv with a new military aid package worth $500m which would be announced on Tuesday, as he was pictured walking in the city with

North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast as Kim Jong Un’s sister warned of “using the Pacific as our firing range”. The missiles were launched on Monday morning local time and fell into the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the country’s coast guard said. There were no reports of damage

Rishi Sunak has said the UK stands “ready to support all allies if they can provide fighter jets to Ukraine now”. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he said the UK was already “leading” on training Ukrainian fighter jet pilots and reiterated his call for allies to “double down” in support. Earlier, Mr Sunak said

A man in the US is accused of holding a woman against her will for nearly a year before she escaped and asked for help at a petrol station. The woman ran to the store in New Jersey on 7 February where she alleged she had been kidnapped, the state attorney general’s office said. Security

Rishi Sunak will urge Western leaders to “double down” on military support for Ukraine, as troops on the front line plead for more weapons. The prime minister is set to tell the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that “advanced, NATO-standard capabilities” are needed to banish Russian forces. UK one of Russia’s ‘main targets’ – Ukraine

The president of Poland has told Sky News that Ukraine will need fighter jets to see off the threat from Russia. In an exclusive interview during his visit to the UK, Andrzej Duda also warned that Vladimir Putin is trying to exhaust the West in his effort to defeat Ukraine. President Duda has previously insisted

Russia is due to take part in a joint naval exercise with China and South Africa which could see the test launch of a hypersonic cruise missile – as Western leaders assemble for a major security conference. A frigate armed with the Zircon weapon has been deployed for 10 days of joint drills in the

Chinese President Xi Jinping does not want to damage relations with the US over the “spy” balloon shot down over North America, President Joe Biden has said. “I think the last thing that Xi wants is to fundamentally rip the relationship with the United States and with me,” Mr Biden told Sky News’ affiliate NBC

Rare footage has been released showing the Titanic on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. The video, most of which has not been seen by the public before, was shot just months after explorers found the wreckage in September 1985. More than 1,500 people died when the Titanic, which was on its way from Southampton

After two days of diplomacy and negotiations, NATO’s meeting broke up with lots of ideas, but no deal to send fighter jets to Ukraine. Despite the smiles and bonhomie of Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, NATO’s resolve didn’t buckle. The question of supplying planes remains “under discussion”, we are told, but other things took precedence.

At least four people have died – including a child – after Cyclone Gabrielle caused extensive flooding and landslides in New Zealand. Police have said they have “grave concerns” for several people still missing in the Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti areas on the North Island. The cyclone struck the country’s north on Monday and has

Not since the huge battles of the Second World War has artillery been used so ferociously and intensively as it is now in Ukraine.  The conflict there has become bogged down in a gruelling war of attrition where the big gun is king. At times, Russia has been firing a staggering 20,000 artillery shells a

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

China has said US high-altitude balloons have flown over its airspace more than 10 times over the past year – a claim that Washington rejects. Beijing made the claim after the US accused China of operating a fleet of surveillance balloons around the world. US officials denied the claim and said there is “no US

“I need ammunition, not a ride.” As Russian forces closed in around Kyiv, their tanks rolling down the highways and fighter jets screaming through the skies, these words from Volodymyr Zelenskyy echoed around the world. A comedian-turned-actor found himself president of Ukraine in his nation’s darkest hour. His decision to stay in the capital was

The miracles are becoming few and far between – the search for life is now a bid to honour the dead. The number of deaths is still rising rapidly and the United Nations says it’s likely to be double the current figure of 33,000. Countless bodies are still trapped under the wreckage of their former

The World Health Organisation has said the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has “overwhelmed everyone” – amid warnings the flow of aid must be urgently sped up to save lives. The number of people killed in both countries continues to grow and now stands at more than 33,000. Dr Michael Ryan, WHO’s executive director,

In the wasteland that scars the centre of Kahramanmaras in Turkey, we watched a pair of rescuers perched in a digger’s scoop as they investigated a great pile of concrete. Their mobile bucket took them up into the sky as they probed a toppled building. No one had checked this spot before. It is not

We meet him at the Kilis border with his head hanging heavy and his eyes red from crying. Mohamed Kenno, 21, has just come back from taking the bodies of his uncle and young cousin to relatives in Syria to be buried in their border town home, Azaz. His family fled the Syrian civil war

Aid workers have said Syria is facing a “nightmare scenario” as nearly five and a half million people may be left homeless following Monday’s devastating earthquake. With the war-torn country already dealing with the impact of over 10 years of conflict, aid workers say that the recovery operations in Syria are likely to take much

Syria’s suffering is a unique desolation and inside Idlib we’ve seen the face of utter desperation. Here, they thought their plight couldn’t get any worse than running from shelling and cowering from regime bombs, but what was already an horrendously wretched life for millions, has become a whole lot more tragic since the earthquake. People

Air raid sirens have sounded across the whole of Ukraine as Russia launched sustained strikes in several parts of the country, hitting power supplies. Explosions have been heard in the capital Kyiv and the surrounding area, while residents have been urged to take shelter and not ignore alerts. Kremlin forces struck critical infrastructure in Kharkiv,

More than 20,500 people are now confirmed to have died in a devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday. The total number who are recorded as having been killed is at least 20,511, including 17,134 in Turkey and 3,377 in the neighbouring war-ravaged country. Both nations were hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake

Turkey’s president has admitted there have been “shortcomings” in his country’s reaction to the devastating earthquake that has killed over 15,000 people. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing growing criticism from families left frustrated by a slow response from rescue teams, as hope dwindles that more survivors will be found. At least 15,865 people across Turkey

The tempo of the earthquake rescue operation has changed dramatically in Hatay in southern Turkey. The province near the Syrian border is one of the areas most impacted by the multiple earthquakes which struck Turkey and Syria this week – if not the worst-hit area. And the massive scale of the destruction here is utterly