World

Hamas has said one of its top officials, Saleh al Arouri, has been killed in an explosion in Beirut – blaming the “cowardly assassination” on Israel. Al Arouri was one of the founders of Hamas’s military wing and the deputy leader of the group’s political bureau. He also headed Hamas’s presence in the West Bank.

As firefighters and rescue crews work on the ground following a huge plane fire at Tokyo’s Haneda airport in Japan, investigators behind the scenes will try to piece together how it happened. Captured in dramatic footage from the scene, a Japan Airlines aircraft can be seen bursting into flames and moving along the runway in

The number of people killed after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Japan has risen to at least 30. A series of quakes struck Ishikawa prefecture on Monday afternoon, triggering a now-cancelled tsunami alert that caused some to flee to higher ground. Buildings collapsed, cracks opened in roads and fires broke out – with Japan‘s prime minister

A tsunami warning has been issued after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 hit Japan. The warning, issued by the country’s meteorological agency, covers western coastal regions of Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama. Hokuriku Electric Power said it was checking for any irregularities at its nuclear power plants, Japanese broadcaster NHK said. Waves of

Britain is reportedly considering air strikes on Houthi rebels after the US Navy sank three boats that had been targeting a container ship in the Red Sea. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the government would not hesitate to take “direct action” to prevent further attacks on shipping. It comes after the US military said four

Denmark’s queen has unexpectedly announced her abdication in her traditional New Year’s Eve speech. Margrethe II will formally step down from the throne on 14 January – exactly 52 years to the day of her ascension to the throne in 1972. She will be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik. This breaking news

Houthi rebels in Yemen are showing no signs of ending their “reckless” attacks on ships in the Red Sea, a top US navy commander has warned. Attacks on commercial vessels in the region have continued even as more nations join the international maritime mission to secure the vital waterway and trade traffic begins to pick

At least 14 people – including two children – have been killed and more than 100 injured during shelling of the Russian border city of Belgorod, officials in Moscow say. They have accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack – a day after an 18-hour aerial Russian barrage across Ukraine killed at least 39 people.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy started 2023 full of optimism. In Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces had demonstrated they could push Russian invaders back, and Western confidence in Ukraine’s ability to prevail was growing. Despite the risks to domestic national security, Western nations donated huge quantities of weapons, ammunition and high-tech capability from national stockpiles to support Ukraine’s proposed

Russia has launched one of its biggest aerial barrages on Ukraine since the start of the invasion, killing at least 27 people and wounding 144 others. Several cities were struck overnight as Russia launched more than 100 missiles and dozens of drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, with most of them being shot down. Ukrainian

An airstrike that killed 86 people at a Gaza refugee camp was a “regrettable mistake”, an Israeli government spokesperson has admitted. Eylon Levy told Sky News the incident at the Maghazi site on Christmas Eve was down to the use of an “incorrect munition” and “should not have happened”. But he refused to apologise for

The gunman who killed 14 people at a university in Prague before killing himself, reportedly left a suicide note confessing to the murder of a father and his baby six days earlier, Czech media have reported. A note found at the home of David Kozak, 24, was said to have contained the admission he shot

Former European Commission president Jacques Delors has died at the age of 98. An ardent advocate of post-war European integration, Delors served as president of the body for three terms – longer than any other holder of the office – from January 1985 until the end of 1994. The Frenchman, a Socialist, was also the

Hamas has always had a reputation for having some of the best underground tunnels of any militia. In a media tour arranged by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) into Gaza, one of the most impressive examples the Israeli military has discovered was on full display. The entrance was just inside Gaza, only a few hundred

Subhi Shaledeh and his extended family had around 500 acres of prime grazing land in the Occupied West Bank, in the village of Janoub. They owned olive trees and hundreds of sheep. The land had been in the family for decades. But overnight they lost their livelihood and their and land. Subhi says on 9

Footage shared from Gaza City appears to show Israeli soldiers rounding up a group of men stripped down to their underwear. The video shows several men – and some males who may be children – in the middle of a run-down stadium, seemingly being directed by armed soldiers. The groups walk to the centre of

Ukraine says it has carried out an air strike on the port town of Feodosia in Crimea. Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of Ukraine‘s air force said that the attack destroyed a Russian Navy vessel known as the landing Novocherkask ship. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, he said: “And the fleet in Russia is getting smaller

Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza will expand over the coming days, Benjamin Netanyahu has warned, as attacks appeared to intensify on Christmas Day. The Hamas-led Gaza health ministry says 250 Palestinians have been killed and 500 wounded in the past 24 hours – with 106 of those said to have died in an airstrike on

At least 68 Palestinians were killed following an Israeli air strike that hit a refugee camp in central Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry has said. The deaths on Sunday (Christmas Eve) were the result of one of the bloodiest strikes since Israel declared war against Hamas following its incursion on 7 October. The strike hit

Eight Israeli soldiers have been killed fighting in Gaza, the Israeli military has said. The deaths take the number of Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) killed to 154 since its ground operation in Gaza began on 20 October. Some 480 IDF personnel have died since Hamas launched its incursion on 7 October. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin