World

China is extending threatening military exercises around Taiwan that have already disrupted shipping and air traffic, further fuelling concerns about potential conflict in the region. According to Moscow, the exercises include anti-submarine drills, apparently targeting US support for Taiwan in the event of a potential Chinese invasion. The Chinese military has said the exercises involving

A peace of sorts seems to have returned to the fractious, wartorn border that separates Israel and the territory of Gaza. The Egyptians managed to negotiate a temporary truce yesterday as Palestinian militants sent multiple rocket barrages across the frontier – and the Israeli military targeted rocket launching sites run by the militant group Islamic

Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have agreed to a ceasefire following a weekend of fighting. The stoppage has been called for 11.30pm local time (9.30pm BST), Islamic Jihad and the Israeli government said in separate statements. It has been the most serious flare-up on the Gaza frontier in more than a year. In an update

A second senior Islamic Jihad commander has been killed in an Israeli airstrike as a surge of fighting continues in Gaza. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group said the man was Khaled Mansour – their top official for the southern Gaza Strip. The strike in the southern city of Rafah also killed two fellow militants

In the Balkans, Europe is watching as a crisis slowly develops. A familiar problem, in a familiar place, but now with the added prospect of Russian intervention. Thirty years after its horrific war, Bosnia is caught in a complex, volatile dispute that embraces ethnic divisions, religious rivalry, genocide denial, harrowing memories and the nagging suspicion

The war in Ukraine is set to enter a new phase, British military intelligence chiefs have said this morning. Russian forces are “almost certainly” massing in the south in preparation for a counter-offensive from Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) warned on Saturday. Long convoys of military trucks, tanks and towed artillery are moving southwest

China has ramped up its military drills in Taiwan’s waters and announced sanctions against US Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as tensions build between Beijing and Washington. The country’s foreign ministry announced sanctions against Ms Pelosi today following her visit to Taiwan, which marked the first trip from a US House Speaker to the island in 25

Taiwan’s premier has condemned China as the “evil neighbour next door” after its military began live firing drills around the island. Su Tseng-chang told reporters in the capital Taipei he believed China was arbitrarily destroying the Taiwan Strait – the world’s most frequently used waterway – with its military exercises, and its actions were being

A Russian judge has convicted and sentenced American basketball player Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling. President Joe Biden described the jail term as “unacceptable” and called for her immediate release. Judge Anna Sotnikova said the time Griner has served in custody since her arrest in February would count

China has begun another series of military exercises around Taiwan as tensions continue to rise following a 24-hour visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Chinese state media is reporting the drills are underway hours after suspected drones flew over Taiwan’s territory on Wednesday and hackers targeted the defence ministry’s website. Taiwan

The roads leading south are empty of cars. Fighting is intensifying here along this front as Ukraine tries to recapture the city of Kherson. We travelled with a military escort through checkpoints, along desolate highways, to reach the slowly shifting frontlines. The villages have all been heavily shelled – and it’s getting worse. The roofs

Chinese military exercises near Taiwan have encroached on the island’s territory and amount to a blockade of its sea and air space, the defence ministry has said. The exercises by the Chinese navy and air force are seen as a direct response to the visit to Taiwan of top US politician Nancy Pelosi, the most

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has arrived in Taiwan – despite threats from Beijing about “serious consequences” for her visit. She has become the highest-ranking American official to visit the self-ruled island claimed by China in 25 years. Her visit has been closely watched by mainland China, and by scores of people who used the

A key force behind the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, Ayman al-Zawahiri spent much of the past two decades with a $25m bounty on his head. The bespectacled Egyptian doctor was leader of al Qaeda for the second half of that period. But he is perhaps better known for his previous role

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, and former prime minister David Cameron are among the latest UK figures who have been added to Russia’s sanctions list. The foreign ministry says the 39 prominent Britons have been banned from entering Russia. It said it was acting in response to UK sanctions against

A ship loaded with grain has left the port of Odesa for the first time since the war began, the Ukrainian infrastructure minister has said. “The first grain ship since Russian aggression has left port,” Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on Twitter. “Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & UN we were able to

Vladimir Putin’s annual Navy Day parade looks impressive from the banks of St Petersburg’s Neva river; it looks even better on state TV. No expense spared when it comes to showing the people of Russia quite how big and shiny their navy and armed forces are. Think back to April though and the loss of

Russia has invited the United Nations and the Red Cross to investigate the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war. The prisoners were being held by Moscow-backed separatists at a jail in the town of Olenivka, in eastern Donetsk, when it was hit by rockets early on Friday. Russia’s defence ministry said 50 prisoners

Ukraine’s president has announced a mandatory evacuation of people in the Donetsk region, amid fierce fighting with Russia. In his nightly address, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said hundreds of thousands of people still in combat zones in the larger Donbas region also needed to leave. Mr Zelenskyy said the sooner people leave “the fewer people the Russian

Spain has reported Europe’s first monkeypox-related death of the current outbreak – and the second outside of Africa. The country’s health ministry confirmed the death on Friday, but did not release further details about the person. Brazil reported the first monkeypox-related death outside the African continent in the current outbreak, earlier on Friday. In its