Taiwan’s Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-chang expressed concern that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would have the ‘complete capability’ to attack Taiwan by 2025. The Minister expressed concern while also highlighted sanctions as the means to deter aggression during a virtual seminar titled “Taiwan: is it key to the continuing world order?” organised by The Democracy […]

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered all civilians still living in parts of eastern Donetsk region under Ukrainian control to evacuate. Speaking during a late-night address from Kyiv, Mr Zelensky warned of an intensification of fighting. “The more people leave Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill,” he […]

Russia plans to annex more Ukrainian territory using a similar “playbook” to its takeover of Crimea, the US says. Citing US intelligence, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia is already laying the groundwork for annexation. Occupied regions of Ukraine could hold “sham” referenda on joining Russia as soon as September, he said. Russia […]

A cargo plane has crashed near the city of Kavala in northern Greece, local officials say. The Antonov-12 operated by a Ukraine-based company was flying from Serbia to Jordan when it went down on Saturday. It was not immediately known how many people were on board and whether there were any survivors. Greece’s ERT state […]

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has won the first round of voting by MPs to choose the next Conservative leader and prime minister. He got 88 votes, with Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt in second place on 67 and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss third on 50. Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt were eliminated […]

Russian missile and rocket strikes have caused more widespread damage in towns and cities across eastern and southern Ukraine, regional officials say. Four civilians died in a strike on Siversk, a town in Donetsk region, local governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Civilian areas of Druzhkivka, in the same region, were also hit. A supermarket was destroyed […]

The heads of UK and US security services have made an unprecedented joint appearance to warn of the threat from China. FBI director Christopher Wray said China was the “biggest long-term threat to our economic and national security” and had interfered in politics, including recent elections. MI5 head Ken McCallum said his service had more […]

At least 21 people, including one child, have died in overnight Russian missile strikes on Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, Ukrainian officials say. The state emergency service, DSNS, says 16 people were killed in a nine-storey building hit by one missile in the village of Serhiyivka. Another five people, including the child, were killed in a […]

Nato member Turkey has agreed to support Sweden and Finland’s membership of the alliance. It had initially opposed the Scandinavian countries’ bids to join. Turkey was angered by what it saw as their willingness to host Kurdish militants. Sweden and Finland could not join Nato without Turkey’s support. Russia strongly opposes the two states joining […]

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Ukraine and Moldova have both been granted EU candidate status, President of the European Council Charles Michel has announced. “Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU,” Mr Michel said, describing the European Council’s decision as a “historic moment”. Ukraine applied days after the Russian invasion in February, and the process moved […]

The US central bank has announced its biggest interest rate rise in nearly 30 years as it ramps up its fight to rein in soaring consumer prices. The Federal Reserve said it would increase its key interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%. The rise, the […]

Thousands of civilians are trapped in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk with essential supplies running out, the United Nations is warning. Many of them are sheltering in bunkers beneath the city’s Azot chemical plant. The last bridge leading out of the city was destroyed in fighting earlier this week – effectively trapping its 12,000 remaining […]

All bridges to the embattled Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk have now been destroyed, the local governor says. With the city effectively cut off, Serhiy Haidai says delivering supplies and evacuating civilians are now impossible. Fierce fighting is taking place in the eastern city where Ukrainian officials said Russian artillery had driven its forces out of […]

Russia has killed hundreds of civilians in the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv using indiscriminate shelling and widely-banned cluster munitions, according to new research by Amnesty International. Amnesty said it had found evidence of Russian forces repeatedly using 9N210/9N235 cluster bombs, as well as “scatterable” munitions – rockets that eject smaller mines that expl...

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has replaced Novak Djokovic at the top of the world rankings, two weeks before a Wimbledon at which he will not be allowed to play. Wimbledon has been stripped of its ranking points over its decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, that decision means […]

The bodies of some Ukrainian fighters killed defending the key south-eastern port of Mariupol have arrived in Kyiv, the soldiers’ families say. They say this was part of a swap with Russia, with each side receiving 160 bodies. Moscow has not commented. The fighters spent weeks holed up in the city’s Azovstal steelworks. In May, […]

Russia’s UN ambassador has stormed out of a UN Security Council meeting after the European Council president blamed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for causing a global food crisis. Charles Michel said Russia was using food supplies as a “stealth missile” against the developing world, forcing people into poverty. The Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia accused Mr […]

A US jury has found Amber Heard defamed ex-husband Johnny Depp with an article in which she claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse. Jurors awarded Depp – who denied abusing Ms Heard – $15m (£12m) in compensatory and punitive damages. Ms Heard, 36, won one of three counter-claims against Mr Depp, 58, and […]

Around 15,000 suspected war crimes have been reported in Ukraine since the war began, with 200 to 300 more reported daily, its chief prosecutor said. Some 600 suspects have been identified and 80 prosecutions have begun, Iryna Venediktova told reporters in The Hague. The list of suspects includes “top military, politicians and propaganda agents of […]

By Nick Beake Billions of dollars of Chinese money are boosting some European economies – but some of the deals being struck have a catch. Critics say they are “debt traps”, where China gets to choose what happens if loans aren’t repaid. China insists it is a reliable investment partner – but it is also […]

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The WTA has followed the ATP’s lead in deciding ranking points will be awarded for next month’s UK grass-court events. But Wimbledon could still be stripped of points in response to the All England Club and the LTA’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players following the invasion of Ukraine. The decision is said to be […]

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could cause global food shortages in the coming months, the UN has warned. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the war had worsened food insecurity in poorer nations due to rising prices. The world could face famines that last for years if Ukrainian exports are not restored to pre-war levels, he added. The […]

Ukraine has confirmed that hundreds of its fighters trapped for more than two months in Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks have been evacuated. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said 53 badly wounded soldiers were taken to the town of Novoazovsk, held by Russian-backed rebels. She said another 211 were evacuated using a humanitarian corridor to Olenivka – […]

Somalia’s former leader Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been elected president after a final vote that was only open to the country’s MPs. He defeated the current president, Mohamed Abudallahi Farmajo, who has been in office since 2017. The ballot was limited to Somalia’s 328 MPs due to security concerns over holding a wider election, and […]

Bodies of 44 civilians have been found in the rubble of a collapsed building in the Ukrainian city of Izyum as the battle for control of the area rages. The five-storey building collapsed in March as residents hid in the basement from Russian shelling. But rescuers have only just been able to reach the building, […]

Russia has dismissed speculation that it will declare all-out war in Ukraine in the coming days as “nonsense”. Moscow has up until now denied it is at war, instead referring to the invasion as a “special military operation”. But Western officials have speculated that President Vladimir Putin could use the 9 May Victory Parade to […]