World

A seven-year-old Ukrainian ice figure skater who is now living in Bristol after fleeing the war is searching for a new coach to help keep up his training regime. Gosha Mandziuk, who competed nationally and was also part of an ice-hockey team, has been unable to skate for three months. As Gosha took to the

On the island of Gotland, they’re training for war. Members of the Home Guard lie in the grass firing off rounds of blanks at an imaginary enemy. In another field, conscripts take part in live-fire exercises. Sweden is building its defences and Gotland’s strategic location in the Baltic Sea gives it a key role. In

Air, chemical and water pollution accounted for one in six deaths in 2019, a study has found. Pollution was responsible for nine million deaths worldwide in 2019, according to the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health – a figure unchanged since 2015. More more than 90% of pollution-related deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries,

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will reflect on the dark legacy of Canada’s residential school scandal as they begin their tour of the country later. Prince Charles and Camilla are visiting the Commonwealth realm on a three-day trip to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Charles is expected to speak about the Queen’s

Spanish cabinet ministers are today discussing plans to introduce a law that would allow women to take up to five days of menstrual leave a month. Draft new legislation – leaked to Spanish media outlets – proposes giving workers who suffer from severe period pain three days of optional medical leave a month, with two

The US has successfully tested a hypersonic weapon, according to the US Air Force. The test was conducted on Saturday in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California, but it was confirmed in the early hours of Tuesday. The US Air Force said that the air-launched rapid response weapon (ARRW) was released by

Dogs can be trained within weeks to detect a COVID-19 infection, with a degree of accuracy comparable to a nose and throat swab test, according to new research. Four dogs were trained to sniff out the virus in spring 2020 as part of a study led by the University of Helsinki in Finland. The animals,

More than 200 Ukrainian soldiers are being evacuated from Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol after weeks of resistance against the Russian invasion. Some 53 troops are being taken to hospital in the Russian-controlled town of Novoazovsk, about 30 miles to the east, according to Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar. Another 211

Sri Lanka only has enough petrol stocks to last a single day, with the possibility of power outages lasting up to 15 hours a day, the country’s new prime minister has warned. In his first address to the nation since his controversial appointment last week, Ranil Wickremesinghe said there is also a “grave concern” about

Vladimir Putin has said Russia has no issue with Finland and Sweden, but warned Moscow would react to the expansion of military infrastructure on their territories as both countries move closer to joining NATO. Speaking in Moscow at a summit of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), he said Russia must look closely at

A retired British geologist who faces the death penalty over accusations he smuggled artefacts out of Iraq has told a court he had no idea he was breaking the law. Jim Fitton, 66, collected 12 stones and shards of broken pottery as souvenirs while visiting a site in Eridu in the country’s southeast as part

A convicted murderer in Israel is set to become a millionaire through his tech company, which is expected to go public on the Tel Aviv stock exchange. Harel Hershtik planned and executed a murder when he was 20, shooting his victim, Yaakov Sela, in the head and burying the body. Hershtik met Sela, a snake

Monkeypox is very difficult to catch from someone carrying the infection and is mostly caught from infected wild animals in west of central Africa. The illness for most people is mild with full recovery taking up to four weeks, while the chance of catching it in the UK is currently very low. According to the

North Korea has brought in the military to stabilise its distribution of coronavirus medicine as the country battles its “first” outbreak. Last week, state media acknowledged an “explosive outbreak” with experts warning it could devastate the country which has limited medical supplies and no vaccine programme. Drugs procured by the state were not reaching people

A gunman who killed one worshipper and wounded five others at a church in California was stopped after a pastor hit him over the head with a chair and members of the congregation tied him up. Police praised the “exceptional heroism” of the pastor and the congregation, mostly pensioners of Taiwanese descent, after they managed

Ukraine can win the war against Russia, NATO’s secretary general has said, insisting that Russia’s invasion is “not going as Moscow had planned”. Jens Stoltenberg was speaking on Sunday to a meeting of NATO member countries, although he addressed them via video as he was recovering from COVID-19. He said: “Russia’s war in Ukraine is