INTERNATIONAL

The United Nations says at least 136 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began last Thursday. Thirteen children are believed to be among the dead. But Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the real death toll is likely to be much higher. Throssell said most of the casualties came ...

Oil prices have surged on international energy markets despite new measures aimed at calming concerns about the impact of the Ukraine invasion. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – has topped $110 (£82) a barrel, marking the highest level seen in more than seven years. The rise came even after the International Energy Agency’s members agreed to ...

Evidence suggests Russia is planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. He told the BBC’s Sophie Raworth in an interview: “All the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun.” Intelligence suggests Russia intends to launch an invasion that will encircle Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Mr Johnson said. “People need to ...

The army in Mali says eight of its soldiers have been killed and five are missing after an attack by rebels in the north-eastern Archam region. The fighting comes days after France and its allies said they were withdrawing their forces from Mali. An army statement said that in response to this latest attack, the Malian air force killed 57 ...

US President Joe Biden has said he is convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to launch an invasion of Ukraine, and that an assault could happen in the “coming days”. Mr Biden said the assessment was based on US intelligence, which suggested the capital Kyiv would be targeted. Russia denies it is planning to invade. Western nations accuse Russia ...

Police have clashed with demonstrators in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, as they move to end a three-week anti-vaccine mandate protest, with 100 arrests made. The operation started early on Friday, with some officers on horseback, after the government invoked the Emergencies Act to crack down on the protest. Some protesters who resisted were thrown to the ground and had their hands ...

Millions of people have been told to stay at home as one of the worst storms in decades, Storm Eunice, hits the UK. The Met Office has issued a second rare red weather warning to cover London, the south-east and east of England. A red warning – meaning there is a danger to life from flying debris – is already ...

Russia is preparing to fabricate a reason to invade Ukraine and launch an attack in the coming days, the US says. On Thursday President Joe Biden said military action could begin imminently, but stressed that a diplomatic solution was still possible. His top foreign policy official later listed several ways Moscow could stage justification for an invasion. Russia said the ...

A young girl who went missing in 2019 has been found alive in a secret room under a staircase, police in the US state of New York say. Paislee Shultis, now six, was discovered in a house in the town of Saugerties after a search on Monday. She is in good health and has now been reunited with her legal ...

A Russian attack on Ukraine is “still very much a possibility” and the human cost would be “immense”, US President Joe Biden has said. In remarks televised nationally, he said the US was ready to respond decisively to such a move. The US president said Russia had now massed some 150,000 troops on the border with Ukraine. Russia’s defence minister ...