INTERNATIONAL

Senegal’s football team have been given a hero’s welcome upon their return home after winning the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time. Tens of thousands of ecstatic revellers celebrated the players’ return to Dakar, sitting on top of cars and dancing in the capital’s streets. President Macky Sall was among those greeting the team at the airport. When ...

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he thinks a deal to avoid war in Ukraine is possible and that it is legitimate for Russia to raise its own security concerns. Before talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, he called for a “new balance” to protect European states and appease Russia. He restated that the sovereignty of ...

The mayor of Canada’s capital Ottawa has declared a state of emergency in response to more than a week of truckers’ protests against Covid restrictions. Jim Watson said the city was “completely out of control”, with demonstrators outnumbering police. He said the protests posed a threat to the safety and security of residents. The truckers have paralysed the centre of ...

Russia has assembled about 70% of the military capability needed for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the coming weeks, US officials say. The ground is expected to freeze and harden from mid-February, enabling Moscow to bring in more heavy equipment, the unnamed officials said. Russia is said to have more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders but denies planning ...

A five-year-old Moroccan boy who was trapped in a well for four days has died, despite painstaking efforts to rescue him. A royal statement announced his death soon after his removal from the well. The bid to free the boy, named as Rayan, had gripped the country, with hundreds of people gathered at the well and thousands more following online. ...

Former US Vice-President Mike Pence has dismissed claims by Donald Trump that he could have stopped Joe Biden becoming president last year. In his strongest rebuttal yet, he said Mr Trump was wrong to suggest he had had the right to overturn the election. Separately the Republican Party censured two of its top lawmakers for investigating the Capitol riots. A ...

China has joined Russia in opposing further Nato expansion as the two countries move closer together in the face of western pressure. Moscow and Beijing issued a statement showcasing their agreement on a raft of issues during a visit by Russia’s Vladimir Putin for the winter Olympics. Mr Putin claims western powers are using the Nato defence alliance to undermine ...

Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has sacked his entire cabinet over corruption concerns. In a televised address to the nation on Monday, the president vowed to “confront all forms of lawless conduct by public officials”. He said a new cabinet would be announced in two days. Three ministers are facing charges including the minister of lands who was arrested last month ...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned Russia that invading Ukraine would be “disastrous” and a “painful, violent and bloody business”. Speaking as the Foreign Office pulled some embassy staff out of Ukraine, the PM said the situation is “pretty gloomy” but war was not inevitable. He said the UK was “leading on creating a package of economic sanctions” against Russia. Defensive weaponry ...

The US has ordered the relatives of its embassy staff in Ukraine to leave amid rising tension in the region. The State Department has also given permission for non-essential staff to leave and urged US citizens in Ukraine to consider departing. In a statement, it said there were reports that Russia is planning significant military action against Ukraine. Russia has ...