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Nine people rescued from boat sailing perilous Atlantic route that reportedly left Senegal with 60 people onboard nine days agoAt least 50 people are feared to have drowned after a boat sailing the perilous Atlantic route from west Africa to Europe began to sink 60 miles south of the Canary island of El Hierro.Nine people were rescued from the craft early on Monday after...

Four-year-old child and pregnant woman among those in a serious condition after strike on seafront park in Black Sea port cityThis live blog has been paused. For the latest coverage on Russia’s war in Ukraine, please visit our dedicated page.To keep up to date quickly with the latest in Ukraine, read our Ukraine war briefing here. Continue reading...

Series of traumatic defeats has prompted a rethink in what was once seen as the most pro-Moscow of the ex-Soviet republicsWith its waterfall, hot spring, orchards full of apricot blossom and a gorge through which the swollen Arpa River races, the town of Jermuk since Soviet times has been one of the most visited in Armenia. That was until just after midnight on 12...

Report to United Nations security council says remnants of Hwasong-11 violate arms export embargo on Russian ally The debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on 2 January was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile, UN sanctions monitors told a security council committee in a report seen by Reuters.In the 32-page report, the UN sanctions monitors concluded...

Commission president, who is seeking another term, took aim at group that includes AfD and National Rally in pre-election debateThe European Commission president, Ursula Von der Leyen, has criticised the far right as “Putin’s proxies”, while refusing to rule out working with other rightwing nationalists, as campaigning began ahead of June’s European elections.Von der Leyen is seeking a second five-year term leading the commission,...

Two women say actor assaulted them, one on a film set in 2021 and the other on another shoot in 2014Gérard Depardieu will face a criminal trial in October over the alleged sexual assaults of two women on the set of a film in 2021, prosecutors have announced.Depardieu, 75, who previously has denied any wrongdoing, was questioned for several hours on Monday by officers...

Newly deciphered passages outline Greek philosopher’s burial place and describe critique of slave musician Newly deciphered passages from a papyrus scroll that was buried beneath layers of volcanic ash after the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius may have shed light on the final hours of Plato, a key figure in the history of western philosophy.In a groundbreaking discovery, the ancient scroll was found to...

Sánchez announces he will stay on days after saying he was considering resigning after attacks in rightwing media on his wifePedro Sánchez is expected to speak in a few minutes. Stay tuned.Pedro Sánchez’s big announcement will be an “institutional declaration”, which means a televised statement with no questions from the media. Continue reading...

Moscow claims another eastern village as struggling Ukrainian forces await the arrival of crucial weapons from the USHere are some of the latest images on the newswires:Polish protesters unblocked all border crossing points with Ukraine on Monday morning, a Ukraine border guard spokesperson said on a Ukrainian TV broadcast, reports Reuters news agency. Continue reading...

PP leader accuses prime minister of navel-gazing, while Sánchez’s supporters rally in MadridSpanish opposition parties have stepped up their attacks on the socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, as he prepares to announce whether he will resign because of what he describes as a “harassment and bullying operation” being waged against him and his wife by his political and media enemies.Sánchez shocked Spain on Wednesday...

Socialist prime minister poised to decide on his future, but some say it’s ploy to surviveOn Monday, Pedro Sánchez, the great and unpredictable survivor of Spanish politics, and a leader who has seen off more than his fair share of rivals, critics and adversaries, will reveal whether or not he intends to carry on as prime minister.The announcement will come five days after the...

Ex-soldier, conspiracy theorist, astrologer and anti-vaxxer among the first of 27 people on trial for trying to violently topple the German government – led by Heinrich XIII Prince ReussOne of the largest legal proceedings in German history is due to start on Monday with the first of three trials of a group of far-right conspiracists who planned to violently overthrow the country’s parliament.So sprawling...

Mykola Solskyi accused of illegally seizing land worth more than $7m when he was head of major farming firm and an MPUkraine’s agriculture minister, Mykola Solskyi, has been detained after being named as a formal suspect in a multimillion-dollar corruption inquiry.Blighted by corruption scandals since the fall of the Soviet Union, Kyiv has pledged to bolster its anti-graft efforts as part of its bid...

Open letter calls for green policies that empower farmers, after months of protests jeopardise future of flagship biodiversity dealThe EU’s nature restoration law will only work if it is enacted in partnership with farmers, a group of leading scientists has said, after months of protests have pushed the proposals to the brink of collapse.In an open letter, leading biodiversity researchers from across the world...

First payments to be made during an ongoing conflict is ‘important step towards restoring justice’, says first lady, Olena Zelenska The first reparation payments are to be made in the next few weeks to survivors of wartime rape by Russian soldiers during the invasion of Ukraine, in a move that Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, called “an important step towards restoring justice”.Up to 500...

Director of Palme d’Or-winning film Entre les Murs (The Class) was much praised for humanism in projectsLaurent Cantet, the award-winning film-maker whose creations tackled some of the most complex issues of modern French society, including meritocracy, the education system, diversity and class struggle, has died aged 63 after an illness.Cantet was best known outside France for his film Entre les Murs (The Class), which...

European parliament term ends with warnings about dangers of disinformation and authoritarian forcesThe starting gun has been fired on the next European parliamentary elections with more than 600 MEPs departing Strasbourg urged to use their “strength and patience” to fight the far right and disinformation and return a vote across the bloc for democracy.There were flowers, tears and cheers on Thursday as Roberta Metsola,...

Ukrainian president meets Jeremy Hunt and calls for sanctions against Russia to be tightenedBelarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday that the risk of military incidents along his country’s border with Ukraine was quite high, reports Reuters citing Russia’s state-run RIA news agency.RIA also cited him as saying that neighbouring Poland should not expect aggressive actions from Belarus. Continue reading...

Blades of famous cabaret venue fall from roof overnightThe blades of the Moulin Rouge windmill, one of the most famous landmarks in Paris, have collapsed, firefighters have said, just months before the French capital hosts the Olympics.There was no risk of further collapse, Paris firefighters said after the incident overnight. Continue reading...

Pedro Sánchez halts public duties, hitting out at opponents after court launches inquiry into alleged corruption by Begoña GómezSpain’s socialist prime minister has cancelled his public duties for the rest of the week and said he is considering resigning, blaming a “harassment and bullying operation” by his political and media opponents for a court’s decision to launch an investigation into his wife for alleged...

Critics of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa say behind remarks is lack of national recognition that slavery should be discussed in schoolsPortugal needs to “pay the costs” of slavery and other colonial-era crimes, the country’s president has said, in a rare instance of a European leader seemingly backing the need for reparations.Portugal has long grappled with calls by campaigners to address its legacy as the...

Ukraine’s SBU security service drones struck two oil depots in Russia’s Smolensk overnight, according to a Ukrainian intelligence source. It came as the US Senate approved wartime foreign aid for UkraineHere are some of the latest images on the newswires:Ukraine’s SBU security service drones struck two Rosneft-owned oil depots in Russia’s Smolensk region in an overnight attack, according to a source in Ukrainian intelligence...

Attempt to cross via overcrowded dinghy from Wimereux aborted after engine stalls and five people drownThey could have been on a school trip. Fifty teenagers from Vietnam, dressed for the biting cold in puffer jackets, smart trainers and woolly beanies, sat on the pavement by the bus shelter outside Gare Calais listening to music and watching videos on their smartphones.They were waiting for the...

French coastguard says small boat was carrying more than 100 people during failed crossing attemptFive people have died in an attempt to cross the Channel near the town of Wimereux, south of Calais, French police have said.A spokesperson for France’s national police told Reuters that five asylum seekers had died, while the French coastguard confirmed there was a failed attempt to cross the Channel...