World News

Dozens are feared dead after a passenger plane carrying 67 people crashed in Kazakhstan, the country's emergencies ministry said.Twelve people are reported to have survived the crash, authorities said. The Azerbaijan Airlines flight was en route from Baku in Azerbaijan to Grozny in Russia, but was rerouted due to fog. It crashed near the city of Aktau near the airport, in the west of the country.More than 50 rescuers are […]

The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch may have dementia and a competency hearing is needed to assess whether he can face sex charges, defence lawyers have said.Mike Jeffries, 80 and who was CEO of glitzy retailer Abercrombie & Fitch for more than two decades, is free on $10m (£7.7m) bond after pleading not guilty in October to federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges.Lawyers for Jeffries said in court […]

The sense of hollowness of the Church of the Nativity is deeper than absent tourists. The chants and prayers are pain-stricken and desperate. Down in the manger by the enshrined spot where baby Jesus was said to be born, a priest solemnly swings incense into the corners. Image: Bethlehem's Christian community struggles to celebrate amid ongoing war in Palestine There is no beautifully-lit tree in the square outside for the […]

A huge snowstorm has left tens of thousands of homes in Bosnia without power on Christmas Eve and caused traffic chaos.The blizzard has wrought havoc across the Balkans, with snow drifts closing motorways in Croatia and also affecting travel in Serbia. Movement of heavy vehicles has been banned in the three countries and trains were halted in parts of Bosnia. Image: A woman walks through a park in Sarajevo. Pic: […]

A Russian cargo ship that Ukraine claims was sent to Syria to collect weapons has sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, according to officials in Moscow.Two crew members are missing after an engine room explosion sank the Ursa Major between Spain and Algeria, the foreign ministry said. Ukraine's military intelligence claimed in a post on Telegram yesterday that the ship had been sent to Syria to remove weapons and military equipment […]

The preserved remains of a juvenile mammoth are being studied by scientists after it was discovered in thawing permafrost after more than 50,000 years.The creature was recovered from the Batagaika crater in Russia, a huge depression more than 80m (260ft) deep which is widening as a result of climate change. The carcass, weighing more than 110kg (240lb), was brought to the surface on an improvised stretcher, according to Maxim Cherpasov, […]

The sister of a British man who has been missing in Spain for nine days has said "panic" is setting in.Courtney George last spoke to her brother John Hardy on Saturday 14 December, around the time she believes he was due to drive from Alicante to Benidorm.She reported him missing after he failed to get on his flight home on Wednesday 18 December.Mr Hardy, from Belfast, has several tattoos, including […]

Moscow has denied claims Bashar al Assad's wife is seeking a divorce and a route out of Russia, where the couple are staying.The deposed Syrian dictator has been in the Russian capital with Asma al Assad since rebels forced him out of power in a lightning offensive earlier this month. They had to leave their life of luxury behind in a hurry - with their abandoned home explored by Sky […]

Warning: This story contains distressing imagesTo find safety from Gaza, you need first to become the victim of a catastrophic injury and then be lucky enough to be identified, selected and extracted.That's one of the many brutal truths from this long war.I have followed the stories of some of the few Palestinians who have left Gaza for medical care.Less than 100 children have been granted permissions and temporary visas for […]