The United States condemns Russia’s fraudulent attempt today to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory. Russia is violating international law, trampling on the United Nations Charter, and showing its contempt for peaceful nations everywhere.

A defiant Vladimir Putin proclaimed Russia’s annexation of a swathe of Ukraine in a pomp-filled Kremlin ceremony yesterday, promising Moscow would triumph in its “special military operation” against Kyiv even as some of his troops faced potential defeat.

After years of decline, the planet is now witnessing a “worrying upsurge” in cholera outbreaks, the World Health Organization warned yesterday.

A resurgent Hurricane Ian yesterday barrelled north toward a second landfall in South Carolina, a day after carving a path of destruction across central Florida that left rescue crews racing to reach trapped residents along the state’s Gulf Coast.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties Friday to annex parts of Ukraine in defiance of international law, vowing to protect the newly incorporated regions by “all available means” in another escalation of his seven-month invasion of the country.

A senior Iranian cleric called for tough action on Friday against protesters enraged by the death of a young woman in police custody who have called for the downfall of the country's leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday presided over a ceremony to annex four Ukrainian regions partly occupied by his forces, escalating his seven-month war and taking it into an unpredictable new phase.

Dozens of civilians were killed or wounded in what Kyiv said was a cynical Russian missile strike on a convoy of civilian cars in southern Ukraine on Friday, leaving bodies strewn across the ground.

President Vladimir Putin will sign documents today proclaiming Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions, as Moscow rushes to lock in territorial claims that the Ukrainian army is threatening to reverse on the battlefield.

US President Joe Biden has struggled in domestic polls since last year but his foreign policy is earning higher marks in much of Europe as he leads efforts against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Facebook should pay reparations to the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya forced from their homes in Myanmar in a campaign exacerbated by

Rescue workers and residents of Florida’s Gulf Coast searched for missing people and picked up the pieces from wrecked homes yesterday after Hurricane Ian tore through the area with howling winds, torrential rains and raging surf.

Iran yesterday stepped up pressure on celebrities and journalists over the wave of women-led protests sparked by outrage over the death of Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by the Islamic republic’s morality police.

The United States yesterday announced $810 million in new funding for Pacific Islands at a summit with President Joe Biden amid inroads by China in the strategic but sparsely populated region.

Finland said on Thursday it would close its border to Russian tourists at midnight, shutting off the last remaining direct land route to the European Union for them as thousands of Russians seek to avoid conscription into the war in Ukraine.

Once unthinkable, mobile phones could go dark around Europe this winter if power cuts or energy rationing knocks out parts of the mobile networks across the region.

British Labour party MP Rupa Huq has apologised to Kwasi Kwarteng after being suspended from the party for describing him as “superficially” black during a fringe meeting at conference.

Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the US, swamped southwest Florida on Wednesday, turning streets into rivers, knocking out power to 1.8 million people and threatening catastrophic damage further inland.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday said that the death of a young woman in custody had "saddened" everyone in the Islamic Republic, but warned that "chaos" would not be accepted amid spreading violent protests over Mahsa Amini's death.

Hurricane Ian plowed into Florida's Gulf Coast with catastrophic force on Wednesday, assaulting the state with howling winds, torrential rain and a treacherous surge of ocean surf that made it one of the most powerful storms on record to hit the United States.