World

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has faced a backlash after claiming Brexit helped the UK become the first country in the world to have a clinically authorised coronavirus vaccine. The Pfizer/ BioNTech jab has been approved by Britain’s medicines regulator – but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has yet to do the same for the EU.

Officials looking for a British hiker who went missing while walking in the Pyrenees are investigating “other options beyond a mountain accident”, her partner has said. Esther Dingley had been travelling through Europe since 2014 with her partner, Dan Colegate, and had been expected to return from a solo trek last Wednesday. Local police say

At least two people have been killed and several are injured after a car drove into pedestrians in the German city of Trier, police say. Public broadcaster SWR reported that the driver had been detained by police, adding that details of the incident were unclear. Police said rescue crews were on the scene. Advertisement

Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has suffered its worst deforestation for 12 years. An area of 11,088 km2 (2.7 million acres) – seven times the size of London – was lost in a year. The official data from Brazil’s space research agency was released on Monday and showed a 9.5% annual increase. Satellite images from August 2019

An Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated by a remote-controlled machine gun mounted on a car, the country’s semi-official Fars news agency has reported. Al Alam, Iranian state TV’s Arabic language channel, has made a similar claim stating that weapons “controlled by satellite” were used in the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Friday. However the channel

Australia has demanded a Chinese official take down a fake image posted on Twitter depicting an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child. In a media briefing condemning the image, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison described it as “truly repugnant”. “It is utterly outrageous and cannot be justified on any

Formula 1 racing driver Romain Grosjean has survived a high-speed crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix, emerging from his car as it was engulfed in flames after smashing through a barrier. The 34-year-old hopped out of his car – which was ripped in two – managing to escape after being inside the car while it

Six explosions were reported in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, late on Saturday, according to the US State Department. “At 10.13pm on Nov 28 there were six explosions in Asmara,” the state department said on Twitter, although the cause and location were not clear. There has been no immediate comment from either Eritrean government officials or

Thousands of people have taken part in protests in France against a proposed new law that would ban the filming of police. The demonstrations, at numerous sites across the country, took on an additional significance as they came in the hours after President Emmanuel Macron said footage showing Paris police attacking a black man was

An Iranian nuclear scientist has died after an armed attack, according to state media. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh died in hospital on Friday from his injuries, Iranian state media reported. “Unfortunately, the medical team did not succeed in reviving him, and a few minutes ago, this manager and scientist achieved the high status of martyrdom after years

Iran will avenge the death of an assassinated nuclear scientist “like lightning”, an adviser to the country’s supreme leader has said. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was injured after gunmen fired at his car and he died later in hospital, Iranian state media reported. Hossein Dehghan, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader and a candidate in the country’s

Diego Maradona’s funeral sparked violent clashes in Argentina, after thousands of football fans were unable to get a glimpse of their hero’s coffin. Tens of thousands of people managed to pay their respects to Maradona on Thursday as his body laid in state in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires, before viewing was cut short

The legendary Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona has died at the age of 60, the Argentinian football association has said. Maradona, who captained Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning team, is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time – if not the greatest. Brazil’s Pele said: “Certainly one day we’ll kick a ball together

Argentina’s president has said there will be three days of national mourning following the death of the country’s most famous footballer. Diego Maradona, who captained the 1986 World Cup-winning team, died from a heart attack at the age of 60 on Wednesday. Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez said: “Diego was Argentina in the world. He gave

Tributes are pouring in for legendary footballer Diego Maradona, who has died at the age of 60. Former England star Gary Lineker, who famously played against Maradona in the World Cup quarter-final in 1986, described his opponent as “the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time”. Maradona’s infamous “hand of

The White House has given approval for Joe Biden to start receiving the president’s daily intelligence reports, an administration official has said. The bulletin, called the president’s daily brief, consists of a collection of classified intelligence reports prepared every day to give the US leader updates on major security threats around the world. It comes