World

The last century’s space race was a competition between the world’s great powers and a test of their ideologies. It would prove to be a synecdoche of the entire Cold War between the capitalist United States and the socialist Soviet Union. The starting pistol in the race to the future was fired in 1961 when

Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi has taken a big lead in Iran’s presidential election and his rivals have conceded defeat, according to state TV. Mr Raisi has taken an unassailable lead in the election, winning 17.8 million votes, an interior ministry official said. His closest rival, Mohsen Rezaei, a senior conservative general, won just 3.3 million

A message in a bottle that travelled more than 2,000 miles (3,200km) has received a response – three years after beginning its epic journey. Sean Smith, who is now 16, had sent out the missive while on holiday in Rhode Island on Thanksgiving in 2018. A note inside read: “It is Thanksgiving. I am 13

Brazil is likely to pass the awful mark of 500,000 COVID-related deaths in the next two days. Only the United States has a higher number of dead across the world. Currently averaging 2,500 deaths a day, Brazil’s P1 variant has long been identified as a highly virulent cause for concern, prompting travel bans to most

Denmark’s Christian Eriksen has been discharged from hospital and visited his teammates nearly a week after collapsing on the pitch. The Danish football association said Eriksen has been through a successful operation, following his cardiac arrest during Denmark’s Euro 2020 game with Finland in Copenhagen on Saturday. The association tweeted: “Christian Eriksen has been through

A Greek helicopter pilot has been charged with the murder of his British wife after claiming she was killed during a robbery at their home outside of Athens. Babis Anagnostopoulos appeared in court in the Greek capital in handcuffs and wearing a bulletproof vest. He is due to return next week to give evidence. Police

A summit between Boris Johnson and Vladimir Putin might be possible if Russia’s president ceases “malign activity” against the UK and its allies, the defence secretary has signalled. Ben Wallace said it was important to offer a “path out, a path to improvement” and called a landmark meeting between Mr Putin and US President Joe

Italy is introducing a mandatory five-day quarantine for visitors from Britain from Monday amid growing concerns over the Delta coronavirus variant. They will also have to be tested for COVID, the country’s health minister Roberto Speranza said on Friday. But curbs will be relaxed on travellers from a number of other countries. The move comes

It is often said that water is a blessing in South Sudan but the people who live in this impoverished nation have been given good reason to reconsider an unquestionable truth. Two years of unprecedented flooding has changed the way the country looks, with thousands of kilometres of rich agricultural land now lying under water.

Christian Eriksen is said to be in a “good mood” as doctors continue to carry out tests after he collapsed during a Euro 2020 game. The Danish footballer is recovering in hospital after he collapsed about 40 minutes into the game with Finland in Copenhagen on Saturday. Agent and friend of the player, Martin Schoots,

Benjamin Netanyahu, the ever-present figure in Israeli politics for three decades is down and out. “Bibi”, to give him his near-universal nickname, has been written off so many times, but now, the man they call “the magician” has run out of tricks and run out of road. After four elections in just two years, 24

Israel’s parliament has voted in favour of a new government, ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year consecutive tenure as premier. The vote was 60-59. Earlier, Mr Netanyahu had vowed to lead his Likud Party back to power and “topple this dangerous government and return to lead the country in our way”. He made clear he had no

Christian Eriksen is in a stable condition after suffering what doctors said was a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s opening Euro 2020 match on Saturday. The Danish footballer is awake in hospital, and has “sent his greetings to his teammates” while he remains under examination following his collapse in Copenhagen. Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen told

Denmark football captain Simon Kjaer has been hailed as a hero for his quick response to teammate Christian Eriksen’s collapse during their Euro 2020 opener against Finland. Eriksen is stable in hospital following the incident in Copenhagen on Saturday evening, which saw the former Tottenham star suddenly fall to the ground with no other players

Sir David Attenborough will warn G7 leaders the decisions they make this decade are “the most important in human history” as he urges them to take action on climate change. The 95-year-old environmentalist will address the heads of the world’s leading democracies at their summit in Carbis Bay on Sunday. During their final day of

Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of German Cardinal Reinhard Marx over the Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis. Cardinal Marx wrote a letter to the Pope last week offering to resign as the archbishop of Munich and Freising over the Church’s mishandling of abuse cases. He is not under investigation himself, either for abuse or

India has recorded the world’s highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in a single day. It announced a further 6,148 fatalities on Thursday – after the state of Bihar discovered 3,929 unreported deaths. Bihar, one of India’s poorest states, revised its death toll after being directed to by Patna High Court. Live COVID updates from the

There is an old, corrugated hanger in the centre of Maseru, the diminutive capital of the kingdom of Lesotho and through the doors we could hear the words of prayer. Inside, amongst the wings and tails of several brightly coloured aeroplanes, there were medics and mechanics getting themselves ready for the day ahead. Lesotho’s Flying

Europe is gearing up to enjoy one of its most eagerly awaited football tournaments in years, as it attempts to shrug off the impact of the pandemic on organised sports. But the countries where the delayed Euro 2020 matches will be played vary significantly in terms of how badly hit they currently are by the

A number of major websites have gone down around the world, including the UK government web pages. Those logging into to gov.uk have been faced with a message saying “503 Service Unavailable”. Other sites affected include news outlets The Guardian, Financial Times, Independent, New York Times, Evening Standard, Bloomberg and Le Monde as well as