UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a direct, impassioned plea Wednesday to Vladimir Putin to stop -- “in the name of humanity” -- the Russian military assault on Ukraine. Speaking after an emergency Security Council session, which coincided with the Russian

Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a "military operation" in Ukraine's Donbas region, BBC reports. He urges Ukrainian soldiers in eastern Ukraine to lay down weapons and return to their homes. Putin warns that Moscow's response will be "instant"

Waving blue and yellow Ukrainian flags and singing a patriotic military song, hundreds of residents of the once largely pro-Russian city of Mariupol gathered in the central Theatre Square with a defiant message for President Vladimir Putin: Russia is not welcome here. On Tuesday, as

The US has hit Russia with wide-ranging sanctions over what President Joe Biden called "the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine". "We've cut off Russia's government from Western financing," Mr Biden said. It came after Russian politicians

United Kingdom on Tuesday slapped sanctions on five Russian banks and three billionaires, in what prime minister Boris Johnson called ‘the first barrage’ of measures in response to the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine. Addressing the UK parliament hours after Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops into two rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine, after recognising them as independent states. Russia said the troops would engage in "peacekeeping" in the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics. But the

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is willing to meet Vladimir Putin to find out “what the Russian president wants” and seek a “peaceful settlement”, amid growing concern over a possible imminent invasion. Later on Sunday, French President Emmanuel

Evidence suggests Russia is planning "the biggest war in Europe since 1945", Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. He told the BBC's Sophie Raworth in an interview: "All the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun." Intelligence suggests

Police have clashed with demonstrators in Canada's capital, Ottawa, as they move to end a three-week anti-vaccine mandate protest, with 100 arrests made. The operation started early on Friday, with some officers on horseback, after the government invoked the Emergencies Act to

US President Joe Biden has said he is convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to launch an invasion of Ukraine, and that an assault could happen in the "coming days". Mr Biden said the assessment was based on US intelligence, which suggested the capital Kyiv

At least 94 people have been killed in mudslides and floods that tore through a mountainous region of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state, local authorities said. The disaster in the city of Petropolis followed three hours of torrential rain on Tuesday, and Rio de Janeiro Governor

Russia's claim that it is moving troops away from the border with Ukraine is "false", according to a senior US official, who added that 7,000 extra troops have arrived in recent days. The official also said that Russia could launch a "false" pretext to invade

At least 13 people have died after falling into a well during a wedding ceremony in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Police said the victims - all women and children - were sitting on a metal slab covering the well when it collapsed under their weight. Two more people

Russian defence ministry Wednesday announced the end of Crimea military drills, reported news agency AFP. The Russian defence ministry shared a video of Russian military equipment and forces leaving Crimea.  The move comes after Moscow said Tuesday that some of its troops are

Human Rights Watch has condemned Australia's immigration detention policy, pointing out that the country now holds asylum seekers for an average period of 689 days - a new record. The group has highlighted the fact one month on since Novak Djokovic was put in an Australian

As Western leaders warned of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine, Yuri Vasylevych and his saxophone quartet played tango to a full house at the Kyiv Philharmonic. The musician is used to performing under pressure: when pro-EU protests erupted in violence in 2014, in this grand

The Myanmar military has murdered civilians, and used them as human shields, in a series of atrocities in eastern Karenni State that may amount to war crimes, prominent human rights group Fortify Rights said in a new report published on Tuesday. The group says it documented attacks on

The US and UK leaders have said not all hope is lost for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis, but warn that the situation remains fragile. In a 40-minute call, Joe Biden and Boris Johnson agreed a deal was still possible despite a chorus of warnings of imminent Russian military

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in Ukraine in the latest diplomatic push aimed at preventing a feared Russian invasion. Monday’s visit comes as Western countries withdraw staff from their embassies in Kyiv, with many of them also urging their citizens to leave

Ukraine said on Sunday (Feb 13) it wanted talks with Russia and members of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) within 48 hours to discuss Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine and inside annexed Crimea. The OSCE, which has 57 participating states from