Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with the Head of the Security Service (SSU) Vasyl Malyuk, who had reported on the operation against Russian airbases It's hard to exaggerate the sheer audacity - or ingenuity - that went into Ukraine's countrywide assault on Russia's air force. We cannot possibly verify Ukrainian claims that the attacks resulted in $7bn (£5.2bn) of damage, but it

Pope Leo XIV has supported his predecessor - and attention will focus on his early actions Even before his name was announced from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, the crowds below were chanting "Viva il Papa" - Long live the Pope. Robert Francis Prevost, 69, has become the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter and he will be known as Leo XIV. He is the first American to fill the role of pop

Pope Francis became the Roman Catholic Church's spiritual leader in 2013 Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died on Easter Monday aged 88. The Vatican said he died following a stroke, less than 24 hours after appearing in a wheelchair at St Peter's Square to lead an Easter address in front of thousands of worshipers. The Pope's death follows a period of

Germany's chancellor-in-waiting didn't wait for the final results of his country's election on Sunday to herald a new era in Europe. Declaring the US indifferent to this continent's fate, Friedrich Merz questioned the future of Nato and demanded Europe boost its own defences. Quickly. This tone from the close US ally - and from Friedrich Merz who is known to be a passionate Atlanticist - would hav

Friedrich Merz's conservatives have won Germany's election, well ahead of rival parties but short of the 30% vote-share they had expected. "Let's celebrate tonight and in the morning, we'll get to work," he told cheering supporters. His immediate priority is to try to form a government with the third-placed Social Democrats of Olaf Scholz. Even before the result was clear, Merz said his top priori

Across Germany Syrians have been celebrating in the streets the downfall of former president Bashar al-Assad. But now many will be feeling less euphoric, as some politicians question their future in Germany. There are around a million people with a Syrian passport in Germany. Most of them came from 2015-16, after Angela Merkel's government made a decision not to close Germany's borders to refugees

The AfD's highly controversial top candidate in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, hailed a "historic victory" Germany's anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) is celebrating a "historic success", with a big victory for the far-right party in the eastern state of Thuringia. The AfD won almost a third of the vote, nine points ahead of the conservative CDU, and far in front of Germany's three governing

Residents in parts of the Kursk region have been warned to shelter in basements, and a growing number have been evacuated Ukraine's top commander has said Kyiv's forces control 1,000 sq km of Russian territory as they press their biggest cross-border incursion in two-and-a-half years of full-scale war. Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukraine continued to "conduct an offensive operation in the Kur

When Kyiv launched a cross-border raid into Russia’s Kursk region bordering Ukraine, the question from some military experts was: “Why?” One of Ukraine’s biggest battlefield issues is manpower. Russia has more soldiers and is inching closer to the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk. So, sending hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers into Russia itself is, shall we say, counterintuitive in the eyes of some

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, France Unbowed party: 'We are allowed to love our country' France's far-right National Rally was widely expected to win this snap election, but instead they were beaten into third place. A left-wing alliance called New Popular Front won the most seats, after a highly charged and abbreviated election called only four weeks ago by a weakened President Emmanuel Macron. National Ra

By midday it was already clear that voters were turning out in big numbers across France France is voting in a parliamentary election that could make history, with the far right closer to power than it has ever been in modern times. The National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella is well ahead in the polls - three weeks to the day since they won European elections. President Emmanuel

Hardy was still a teenager when her melancholic love songs first captivated the music scene One of France's best-loved singer-songwriters, Françoise Hardy, has died at the age of 80. "Mum is gone," her son, Thomas Dutronc, who is also a musician, wrote on social media. Hardy burst on to the music scene in 1962 and became a cultural icon who inspired the likes of Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan. Known fo

Police are evacuating villages and Kyiv has sent reinforcements to the Kharkiv region following Russia's incursion Ukraine has pulled back its troops from several villages in the border region of Kharkiv following continued pressure from Russian forces. Soldiers had come under heavy fire and moved to "more advantageous positions" in two areas of the north-eastern region, a military spokesman said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is to remove his long-standing ally Sergei Shoigu as defence minister, the Kremlin has announced. The 68-year-old had been in the role since 2012 and will be replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, an economist with little military experience.

Footage shows people taking cover inside the venue as multiple shots are heard Gunmen have attacked a concert hall on the fringes of Moscow, killing at least 133 people and wounding 140 more, Russian security services say. Attackers clad in camouflage gear took part in the attack, in the north-western suburb of Krasnogorsk, BBC-verified video shows.

Russia's most significant opposition leader for the past decade, Alexei Navalny, has died in an Arctic Circle jail, the prison service has said. President Vladimir Putin's most vociferous critic, he was serving 19 years on extremism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated.