The Ebola outbreak tearing through central Africa was already well advanced by the time health officials identified it, the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday, even as he stressed that efforts to contain the virus are beginning to gain ground. Declared on 15 May in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the outbreak has so far been confirmed in 359 people, among them 61 who have died. Health officials caution, however, that the true toll may be considerably higher, with signs the virus had been…

Fresh hopes for calm on the Israel-Lebanon border were jolted within hours, as Lebanese state media reported Israeli strikes in the south despite a newly announced conditional ceasefire reached after talks in Washington. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said drone strikes hit roads in several locations in the south, adding that at least one of the attacks caused casualties. Earlier today, the Israeli military said air raid sirens had sounded in northern Israel. It said one alert involved a "suspicious aerial…

The European Union has cleared the way for Ukraine and Moldova to advance to the next phase of their membership bids, after diplomats said Hungary had signalled it was lifting its long-running veto on Kyiv's progress. "This marks a significant milestone in their European integration path, and sends a strong message of EU unity and determination," Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency, said in a social media post. The bloc formally opened accession talks with Ukraine in June 2024, launching a complex process that…

Wim Wenders, the celebrated German filmmaker, says he is pulling his 1975 film Wrong Move from circulation after actress Nastassja Kinski renewed criticism of a scene in which she appeared topless at age 13. In a statement posted on his foundation’s website, Wenders apologised to Kinski and said the Wim Wenders Foundation, which owns the film, is removing it from all current distribution channels. "As the only person responsible at the time for Wrong Move who is still here, I recognise that Nastassja Kinski should have been…

Anger over the killing of a Southampton teenager spilled into violence as protesters hurled missiles at police near the spot where an 18-year-old student was handcuffed while fatally wounded after a stabbing. Henry Nowak was attacked on 3 December 2025 by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, who told police at the time that he had been the target of a racist attack. Body-worn camera footage from the night captures Mr Nowak repeatedly telling officers: "I've been stabbed". Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Southampton Central…

Finnish prosecutors have charged a man with the sexual abuse of 361 children through social media, in a case the National Prosecution Authority described on Wednesday. According to the authority, the alleged offences took place between 2019 and 2022 and involved victims between the ages of nine and 15. Finnish police said in December that they were investigating the same case and suspected a 27-year-old man of 364 sexual offences against children. But the Prosecution Authority said today that prosecutors had chosen not to…

Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal and a naval base in St Petersburg just hours before President Vladimir Putin was due to open his flagship economic forum, in a strike aimed at puncturing the Kremlin’s image and underscoring the exposure of Russia’s major cities. The assault on St Petersburg, Mr Putin’s home city and host of his own glitzy version of ‘Davos’ — an annual showcase meant to lure foreign investors — came as both sides intensified attacks in a war now more than four years old, with no clear end in sight.…

Kenny Dalglish, one of Liverpool’s most revered figures, said Tuesday that he is being treated for cancer. Dalglish, who collected more than 30 trophies with Liverpool as both player and manager, shared the news of his diagnosis on social media. "As my inadvertent social media post has indicated, I am currently undergoing treatment for cancer. Unlike my mobile phone use, the treatment is going well," the 75-year-old Scot wrote on Instagram. "Ideally, this would have remained private because that's the way it should be, but…

Kuwait’s fragile calm was shattered before dawn when an Iranian attack hit civilian sites across the country, killing one person and wounding 63 others, according to the foreign ministry. Among the locations struck were Kuwait International Airport and diplomatic missions. The ministry did not identify which diplomatic missions sustained damage. The health ministry said the wounded included both airport staff and passengers. For the oil-rich Gulf state, the strike signaled a sharp new escalation after weeks of relative quiet…

As shells and diplomacy collided, Israel and Hezbollah traded fire on the ground while Lebanese and Israeli envoys sat down in Washington, where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cast the militant group as the sole obstacle to a peace agreement. The latest violence followed US President Donald Trump's announcement on Monday that he had brokered a deal. The Lebanese embassy in Washington said the arrangement would initially apply only to Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Hezbollah attacks on Israeli territory, before later…