Russia blames soldiers’ mobile phone use for deadly missile strike that killed 89 troops
Ukraine’s military says it launched strike that resulted in Russian loss of equipment and possibly personnel near Makiivka
Europe
Climate change: High temperatures, sparse snowfall in Europe’s Alps worries ski industry
Much of the Alps does not look right for this time of year following unseasonably warm winter weather in Europe, including record high January temperatures in Switzerland. The sparse snowfall has seen grass blanketing the continent’s central mountains…
Ukraine war news – live: Putin launches frigate armed with hypersonic Zircon cruise weapons
Moscow’s ‘unprofessional practices’ leading to high death rate, says UK
Head of Ukraine military intelligence tells Kremlin to expect strikes ‘deeper and deeper’ into Russia – as it happened
Kyrylo Budanov says he expects fighting to be ‘hottest’ in March, with a Ukraine counter attack in the spring. This blog is now closedRussia-Ukraine war at a glanceThe city administration in Kyiv has said that 160 million passengers used the city’s sub…
Is Iceland’s language a Norse code – or legacy of Celtic settlers?
Gaelic origins of Icelandic words and landmarks challenge orthodox view of Viking heritage, says authorAccording to folklore, a Gaelic-speaking warrior queen called Aud was among Iceland’s earliest settlers. Her story is central to an emerging theory t…
Live Update: Russia’s “Special Operation” in Ukraine; Day 315
Russia, wary of NATO’s eastward expansion, began a military campaign in Ukraine on February 24 after the Western-leaning Kiev government turned a deaf ear to Moscow’s calls for its neighbor to maintain its neutrality. In the middle of the mayhem, Mosc…
Naples plans ‘rebirth’ for its crumbling Poggioreale cemetery
Burial place has fallen into severe disrepair, to dismay of families of those laid to rest thereWild vegetation smothers the crumbling tombs, most of them dating back to the 1800s, that line the square beneath the imposing Chiesa Madre, or Mother Churc…
Anger and grief at rare public commemoration in Russia after Makiivka strike
About 200 people laid roses and wreaths in a central square in the city of Samara, where some vowed to ‘avenge’ the victimsRussia-Ukraine war: full coverageMourners have voiced grief and anger at a rare public commemoration in Russia for the scores of …
Germany spurns renewed Polish call for war reparations
Berlin insists all financial claims have been settled as Warsaw seeks £1.2tn for war lossesGermany has rebuffed the latest push by Poland’s nationalist government for vast reparations over the second world war, saying in response to a diplomatic note t…
Former Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit under investigation for sexual assault
French authorities last month opened a preliminary inquiry into allegations that the former archbishop of Paris had committed “sexual assault on a vulnerable person”, prosecutors said on Tuesday.