International

President-elect Donald Trump's nominees for defence secretary and spy chief have been taking aim at Russia during their Senate confirmation hearings. General James Mattis, defence secretary nominee, warned Nato was under its biggest…

Russia says it views the arrival of more than 3,000 US soldiers in Poland as a threat to its own security. The troops are part of President Barack Obama's response to reassure Nato allies concerned about a more aggressive Russia. Read…

US President-elect Donald Trump has reacted furiously to allegations that Russia has compromising material on him, saying Moscow has "never tried to use leverage on me". Mr Trump condemned US intelligence agencies for allowing "fake…

China's only aircraft carrier has led several warships across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's defence ministry said. The Liaoning was returning from drills in the South China Sea. Read more:…

President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be the new attorney general has denied sympathising with the Ku Klux Klan, in a tough Senate confirmation hearing. Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, 69, also pledged to recuse himself from any…

President-elect Donald Trump is to make son-in-law Jared Kushner one of his senior advisers. The 35-year-old played a key role in the presidential campaign and his new White House job will cover both domestic and foreign policy. Read…

Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Donald Trump win the presidential election, a US intelligence report says. The unclassified report says the Russian leader "ordered" a campaign aimed at influencing the election. Read…

Four black people face hate crime and kidnapping charges for the Facebook Live-aired torture of a mentally disabled white man. Jordan Hill, Brittany Covington and Tesfaye Cooper, all 18, and 24-year-old Tanishia Covington are expected to…

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a pardon for a soldier convicted of manslaughter for killing a wounded Palestinian. Elor Azaria, 19 at the time, shot Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, in the head while he was lying…

Republicans are to drop a plan to gut the independent body that investigates political misconduct, after an outcry. President-elect Donald Trump had criticised Republicans after they voted to strip the Office of Congressional Ethics of…

Police have detained two Moroccans who tried to smuggle migrants into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta - two hidden in a car and one in a suitcase. When police checked a car on Tuesday one person was found hidden in the dashboard…

The Syrian government and rebel groups have agreed a nationwide ceasefire from midnight local time (22:00 GMT) on Thursday, followed by peace talks. The deal was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin and confirmed by the Turkish…

Iraqi forces have launched a fresh wave of attacks against so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul, military officials say. Troops are pushing into eastern districts in the "second phase" of an offensive to recapture the last major…

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said the prospect of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal based on a two-state solution is in grave jeopardy. And he insisted UN condemnation of illegal Jewish settlements on occupied land was in line…

The main flight recorder from the Russian jet that crashed into the Black Sea on Sunday has revealed that faulty flaps were to blame, Russian media say. The flaps, panels on the wings that help lift an aircraft, were not moving together,…