The daughter of a California-based man sentenced to death in Iran has asked authorities in Germany to open criminal proceedings against members of the Iranian judiciary

By Casey Hall and Farah Master SHANGHAI/HONG KONG COVID wasn't kind to wedding planners in China, where marriages

Algeria’s Defense Ministry has acknowledged that its forces fired on a group of people on water scooters who strayed into Algerian waters from Morocco, and that a body was later found

By Ross Kerber Vanguard Group, the largest provider of mutual funds, has secured regulatory approval to continue to

Ukraine has made gains against Vladimir Putin’s forces in a “particularly fruitful” few days in the war with Russia, a top official has said. Oleksiy Danilov, one of Ukraine’s most senior security officials, said Ukraine’s army were achieving their “main tasks” as he spoke about the counteroffensive on Tuesday. “At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s Defense Forces are fulfilling the number one task - the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defence forces of the Russian army,” Mr Danilov wrote on Twitter. “The last few days have been particularly fruitful,” he said, without providing any details from the battlefield. His comments come after Ukraine’s president Zelensky said on Monday his troops had made progress after a “difficult” week. Ukraine said on Monday its troops had regained more ground on the eastern and southern fronts although deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said fighting had surged around the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russian forces in May. Maliar said the Ukrainian military had taken back 37.4 square kilometres of territory in the past week. Read More Vladimir Putin claims Russia ‘united as never before’ as prominent journalist is beaten Ukrainians honor award-winning writer killed in Russian missile attack on restaurant Putin claims Russia is united than ever just days after Wagner troops march on Moscow Georgia condemns Ukraine for its protests over health of former president Saakashvili

Safety watchdogs call it a runaway problem on America's runways that could end in tragedy -- the near collisions of commercial aircraft. Now, the federal government is funding millions of dollars in airport construction projects to help address the issue.

A teenage boy who survived a migrant boat sinking that left at least six people dead in the English Channel has been arrested has part of a probe into the incident. The Sudanese boy, aged 16 or 17, was rescued and taken back to France after the boat suffered engine damage and capsized. He is suspected of “activiely participating” in the crossing in exchange for reduced rate for his own passage to Britain, according to French authorities. He is among four people being detained as part of an investigation into the incident, with alleged offences including manslaughter and criminal association. The probe was announced as official figures showed another 444 people arrived in small boats on Wednesday, pushing the total for this year over 17,000. A pregnant woman and young children were among those rescued, as crossings surged just days after Saturday’s disaster. The teenager and another Sudanese man in his 20s were among 38 survivors who were taken to safety in France following the sinking. Twenty-three more were rescued and brought ashore in the UK. At least six people, thought to be Afghan refugees, died. Authorities fear other victims may have drowned but remain missing at sea. Two Iraqi men who were allegedly part of the smuggling network that organised the crossing have also been detained on French soil. The specialist Junalco organised crime unit, which leads major people smuggling investigations in France, said the sinking happened around 12 miles from the French coast on the night of 11 to 12 August. “Investigations at this stage have made it possible to establish that the makeshift boat had suffered engine damage and had torn at sea, when most of the passengers did not have life jackets,” a spokesperson said. “Almost all of [those on board] were of Afghan nationality and had passed through the ‘Jungle’ camp in Calais, before setting off from a beach further from the town.” A passing commercial ship saw the dinghy sinking and called the emergency services at around 4.20am local time (3.20am BST), authorities said, and several nearby ships were diverted to the area. A Navy tugboat, French rescue crew, two British rescue boats and helicopter were deployed to locate the boat, but several people were already in the water. One person was declared dead after being pulled from the sea and evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Calais, while another five bodies were recovered. Searches continued into Saturday afternoon but no other people were found, and survivors’ accounts suggested others may have boarded the vessel in France. Junalco said it had made a request to British law enforcement for assistance with its ongoing investigation, following interviews of survivors in the UK. More than 50 people are thought to have drowned attempting to cross the Channel since 2018, while others have lost their lives attempting to board lorries and trains in France, or walk through the Channel Tunnel. On 10 August, several people were rescued from a sinking dinghy that had reached British waters. The RNLI said it pulled several people from the water but believed everyone was accounted for. The previous day, French authorities reported six children suffering from hypothermia had been taken to hospital after their boat went down off the coast near Sangatte. More than 17,200 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year, around 15 per cent down on the over 20,000 seen by the same point in 2022. Weeks of unseasonably windy weather and rough seas had suppressed crossings, but high numbers are expected if calm and fine conditions continue in the coming days. Prime minister Rishi Sunak has made “stopping the boats” one of his top five priorities ahead of the next general election, but government attempts to deter crossings have so far failed amid a lack of alternative safe and legal routes for asylum seekers. Afghans are now the most common nationality making the journey, following the collapse of resettlement schemes after the 2021 Taliban takeover. There has been an increase in Sudanese asylum seekers after conflict broke out earlier this year, and the government refused to set up a route for people fleeing the country. Read More Six dead and dozens rescued after migrant boat capsizes in Channel as search continues Sudanese refugees face deportation from UK as government fails to set up safe and legal routes Bibby Stockholm migrants won’t be back on barge ‘for weeks’ after Legionella scare Small boat arrivals continue as Channel crossings set to top 17,000 Ministers urged not to ‘abandon’ Afghans on anniversary of Taliban takeover Minister vows to make Afghan resettlement schemes ‘work properly’

Donald Trump bashed Fox News, claiming that it is working with other Republican candidates to figure out who can beat him in the GOP primary. The former president took to Truth Social to say that the network is “going all out, just as they did in 2016, to figure who in this very large, but failing, Republican field, can beat your favorite President, Donald John Trump”. “They use only the most negative polls, which are still great for me, and do everything possible to show that they still have a chance,” he added. “They even pull out nice guy Marc Thiessen to do contortions with numbers that just don’t exist. On top of all that, I am the only one beating, by a lot, Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST ‘P’ EVER!” Mr Thiessen, a Washington Post columnist, Fox News commentator, and former White House director of speechwriting under George W Bush, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday that “64 per cent of Americans say they definitely or probably will not vote for Trump in 2024 (53 per cent definitely + 11 per cent probably). Like watching a slow-moving train wreck for the GOP”. He was referring to reporting and polling by the Associated Press outlining Mr Trump’s steadfast and growing support within the Republican Party but declining ratings with the general electorate. A number of Republicans have argued that the party must choose a new standard-bearer as Mr Trump’s standing with the public at large has only gotten worse since the 2020 election following the Capitol riot and the chaos around him, specifically in connection to his mounting legal problems and the litany of felony charges he faces. Anti-Trump Republican strategist Sarah Longwell told the AP: “There is a meaningful number of voters who have voted for Trump twice and can’t vote for him again after all of this.” Comparatively, according to the polling from The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 43 per cent said they definitely wouldn’t vote for President Joe Biden, in addition to 11 per cent who said they probably wouldn’t. “Trump needs to embody the voters’ grievances and not his own grievances,” Ms Longwell added. “Anytime he’s talking about 2020 he’s looking backwards and the voters get more excited about looking forward.” CPAC chair Matt Schlapp responded to Mr Thiessen on X, saying: “I love you @marcthiessen. You are a good man. Stop this. Trump has to be the nominee because we have to take it all down. It’s that bad and no one else will be able to do it.” Historian Aaron Aster wrote, “The key item in this poll is that 53% will ‘definitely not’ vote for Trump. 43% will ‘definitely not’ vote for Biden. (10-11% ‘probably’ won’t vote for each, respectively). The ‘definitely’ numbers are more important at this stage bc they set the parameters of possible outcomes.” While he added that “early General Election polling is mostly hot garbage because lots of people pay little attention at this point,” he noted that “the ‘definite’ numbers are more likely to pick up the hard ceiling. Yes, those numbers can change a bit too. But in this case they reflect hardening among Independents against Trump – and a small but decisive group of non-Trump GOPers. And less hard-core anti-Biden among Dems”. “A lot of people who really don’t want to vote for Biden but despise Trump will likely vote Biden in the end,” the historian speculated. Read More Will the Georgia gang of 18 turn on Trump? Trumpworld hanging by a thread as co-accused pressured to flip on ex-president Trump claims mystery report clears him of Georgia election charges as DA seeks March trial date – live updates Fulton County DA Fani Willis proposes Trump’s Georgia trial date the day before Super Tuesday Election workers who face frequent harassment see accountability in the latest Georgia charges Kentucky gubernatorial rivals Andy Beshear and Daniel Cameron offer competing education plans Fundraiser for George Santos charged with impersonating aide to Speaker McCarthy

Donald Trump refused to say he supported Ukraine to win its bloody war with Russia as he appeared on a controversial live CNN town hall. The one-term president was repeatedly asked by host Kaitlan Collins if he backed Ukraine in its 15-month conflict with Vladimir Putin’s forces, and repeatedly dodged the question. “I don’t think in terms of winning and losing, I think in terms of getting it settled so we stop killing all these people and breaking down this country,” he told Collins when asked about his support for Ukraine. She then asked him again if he wanted Ukraine or Russia to win the conflict. “I want everyone to stop dying. They are dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying,” he replied. Mr Trump also repeated his claim it would take him one day in the Oval Office to end the conflict. “I’ll have that done in 24 hours, you need the power of the presidency to do it.” And he added: You know what, I will say this, I want Europe to put up more money. They should equalise, they have plenty of money.” And he boasted that the conflict would never even have happened if he had remained in office. “If I were president this never would have happened and even the Democrats recognise that. Putin knew it would never have happened and his pipeline would never have happened, a lot of things would never have happened,” he said. “All those dead people, both Russian and Ukrainian, would not be dead today, and all those cities that are blown up and disintegrated to the ground would not have happened.” Mr Trump also tried to claim that he had “a very good relationship” with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr Trump was impeached for the first time over a call in which he tried to get Mr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden in return for weapons. “I have a very good relationship with President Zelensky because as you know he backed me up with phoney impeachment hoax number one when he said the president did nothing wrong. I was totally exonerated by the way a total waste of time and money,” said Mr Trump and Collins reminded viewers that the former president had been impeached by Congress. Collins then asked Mr Trump if he still had “tremendous respect” for Vladimir Putin, as he claimed while president. “He made a tremendous mistake. He is a smart guy...they want you to say he is a stupid person, okay, he is not a stupid person, he is very smart and cunning and Putin made a bad mistake in my opinion. “His mistake was going in. He would never have gone in if I was president, we used to talk about it too.” Read More Trump calls Jan 6 a ‘beautiful day’ during combative CNN town hall CNN Trump town hall — live: Trump calls Kaitlan Collins ‘nasty person’ and is considering January 6 pardons Trump calls CNN moderator ‘nasty person’ in tense exchange over classified documents Trump refuses to acknowledge he lost ‘rigged’ 2020 election in CNN town hall event Takeaways from town hall: Trump says sexual assault case was 'fake,' calls Jan. 6 'a beautiful day' The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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California legislative committees in the Assembly and Senate blocked two big climate bills Thursday

By Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA Israel's Ambassador to Turkey, Irit Lillian, said on Sunday it was too early to