Hong Kong's government is calling on the United States to invite its city leader to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, following reports that Washington will bar the top official from the major economic summit

Paul Graber's family believed Nohema would have helped her ex-husband battle cancer if she was alive

Kaley Cuoco anticipates that her daughter Matilda might feel embarrassed in the future upon seeing her mother's baby bump on screen as she grows older

One of President Bola Tinubu's opponents failed to prove allegations of rigging, the court rules.

Sean Hannity's report comes after a fight broke out among a group of adults at Disneyland

Russia may use sea mines to target non-military ships and blame Ukraine for any attacks, the British government has said. Declassified intelligence warned last month that the Russian military had attempted a missile strike against a cargo ship in the Black Sea. The UK believes Russia could continue targeting civilian shipping, including by laying explosive devices in the approach to Ukrainian ports. However, Vladimir Putin’s army wants to openly avoid sinking ships in order to blame Ukraine for attacks, the government said. Foreign secretary James Cleverly said: “Russia’s pernicious targeting of civilian shipping in the Black Sea demonstrates Putin’s total disregard for civilian lives and the needs of the world’s most vulnerable. “The world is watching – and we see right through Russia’s cynical attempts to lay blame on Ukraine for their attacks. We and our allies stand united against Putin and his attempts to harm Ukraine, and thus harm the rest of the world.” Read More Former Russian state TV journalist gets 8 1/2-year sentence in absentia for Ukraine war criticism Russia facing ‘functional defeat’ in the Black Sea – but Kyiv allies warn they are running out of ammunition Russia may attack civilian ships with sea mines and blame Ukraine, UK warns

Greek authorities have warned of an “extreme” wildfire risk around capital Athens as strong winds have renewed burning infernos and prompted evacuations in five northern villages. The alert was issued for areas around Athens and other parts of southern Greece on Monday as the large summer wildfire, which has already destroyed several homes over the weekend, was feared to have come dangerously close to residential areas. A wildfire, which ignited near the town of Alexandroupolis over the weekend, led to evacuations in eight villages that were emptied on Saturday due to the advancing flames. Some 200 firefighters, assisted by 16 water-dropping aircraft, volunteers and police, were battling the blaze near Alexandroupolis. Local authorities said about half a dozen outlying houses and outbuildings were badly damaged in two of the evacuated villages, as well as a church. Sections of a major highway were closed for a second day as smoke reduced visibility, while Alexandroupolis residents were advised to keep their windows shut. Greece’s minister for civil protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said on Sunday that firefighters, police, army personnel and volunteers were “waging an intense battle” in the Alexandroupolis area, and called for extreme public vigilance throughout the country on Monday. “No outdoors work that could trigger a fire will be permitted,” he said. “We must all protect our country.” Across the border in Turkey, the governor of Erdine province declared Sunday that the border crossing at Ipsala had been closed until further notice due to the fires. The fresh alert comes as the Meteo weather service forecasts another round of high temperatures in Greece this week, with mercury expected to reach or even exceed 40 degrees Celsius in certain areas. Warm air masses hovering over the Eastern Mediterranean are expected to raise temperatures by 2-5C above the usual for this time of year. Greece has been suffering from wildfires for weeks now as record-shattering temperatures driven by the climate crisis led to a massive surge in wildfires this year in several countries. While Greece suffers destructive wildfires every summer, scientists said increasing temperatures are making them more frequent and prolonged. Last month, a large wildfire on the resort island of Rhodes forced the evacuation of some 20,000 tourists. Days later, two air force pilots were killed when their water-dropping plane crashed while diving low to tackle a blaze on the island of Evia. Another three wildfire-related deaths have been recorded this summer. Apart from Greece and other European countries, Canada is also witnessing its worst wildfire season on record this year with fires raging for months now. Meanwhile, wildfires in Hawaii’s Maui have killed 114 people. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Mapped: Where are the wildfires in Tenerife as blaze forces thousands to flee Why campaigners say Europe has given up on saving lives in the Mediterranean Heat and wildfires put southern Europe's vital tourism earnings at risk World’s largest carbon-sucking factory starts operation in Iceland ‘The climate crisis is a reality’: Africa’s summer of extremes Against the odds: The fight to save sea turtles in Ras Baridi

US business titans including Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook and BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink are set to attend a

Washington says it does not encourage strikes in Russia, after a border attack.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Jakarta on Thursday for the Asean foreign ministers’ meetings taking

Major League Baseball on Friday brought forward three Southern California games originally scheduled for Sunday as the region braces for...

A Russian pilot fired two missiles towards an RAF surveillance plane after mistakenly believing he had permission to fire. Following the incident last September, Russia claimed it had been caused by a “technical malfunction” with the UK’s Ministry of Defence publicly accepting their explanation. However, intercepted communications reveal that one of the Russian pilots believed he had been given permission to target the aircraft following an ambiguous command from a Russian ground station. After firing, the first missile missed the RAF plane while the second failed to launch successfully. If it had reached its target, it could potentially have drawn a Nato member into a military confrontation with Putin’s Russia. The two Russian SU-27 fighter jets had encountered the RAF plane, which was carrying a crew of up to 30 people, as it was flying a surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace on 29 September. Three Western defence sources with knowledge of the incident have told the BBC that the two Russian pilots received words to the effect of “you have the target”. This prompted one of the pilots to release an air-to-air missile, which successfully launched but failed to strike its target. A row then broke out between the two Russian pilots, as the second did not believe they had been given permission to fire. However, a second missile was released but simply fell from the wing - suggesting the launch was aborted or the weapon malfunctioned. As the Rivet Joint is loaded with sensors to intercept communications, the RAF crew would have been able to listen in to the incident which could have resulted in their own deaths. After the Russian Ministry of Defence called it a “technical malfunction”, the UK government confirmed the incident had taken place. In a statement to MPs on 20 October, the former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace described it as a “potentially dangerous engagement”. However, he added: "We do not consider this incident to constitute a deliberate escalation on the part of the Russians, and our analysis concurs that it was due to a malfunction." An intelligence leak, published online by US airman Jack Teixera, revealed that the US miliary spoke of the incident as a “near shoot-down”. “The incident was far more serious than originally portrayed and could have amounted to an act of war,” the New York Times reported. The MoD has now told the BBC that “this incident is a stark reminder of the potential consequences of Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine.” Since the incident, RAF surveillance flights have been escorted by Typhoon fighter jets armed with air-to-air missiles. Read More South Korea expresses 'concern and regret' over military cooperation talks between Kim and Putin What is a Storm Shadow cruise missile? Weapons, spy satellites and nuclear ambitions: what we learned from Putin’s summit with Kim Jong-un in Russia The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary