Vladimir Putin has apologised to Azerbaijan's president for what he called a "tragic incident" after a plane crashed killing 38 people - but stopped short of taking responsibility.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go into hospital to have his prostate removed, his office has said.

The director of one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza was arrested in a raid the Israeli military said was targeting a Hamas command centre.

Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has been cremated after a state funeral as politicians and the public mourned his death.

Elon Musk has backed Germany's right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) in a guest opinion piece the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

World chess number one Magnus Carlsen has quit a major tournament after being told he couldn't wear jeans.

A species of tiny snail has been brought back from the brink of extinction.

An annual anti-Christmas protest held by Japan's Revolutionary Alliance of Unpopular Men failed to materialise this year as the group didn't put in their paperwork. 

Champion boxer Paul Bamba has died at the age of 35. 

NATO has said it will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea after undersea power and internet cables were cut between Estonia and Finland.

A record-breaking number of people voted across the globe in 2024 with consequences not just for their own countries, but for the rest of the world too.

In Russia, size matters when it comes to family.

Weavers of Ireland's famous Donegal tweed have called for a special protected status for their product, as the craft industry battles a raft of cheaper imitations branding themselves as "Donegals". 

Russian air defences may have shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines flight after misidentifying it, according to US military sources.

The man accused of burning a woman to death on a New York subway train has been indicted on murder and arson charges.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) says a colleague who was injured when deadly Israeli strikes hit an airport in Yemen has been evacuated to Jordan.

An Italian journalist has been detained by Iranian police while reporting in Tehran, Italy's foreign ministry has said.

Father Christmas, driving a sleigh filled with NATO-branded rockets, is shot out of the sky above Moscow in an apparent new piece of Russian propaganda.

Israeli forces have raided a hospital in Gaza, ordering dozens of patients and hundreds of other people to evacuate, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry.

Police in Northern Ireland once questioned a suspected loyalist terrorist after noticing the man - not known for his personal hygiene - had showered.