Police were called to a nature reserve after hundreds of twitchers descended to catch a glimpse of a rare bird.

The Russian leader also denied that his new term has seen an increase in ‘Stalinist’ tendencies

The original painting of the Chinese Girl, thought to be the most reproduced print in the world, was sold for nearly £1 million today.

An asteroid as big as an Olympic swimming pool has narrowly missed the Earth this evening, becoming the closest ever for an object of that size.

Maria Alekhina, one of the three members of the punk band Pussy Riot jailed over a stunt in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral last year, lost an appeal for clemency today.

Punch Taverns jumped yesterday after it emerged that Morgan Stanley had hiked its stake in the troubled UK pub owner to 12 per cent. Against a backdrop of discussions with investors about restructuring the business, shares in Punch rose as much as 8.6 per cent in the morning as Morgan Stanley revealed it had increased its stake by 10 per cent to 76.5 million shares. They declined later but still ended up 1.9p, or 2.5 per cent, at 7.6p.

Some owners can’t cope when popular breed turns into ‘Kevin the teenager’

Two members of the anti-Putin band Pussy Riot have been sent to remote prison colonies to serve their sentences for hooliganism, according to supporters of the group.

Documentary on sexual exploitation cancelled as director-general faces grilling by MPs

President Vladimir Putin's loyalists swept to victory in most local election races held across Russia, preliminary results showed yesterday, but observers said the vote was openly rigged.

An 11 year-old Russian boy made one of the discoveries of the century when he stumbled across the remains of a 30,000-year-old woolly mammoth, the New Scientist reports.

In 1938 a team of Nazi scientists, funded by Heinrich Himmler went looting in Tibet, where Himmler believed the Aryan race originated.

A woman has strangled her elderly neighbour with her bra, Russian investigators said today.

World champion Victoria Pendleton believes perennial adversary Anna Meares is in a commanding position as the start of action in the velodrome looms at the London 2012 Olympic Games.