ROYAL navy warship HMS Dragon is being deployed to the Middle East to prepare for a "potential" mission in the Strait of Hormuz. Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon will “pre-position” in the region and could play a key role in guarding commercial vessels from Iranian airstrikes. Today’s announcement comes amid a fragile ceasefire between the...

A POPULAR pro-Putin blogger sent on a "meat assault" mission has gone missing - just days after he attacked the tyrant for spewing "lies". Yegor Guzenko, 31, has not made contact since being deployed on what comrades called a “cannon fodder” campaign in late April. The blogger and long-time soldier was sent to the front...

PATIENT zero of the deadly cruise ship rat virus outbreak has been identified as a Dutch bird watcher. Ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, 70, boarded the MV Hondius with his wife after making a fateful trip to a landfill site in Argentina. Leo was the first patient to die of the virus on board the ship. His...

WOMEN in a remote tribe in China view men as “non-essential” and “dispensable” as their children are raised without dads. The Mosuo people, dubbed the “Kingdom of Women”, have kids who do not know their biological fathers - and women are deemed the “head of the household”. Men almost function as bonus extras, "useful only...

THE top Russian security official suspected of a coup plot against Vladimir Putin was seen frowning as he watched the paranoid tyrant's scaled back military parade. Ex-defence minister Sergei Shoigu, 70, had pride of place on the platform watching the Victory Day showpiece in Moscow's Red Square on Saturday. He sat a yards from Putin, 73, despite...

ANOTHER rat virus case has been confirmed as Britons trapped on the infected cruise prepare to be flown home to isolate. The number of hantavirus cases linked to the outbreak on MV Hondius has risen to six, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. On Friday, UK health authorities said a third Brit who had been...

A NOROVIRUS outbreak on a cruise ship has left more than 100 passengers struggling with gruelling symptoms. Around 102 passengers and 13 crew members on board the Caribbean Princess were taken ill with the highly contagious stomach bug. The ship, run by Princess Cruises, set off on April 28 and is currently in the northwest...

A MYSTERIOUS sea drone was found by local fishermen off the Greek coast, baffling authorities. The unmanned naval drone that was reportedly packed with explosives was towed into the port of the island of Lefkada as authorities launched an investigation. The group came across the device in a remote cave near Lefkada and towed it...

PARANOID Vladimir Putin has forced his own officials to remove their wrist watches after summoning them for one-on-one meetings amid fears of an assassination attempt. Top functionaries have all been seen without watches during recent audiences with the Russian dictator. Reportedly fearing a James Bond-esque assassination or a coup from within his own regime, 73-year-old...

UKRAINE is set to unleash 25,000 robots as front-line "cavalry" in a dramatic boom of unmanned warfare. Kyiv is on course to manufacture 25,000 unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in the first half of 2026 alone as commanders increasingly rely on robots. These futuristic machines are capable of laying mines, evacuating wounded troops, delivering supplies and...

DONALD Trump has declared a three-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia to commemorate Victory Day - as he claimed the brutal four-year conflict is nearing its end. The US president revealed that he requested the pause in fighting from May 9 until May 11 and thanked leaders Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky for accepting. Announcing...

A GIGANTIC gem that weighs as much as a dog has been unearthed in Myanmar with authorities reporting it could be worth millions. Myanmar miners discovered the enormous rare stone, slated to be the second-largest by weight ever found in the war-stricken nation. The massive 11,000-carat ruby was found in the Mogok area - renowned...