Firefighters battled a blaze yesterday on the island of Crete that scorched forests and olive groves and forced over 1,000 people to evacuate, while a fresh conflagration near Athens threatened homes, highlighting Greece&s vulnerability to wildfire risks.

Russian president Vladimir Putin told US president Donald Trump in a phone call yesterday that Moscow wants a negotiated end to the Ukraine war but will not step back from its original goals, a Kremlin aide said.

Hamas is seeking guarantees that a new US ceasefire proposal for Gaza would lead to the war&s end, a source close to the militant group said yesterday, as medics said Israeli strikes across the territory had killed scores more people.

A mystery alien object that has come from interstellar space has been ­spotted travelling through the solar system.