The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors.

Russian forces continue to rain fire on Ukrainian cities, even as the two sides project optimism over efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting.

The Russian dictator appears increasingly unstable as his invasion of Ukraine runs off the rails.

Driven by a false sense of security, the harbour city was slow to lock down, failed to vaccinate the aged and now its failures are angering Beijing.

The war is having a huge impact on the international ballet community. Several have left Russia where ballet’s roots are.

The Kremlin was swift to rebuke the US President as “the head of the country whose bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people”.

Several people died and dozens were injured in the tremor that occurred in the same region devastated 11 years ago.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has arrived back in Britain after “six years of hell”. Hers is one of the world’s highest-profile cases of hostage diplomacy.

Genome sequencing tests suggest the extinct flightless bird could be brought back to life, say scientists.

Aleksandr is passionately opposed to Putin’s increasingly authoritarian regime and his decision to invade Ukraine. His father believes what he sees on TV.

Authorities declared a 35-hour curfew in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, as Russian invasion forces continue to target major cities.

Alan Johnson, then the health secretary, revealed how he munched on the dog food following a meal at Windsor Castle.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cited Pearl Harbor as he appealed to the US Congress to do more to help Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

There will be lots of craic today as cities go green for St Patrick’s Day. But there’s nothing Irish about the tradition. For a start, St Patrick’s colour is really blue.

The pearly whites of Scott Charmoli’s patients were just fine. But fine wasn’t making this dentist enough money.

As China declares it will “always be a force for good for Ukraine”, Singapore has joined calls for Beijing to convince Vladimir Putin to cease his deadly invasion.

A couple who believed they had dug up the world’s largest potato in the garden of their small farm have had their dreams turned to mash by Guinness World Records.

President Xi Jinping has too much to lose by turning this into a proxy war with the US.

Ukraine is winning the information battles but reporting from the war zone, it looks as if the nation will lose unless something changes.

The Ukraine - Russia crisis daily photo gallery.

The engineer and his wife appeared to believe that soliciting US adversaries like Russia or China was a bridge too far, so they went for a US ally.

“No more switching clocks, more daylight hours to spend outside after school and after work, and more smiles.”

Years after coronavirus began to ravage the world, Victoria is set to become the first place in the southern hemisphere to manufacture mRNA vaccines.

Flames shot out of the 15-storey apartment building and smoke choked the air as firefighters climbed ladders to rescue people.

The evidence suggests China is not acting to undermine the global sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

A stray missile destroyed beekeeper Ihor Zakablukov’s hives. Another wiped out his neighbour’s home. Anthony Galloway and Kate Geraghty report from Kramatorsk.

After weeks of fierce public criticism over a slow response to the growing humanitarian crisis, the website used to register to host families crashed within hours of launching.

Australia and New Zealand’s COVID strategies have pushed them down in the minds of those we want to impress.

In a move that aligns with many Australian states’ school holidays, New Zealand’s border will open to vaccinated Australian tourists from April 12.

Marina Ovsyannikova cannot be located more than 12 hours after she was detained, lawyers with human rights groups say.

About 20 million people will likely be classed as suffering from “emergency” or “crisis” levels of “acute food insecurity,” double 2021’s figure, according to the World Food Programme.

NATO Defence Ministers are meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to plot a long-term boost to the alliance’s defences, including more troops.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China was not a party to the crisis. “Nor does it want the sanctions to affect China.”

The operation involved an employee at Fordow cooperating with Israeli spies in exchange for cash and digital currency, the state news agency said.

Marina Ovsyannikova ended with a call to action, alluding to the high price of dissent in Russia.

Around 60 per cent of public schools in Japan require pupils who do not have straight, black hair to submit a document proving their hair is a lighter shade or naturally curly. 

The Americans and their NATO allies appear resolute in their determination not to intervene directly in the Ukraine war. But if Putin decides to deploy chemical or biological weapons, all bets are off.

A residential apartment block was damaged in Kyiv after a Russian rocket was shot down by Ukrainian air defences. Meanwhile the Russian attack on Ukraine is edging further West.

In the Donbas, Ukraine troops have been fighting separatists for eight years. Now they hold their line against Russia’s advance. Kate Geraghty and Anthony Galloway report from the contact line.

The Australian has sought for years to avoid a trial in the US on a series of charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified documents. 

Russian forces let a first column of cars escape Ukraine’s besieged port of Mariupol on Tuesday AEDT but blocked an aid convoy trying to reach the city, Ukraine said.

Carrying a baby for days, even hours, is arduous. Polish women have donated something to ease the burden.

Images of the heavily pregnant woman were seen around the world, personifying the horror of an attack on Ukrainian civilians.

The Queen said she hoped the people of the Commonwealth could “draw strength and inspiration” during these “testing times”.

Desperate people take desperate gambles, and the extreme sanctions on Russia have the potential to make Vladimir Putin desperate.

Russian forces continue to fire artillery strikes on suburbs north-west of the Ukrainian capital. Zelensky said it was a “black day”, but his officials deny Russia is advancing.

China has been preparing for the possibility that it might one day be cut off from parts of the global economy for years. But it is not ready yet.

For some, it is about time that matters of sexual abuse, rape and societal changes are finally out in the open. “Oftentimes archaeologists can be conservative with the topics they address.”

The surge in infections is thought to be linked to the neighbouring city of Hong Kong, where about 300,000 people are in isolation or under home quarantine.

We need to remember that many Russians chose to work in other countries rather than live under Putin’s regime.