World

I put my ear plugs in and take a step back. The flash from the tank barrel comes first, then the boom. Snipers to my left open fire. Red machine gun tracer fire zips towards the village and laser guided artillery thuds into walls. Israeli paratroopers are attacking a mock Hezbollah village. It’s a drill,

The US is trying to hit Iranian targets in the Middle East hard enough to stop attacks against American forces but not so hard that it triggers wider escalation or even direct war with Iran. Experts in recent days have dubbed the strategy the “Goldilocks” approach because it needs to be just right. Joe Biden

The US has launched airstrikes on Iraq and Syria targeting Iranian-backed militias. The move comes in retaliation for a drone attack on an American base in Jordan that resulted in the deaths of three US service members. It is the latest escalation in the Middle East that has been growing increasingly unstable since the Hamas

The US military has launched an air assault on at least 85 targets in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias on Friday. Numerous aircraft were used – including long-range bombers flown from the US – and 125 precision munitions were fired. A statement from US Central Command said: “US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted

At least two people have been killed and 29 injured after gas explosion in Nairobi, according to reports. A local newspaper in the Kenyan capital said the blast happened in the Embakasi neighbourhood just before midnight on Thursday. Wesley Kimeto, commander in charge of police in Embakasi, was quoted saying on the Standard newspaper’s X

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has admitted he “did not handle this right” and should have told President Biden and the public about his prostate cancer diagnosis. However, he said he didn’t order his staff to hide his condition. “We did not handle this right and I did not handle this right. I should have

Angry farmers have started fires outside the European Parliament building in Brussels in protest against taxes, rising costs and cheap imports. About 1,000 tractors have blocked major routes through the city, police estimate, with one displaying a banner reading “if you love the Earth, support those who manage it”. Another banner read “no farmers, no

A reservist who dealt with the aftermath of the Hamas terror attack says there was a “systematic genital mutilation” of women as multiple victims were shot in the crotch, breasts and head. Warning – contains graphic details of injuries Shari Mendes was part of an Israeli army reserve unit whose role was to identify and

Universal Music has accused TikTok of bullying and threatened to pull millions of songs from the platform following a breakdown in payment negotiations – which would remove access to music by artists including Taylor Swift and Drake. In a scathing open letter shared online, titled Why We Must Call Time Out On TikTok, Universal said

Undercover Israeli troops dressed as civilian women and medics have stormed a hospital in the West Bank – killing three people Israel claimed were militants. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said its troops shot dead three men after entering the Ibn Sina hospital, in the northern city of Jenin, early on Tuesday. Security camera video footage

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets. The decision was announced by special court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain during a hearing held at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Khan’s former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also given a 10-year jail sentence as part

The UK and the US are among more than 10 countries that have suspended funding to the UN’s relief agency in Gaza. The move comes after an Israeli intelligence dossier claimed 12 employees at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were involved in the attack on Israel by Hamas fighters on 7 October.

A British base jumper has died after his parachute failed to open during a stunt in Thailand, according to reports. The man has been named by a number of news outlets as Nathy Odinson. The 33-year-old from Cambridgeshire is said to have jumped from a 29-storey building in the coastal resort of Pattaya on Saturday

This is a troubling moment on many levels. It represents yet another clear indication that America and its allies are facing a regional conflict in the Middle East. It is a conflict in which they are protagonists, a conflict they are struggling to influence and a conflict which they have not contained. It’s moments like

Israel’s war against Hamas could be paused for two months should US negotiators reach a deal where dozens of hostages captured in the 7 October attack would be released, according to two senior administration officials. The American officials, who wished to remain anonymous, said the terms of the deal in progress would play out in

Ukraine would win the war faster if it had permission to fire British and other Western weapons against targets deep inside Russia, the head of the Ukrainian navy has signalled. Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa told Sky News the course of the entire conflict would have been very different had Ukrainian forces been allowed to use

Donald Trump has been ordered to pay $83.3m in a defamation case to a woman who accused him of sexual assault – with the former US president saying her allegation was a lie. The court said Trump should pay $18.3m (£14.4m) in compensation and $65m (£51m) in punitive damages to E Jean Carroll. Trump posted

An oil tanker is on fire in the Red Sea after a missile attack by Houthi fighters. In a statement, the ship’s owner Trafigura, which has offices in Britain, said firefighting equipment on board was being deployed to control the flames and the safety of the crew is its “foremost priority”. A spokesperson for the

Josef Fritzl – who kept his daughter captive for 24 years, raped her thousands of times, and fathered seven children with her – can be moved to a regular prison, a court has ruled. The 88-year-old Austrian – who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 for incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement, and the

A woman born to Ukrainian parents has sparked controversy after being crowned Miss Japan. Carolina Shiino, 26, from Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, became the first naturalised Japanese citizen to win the pageant in Tokyo on Monday. Miss Shiino moved to the country when she was just five years old after her mother married a Japanese man,

Invading Russian troops – arms up, faces scared – drown in a river in the frontline city of Kherson as a Ukrainian soldier watches on, rifle raised. The image, drawn by a child, is among a line of pictures, including of jets, tanks and corpses, that illustrates Ukraine’s lost childhood after almost two years of

The brother of two men still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza has said his life “stopped on 7 October”, the day his loved ones were taken. Liran Berman said he “needs his little brothers home” as he spoke on behalf of the families and loved ones of more than 130 hostages who remain

British and US aid workers have been asked to leave Yemen by Houthi authorities in the country, a letter seen by Sky News shows. In the letter, the Houthi-controlled foreign affairs ministry to the country’s United Nations coordinator requests aid workers with US and British citizenship to leave within 30 days. It follows the second

The Israeli army says 21 soldiers have been killed in central Gaza – the deadliest day for its forces since the war began. It said the soldiers were preparing explosives to demolish two buildings on Monday when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at a nearby tank, setting off the explosion prematurely and causing the buildings

A teenager behind videos filmed onboard a ship being held by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has called on the UK and US to “stop this war”. Rashid al Haddad’s social media videos include him being seen on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, which was hijacked by the Houthi militant group last November. The

A 19th-century dispute, which has gone through decades of court procedures, has finally culminated in the Ram Temple. Consecrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this temple site is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, one of the most revered gods in the Hindu pantheon. The city of Ayodhya in India’s most populous state

Women and girls in Gaza are being forced to use scraps of tents during their periods as they have no sanitary products, aid workers say. With more than 1.9 million Gazans displaced since 7 October, a tent “city” of almost two square miles has been set up in Rafah, south of the strip. No food

Residents of a town in Mexico attacked numerous officers and vandalised a local government building as protests erupted after a 27-year-old man was shot dead by police. Neighbours in the town of Lerdo de Tejada – just off the Gulf coast state of Veracruz – clashed with officers at the scene and overturned a police

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of not telling the truth about the key military aim of defeating Hamas by a member of the country’s war cabinet. Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, whose son was killed fighting in Gaza, also cast doubt over the strategy for releasing hostages and said there was “no

Warfare is a brutal and unforgiving undertaking.  However, the primary responsibility of any government is the protection of its people and its national interests, so military capability is a cornerstone of national capability. But, military forces provide options and are a means to an end – not an end in itself – and when all

One of the top leaders of a notorious Mexican drug cartel, which kidnapped four Americans and killed two of them last year, has been captured by marines. Jose Alberto Garcia Vilano, known by the nicknames La Kena and Cyclone 19, was seized at a shopping centre in an upmarket area on the outskirts of Monterrey.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US calls for the development of a Palestinian state, as he vowed the offensive in Gaza would press ahead for many months. In a nationally televised news conference on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu struck a defiant tone, repeatedly saying that Israel would not halt its offensive until it achieves

Iran and Pakistan have accused each other of harbouring terrorists.  Fighter jets from the Pakistan Air Force undertook a series of coordinated and targeted strikes using extended-range munitions against seven terrorist hideouts in the Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran. Follow live: US hits more Houthi targets – Pakistan explains Iran strikes In a statement,