World

At least 28 people have died after a ferry carrying about 250 passengers and crew caught fire in the southern Philippines. The Coast Guard Commodore Rejard Marfe confirmed that 28 people had drowned or died in the blaze However, Jim Hataman, governor of Basilan, the southern island province near where the ferry caught fire, said

Pope Francis will need to spend “a few days” in hospital for treatment for a respiratory infection, the Vatican says. Spokesman Matteo Bruni said the 86-year-old had complained of breathing difficulties in recent days and went to the Gemelli hospital for tests. The pontiff does not have COVID-19 but requires several days of therapy, he

Star Wars star Mark Hamill is lending his voice to an air raid alert app to warn Ukrainians of incoming Russian bombardments. “Attention. Air raid alert,” he says in the calming, wise manner of his famous character Luke Skywalker. “Proceed to the nearest shelter. “Don’t be careless. Your overconfidence is your weakness.” Losing city ‘could

The boulevards of central Paris were once again choking up with the fog of tear gas. But even through the haze it’s clear this is becoming a significant crisis for President Macron’s government. Tens of thousands of people marched on the streets as part of rolling demonstrations organised by the unions. But they soon deteriorated

Several people have died in a fire at a migrant facility in northern Mexico, near to the US border, according to reports. Two local government sources told Reuters news agency there were at least 10 fatalities – while volunteer rescue workers said up to 37 people had been killed in the blaze. Footage from the

A pause – not a halt After hours hidden out of sight and in emergency negotiations with his coalition partners, Benjamin Netanyahu eventually bowed to the inevitable. As the sun was going down on an extraordinary day in Israel, news emerged that a deal had been struck. The party of Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would

Israel’s president has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “stop the legislative process immediately” after the PM triggered widespread protests by sacking his defence minister for objecting to judicial reforms. President Isaac Herzog, the head of state who is supposed to remain above politics, said “the eyes of the whole world are on you”

Benjamin Netanyahu has fired his defence minister, a day after Yoav Gallant called for a halt to the planned overhaul of Israel’s judiciary that has divided the country. Mr Gallant, a former army general, is a senior member of Mr Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party. An increasing number of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) Reservists have been

Human blood is set to “drench” one of the UK’s most famous landmarks in a protest over Prince Harry’s controversial remarks about the number of people he killed in Afghanistan. Russian artist Andrei Molodkin says he will project a sculpture featuring blood donated by Afghans on to St Paul’s Cathedral in the coming days, along

Strikes on Iranian-linked bases will be met with an “immediate counter-response” after the reported deaths of 19 people in US attacks on Syria, an Iranian security spokesperson has warned. Keyvan Khosravi made the remarks after the US carried out a series of strikes on the east of the country in one of the deadliest exchanges

A super tanker anchored off the country’s coast and containing more than a million barrels of oil is “likely to sink or explode at any moment”, unleashing an environmental and humanitarian disaster, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen has told Sky News. The FSO Safer was all but abandoned in 2015 as Yemen descended

A Sky News team inside Yemen has discovered shocking evidence that donated UN food aid meant for the most needy is instead being sold in street markets to help boost stallholders’ profits. We found that donated cans of vegetable oil with World Food Programme (WFP) stamps on them were among the essential food items being

North Korea has tested a new underwater attack drone that can generate a radioactive tsunami, the country’s state media has claimed. The nuclear-capable drone was launched this week off the coast of Riwon County in South Hamgyong Province. It reached its target off Hongwon Bay, where it detonated its test warhead, according to the Korean

Gwyneth Paltrow’s accuser “deteriorated abruptly” after the US actress allegedly crashed into the back of him on the ski slopes, a court has been told. Terry Sanderson, 76, showed “all the typical hallmarks” of someone who had suffered a brain injury after the 2016 collision, according to radiologist Wendell Gibby, who carried out tests on

World Athletics has decided to exclude transgender women who have gone through male puberty from female events. The body’s president, Lord Coe, said “decisive action” had been taken to “protect the female category in our sport”. Lord Coe told a news conference in Monaco: “The council has agreed to exclude male-to-female transgender athletes, who have

Prince William has made a secret trip to Poland to “personally thank” Polish and British troops supporting Ukraine. The Prince of Wales visited military bases in Rzeszow, just 60 miles from the border with Ukraine – the closest a senior member of the Royal Family has come to the war. For security reasons, the visit

The UK has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of deliberately spreading false information about a British decision to send tank shells that contain depleted uranium to Ukraine. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said such material is “standard” for rounds that have the ability to pierce through armour and that they have nothing to do with

A Russian Su-35 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept two US strategic bombers over the Baltic Sea, Russia’s defence ministry has said. “Two air targets flying in the direction of the state border of the Russian Federation” were detected by radar on Monday, it said in a statement on the social media platform Telegram. The

Vladimir Putin has welcomed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to Moscow, just days after a warrant was issued for the Russian president’s arrest over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The two leaders, who called each other “dear friend” and exchanged compliments during the meeting at the Kremlin, were locked in talks for more than four

If you want to understand the China-Russia relationship, the frozen border city of Heihe is a good place to start. It is a bleak, bitterly cold place, even at this time of year. Its most impressive feature by far is the sweeping, frozen Heilongjiang river that hugs it. On the other side is Russia. It’s

Vladimir Putin has said Russia and China are fighting “common threats” as he welcomes President Xi Jinping for a three-day trip to Moscow. Writing in an article in the People’s Daily Newspaper, the Russian president described Mr Xi‘s visit as a “landmark event” that “reaffirms the special nature of the Russia-China partnership”. The outlet is

Vladimir Putin’s visit to Mariupol comes in the week that he was indicted by the International Criminal Court for the trafficking of children to all intents and purposes – and comes off the back of his visit to Crimea on Saturday for the ninth anniversary of its illegal annexation. This appears to be a show

Vladimir Putin has visited the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to Russian media reports. The president made what state media described as a “working trip” to the port city, which he annexed in September last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mr Putin, who arrived in a helicopter, travelled around several districts of the

An arrest warrant issued against Russian President Vladimir Putin is the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) “first shot” in what could be a substantial indictment against him, Ukraine’s leading lawyer has said. The intergovernmental group – based at The Hague – has accused Mr Putin of being responsible for the abduction of children from Ukraine. An

An arrest warrant has been issued for Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes following a “dramatic move” by the International Criminal Court (ICC). But could the Russian president be arrested and put on trial? Sky News explains. What are the charges? In a statement, the court issued the warrant for Mr Putin’s arrest on suspicion

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of abducting children from Ukraine. It also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia‘s commissioner for children, on similar allegations of war crimes. The Kremlin said Russia found the questions raised by the ICC

On the edge of Europe is a pocket of pro-Russian support which has been under close watch since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Transnistria is a breakaway region in eastern Moldova which is politically, economically and militarily supported by Moscow. Neither Moldova nor the wider international community recognise its independence. In Transnistria’s capital, Tiraspol,

There have been rare chaotic scenes in the French parliament as President Emmanuel Macron used special powers to push through an unpopular pensions bill which aims to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Boos and chants from opposition politicians were heard in the national assembly (the lower house) as left-wing MPs sung lines

The US says the drone which crashed into the Black Sea after encountering two Russian fighter jets will not provide intelligence of any value should Moscow attempt to recover its wreckage. Russian officials have said they will seek to find whatever is left of the MQ-9 Reaper, which was downed on Tuesday. Sergei Naryshkin, head

At least six police officers have been injured, including three seriously, in a house explosion in France, according to media reports. The gendarmes, French paramilitary police, had gone to the property to arrest a man who was then killed in the blast in the central region of Allier, it is believed. For several days, the

A Russian aircraft has collided with a US unmanned aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea, causing the latter to crash. Two Su-27 planes had attempted to intercept the MQ-9 Reaper drone by dumping fuel in front of it several times in an attempt to damage the aircraft before the collision. At approximately 7.03am

There’s an eerie sense of foreboding in the villages, towns, and cities of eastern Ukraine – especially those within firing distance of Russian artillery, and the fighting in the nearby city of Bakhmut.  At breakfast time we were startled by the sound of an explosion near where we are staying in Kramatorsk. A residential neighbourhood

Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s aggression over Taiwan threaten to create a world “defined by danger, disorder and division”, the UK prime minister has warned. Rishi Sunak predicted a “difficult and dangerous decade” as his government published a long-awaited update to a major defence, security and foreign policy review on Monday. The 63-page document