World

Whether or not Rishi Sunak will attend COP27 is “under review”, Downing Street has confirmed – as the PM faces mounting calls to attend the climate conference in Egypt. Asked if the prime minister will be attending the summit, a Number 10 spokesperson said that “any attendance at COP would depend on progress on preparation

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has won the Brazilian election, narrowly beating Jair Bolsonaro, official figures show. It has been Brazil’s most polarised election in recent memory, pitting far-right incumbent President Bolsonaro against leftist former leader Lula da Silva. On his victory, Mr da Silva tweeted a simple picture of his hand over the Brazilian

Janelle Story was one of thousands of young people who went to Seoul’s Itaewon district to celebrate Halloween last night. She and her friends had specifically booked an organised bar crawl because “we knew it was going to be crowded”. South Korea stampede live updates Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

South Korea’s president has declared a national period of mourning over a stampede during Halloween festivities – as the number of deaths has risen to 151. President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed condolences to the victims and wished for a speedy recovery for the injured in a statement on Sunday, before visiting the scene of the crowd

The commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards has warned protesters not to leave their homes to demonstrate and that Saturday will be the “last day” of taking to the streets. “Do not come to the streets! Today is the last day of the riots,” Hossein Salami said. His ominous warning comes amid reports that two

They tell us to run, and so we run. Through the scrub, the mud and the undergrowth until we stop under the shelter of trees. Out of breath, out of sight and, for now, out of danger. This is a place of mud, weapons and nervous energy. We are in the area where the borders

Forty days of protest in Iran passed on Wednesday, with demonstrators making it clear their demands for change are as strong as ever. Tensions continued into Thursday, with anger over the death of at least one protester leading to attacks on official buildings. In Mahabad, the death of 35-year-old Ismaeil Mauludi prompted chaotic scenes as

An investigation has been launched after the nose of a Paraguay plane was destroyed during a severe storm, and it was forced to make an emergency landing. The LATAM Airlines Paraguay plane got caught in severe weather while flying to Asuncion from Santiago de Chile late on Wednesday night. As it passed through the storm,

Australia has become the first team to release a group statement criticising Qatar for its poor human rights record. Addressing the issue in a video, 16 players, including ex-Arsenal and Brighton goalkeeper Matt Ryan, took aim at the host nation’s treatment of migrant workers and the LGBTQ+ community. “There are universal values that should define

As the Russians retreat from communities in the Ukrainian region of Kherson, residents have been left with reminders of their stay. Vast swathes of destruction afflicted places like Velyka Oleksandrivka, a quiet market town that would spend months on the frontline. The Russians were pushed out by the Ukrainians in the first week of October,

Vladimir Putin has watched military forces carry out nuclear exercises in Russia amid growing fears Moscow may trigger a major escalation in the Ukraine war. The Russian president oversaw the tests, which had been planned for some time, via video link from an office. During the exercises, the country’s nuclear forces carried out multiple practice

A Ukrainian minister has urged refugees who fled the country after Russia’s invasion to stay away this winter. Iryna Vereshchuk, a deputy prime minister, said blackouts caused by Moscow’s bombardment of power stations would put a heavy strain on the country. In an interview on national television on Tuesday, she told Ukrainians sheltering in foreign

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine has not received “a single cent” towards its $17bn fast recovery plan.  Addressing a Berlin conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction by video link, he also revealed Russian rockets and Iran-made drones have destroyed more than a third of his country’s energy sector. “Russia destroys everything to make it harder for us to

Russia has engaged in an unusual burst of contact with the West’s three nuclear powers to raise baseless claims about a dirty bomb plot in Ukraine, amid fears of further escalation. In the past 48 hours, Vladimir Putin’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has spoken to his respective counterparts in the US, the UK and France,

Russian claims Ukraine could use a “dirty bomb” in the war have been branded “nuclear blackmail” and dismissed by the West. With its forces facing a string of battlefield defeats and a risk of being routed in the south, the Kremlin has pushed allegations that Kyiv could use such a blast on its own territory

History has been made in China after it was confirmed that President Xi Jinping will remain in power – breaking with a decades-long precedent that limits the terms of Chinese leaders. Having ruled China for 10 years already, Mr Xi will now stay on for at least another five-year term – and he could, in

China’s former president Hu Jintao has been unexpectedly escorted out of the closing ceremony of the ruling Communist Party. The 79-year-old, who was seated on the left of President Xi Jinping, was led off the stage of the main auditorium of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by two stewards. Mr Hu, Mr

Mina left solitary confinement a few days ago. She has now been arrested twice by Iranian forces for taking part in the protests sweeping her country. Speaking to Sky News through voice notes sent on an encrypted messaging app, she spoke about her experience and why she is prepared to risk her life to help

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been shown firing a sniper rifle while visiting a training facility for reservists. Footage of the inspection of the military boot camp in the Russian region of Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, is thought to have been aimed at showing progress in rectifying problems with training and supplies. Russian TV showed

British and US intelligence says the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is on the ground in Crimea, supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. America’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Iran had sent personnel to assist Vladimir Putin‘s troops in launching Iranian-made drones on Ukraine’s power stations and other key infrastructure. This includes members of a

When soldiers in Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanised Brigade do their work, most tasks are performed under trees. It is a simple matter of staying alive. Members of the brigade’s Oril Company stack their munitions under a stand of gnarly-looking trees. Their mortars are hidden in the bushes. Putin’s forces ‘preparing to blow up major dam’ – Ukraine

A missile was released from a Russian aircraft near an unarmed RAF plane on a routine patrol over the Black Sea, the defence secretary has revealed. In a statement updating MPs on the war in Ukraine, Ben Wallace said the incident happened on 29 September and that Russia has acknowledged it took place in international

Kherson residents have been boarding boats in an apparent evacuation as Russia claimed Ukraine is planning a major attack and President Putin declared martial law in four occupied regions. Russian media showed people in the city boarding ferries to cross from the right bank of the Dnipro river to the left. The Moscow-backed head of

An Iranian climber who took part in an international competition without wearing a hijab has insisted it was “completely unintentional”. Wearing the hijab is mandatory for female athletes from the Islamic Republic, but at the event in South Korea on Sunday Elnaz Rekabi did not wear one. It follows a wave of protests in Iran

There are days in Bakhmut that are more difficult than others – although no day is easy in this battered city.  Once home to 100,000 people, it’s now a military objective for the Russian army, the gateway to key industrial cities in eastern Ukraine. But the city has become a major obstacle for Russian generals,

A preliminary investigation of damage on the two Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Danish part of the Baltic Sea shows the leaks were caused by “powerful explosions”, Copenhagen Police has said. The force added officers investigated the “crime scenes” with assistance from Denmark’s armed forces and in collaboration with the Danish security and intelligence

The world’s first geological tomb for nuclear waste is rapidly taking shape more than 400 metres below the forests of Finland. Batches of lethally radioactive uranium will start arriving within two years for burial in the warren of tunnels carved into the bedrock. Other countries, including the UK, are considering plans to build their own

Former Russian state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova has fled the country after escaping from house arrest, her lawyer said. Ms Ovsyannikova interrupted a live broadcast in March to protest the war in Ukraine, holding up a sign which read in English: “No war. Russians against war.” In Russian it read: “NO WAR. Stop the war.

If this was a “normal” party congress then the speech by President Xi Jinping would have been his swansong. But this is not a normal party congress. The speech instead felt more like a consolidation, an enshrining of sorts, of Xi’s vision, Xi’s path and Xi’s China. The party congress is the most important political event

China will never renounce the right to use force over Taiwan, President Xi Jinping has declared at the opening of a major party meeting. China views democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, but the island’s government has strong objections and believes sovereignty should be claimed by its people. Speaking at the opening of the

Two men opened fire on volunteer troops at a Russian military shooting range near Ukraine, killing 11 and wounding 15 others, the Russian defence ministry has said. The shooting is said to have taken place in the Belgorod region in southwestern Russia, which borders Ukraine. Moscow’s defence ministry said that the two men from an

Vladimir Putin has said he has “no” regrets over the war in Ukraine and warned that any direct clash of NATO troops with Russia could lead to a “global catastrophe”. On Friday, the Russian president spoke at a news conference in the Kazakh capital, Astana, and also said that his country’s partial mobilisation will be

Human rights groups have warned of Iranian security forces’ escalating response to demonstrations in the western province of Kurdistan. Clips from the regional capital Sanandaj appear to show security forces firing weapons in residential neighbourhoods and large groups of anti-riot police moving around the city. The city was one of the first to see demonstrations