World

Deep in the Buloburde bush in the Hiiraan region of central Somalia, there’s a ragtag regiment gathering around a missile launcher. Huddled tightly with their ears pressed against a small black phone, they receive intelligence and feed it back to the troops positioning the launcher. The Ma’awisley militia is made up of farmers turned fighters

A Florida jury has recommended a sentence of life in prison for gunman Nikolas Cruz who killed 17 people at a Parkland school in 2018. Jurors could not unanimously agree he should be given the death penalty, despite the prosecution requesting he be executed and arguing the deadly attack was cold, calculated and meticulously planned.

A senior Iranian official has questioned excessive state enforcement of the country’s compulsory hijab laws – following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody. Ali Larijani, 65, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and a former parliamentary speaker, warned in an interview with Iranian daily Ettela’at that a “rigid response” to the widespread

Ireland’s football association and the women’s team manager have apologised after players sang a song referencing the IRA while celebrating their World Cup qualification. Videos circulated on social media showing them singing the song after Tuesday night’s 1-0 play-off victory over Scotland at Hampden Park. A statement by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) apologised

Nagib’s small feet poke out from a bundled blue shroud. His body is far too small for his three years of age. He is shrunken by malnutrition and marked by the measles that eventually took his short life. Nagib is carried out of the emergency care ward in Baidoa and into a white van as

A deliberate attack on NATO energy supplies will be met with a “united and determined response”, the alliance’s chief has vowed. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pledged to boost protection of critical infrastructure in response to the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The EU believes three leaks in the pipelines last month were the work

A “historic deal” has been signed by Lebanon and Israel that has the potential to ease security and economic concerns in both countries. The neighbours have backed a final draft of a US-mediated maritime border deal that will resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern tip of the Mediterranean Sea. The agreement has the potential

Russian forces will soon be down to their last supplies of fuel and unable to transport their troops in Ukraine after the crippling attack on the Kerch Bridge between Crimea and Russia, say analysts. “If we’re talking about the ability to manoeuvre, ie drive places, I think we are talking days into very short weeks

It is a quiet street in a fairly tough part of Sao Paulo, but the sound of high velocity weapons firing and the thud of rounds impacting every few seconds is somewhat disconcerting. We ring the doorbell of an innocuous-looking building; after a few minutes the thick metal door opens, and we are greeted by

Vladimir Putin has said Monday’s deadly missile strikes targeting cities in Ukraine were in retaliation for its “terrorist action” against Russian territory. In televised remarks, the Russian president said Moscow had launched long-range missile attacks against Ukraine’s energy, military and communications infrastructure on Monday. Cities including Lviv, Ternopil, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, and Zaporizhzhia were targeted, with

The hunger is sharp in Lyman but the instinct to survive, even sharper. It’s been exceptionally honed in those Lyman residents who’ve remained through months of fighting, bombing and Russian occupation. And there are a surprisingly large number of them. We see crowds on the outskirts of the town, gathering around a small warehouse where

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree tightening security for a bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia after an explosion caused part of it to collapse. Damage to the bridge has hampered an important supply route for the Kremlin’s war in southern Ukraine and represents a strike on a symbol of Russian power

The British government has been accused of “dragging its heels” over trade linked to forced labour.  A Chinese labour camp survivor is preparing to sue the UK’s trade secretary for allowing cotton imports from the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, where it has been alleged local minority groups such as the Uyghurs have been subjected

Russia says three people have been killed after a key bridge to Crimea was partially destroyed in an explosion. Kerch Bridge – which is also known as the Crimean Bridge – spans 12-miles and is a key supply route for Moscow as they continue their attack on Ukraine. Ukraine war latest: Putin sends ministers to

Three people have been killed in an explosion at a service station in Co Donegal, Ireland. The explosion happened just after 3pm on Friday at the Applegreen service station on the outskirts of Creeslough, where a search operation is continuing with the help of sniffer dogs. Photos showed a number of cars damaged by debris,

The US president is hardly unique in saying the risk of a nuclear “Armageddon” is higher now than it has been since the Cuban missile crisis – or as it is known in Russia, the Caribbean crisis. Anyone who has thought for more than five seconds about Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats given the geopolitical state

At Udon Thani hospital, we witness an unbearable procession of grief.  We’re standing by a narrow road as a convoy of vehicles arrive. Inside, are the bodies of the dead from the worst mass shooting in Thailand‘s history. A freezer truck pulls up and coffin after coffin emerges. Medical workers line the street frantically trying

At least 30 people have been killed in a mass shooting by a sacked policeman at a children’s day care centre in Thailand. The victims included 22 children – some as young as two years old – as well as adults, authorities said, adding that the gunman was a former police officer. A manhunt was

Artillery strikes are playing a crucial role in Russia’s war in Ukraine in what top American commanders have called a “battle of fires”. Russia’s military initially had a significant advantage over the Ukrainian armed forces because of a much larger arsenal of artillery systems. It meant they were able to devastate Ukrainian positions in the

A “truly brave and courageous” Irishman has been killed fighting in Ukraine, his family has confirmed. Rory Mason, 23, from Dunboyne in County Meath, died while fighting for Ukraine’s International Legion in the Kharkiv counter-offensive near the Russian border. Ukraine war live updates His father Rob said: “Rory was a private young man of drive,

Vladimir Putin’s mounting problems in Ukraine make Russia’s use of a tactical nuclear weapon more likely, a senior US expert has told Sky News. Tactical nuclear weapons are designed to be used on a battlefield. John Bolton, a former US national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations, said that the Russian president is

More losses for Russia in Ukraine, this time around Kherson. Ukraine’s long-telegraphed Kherson counter-offensive is making some headway along the western banks of the Dnipro river, between the villages of Zolota Balka and Dudchany around 100km north of the port city. Ukraine makes biggest breakthrough in the south – live updates Russia’s ministry of defence

Ukrainian forces have captured more villages in Kherson, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, just days after Vladimir Putin claimed the region as part of Russia. The Ukrainian president announced the liberation of settlements Arkhanhelske and Myrolyubikva from Russia in his daily address. The Moscow-installed leader of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, described the situation as “tense” on Russian

The number of children who died in a stampede at a football match in Indonesia has risen to 32. At least 125 people were killed in the crush on Saturday following the game between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya in the city of Malang. Families and friends of some of the dead have begun mourning

The rush to escape being crushed as police lose control at an Indonesian football match felt grimly familiar for Simon McMenemy. For the last decade, the Scotsman has contended with the heated and dangerous experience of coaching in Indonesia – including as manager of the national team. Speaking to Sky News from the southeast Asian

At least 174 people have been killed in a riot at a football match in Indonesia, most of whom were trampled to death after police fired tear gas, in one of the world’s worst sporting disasters. Violence flared at the end of the game in Malang, East Java, where hosts Arema lost 3-2 to Persebaya

Russian troops have pulled out of the city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine due to the risk they were being encircled by Ukrainian forces, the Kremlin has said. Lyman is in Donetsk – one of the Ukrainian regions that was annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a ceremony in Moscow on Friday. And Mr

There was an awful near silence as the war crime investigators went about their business and the bodies of the victims were methodically packed into body bags. We counted at least 15 body bags being loaded one on top of each other into a succession of ambulances. The death toll is higher and includes several

The biggest landgrab since the Second World War. A dictator threatening the use of nuclear weapons. The world’s most important institution meant to guarantee global security, the UN Security Council, rendered impotent yet again with one of its permanent members doing exactly what it was set up to prevent. The West’s response: a strategy that has

Vladimir Putin has for seven months insisted his invasion of Ukraine was only a special military operation. That way he hoped the conflict would seem distant and contained to the broad Russian public. With his military suffering setback after setback, a week ago he announced the mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of reservists. But even

The Finnish government has said it will ban anyone coming into the country with a tourist visa from Friday following thousands of arrivals after Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation order. Finland closing its border shuts off the last remaining direct land route to the European Union for Russians trying to avoid conscription into the war with Ukraine.

A fourth leak has been reported on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Swedish coastguard told newspaper Svenska Dagbladet it had found the leak on Nord Stream 2 earlier this week. It comes after three other leaks were reported on the pipelines – which run from Russia to Germany – with sabotage widely suspected. “Two of

A suspected act of sabotage – possibly by Russia – against gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea was likely a premeditated attack using underwater explosive devices detonated remotely, according to a British defence source. The source said any mines could have been lowered to the seabed on a long line, dropped over the side of