World

Russia’s leaders believe they are “at war” with the UK and its allies but Britain is failing to deter the threat, a former spy who wrote an infamous dossier on Donald Trump has said. Christopher Steele, 57, said he even suspected Russian agents may have left him a “calling card”. Please use Chrome browser for

A Haitian gang leader has threatened to kill 17 kidnapped American and Canadian missionaries if he is not given millions in ransom money. In a video posted on YouTube, the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang that abducted the group said: “I swear by thunder that if I don’t get what I’m asking for, I

The argument now distracting and dominating the European Union is an unequal battle with the potential for far-reaching consequences.  On one side is Poland, enthusiastically supported by Hungary, and determined to prove that one of the fundamental tenets of European solidarity isn’t so fundamental after all. On the other side is, well, just about everyone

Donald Trump is launching a new social media platform to “stand up to the tyranny of big tech”. The former US president – who was banned from Twitter and Facebook earlier this year – says he plans to share his thoughts with the world on TRUTH Social. Announcing his plans, Mr Trump added: “We live

We could see a seemingly endless line of trucks as we headed down the highway in northern Ethiopia. As their contents drew closer we knew the battle ground was shifting in this country’s increasingly nasty civil conflict. There were thousands of troops perched on the back, clutching automatic weapons while fighting to stay upright. They

At least 13 people have been killed after an explosion destroyed a bus in the Syrian capital of Damascus. A local television station said two explosive devices went off as the bus was on the Hafez al Assad bridge – and a third device was being defused by an army engineering unit. Pictures on the

North Korea has fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile from its east coast into the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s military has said. The launch, which has been reported by officials in South Korea and Japan, is the latest in a recent series of weapon tests by the country. It caused Japan’s new prime minister to

US President Joe Biden has paid tribute to former US secretary of state Colin Powell following his death, saying he “could drive his Corvette Stingray like nobody’s business”. The 84-year-old died following complications from COVID-19, his family said in a statement today. Figures from across the political spectrum have paid their tributes to the first

Hamas has warned Israel that another war is inevitable unless its occupation of Palestine ends and the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza is resolved. Speaking exclusively to Sky News, in the first interview since mediation talks in Egypt ended, a senior Hamas official said that the fight will continue “with all means”, until an independent

A notorious gang with a history of kidnappings has been blamed by police for the abduction of 17 missionaries in Haiti. The 400 Mowozo gang was said to have kidnapped the religious group on Saturday, which included children, who were on their way home from an orphanage in the capital Port-au-Prince. Christian Aid Ministries, the

Russia has reported a record number of new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours with cases hitting 34,303 – the highest since the pandemic began. It represents a hike of more than 70% when compared with last month’s figure of 20,174. Meanwhile, the number of daily COVID deaths in Russia stood at 997 –

The backlog of cargo ships at the busiest port complex in the US – images of which have come to define the global supply chain crisis – is unlikely to return to normal before next summer. The executive director of the Port of Long Beach in California says plans to switch to 24/7 operations, pushed

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has lost her latest appeal against her sentence in Iran, meaning she could be sent back to prison “at any time”, her MP has said. Labour’s Tulip Siddiq said the British-Iranian dual national’s sentence of one year plus a one-year travel ban has been “upheld with no court hearing”. The Hampstead and Kilburn

At least 15 people have been killed in an explosion at a mosque in southern Afghanistan. The blast happened in the Kandahar region during Friday prayers at a Shia mosque, with 31 believed to be wounded, officials say. The interior minister’s spokesman, Qari Saeed Khosti, said authorities were collecting details of the explosion, which occurred

COVID-19 health passes – or “green passes” – are now compulsory for all workers in Italy. The rule was approved by Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s cabinet in mid-September, forcing all workers to show either proof of vaccination, a negative test within the previous 48 hours, or recent recovery from infection. Italy is one of a

The suspect in the Norway bow and arrow rampage which left five people dead had been flagged for possible signs of radicalisation, police have said. Officers had been worried about signs the man, who is a Muslim convert, may have been radicalised, police chief Ole Bredrup Saeverud said at a news conference. The 37-year-old Danish

Several people have been killed and others have been injured in bow and arrow attacks in Norway, according to police. The incidents took place in the town of Kongsberg, and those injured have been taken to hospital. A suspect has been apprehended. Police chief Oeyvind Aas said: “The man has been apprehended … from the

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to call for “global action” to tackle supply chain issues on his first official visit to the United States. Mr Sunak will encourage finance ministers from G20 nations to “work together” to ensure supply chains are more resilient in the future following the struggles in getting goods around the world during

A large 6.4 magnitude earthquake has hit the Greek holiday island of Crete and a tsunami warning has been issued. The quake struck the east coast of the island at a depth of 10km under the village of Palekastro, according to the US Geological Survey. The village is 84km from Agios Nikolaos which is a

World leaders must deliver on their promises to limit global warming to 1.5C at COP26, the UN climate conference’s president will warn. Alok Sharma will make a speech in the French capital today in which he will call on countries to honour the Paris Agreement, which was signed six years ago and saw most nations

A Chinese defector has revealed to Sky News how Uyghur detainees are transported in their hundreds on packed prison trains, along with details of torture and deaths inside re-education centres in Xinjiang. The man, who says he served as a police officer in Xinjiang and asked only to be identified by the name Jiang, told

Tonight, Lebanon has been knocked into darkness. Again. The two state power stations are without fuel, and so the entire country is without electricity. Small mercy it’s no longer the height of summer, when air conditioning units and fans are literally life-saving for many. Lebanese are used to power shortages: for some time now, the

Lebanon’s electricity grid has shut down entirely after the country’s two main power stations ran out of fuel, according to reports. The al Zahrani and the Deir Ammar power stations stopped working after supplies of diesel were apparently exhausted, and energy production dropped to below 200 megawatts. The outage will continue for a few days,

At least 46 people have been killed and more than 140 wounded after a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Afghanistan’s northeastern Kunduz province, a state-run news agency has reported. Photos from the scene show bodies and bloodstains surrounded by rubble inside the mosque. Rescuers could be seen carrying bodies wrapped in blankets from the

Governments are being urged to do what is “morally right” to ensure all countries have enough jabs – as the World Health Organisation set a target of vaccinating 70% of the world by the middle of next year. The agency also said countries need to help meet its fresh target of vaccinating 40% of the

In Thailand’s fields, convicted criminals tend to a precious crop. In the blazing sun, in neon orange tops, they bend and scrape, painstakingly weeding the ground around neat lines of dark green plants. They’re growing green chiretta (Andrographis paniculate) – or Fah talai jone, as it’s called in Thailand. It’s a traditional herbal medicine commonly

More than 29 inches of rain – nearly two-and-a-half feet – fell in 12 hours in Italy this week, breaking a European record, as parts of the country were hit by extreme weather. The commune of Rossiglione in Genoa, Liguria, was among the worst affected with the record deluge of 29.2in of rain on Monday

The first vaccine against malaria could be rolled out to billions of people after key advisers to the World Health Organisation (WHO) gave it the green light. Experts on the WHO’s advisory bodies for immunisation and malaria concluded the vaccine Mosquirix could save tens of thousands of lives every year. The vaccine is now expected

Malaria is a preventable and curable disease. But it still kills one child every two minutes, overwhelmingly in Africa. Today, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced it is backing a malaria vaccine for the first time. Clinical trials have proven that Mosquirix prevents three in every 10 cases of serious malaria disease in young

The Catholic Church in France showed complete and sometimes cruel indifference to people who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of clergy for decades, a commission investigating the abuse has found. The investigation found that an estimated 330,000 children were victims of abuse between 1950 and 2020. The report said an estimated 3,000 child abusers

Two more earthquakes have rattled the Spanish island of La Palma amid a fresh surge of lava from an erupting volcano. Part of the volcano’s crater has also collapsed – two weeks after the eruption on what is one of the Canary Islands situated off northwest Africa. Spain’s National Geographical Institute said it recorded two

A bomb has exploded in the entrance of a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, leaving a “number of civilians dead”, according to the Taliban. The blast happened as a memorial service was being held for the mother of deputy information minister Zabihullah Mujahid, who later tweeted the attack had claimed civilian lives. Those killed

An erupting volcano in the Canary Islands has turned “much more aggressive”, officials have warned, after two further cracks blew open, spewing lava. Amid reports of “intense” activity on La Palma, the fresh fissures, some 25m (50ft) apart, sent scorching rivers of molten rock down towards the sea, parallel to an earlier flow that reached