World

The brother of Ghislaine Maxwell has told Sky News he believes prison officers have “physically abused” his sister and her treatment in a New York jail is a “fundamental abuse of human rights” that is “designed to break her”. In his first UK TV interview, Ian Maxwell said US authorities have mounted a “disinformation campaign”

Failure to tackle global vaccine inequality at this weekend’s G20 summit could prolong the pandemic, civil society groups have warned. Campaigners have claimed previous calls to tackle structural problems with vaccine supply have so far been ignored, allowing doses to be “hoarded” by rich nations. The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of more than 75

Two weeks of global leaders meeting to save the world begin with a one-on-one between the leader of the planet’s biggest religious denomination and its most powerful superpower. US President Joe Biden flies into Rome for an audience with the Pope ahead of the G20 summit of world leaders and after that the COP26 climate

France has detained a British scallop trawler owned by Macduff Shellfish and given a verbal warning to another fishing boat in waters off its coast. French maritime minister Annick Girardin said it is “not war but this is a combat”, amid a warning the country could ban allowing British fishing boats to disembark at French

The president of the COP26 UN climate summit has told Sky News it is unclear if the crucial meeting will be a success and it is currently hanging “in the balance”. Just days from the summit, Alok Sharma said: “This is going to be difficult. “This is going to be a big challenge. “This is

Sudan’s prime minister Abdalla Hamdock and his wife are at home “under heavy security” after the military seized control in a violent coup. The premier was allowed to return to his house in Kafouri, in the state of Khartoum on Tuesday, according to an official who asked to remain anonymous. But it has yet to

“I am just the same, unselfconfident person I was,” Svetlana Tikhanovskaya told Sky News in August last year. “But this is my mission. I have to overcome all these difficulties and bring our country to a free future and become a mother and wife again.” That was shortly before a blatantly rigged election robbed her

At least seven people have been killed and 140 injured after Sudan’s military seized power, a health ministry official has said. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolved the military-civilian Sovereign Council on Monday and announced a state of emergency. He has promised to hold elections in July 2023 and then hand over power to an elected

At least five senior government officials have been detained by military forces, according to reports. The country’s main pro-democracy political group, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), has called on people to take to the streets in response to any apparent coup attempt. Internet and mobile phone signal outages have been reported, say SPA officials who

Sudan’s top general has declared a state of emergency and dissolved the country’s transitional government – as the prime minister’s office said a “complete coup” was under way. Sudan’s interim prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, and at least five senior officials are understood to have been detained by military forces. Thousands have taken to the streets

Britain is “fully cooperating” with an investigation into the murder of a Kenyan woman whose body was found in a septic tank close to a UK army camp, a top diplomat has said. High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriott said the UK will support the inquiry into the “tragic death” of Agnes Wanjiru in 2012

A notorious Colombian drug kingpin has been arrested in what has been described as the biggest blow to the country’s trafficking network since the death of Pablo Escobar. Dairo Antonio Usuga, known as Otoniel, was captured by the armed forces during an operation in a rural area of the South American nation’s Uraba region. Both

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said 10 ambassadors, including those from the US and France, were “persona non grata” after they issued a statement in support of a jailed activist. Osman Kavala, 64, is a Turkish businessman, publisher and activist who has been detained for more than four years despite having never been convicted

A United Nations humanitarian flight was forced to abandon its landing in the capital of the country’s Tigray region due to Ethiopian military airstrikes, according to aid workers. Ethiopian authorities appear to be escalating the intimidation tactics against aid workers amid the intensifying, year-long Tigray war. A deadly conflict erupted between Tigrayan and Ethiopian government

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