World

Russian forces have stepped up their efforts to seize one of the dwindling number of cities in eastern Ukraine not already under their control. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its daily update that intensified fighting took place around Bakhmut in the Donbas region. The capture of Bakhmut would allow

At least 12 people have been killed in an attack by Islamic militants who stormed a hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. Several people were also injured and others, including children, had to be rescued by security services from Mogadishu’s Hayat Hotel. Most of those who died are reported to have been civilians. The attack started

El Shafee Elsheikh, known to his victims as “Ringo”, grew up in White City, west London, after his family arrived from Sudan in 1993 when he was five. His father was a communist and part-time poet who worked as a translator and opposed the Islamist dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir in his home country. The couple

Finland’s prime minister says she has taken a drugs test after videos emerged this week of her at a “wild” party with friends in a private home. Speaking at a news conference in Helsinki, Sanna Marin insisted she had never used illegal drugs. “I have today taken a drug test and the results will come

Ukraine has said Russia is preparing to stage a “provocation” at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant on Friday. The country’s intelligence agency made the claim just hours after Moscow accused Ukraine of trying to stage an “accident” there, which may involve a radiation leak, during the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres’ visit to the war-ravaged nation.

Ukraine has said Russia is preparing to stage a “provocation” at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant on Friday. The country’s intelligence agency made the statement just hours after Moscow accused Ukraine of trying to stage an “accident” there, which may involve a radiation leak, during the UN secretary-general’s visit to the war-ravaged nation. Located in

Freed hostages were able to give British police key information identifying an IS kidnap gang nicknamed “The Beatles” which had held and tortured them, Scotland Yard has revealed. Officers have disclosed key breakthroughs that allowed them to identify the jihadis and bring two of them to trial in the US. It included vital details from

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sparked anger after accusing Israel of committing “50 Holocausts” – with Germany’s leader saying he’s “disgusted” by the remark. Mr Abbas made the comments in Berlin on Tuesday when asked about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the attack on the Israeli team by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

German director Wolfgang Petersen, known for the World War Two submarine epic Das Boot and Air Force One, has died aged 81. The filmmaker died on Friday at his home in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Brentwood after a battle with pancreatic cancer, said representative Michelle Bega. His 1982 breakthrough, Das Boot, chronicled the intense

Ukrainian special forces operating inside Russian-occupied Crimea were behind an attack on a military base there, Sky News understands. Russia’s defence ministry said that a fire broke out after several explosions at a temporary ammunition storage facility in the Dzhankoi area of north Crimea at around 4.15am BST (6.15am local time). Pictures show fire and

William Ruto has been declared the winner of Kenya’s presidential election – moments after the main count was interrupted as scuffles broke out. Mr Ruto is currently the country’s deputy president and has beaten opposition leader Raila Odinga to the top job after winning 50.49% of the vote. “We are here this evening to witness

“Look at this man… he worked for British forces,” shouted one Taliban fighter, as a group of them began to beat Ahmad in front of his screaming wife and children. It was 15 August 2021. The family were at the entrance to Kabul airport, trying to get on to an evacuation flight. They’d been met

A damning new report says the US-led withdrawal from Afghanistan was carried out with no planning, was mired in “chaos and confusion”, and ended in “tragic yet avoidable outcomes”. On the first anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Kabul which led to the sudden mass evacuation of thousands of displaced Afghans, Republicans on the US

With his long black hair flowing beneath a traditional cap and over his masked face, a Taliban guard, machine gun in hand, indicated I should follow the doctor.   I realised then we were to have his company for the duration of our stay. A peculiar development and an unusual experience, but one that was

Sir Salman Rushdie’s suspected attacker has been charged with attempted second degree murder. Hadi Matar, 24, was identified by New York police after the attack on Friday. Police have not established a motive for the stabbing that left the author, 75, seriously injured. He remains on a ventilator in hospital. This is what we know

Author Salman Rushdie will likely lose an eye and has suffered severed nerves in an arm and damage to his liver after he was stabbed, his agent has said. The 75-year-old remains on a ventilator after being airlifted to hospital and undergoing hours of surgery following the attack in New York state. “The news is

Author Sir Salman Rushdie, whose writing led to death threats, has apparently been stabbed in the neck while on stage at an event in New York state. The Indian-born British author has been taken to hospital by helicopter but his condition is not yet known. The 75-year-old was about to give a lecture when a

Russia has reached a new low and is trying to “threaten the whole world” by shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy has said. Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling the facility as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed a demilitarised zone at the Zaporizhzhia plant in the city of

Satellite images appear to show several Russian warplanes at an airbase in Crimea have been damaged or destroyed. Ukraine’s air force said on Wednesday that nine aircraft were demolished in explosions a day before – a claim Russia denied. The images, from the US-based Planet Labs, show several warplanes in pieces and swathes of scorched

China’s ambassador to the UK has been summoned to the Foreign Office over Beijing’s “aggressive and wide-ranging escalation” against Taiwan. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she had ordered officials to call in ambassador Zheng Zeguang to explain his country’s actions in recent days, which have seen missile launches and incursions into Taiwanese waters and air space.