World

At least seven people, including a newborn baby, have been killed following an explosion and fire which broke out in southwestern France. The newborn baby was one of two children killed during the incident, according to local media reports. The French interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, is expected to travel to the scene later today. He

For those in the UK, western Europe and the United States who take comfort in the fact that an escalating crisis with Russia over Ukraine is blissfully far away – think again. Any move by Russian President Vladimir Putin to bomb Kyiv into submission and seize control of the country by force – as could

The defence secretary has warned it is “highly likely” that Vladimir Putin will order an attack on Ukraine, despite ongoing talks to avert a war. Ben Wallace also said there is a “whiff of Munich in the air” – an apparent reference to the agreement that allowed the German annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938,

French police have fired tear gas at protesters on Paris’ Champs Elysees avenue who are demonstrating against coronavirus restrictions. Cars carrying protesters managed to get through police checkpoints to cause traffic around the Arc de Triomphe monument to grind to a halt. The protesters waved French flags and sounded their horns in defiance of the

France has dropped its COVID-19 testing requirement for vaccinated travellers arriving from the UK. The French interior ministry has said that from 12 February, travellers will not need to test as long as they are vaccinated according to European regulations. This applies regardless of where a traveller is coming from. Bonjour, Stéph in place now

Britons are being advised against all travel to Ukraine and those already in the country are being told to leave while they can. The action came as Boris Johnson told world leaders he “feared for the security of Europe” over the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. In a virtual meeting on Friday evening,

The Foreign Office has signed off tougher sanctions on Russia just hours ahead of a self-imposed deadline – and after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss held stormy talks with her counterpart in Moscow. New legislation was laid in parliament on Thursday that gives ministers the power to impose tough new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and businesses.

A full invasion of Ukraine would not be a “simple walk in the park” for Russia because Ukrainian troops would fight for every metre of land until their last breath, the commander of all ground forces has warned. General Oleksandr Syrskyi said his soldiers were starting a round of military exercises in the north of

The last foreign secretary to visit Russia was Boris Johnson in 2017. Things weren’t easy then and that was before the Salisbury poisonings. They are a lot harder now. Liz Truss will meet a wily, combative and much more experienced counterpart in Sergei Lavrov – who takes no prisoners. Whether they manage to make any

At least 14 people died and 35 people were injured after a mudslide brought on by heavy rains hit a town in western Colombia, officials have said. One person is missing after the disaster in a residential area of the Dosquebradas municipality near the town of Pereira in Risaralda province on Tuesday, Carlos Maya, the

Spy planes are conducting missions to track Russian movements, which might include listening to Russian soldiers’ phone calls home, according to one expert. The planes are equipped with devices that allow them to collect signals sent from Russian bases and to intercept communications. Sky News analysis of flight tracking data from a typical day in

China is targeting Uyghurs and critics abroad, pressuring other countries to detain and deport them, an investigation by Sky News has found, with high-ranking Chinese officials even conducting interrogations at “black sites” abroad. Chinese agents and police routinely operate abroad, attempting to identify Uyghurs who have fled China. Some are coerced into spying for the

Six Russian warships are heading for the Black Sea for naval drills amid escalating tension between the West and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis. The Russian defence ministry said the exercises were a planned movement of military resources, according to the Interfax news agency. It came hours after Paris said Vladimir Putin had promised not

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned European countries will be drawn into military conflict if Ukraine joins NATO, following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. The Russian leader also warned there would be “no winners” from the ongoing crisis, after meeting with his French counterpart at the Kremlin, for talks he described as useful,

The Falklands are “part of the British family”, according to Liz Truss, after China backed Argentina’s claims over the south Atlantic islands. The foreign secretary wrote on Twitter that “China must respect Falklands’ sovereignty” after Argentina‘s President Alberto Fernandez met with Xi Jinping during the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Chinese and Argentine leaders spoke of

The cells of Herat’s main prison are crammed full. In each of the cells we go into, there are about 40 men laying jammed up against each other on the floor with some on bunk beds around the edges. We’ve been given exclusive access to one of the Taliban’s jails and we’re escorted by the

Singer Lata Mangeshkar, one of India’s biggest cultural icons, has died aged 92. She died of multiple organ failure at a hospital in Mumbai after she was admitted on 11 January with COVID-19, hospital officials said. Born in 1929 in pre-independence India, Mangeshkar began singing in her teens, and in a career spanning 73 years sang

A suicide bomber who targeted Kabul airport during an evacuation mission in Afghanistan acted alone, a US investigation has found. The attacker, carrying 20 pounds of explosives packed with ball bearings, blew himself up at Abbey Gate outside the airport on 26 August last year. At the time, the UK, US, and other nations were

If the geopolitical cliche during Donald Trump’s presidency was, at least for a while, his bromance with Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader has turned his affections very much in the opposite direction. This was President Putin’s 38th meeting with his Chinese counterpart – the two united in their dislike of the big, bad wolf of

A five-year-old boy who spent four days trapped in a 32m (105ft) deep well has died, Morocco’s king has said. Footage from the scene in the north of the country showed workers emerging from a tunnel – dug specifically for the rescue – carrying the child, Rayan Awram, on Saturday evening. An Associated Press reporter