World

Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio has been shot and killed by an unidentified gunman while at a political rally in Quito. The killing comes amid an alarming wave of violence in the country, with drug trafficking and violent killings on the rise. Incumbent president, Guillermo Lasso, suggested an organised crime gang was behind the killing.

Russia is planning to build up its forces at its western borders following Finland’s accession to NATO, the country’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu has said. The defence minister also noted Poland had already announced plans to strengthen its military, and that he expected significant NATO forces and weaponry to be deployed in Finland. Finland’s inclusion

The ex-husband of a woman who served a lunch that proved fatal to three people has claimed she tried to poison him. Erin Patterson, 48, was the only one who didn’t get sick after eating the meal at her home in Leongatha in Victoria, southeast Australia, on Saturday 29 July. Her former spouse, Simon Paterson,

Sinead O’Connor has been remembered as a singer and activist whose “voice moved a generation of young people”, as stars including U2’s Bono and Bob Geldof attended her funeral and thousands of mourners lined the streets to pay their respects. The music star’s life was celebrated at a private ceremony before the funeral cortege travelled

It’s twice the size of India, spread across eight countries, a territory, and home to over 16,000 tree species – the Amazon rainforest is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Today, leaders and representatives of the eight countries it spans will meet for the first time in 14 years hoping to reach

“Tumbling” records in Antarctica must be taken more seriously because of their “cascading” global impacts, a group of scientists asked by the Foreign Office to investigate the “unprecedented” changes has warned today. After enormous icebergs up to a quarter the size of Wales appeared to break off with “increasing frequency”, the Foreign Office commissioned the

Another Russian warship listing in the water is probably not the image Vladimir Putin had in mind for his beloved Black Sea fleet – but it does demonstrate the increasing effectiveness of Ukraine’s sea drones. The last few days have seen two attacks on Russian ships, both reportedly carried out by Ukrainian unmanned vessels. In

Iraq’s prime minister has now waded into a row over who is responsible for a bear getting loose in the cargo hold of a plane. Iraqi Airways said it was not to blame for the bear’s escape from its crate as the aircraft waited to take off from Dubai International Airport on Friday. The flight

A Russian bomb has hit a blood transfusion centre in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed. On Telegram, the Ukrainian president said there are fatalities and injuries after the strike in the town of Kupiansk. Mr Zelenskyy said rescue workers were extinguishing fires at the scene, and he described the attack as

Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister, has been arrested after he was sentenced to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts, his lawyer said. Police were seen surrounding his residence in Lahore on Saturday after the verdict was released. The 70-year-old former cricketer was sentenced after he was found guilty of unlawfully selling

“I cannot carry on God, please help me,” a mother says as she struggles to understand what has happened to her family. Her pain and trauma is unimaginable. Her 21-year-old daughter was gang raped, assaulted and paraded naked by a mob in northeast India. Her husband and 19-year-old son were bludgeoned to death when they

Ukraine is embroiled in a fight for its very survival as an independent state. Although Moscow is able to strike Ukrainian territory with impunity, the West will not allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike Russia across the border for fear of an escalation. But is this limitation preventing Ukraine from striking a potentially

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to a further 19 years behind bars on charges his supporters have branded trumped up to keep him out of politics for even longer. The 47-year-old, who is President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic critic, is already serving more than 11 years in prison for fraud and

The courthouse where Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to four charges against him, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, bears the name of Elijah Barrett Prettyman. As a Washington lawyer, Prettyman fought for the release of prisoners captured in the Bay of Pigs invasion. He represented Truman Capote and John Lennon and argued 19

A Somali sports official has been suspended after an apparently untrained female sprinter represented the African country at an international athletics tournament in China. Nasra Abukar Ali took more than 20 seconds to finish the 100m race at the World University Games in Chengdu, with footage showing she came last by a considerable distance. She

Dozens of people have been killed in clashes in Brazil as police carry out raids to crack down on criminal gangs and drug traffickers. At least 44 people have reportedly died in total after violent scenes in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo state and Bahia state. In Rio, police said nine people

Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau have announced they are separating after 18 years of marriage. The Canadian prime minister, 51, said in an Instagram post that the decision was made after “many meaningful and difficult conversations”. Mr Trudeau and the 48-year-old former model and TV host married in late May 2005 and have

A “cancer-killing pill” has appeared to “annihilate” solid tumours in early research – leaving healthy cells unaffected. The new drug has been in development for 20 years, and is now undergoing pre-clinical research in the US. Known as AOH1996, it targets a cancerous variant of a protein called proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). In its

China is to limit the export of long-range drones over fears they are being converted for military use in Ukraine. Beijing says it will limit the export of some high-performance civilian devices due to the “increasing risk” that they are being used for “non-peaceful purposes”. Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of targetting

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says war is coming to Russia after suspected Ukrainian drones hit skyscrapers in a wealthy Moscow neighbourhood. Vladimir Putin suggested an African initiative could be a basis for peace talks, but not while Ukrainian forces were on the offensive. On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by military analyst Sean Bell