World

China has recruited dozens of former British military pilots to teach the Chinese armed forces how to defeat western warplanes and helicopters in a “threat to UK interests”, officials have revealed. One official said some 30 mainly ex-fast jet but also some helicopter pilots – lured by annual salaries of around £240,000 – are currently

Former Russian state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova has fled the country after escaping from house arrest, her lawyer said. Ms Ovsyannikova interrupted a live broadcast in March to protest against the war in Ukraine, holding up a sign which read in English: “No war. Russians against war.” In Russian it read: “NO WAR. Stop the

If this was a “normal” party congress then the speech by President Xi Jinping would have been his swansong. But this is not a normal party congress. The speech instead felt more like a consolidation, an enshrining of sorts, of Xi’s vision, Xi’s path and Xi’s China. The party congress is the most important political event

China will never renounce the right to use force over Taiwan, President Xi Jinping has declared at the opening of a major party meeting. China views democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, but the island’s government has strong objections and believes sovereignty should be claimed by its people. Speaking at the opening of the

Two men opened fire on volunteer troops at a Russian military shooting range near Ukraine, killing 11 and wounding 15 others, the Russian defence ministry has said. The shooting is said to have taken place in the Belgorod region in southwestern Russia, which borders Ukraine. Moscow’s defence ministry said that the two men from an

This week, Russia launched its most devastating attack on Kyiv since the invasion of Ukraine in February, killing and injuring some of those still in the capital, and crippling vital infrastructure. The toll of the attack, and the panic which ensued, is brought into sharp focus in the latest edition of the Sky News Ukraine

Human rights groups have warned of Iranian security forces’ escalating response to demonstrations in the western province of Kurdistan. Clips from the regional capital Sanandaj appear to show security forces firing weapons in residential neighbourhoods and large groups of anti-riot police moving around the city. The city was one of the first to see demonstrations

Deep in the Buloburde bush in the Hiiraan region of central Somalia, there’s a ragtag regiment gathering around a missile launcher. Huddled tightly with their ears pressed against a small black phone, they receive intelligence and feed it back to the troops positioning the launcher. The Ma’awisley militia is made up of farmers turned fighters

A Florida jury has recommended a sentence of life in prison for gunman Nikolas Cruz who killed 17 people at a Parkland school in 2018. Jurors could not unanimously agree he should be given the death penalty, despite the prosecution requesting he be executed and arguing the deadly attack was cold, calculated and meticulously planned.

A senior Iranian official has questioned excessive state enforcement of the country’s compulsory hijab laws – following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody. Ali Larijani, 65, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and a former parliamentary speaker, warned in an interview with Iranian daily Ettela’at that a “rigid response” to the widespread

Ireland’s football association and the women’s team manager have apologised after players sang a song referencing the IRA while celebrating their World Cup qualification. Videos circulated on social media showing them singing the song after Tuesday night’s 1-0 play-off victory over Scotland at Hampden Park. A statement by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) apologised

Nagib’s small feet poke out from a bundled blue shroud. His body is far too small for his three years of age. He is shrunken by malnutrition and marked by the measles that eventually took his short life. Nagib is carried out of the emergency care ward in Baidoa and into a white van as

A deliberate attack on NATO energy supplies will be met with a “united and determined response”, the alliance’s chief has vowed. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pledged to boost protection of critical infrastructure in response to the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The EU believes three leaks in the pipelines last month were the work

The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007 has been charged in Germany with several sexual offences allegedly committed in Portugal. Christian B allegedly committed the offences between 2000 and 2017, German prosecutors said. The prosecutor’s office said the charges do not relate to the McCann case. Madeleine was on holiday with

Russia is running out of weapons for its war in Ukraine and the costs to the Kremlin are “staggering” in terms of soldiers killed and equipment lost, a UK spy chief will say. Sir Jeremy Fleming, the head of GCHQ, will use a rare, public speech on Tuesday to say the Ukrainian armed forces are

Vladimir Putin has said Monday’s deadly missile strikes targeting cities in Ukraine were in retaliation for its “terrorist action” against Russian territory. In televised remarks, the Russian president said Moscow had launched long-range missile attacks against Ukraine’s energy, military and communications infrastructure on Monday. Cities including Lviv, Ternopil, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, and Zaporizhzhia were targeted, with

It is a quiet street in a fairly tough part of Sao Paulo, but the sound of high velocity weapons firing and the thud of rounds impacting every few seconds is somewhat disconcerting. We ring the doorbell of an innocuous-looking building; after a few minutes the thick metal door opens, and we are greeted by

Accusing Ukraine of terrorism after the explosion on the Crimean bridge is “too cynical even for Russia”, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. The blast on the Kerch Strait Bridge that links occupied Crimea to Russia caused serious damage and will further squeeze supply lines for Kremlin forces fighting in Ukraine. Nobody has claimed

A five-year-old girl and her father were among 10 people killed in the devastating explosion at a petrol station in Ireland, as the identities of all the victims were revealed. A mother and her 13-year-old son were also among the dead following the blast in the village of Creeslough on Friday afternoon, in what has

The British government has been accused of “dragging its heels” over trade linked to forced labour.  A Chinese labour camp survivor is preparing to sue the UK’s trade secretary for allowing cotton imports from the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, where it has been alleged local minority groups such as the Uyghurs have been subjected