World

Austria is beginning another COVID-19 lockdown, as the government seeks to limit the spread of the virus. The lockdown is the first since vaccines became widely available, but it comes as just 65% of the population is fully vaccinated. Most gathering places – such as restaurants, cafes, bars, theatres, non-essential shops, and hairdressers – will

Shamima Begum, the Bethnal Green schoolgirl who fled to Syria and joined IS, has told Sky News she was groomed by friends and older men she met online before joining the terror group. Speaking from a prison camp in Syria, Begum said she wanted to go on trial in the UK and invited British officials

Missing Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has purportedly appeared in a video in which she is seen with friends in a restaurant. Peng, a former Wimbledon doubles champion, is seen smiling and is having fun in the apparently new footage released by state media. The video was posted on Twitter by Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of

Seven people have been arrested after rioters clashed with police in The Hague for a second night of violence in the Netherlands, sparked by protests over new COVID-19 restrictions. The unrest came a day after police opened fire on protesters in Rotterdam amid what the port city’s mayor called “an orgy of violence”, leaving three

Rotterdam’s mayor has condemned “an orgy of violence” at protests against COVID-19 restrictions in the Dutch port city, in which seven people were hurt and more than 20 arrested. The trouble flared as the Netherlands moved to curb a fourth wave of the coronavirus. Hundreds of rioters torched cars, set off fireworks and threw rocks

Austria is to become the first country in Europe to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory by law and has announced a full national lockdown from Monday, amid a fourth wave sweeping the continent. Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said the coronavirus lockdown would run for a “maximum of 20 days”. He also announced it would be a “requirement

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has revealed how she and Prince Harry are “happy” living in California, during a television interview with Ellen DeGeneres. The duchess, 40, sat down with the US chat show host eight months after she and the Duke of Sussex gave a bombshell interview to Oprah Winfrey, leaving the Royal Family

On a sunburnt playing field at an Addis Ababa school, where hundreds of unlikely soldiers tried to march in time, I watched a sergeant from the police force trying to keep his cool. “To the left, turn to the left,” he said to one ad-hoc battalion of city residents, who were wearing bright orange bibs.

“Take it from me, please don’t come… it’s bad here.” This is one of hundreds of messages sent by migrants on the Belarus border seen by Sky News. The texts warn others not to follow in their footsteps. “To those who are saying ‘the border is open’, it’s not open. It’s a lie,” another migrant

Human remains have been found in a New Zealand coal mine more than a decade after one of the country’s worst industrial disasters, police have said. Twenty-nine men were killed after a series of methane gas explosions ripped through the Pike River mine on the west coast of the South Island in November 2010. Two

Teenager Kyle Rittenhouse has been acquitted of all charges after pleading self-defence over the killings of two people shot dead during a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The fierce, televised clashes between the prosecution and defence attorneys continued until the very end of this hugely anticipated, widely followed murder trial. Lasting just two

Ireland is introducing new COVID-19 restrictions including a midnight closing time for pubs, nightclubs and restaurants as the country battles a fourth wave of infections. The measures, which come into effect from Friday, will also see household contacts of those with COVID required to restrict their movements for five days, even if they have been

A “reckless and irresponsible” Russian weapons test has created more than 1,500 pieces of debris now endangering the seven crew aboard the International Space Station, US officials have said. Crew members were forced to take emergency measures on Monday after debris floated dangerously close by – and took cover in their docked capsules amid fears

Swedish police have arrested a man and a woman on suspicion of murder after two children fell “from a great height” and one of them died. One of those detained was reportedly injured and is being treated in hospital before they are questioned. The children, who were reportedly siblings and both under the age of

Austria is placing millions of people not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in lockdown as of today as Europe becomes the epicentre of the pandemic once again. Anyone over the age of 12 who has not been double-jabbed is now only allowed to leave their homes for work, school, exercise and buying essential supplies – with

Driving through the Bialowieza forest – next to Poland’s border with Belarus – a green light shines out from the porch of a house. The bulb throwing off a luminous hue into the darkness around. Pulling up to look, the owner comes out to talk. The green light is part of local movement offering help

The world was hoping for a lot from China at COP26. Or, at least, something. But there were no major new pledges from the world’s biggest polluter. That shouldn’t be a surprise: you only have to listen to the man who wasn’t there – President Xi Jinping. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible

Talks to reach a climate deal at a United Nations summit in Glasgow will continue into Saturday afternoon, after a Friday deadline passed without an agreement. COP26 president Alok Sharma has told delegates that revised documents for the agreements to be struck at the conference will be issued overnight, and be available by 8am on

The Netherlands will return to a partial lockdown from Saturday amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, its government has announced. Under the three-week lockdown, bars, restaurants and supermarkets will have to close at 8pm, while professional sports matches will be played in empty stadiums. Stores selling non-essential items will have to close at 6pm, and

Austria is just “days” away from placing millions of people who are not fully-vaccinated against coronavirus into lockdown, as daily infections are at a record high, the country’s chancellor has said. Around 65% of Austria’s population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, national statistics show. However, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention