World

With record numbers of daily infections in recent days, the UK is currently a hotspot for Omicron – but the latest COVID-19 variant has hit other countries around the world, too. The US government’s chief medical officer Dr Anthony Fauci has called on Americans to get vaccinated, as densely populated areas such as New York

“What if you’re married… but your husband dies? Who is going to come in and feed you? Who is going to help you look after yourself?” This is how Evangelista Apelis and her team convinced some communities in Papua New Guinea that women, so far banned from diving, should be allowed to take it up

Hospitality venues will now have to close at 8pm each night, as new COVID-19 restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the Omicron variant come into effect. The new rules, agreed by the cabinet on Friday, were introduced at midnight on Sunday and will last until January 30. What are the new measures? Restaurants and

The sound of the distant rumble of sporadic artillery, in positions a few miles away from us, only adds to the tension. We approach Ukrainian army positions through an icy fog that portends to the inevitable snowstorms that will soon envelop the east of the country. The army unit we are with is dug in

A man has been beaten to death in the northern Indian city of Amritsar after allegedly attempting to commit a sacrilegious act inside the historic Golden Temple. The temple in the state of Punjab is the holiest shrine in Sikhism. The man was killed by a mob after jumping over a railing to enter the

The Netherlands will enter into a tough lockdown from tomorrow morning to curb the spread of Omicron, with non-essential shops, bars, restaurants, and other public places to close. Schools will also shut from Monday, and the lockdown will run until at least 14 January, Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced. He added it was “unavoidable

Ukraine faces “a dozen tonnes” of pro-Russian disinformation aimed at justifying Moscow’s false claims to the territory and to soften the ground ahead of a possible new invasion, the Ukrainian information minister has said. With international concern growing over the threat of a large-scale Russian military offensive, Oleksandr Tkachenko said his country is already under

The Kurdish travel agent, responsible for 10 of the people who died crossing the Channel last month, has told Sky News he thinks about the dead every day and defended his role in the network. “Even if we don’t participate, the process will still happen,” he said. “As an agency in Kurdistan and Iraq, we

Up to 27 people are feared to have died or been critically injured in a building fire in western Japan. State broadcaster NHK said the fire broke out on the fourth or fifth floor of an eight-story building in a shopping and entertainment area in the city of Osaka. It said the victims were found

2021 was the year that warnings on climate change went into overdrive. It was the year that scientists seemed to run out of patience. And it was the year that the consequences of climate change finally, indisputably, arrived at the doorstep of the western world. By summer, the UN’s special climate panel declared global warming

British tourists are to be banned from France amid concern over the “extremely rapid” rise in Omicron COVID cases in the UK. From Saturday morning, France is banning travel to and from the UK without “compelling reasons”. Those reasons do not include travel for tourism and business, Paris said. UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said

Two children have died and several others have been critically injured after a bouncy castle was blown into the air at an Australian primary school. Several children fell from a height of about 10m at about 10am (local time) after strong winds lifted the structure at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, Tasmania, according to the

A full invasion of Ukraine by Russia would spread conflict around Europe and could even trigger World War Three, a Ukrainian government minister has warned. Yuliia Laputina, the minister for veterans affairs – who previously served as a top officer in Ukraine’s equivalent of MI5 – told Sky News that her country was ready to

Up to 350 people are trapped on the roof of Hong Kong’s World Trade Centre after a major fire broke out in the skyscraper, police have said. The fire started to rip through the 38-story building, which houses both offices and a mall, in the bustling commercial and shopping district of Causeway Bay early on

The husband of a Belarusian opposition leader has been jailed for 18 years by a court in the country. Siarhei Tsikhanouski was charged with organising mass unrest and inciting hatred, among other offences, in a case widely seen as politically motivated. His sentence was announced on Tuesday, six months after his trial began behind closed

The Prime Minister has warned Vladimir Putin that there would be “significant consequences” if Russia invades Ukraine. Boris Johnson spoke to and Mr Putin by telephone on Monday to reinforce the UK’s commitment to Ukraine and tell the president that any destabilising action in the region by Moscow would be a “strategic mistake”. His call

At least two people are missing after a British-registered freight ship and another cargo ship collided in the Baltic Sea off southern Sweden. The Swedish coast guard said an investigation had widened and that suspicions now include gross maritime intoxication. “Additional criminal suspicions have arisen, including gross sea intoxication,” the coast guard said in a

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has tested positive for coronavirus amid the growing prevalence of the Omicron variant in the country. It is not yet known if the 69-year-old is carrying the Omicron variant, which is believed to make up more than 70% of cases in the nation. He is receiving treatment for mild symptoms,

On the drive into the small town of Mayfield, we’re given no hint of what’s to come.  Tornadoes are among the most frightening of weather phenomena but they are also so localised. They are cruelly selective. The edge of the town is unscathed. We even questioned if we were in the right place. But then,

Celebrations and prayers ring out at the Singhu border where farmers and their supporters held a victory march today. It’s been more than a year of protests against three farm laws, led by people from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Not allowed to enter the national capital, they laid siege on some of the border