World

Vladimir Putin has claimed victory in an election he said showed the people had “trust” and “hope” in him. Sunday was the last day of a presidential election that offered Russians no real alternatives to Mr Putin after he ruthlessly cracked down on dissent. Early returns after the polls closed showed he is poised to

Across three days of voting there have been scattered incidents of Russians defying authorities in acts of protest against Vladimir Putin. The president is all but assured to win another six-year term in office, facing a lack of any credible opposition and amid reports of voting irregularities. Despite the seemingly preordained outcome, some Russians engaged

A volcano in Iceland erupted on Saturday for the fourth time since December after previous eruptions destroyed roads and forced a town to evacuate. Livestreams from the area showed fountains of molten rock soaring from fissures in the ground. Authorities had warned for weeks that an eruption was imminent on the Reykjanes peninsula, just south

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald says the Middle East is at “a tipping point” and “words are not enough” from the United States. Speaking ahead of the annual White House reception marking St Patrick’s Day, she told Sky News that America had got it “dangerously wrong” on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Referring to the “ongoing,

For weeks, the ceasefire talks have been at a virtual standstill – not completely broken down but with little movement to report. Hamas’s new proposal though, is a potential – albeit small – breakthrough in the deadlock. Until now, Hamas had insisted on a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, a

Around 2,000 Nepali men have been recruited by Russia to fight in its war against Ukraine, Sky News understands. Driven by poverty, many of the Nepali mercenaries are now desperate to return. Ganesh, 35, is one of the few recruits lucky enough to have made it home. He spent four and a half months fighting

Russia embarks this Friday on three days of voting to reconfirm the inevitable, which is another six-year presidential term for Vladimir Putin. Given the fact this is simply a matter of going through the motions for Putin and for the public, why does it matter and why does his administration go to such lengths to

A Holocaust survivor in Belgium says she knows Jewish people who have packed their bags ready to flee amid a spike in antisemitism. Regina Sluszny, 84, from Antwerp, says incidents have rocketed since the outbreak of the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas. Authorities in the city, which has the largest Hasidic Jewish population in

Two people have been killed in a mid-air crash involving a training aircraft and a passenger plane in Kenya, police say. The aircraft collided above the Nairobi National Park in the capital, sending the smaller plane crashing down. The bigger plane, a Dash 8 operated by Safarilink Aviation with 44 people on board, was heading

Iran has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles as Moscow wages war in Ukraine, Britain’s defence secretary has signalled, accusing Tehran of being a “bad influence” in Europe. Grant Shapps was asked in an interview with a political magazine whether he had any information on Iran‘s reported provision of surface-to-surface missiles to Russia. The senior cabinet

France has become the first country in 50 years to make abortion a constitutional right – with the country’s government saying the move is in response to a tightening of laws in the US. In an exceptional joint session of parliament convened at the Palace of Versailles, the bill was approved in a 780-72 vote.

Kamala Harris’s speech marked a shift in tone and maybe a subtle shift in language, but not much more than that. Yet the week ahead could still be critical. The vice president spoke of the situation in Gaza as “devastating… a humanitarian catastrophe” and she had some pointed messaging for Israel – “it must increase flow

There is increasing hope that a new hostage deal can be agreed between Israel and Hamas in time for the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a week from now, but time is running out and divisions remain between the sides. Hamas has sent a delegation to Cairo to continue talks; Israel is

Doctors in Gaza have told Sky News that the situation is “catastrophic”, and disease is spreading through refugee camps, particularly among children. So many of the hospitals in Gaza are now either closed or close to breaking point, that doctors have set up treatment tents on streets, with the little supplies they can get their

The US military has carried out its first airdrop of aid into Gaza, where a quarter of the population is facing starvation. The joint effort with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, using C-130 Hercules transport planes, saw the US dropping 66 bundles containing more than 38,000 meals along Gaza’s Mediterranean coastline. A US military official

Airdrops are a last resort. They are inefficient, inaccurate, expensive and dangerous. They are only chosen as an option when things are really desperate. The White House spokesman admitted as much just after President Biden announced that America would carry out airdrops into Gaza. “There are no missions more complicated than humanitarian assistance airdrops,” Admiral

For weeks, Amani* and her five children have been living in a tent in Rafah, the increasingly crowded city on Gaza’s southern border. “There is constant bombing and terror. My children are very afraid,” she says. “We are dying slowly and nobody cares, nobody feels for us. Our kids have no life. It’s not clean,

The US defence secretary was asked in Congress today how many women and children had been killed by Israel since 7 October. “It is over 25,000,” Lloyd Austin said. The Pentagon later added: “We cannot independently verify these Gaza casualty figures.” But his number is actually a little higher than the women and children breakdown

The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 30,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the war began. The Gaza health ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed. It also says the actual figure is higher because there are bodies

Ecuador is by no means the first Latin American country to try to take on the cartels and gangs that have embedded themselves into the societies of many countries across the region. But Ecuador, arguably more than others, faces a real challenge because of the involvement on its soil of two of Mexico’s most notorious