World

The fugitive behind the US navy bribery scandal – nicknamed “Fat Leonard” – has requested asylum in Venezuela following his arrest, a law enforcement official has revealed. Leonard Glenn Francis, had gone on the run after he escaped his house arrest in San Diego on 4 September. He was allowed to remain under house arrest

Mysterious leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipe network began with “powerful subsea blasts” and resulted from “deliberate actions”. Two pipelines running underwater from Russia to Germany were damaged in a total of three places on Monday. Nord Stream AG, the owner, described the breakages as “unprecedented”. The pipes were not pumping gas to Europe

New satellite images showing large numbers of Russians fleeing to Georgia and Mongolia have been released after Vladimir Putin’s order to mobilise hundreds of thousands of reservists for the conflict in Ukraine. The images show queues of vehicles – cargo trucks and cars – waiting in long traffic jams attempting to get over the borders.

A man has opened fire on an enlistment centre and another recruitment office has been attacked with Molotov cocktails – after Vladimir Putin ordered the conscription of at least 300,000 men in Russia. The violence comes as the first tranche of people ordered to report for duty arrive at military bases, and it follows a

Mahsa Amini, the young woman whose death in police custody has prompted mass protests in Iran, was “tortured and insulted” before she died, her cousin has said. In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Erfan Mortezaei told Sky News about what happened to his cousin and how she has become the “voice of the anger

Estonia has warned residents they will be banned from the EU if they join Vladimir Putin’s army, as Finland looks set to stop Russian tourists from crossing its border. On Wednesday, Russia’s leader – faced with a series of defeats in Ukraine – announced a partial mobilisation that could see 300,000 reserves called up to

Protests over mobilisation have taken place in more than a dozen cities across Russia. Police arrested hundreds of people as authorities seek to crack down on dissent over the Ukraine war. Girls as young as 14 years old were among those detained in St Petersburg, reports say, with authorities using stun guns and batons. In

Iran’s president says protesters should be “confronted decisively” following nationwide anti-government unrest sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody. Authorities have been cracking down for days on demonstrators who are angry over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She had been arrested for allegedly wearing “unsuitable attire”. Iranian state TV suggests

The southern counteroffensive by the Ukrainians to recapture the city of Kherson has been known about but unseen. The entire frontline has been closed to everyone for over two weeks, indeed it’s been shrouded in secrecy. After days of negotiation the military relented and allowed Sky News to the Kherson frontline to see what has

Draft-aged Russians have apparently begun to flee the country as it enters is biggest conscription drive since the Second World War – with plane ticket prices soaring above $5,000 (£4,443) and border crossings increasing. Vladimir Putin launched a new mobilisation campaign on Wednesday for the seven-month-old war in Ukraine that has already decimated cities, killed

The foreign secretary has called on countries to reject the “charade” of referenda to be held in Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, James Cleverly said Vladimir Putin plans to fix the results of votes on becoming parts of Russia. It comes as a prosecutor at the

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded “just punishment” for Russia’s crime against his nation. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly by video, Mr Zelenskyy laid out a five-point plan to establish peace in the seven-month-long conflict. The non-negotiable conditions included punishment for Russian aggression, restoration of Ukraine’s security, and territorial integrity and security guarantees. Speaking

Two of five Britons released after being detained by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have told supporters they got out of the “danger zone….by the skin of our teeth”. In a personal message recorded on their flight home, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner thanked all those who had worked to free them. “We’re now out

President Putin has accused the West of engaging in “nuclear blackmail” and warned he has “lots of weapons to reply” as he called up 300,000 more troops to the Ukraine war. In a rare address to the nation, he said he wasn’t bluffing and would use “all the means available to us” if Russian territory

We waited at a checkpoint near the Ukrainian’s defensive line for the southern counter-offensive. We had permission to be there, but the soldiers were unhappy, and all those permissions had to be rechecked. The Ukrainian government and military have imposed an almost complete blackout of information on the southern counter-attack that has the Russian-held city

A Ukrainian man has alleged he was tied up, beaten and shocked with an electric charge during Russia’s occupation of his village. But instead of Russian soldiers abusing him directly, Andrii Matiazh, 46, alleged it was local Ukrainian policemen who had switched allegiance. “Someone tortured me,” he said, speaking at his home in Volokhivka, which

The remains of two children are among 146 bodies exhumed at a mass burial site close to the city of Izyum in eastern Ukraine, according to an official. Many of the victims are civilians, with some feared to have been tortured while enduring a violent death, authorities said on Monday. The mass burial site containing

A Russian singer has denounced Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and asked to be placed on her country’s foreign agents list in solidarity with her husband. Alla Pugacheva’s husband, singer and TV presenter Maxim Galkin, was added to the foreign agents register on Friday by Russia’s justice ministry. His criticism of Russia for sending troops

Taiwan has been rocked by a powerful earthquake which toppled a three-storey building, stranded around 400 tourists on a mountainside and knocked part of a passenger train off its tracks. Footage shows the moment the 6.8 magnitude quake also caused the ceiling of a sports centre to collapse while people were playing badminton. People are

A powerful  typhoon bearing down on southern japan has seen the region battered by gales and torrential rain leading to blackouts, major transport disruption and the evacuation of thousands of people. Weather forecasters have warned of strong winds and high waves “like never experienced before”, with the threat of rivers overflowing and landslides. Typhoon Nanmadol,