World

With his long black hair flowing beneath a traditional cap and over his masked face, a Taliban guard, machine gun in hand, indicated I should follow the doctor.   I realised then we were to have his company for the duration of our stay. A peculiar development and an unusual experience, but one that was

At least 41 people have been killed in a fire at a church in Egypt’s capital, Cairo. An electrical fire broke out as 5,000 worshippers gathered for mass at the Coptic Abu Sefein church in the Imbaba neighbourhood, sources told the Reuters news agency. The fire blocked an entrance to the church, causing a stampede,

Sir Salman Rushdie’s suspected attacker has denied attempted murder and assault in a court in New York state. Hadi Matar, 24, was identified by New York police after the attack on Friday. Police have not established a motive for the stabbing that left the author, 75, seriously injured. He remains on a ventilator in hospital.

Police in Ukraine are investigating 26,000 war crimes committed by Russian soldiers and expect to uncover thousands more as land is retaken and towns and villages liberated, Sky News has been told. Gathering evidence to prosecute Russian forces has become one of the biggest tasks for the Ukrainian police since the start of the invasion

Author Salman Rushdie will likely lose an eye and has suffered severed nerves in an arm and damage to his liver after he was stabbed, his agent has said. The 75-year-old remains on a ventilator after being airlifted to hospital and undergoing hours of surgery following the attack in New York state. “The news is

More than 1,000 firefighters are struggling to contain a huge wildfire that has destroyed a large area of pine forest in southwest France. Around 6,800 hectares (26 square miles) in the Gironde region and neighbouring Landes have been burnt by the blaze, which began on Tuesday. At least 16 houses have also been destroyed, and

The UK is set to send more weapons to Ukraine to help it defend against Russia’s invasion, the defence secretary has announced. Multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) and precision guided missiles, which can strike targets up to 50 miles away, will be delivered to the eastern European nation, Ben Wallace said. “This latest tranche of military

Satellite images appear to show several Russian warplanes at an airbase in Crimea have been damaged or destroyed. Ukraine’s air force said on Wednesday that nine aircraft were demolished in explosions a day before – a claim Russia denied. The images, from the US-based Planet Labs, show several warplanes in pieces and swathes of scorched

China’s ambassador to the UK has been summoned to the Foreign Office over Beijing’s “aggressive and wide-ranging escalation” against Taiwan. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she had ordered officials to call in ambassador Zheng Zeguang to explain his country’s actions in recent days, which have seen missile launches and incursions into Taiwanese waters and air space.

Russian authorities have raided the home of a former state TV journalist who quit after making an on-air protest against the war in Ukraine. Marina Ovsyannikova gained international attention in March after bursting into a studio of Russian state TV, her then employer, to denounce the war in Ukraine. She held a poster that read:

The drought scorching much of the European Union is set to be the worst endured since the sixteenth century, a senior scientist at the European Commission’s (EC) drought service has warned. “At the moment… this seems to be the worst” year in 500 years, although a full analysis will need to happen retrospectively, said Andrea

Environmentalists will try to move a dangerously thin beluga whale that strayed into the River Seine last week in a final attempt to save its life. The mammal, measuring 4m (13ft), will be transported to a saltwater river basin for a “period of care” by medics who believe the animal is sick, said Lamya Essemlali,

China is extending threatening military exercises around Taiwan that have already disrupted shipping and air traffic, further fuelling concerns about potential conflict in the region. According to Moscow, the exercises include anti-submarine drills, apparently targeting US support for Taiwan in the event of a potential Chinese invasion. The Chinese military has said the exercises involving

A peace of sorts seems to have returned to the fractious, wartorn border that separates Israel and the territory of Gaza. The Egyptians managed to negotiate a temporary truce yesterday as Palestinian militants sent multiple rocket barrages across the frontier – and the Israeli military targeted rocket launching sites run by the militant group Islamic

Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have agreed to a ceasefire following a weekend of fighting. The stoppage has been called for 11.30pm local time (9.30pm BST), Islamic Jihad and the Israeli government said in separate statements. It has been the most serious flare-up on the Gaza frontier in more than a year. In an update

A second senior Islamic Jihad commander has been killed in an Israeli airstrike as a surge of fighting continues in Gaza. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group said the man was Khaled Mansour – their top official for the southern Gaza Strip. The strike in the southern city of Rafah also killed two fellow militants

A lightning strike has sparked a fire at an oil storage facility in Cuba, and the flames are now raging out of control. Four explosions have been reported at the site in the city of Matanzas, and almost 80 people have been injured. Seventeen firefighters who were in a nearby area and trying to stop

The war in Ukraine is set to enter a new phase, British military intelligence chiefs have said this morning. Russian forces are “almost certainly” massing in the south in preparation for a counter-offensive from Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) warned on Saturday. Long convoys of military trucks, tanks and towed artillery are moving southwest

Ships travelling in one of the world’s busiest shipping regions have been forced to avoid areas totalling nearly 10,000 square miles, as China conducts military exercises around Taiwan. Taiwanese authorities have asked vessels to avoid six zones where Chinese military drills are taking place, some of which are in or near the usually packed Taiwan

Taiwan’s premier has condemned China as the “evil neighbour next door” after its military began live firing drills around the island. Su Tseng-chang told reporters in the capital Taipei he believed China was arbitrarily destroying the Taiwan Strait – the world’s most frequently used waterway – with its military exercises, and its actions were being