World

China has called for a ceasefire and peace talks in Ukraine on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion. Beijing’s foreign ministry urged all parties to “avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions” in the hope of preventing the crisis from “deteriorating further or spiralling out of control”. Ukraine war live updates A paper published

In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western leaders heralded a sanctions regime that would cripple the country’s war machine. Joe Biden claimed Russia’s economy would be “cut in half”, while Boris Johnson spoke of squeezing it “piece by piece.” A year has passed, but that great promise has been slow to deliver. Please

A school pupil has confessed to sending a hoax bomb threat to passengers on a plane using Apple’s AirDrop function, US officials have said. The message resulted in an American Airlines flight being diverted from the tarmac at an airport in Texas last week. The Department of Public Safety said an investigation resulted in the

Ukraine’s foreign minister has insisted that Western fighter jets would not be used by his country to strike targets within Russia. Speaking to Sky News at the United Nations in New York, Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine needs the jets to end the war and push Russia back beyond its eastern borders. “We’re using weapons which

About 200,000 people have gathered in Moscow to hear Vladimir Putin speak at a pro-war rally ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Huge crowds assembled in the capital as the Russian president took to the stage at the “Glory to Defenders of the Fatherland” concert, held at the Luzhniki Stadium on

A teacher has been stabbed to death by a pupil during a lesson at a school in southwest France, government officials have said. The victim, a 50-year-old Spanish teacher, was stabbed in the chest at Saint Thomas d’Aquin private high school in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, near Bordeaux, broadcaster BFM TV reported. A 16-year-old student at the Roman

Russia’s president had a message of defiance for the West as he suspended participation in the last major nuclear arms control treaty with the United States. Vladimir Putin also vowed to conduct nuclear weapons tests if Washington chose to do so and challenged the nuclear weapons posture of the UK and France. If anyone in

Japan is considering raising the age of consent from 13 to 16 as part of an overhaul of the country’s sex crime legislation. The age of consent in Japan has remained unchanged since 1907 and is one of the lowest in the world – and among all G7 nations. In Germany and Italy it is

Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for starting the war in Ukraine and claimed Russia responded with force “in order to stop it”. In a speech describing his aims as the first anniversary of the conflict nears, the Russian president said Ukraine was in talks with the West about weapons before Russia invaded its neighbour

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake has struck the Turkey-Syria border two weeks after a massive quake in the same region left more than 45,000 people dead, the US Geological Survey has said. Turkey’s AFAD disaster management agency said the earthquake was centered around the town of Defne in the country’s Hatay province, which was devastated by

Another year of severe drought in Italy looks increasingly likely after a winter of little snowfall, exposing a walkway in Lake Garda while Venice battles dry canals. The Alps have received less than half their normal amount of snowfall, while water levels on Lake Garda in northern Italy have fallen to record lows, making it

Former US national security adviser John Bolton has described China as “the existential threat in the 21st century”, after a suspected spy balloon was shot down over North American airspace earlier this month. He told Sky News: “This balloon should be a wake up call for people in the US, Europe and elsewhere who don’t

On the eve of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine there are ominous warnings the Ukraine conflict could widen and draw in other countries. America says China is considering entering the conflict as an active partner of Russia and will start sending weapons. And there are very real fears Vladimir Putin is stepping up

The president of Poland has told Sky News that Ukraine will need fighter jets to see off the threat from Russia. In an exclusive interview during his visit to the UK, Andrzej Duda also warned that Vladimir Putin is trying to exhaust the West in his effort to defeat Ukraine. President Duda has previously insisted

Almost a year since the Russian invasion, sirens, shelters, and blackouts have become normality for residents in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv But days without outages and a change in the weather have offered some respite for those whose lives have been changed, including Sky News Ukraine War Diarist Oksana. Click to subscribe to Ukraine War

Japan’s space agency aborted the launch of its first new rocket in more than 20 years after parts of the system failed. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) stopped the launch of its flagship H3 rocket moments before lift-off when a pair of its auxiliary rockets did not ignite. A TV livestream showed smoke had

Russia is due to take part in a joint naval exercise with China and South Africa which could see the test launch of a hypersonic cruise missile – as Western leaders assemble for a major security conference. A frigate armed with the Zircon weapon has been deployed for 10 days of joint drills in the

Israel’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved a law to strip Arabs of their Israeli citizenship or residency if they are convicted in nationalistic attacks or give money to prisoners. The law was passed by 94 votes to 10 by the hard-right coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many opposition politicians, while Arab representatives voted against

A German ballet director has apologised after smearing dog faeces on the face of a newspaper critic whose reviews he disagreed with. Marco Goecke was suspended from his post as ballet chief at the Hannover state opera over the weekend incident. He is said to have approached dance critic Wiebke Huester, who writes for the

Arriving by helicopter at hospital in the Turkish city of Adana, Emine Akgul is incredibly lucky to be alive. The 26-year-old teacher was rescued from a collapsed building more than 200 hours after the earthquake struck. She was found in a six-storey building, where many people worked carefully but quickly to remove her from the