World

There have been rare chaotic scenes in the French parliament as President Emmanuel Macron used special powers to push through an unpopular pensions bill which aims to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Boos and chants from opposition politicians were heard in the national assembly (the lower house) as left-wing MPs sung lines

The US Air Force has released video said to show a Russian jet intercepting an American drone and dumping fuel in its path over the Black Sea. The US military said two Russian Su-27 jets intercepted the unmanned MQ-9 Reaper in international airspace on Tuesday before one hit its propeller, forcing US forces to bring

At least six police officers have been injured, including three seriously, in a house explosion in France, according to media reports. The gendarmes, French paramilitary police, had gone to the property to arrest a man who was then killed in the blast in the central region of Allier, it is believed. For several days, the

A Russian aircraft has been intercepted by British RAF and German fighter jets after it was identified near NATO airspace. Two Typhoon jets – one British and one German – reacted to the Russian aircraft after it failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control close to the NATO nation’s airspace. The Ministry of Defence

A Russian aircraft has collided with a US drone in international airspace over the Black Sea, causing the latter to crash. Two Su-27 planes had attempted to intercept the MQ-9 Reaper drone by dumping fuel in front of it several times in an attempt to damage the aircraft before the collision. The Russian aircraft struck

China has hit out at the US, UK and Australia over their pact to create new nuclear-powered submarines, saying they have “gone further down a dangerous road”. It follows Rishi Sunak meeting US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego to announce the next stage of the AUKUS partnership plan.

Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s aggression over Taiwan threaten to create a world “defined by danger, disorder and division”, the UK prime minister has warned. Rishi Sunak predicted a “difficult and dangerous decade” as his government published a long-awaited update to a major defence, security and foreign policy review on Monday. The 63-page document

China must modernise its military to make it a “Great Wall of Steel”, President Xi Jinping has said. Speaking for the first time in his precedent-breaking third term as head of state, Mr Xi called for China to step up its ability to safeguard national security and manage public security. “Security is the foundation for

The former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili has told Sky News he is approaching death in the hospital he has been moved to from jail. In a moment of rare media access, the former leader also delivered a warning to the people of Georgia after days of protests had swept through the country. An appeal

We’d been worrying about Serhiy Petrushenko, a 21-year-old boy we met guarding a bridge in central Kyiv completely on his own on the second day of the war. He became an overnight sensation after our report, the interview was watched well over 50 million times on social media alone. When we spoke to him his

With Oscars glory and a possible economic boom at stake, a sense of anticipation has gripped the island off the west coast of Ireland where one of the Academy Awards heavyweight contenders was largely filmed. The Banshees of Inisherin, which boasts no fewer than nine nominations, including best picture and best actor, may be set

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been brutal and attritional, and has shocked most of the “civilised” world. Russia’s evident disregard for casualties and collateral damage in the pursuit of victory is very different to the West’s approach to warfare, which has profound implications for the war in Ukraine, and the West’s wider defence planning assumptions.

The unborn baby of a woman who was seven months pregnant was among those killed during a mass shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness building in the German city of Hamburg. Police identified the gunman as Philipp F, a 35-year-old German with no prior offences who had been a member of the congregation – but had

Eight people have been shot dead and three others seriously injured in an attack on a Jehovah’s Witness building in the German city of Hamburg, according to police. They said the shooting was carried out by a lone gunman who may be among the dead, although this has yet to be officially confirmed. Shots were

I met Larysa standing on broken glass outside her Kyiv apartment block trying to convince two council workmen to come up to her flat and mend her shattered windows. Only hours earlier she had been shaken to the core by a huge explosion in the residential complex car park three floors beneath her. She invited

Russia has launched a massive missile attack across Ukraine – striking targets in the capital Kyiv, the second biggest city of Kharkiv and the Black Sea port of Odesa – killing at least six people. The northern city of Chernihiv and the western Lviv region, as well as the cities of Dnipro, Lutsk and Rivne,

Ireland will hold a vote in November on removing “outmoded” references to a woman’s place being in the home from the country’s constitution. The Irish government said on Wednesday that it will hold a referendum on Article 41.2, which says Ireland recognises that “by her life within the home, woman gives to the state a

Iran has secretly supplied large quantities of bullets, rockets and mortar shells to Russia for the war in Ukraine and plans to send more, a security source has told Sky News. The source claimed that two Russian-flagged cargo ships departed an Iranian port in January bound for Russia via the Caspian Sea, carrying approximately 100

Ukraine has vowed to avenge the death of a soldier it said was shot by Russian troops in a video that spread on social media. The video, which emerged online on Monday, purportedly shows the killing of an unarmed Ukrainian soldier. In a statement last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “the occupiers” killed “a

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his top military commanders have pledged to continue defending the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut in the face of intense Russian pressure. The Ukrainian president said the generals agreed at a meeting to strengthen the defences and the top brass would “find the appropriate forces to help our guys” there. It comes