World

The Foreign Office has signed off tougher sanctions on Russia just hours ahead of a self-imposed deadline – and after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss held stormy talks with her counterpart in Moscow. New legislation was laid in parliament on Thursday that gives ministers the power to impose tough new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and businesses.

Boris Johnson has warned “the stakes are very high” amid ongoing fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, and warned that the next few days are probably the “most dangerous moment”. Holding a news briefing with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the prime minister said it was “time to de-escalate” adding: “We must resist, we

The last foreign secretary to visit Russia was Boris Johnson in 2017. Things weren’t easy then and that was before the Salisbury poisonings. They are a lot harder now. Liz Truss will meet a wily, combative and much more experienced counterpart in Sergei Lavrov – who takes no prisoners. Whether they manage to make any

At least 14 people died and 35 people were injured after a mudslide brought on by heavy rains hit a town in western Colombia, officials have said. One person is missing after the disaster in a residential area of the Dosquebradas municipality near the town of Pereira in Risaralda province on Tuesday, Carlos Maya, the

Spy planes are conducting missions to track Russian movements, which might include listening to Russian soldiers’ phone calls home, according to one expert. The planes are equipped with devices that allow them to collect signals sent from Russian bases and to intercept communications. Sky News analysis of flight tracking data from a typical day in

China is targeting Uyghurs and critics abroad, pressuring other countries to detain and deport them, an investigation by Sky News has found, with high-ranking Chinese officials even conducting interrogations at “black sites” abroad. Chinese agents and police routinely operate abroad, attempting to identify Uyghurs who have fled China. Some are coerced into spying for the

Six Russian warships are heading for the Black Sea for naval drills amid escalating tension between the West and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis. The Russian defence ministry said the exercises were a planned movement of military resources, according to the Interfax news agency. It came hours after Paris said Vladimir Putin had promised not

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned European countries will be drawn into military conflict if Ukraine joins NATO, following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. The Russian leader also warned there would be “no winners” from the ongoing crisis, after meeting with his French counterpart at the Kremlin, for talks he described as useful,

Australia is to reopen its borders to all vaccinated travellers later this month after two years of barring tourists due to the pandemic. When the restrictions are lifted on 21 February it will be the first time since March 2020 that travellers will be able enter the country from anywhere in the world. “If you’re

The cells of Herat’s main prison are crammed full. In each of the cells we go into, there are about 40 men laying jammed up against each other on the floor with some on bunk beds around the edges. We’ve been given exclusive access to one of the Taliban’s jails and we’re escorted by the

Singer Lata Mangeshkar, one of India’s biggest cultural icons, has died aged 92. She died of multiple organ failure at a hospital in Mumbai after she was admitted on 11 January with COVID-19, hospital officials said. Born in 1929 in pre-independence India, Mangeshkar began singing in her teens, and in a career spanning 73 years sang

A suicide bomber who targeted Kabul airport during an evacuation mission in Afghanistan acted alone, a US investigation has found. The attacker, carrying 20 pounds of explosives packed with ball bearings, blew himself up at Abbey Gate outside the airport on 26 August last year. At the time, the UK, US, and other nations were

If the geopolitical cliche during Donald Trump’s presidency was, at least for a while, his bromance with Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader has turned his affections very much in the opposite direction. This was President Putin’s 38th meeting with his Chinese counterpart – the two united in their dislike of the big, bad wolf of

A five-year-old boy who spent four days trapped in a 32m (105ft) deep well has died, Morocco’s king has said. Footage from the scene in the north of the country showed workers emerging from a tunnel – dug specifically for the rescue – carrying the child, Rayan Awram, on Saturday evening. An Associated Press reporter

US intelligence accusing Russia of planning a fake attack to justify an invasion of Ukraine is “shocking evidence of Moscow’s aggression”, Liz Truss has warned. The foreign secretary tweeted: “This is clear and shocking evidence of Russia’s unprovoked aggression and underhand activity to destabilise Ukraine. “This bellicose intent towards a sovereign democratic country is completely

Revelations by Britain and the US about the threat of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine are “ruining” Moscow’s plans, the Ukrainian deputy defence minister has said. Hanna Maliar said the risk of an attack remained – but that the act of calling out suspected Russian schemes was a way to combat them. “It’s important