World

The breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam is most worrying for what it says about the mind of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his generals – and their capacity for dangerous escalation. It takes the war in an even more perilous direction. The military impact is likely to be temporary. Armies blow dams or use

A dam in the Russian controlled part of southern Ukraine has been damaged by shelling, leading to flooding in the area already hit by months of conflict. Both Ukrainian and Russian officials blamed each other for destroying the Kakhovka dam in the Kherson region. Ukraine’s military said that Russian forces blew up the dam. “The

Russian reports that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has begun are being used to distract from Russian losses in Bakhmut, the Ukrainian deputy defence minister has said. The comments from deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar come after Moscow said it had thwarted a major Ukrainian assault in the south of Ukraine‘s Donetsk region. Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian

The Russian Ministry of Defence has claimed that Ukraine launched a “large-scale offensive” in the south of the Donetsk region. Ukraine is attempting an information blackout on any possible offensive – but what evidence is there online? Sky News’ data and forensics team has been monitoring videos posted to social media and various Russian war

An oil tanker broke down in the Suez Canal on Sunday, disrupting traffic in the vital global waterway.  The Malta-flagged Seavigour suffered a malfunction at the 12 km (7.5 mile) mark, said George Safwat, a spokesperson for Egypt‘s Suez Canal Authority. It stopped in a single-lane section and was towed away by tugs to a

The deadly crash at Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday, which has so far claimed over 280 lives and injured 900 more, has focused attention on the safety of the railway network in the world’s second most populous country. Run by state monopoly Indian Railways, the network is the fourth largest in the world and transports

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken his oath to be sworn in as Turkey’s president for an unprecedented third time. Mr Erdogan won another five-year term after a run-off with opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu last week. Neither candidate had failed to reach the 50% threshold on 14 May, but the second round two weeks later saw

Russia may have stepped up the frequency and intensity of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s capital, but Kyiv’s air defences appear to be holding firm. So what is the military benefit of targeting urban populations, and why is Vladimir Putin doing so? Historically, wars were fought to destroy the enemy’s army and occupy its

Jordan is preparing for a royal wedding this week with Crown Prince Hussein set to marry a US-educated architect.  The 28-year-old Sandhurst-educated prince is marrying Rajwa Alseif, 29, at Zahran Palace – where his father King Abdullah II and his grandfather, the late King Hussein, also married. Thursday’s ceremony is expected to include some of

Russia has blamed Ukraine for a drone attack on Moscow that it said caused minor damage to buildings and injured two people. The defence ministry said Kyiv was behind the “terrorist attack”, but Ukraine denied the claim. “Eight aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were involved in the attack. All enemy drones are hit,” said the ministry.

The Ukrainian foreign minister has expressed his support for a tennis player who was booed off the court at the French Open for refusing to shake hands with her Belarusian opponent. Marta Kostyuk was jeered by the crowd at the end of the first round match as she snubbed Aryna Sabalenka, whose country has supported

Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have joined world leaders in congratulating Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his election win. In a letter to president Erdogan celebrating his narrow run-off victory on Sunday, Mr Putin addressed the Turkish leader as “Dear Friend” and praised his efforts at strengthening Russian-Turkish relations. “From the bottom of my

The man who revels in his image as Turkey’s strongman took an early lead almost as soon as polls closed in the second round of voting for President. Celebrations began long before the official declaration. But in truth, the dye was cast some time ago, before the election. Recep Tayyip Erdogan‘s demeanour even before campaigning

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have been Vladimir Putin’s favourite in this election. A hard truth to swallow for his Nato allies who will have been hoping, albeit privately, for change. Mr Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule, economic eccentricity and waywardness within NATO have all caused deepening alarm among allies. His defeat would have been welcomed

F-16s are on the way to Ukraine. US President Joe Biden‘s approval of the move at the G7 conference will certainly provide Ukraine with some much-needed aerial firepower – but combat air power is heavily dependent on modern technology and some F-16s are vintage jets. When the F-16 Fighting Falcon first flew in the late

What are the big threats to our way of life? This question was a lurking preoccupation at the London Defence Conference this week, attended by the prime minister and the chief of defence staff along with academics and politicians from across the Western world. The immediate crisis is Ukraine, of course. There was general consensus

Iran has successfully launched a 2,000km-range (1,243m) ballistic missile, according to the country’s state media – two days after the chief of Israel’s armed forces raised the prospect of “action” against Tehran over its nuclear programme. With one of the biggest missile programmes in the Middle East, Iran says its weapons are capable of reaching

A ship has become stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. According to Leth Shipping Agency, the ship is the Xin Hai Tong 23, a 189m-long bulk carrier that was built in 2010 and is sailing under the flag of Hong Kong. The agency said that tugboats are trying to

Millions of people in Mexico have been told to get ready to leave their homes as the country’s Popocatépetl volcano spews ash, rock and gas. Officials said people living downwind of “El Popo” should wear masks and cover their eyes but the country’s president played down the risk to life. The volcano, which lies in

A fire which killed 19 people at a secondary school dormitory in Guyana was deliberately set by a student, according to an official. The suspect – who is among the injured – was upset that her mobile phone was confiscated, investigators believe. She had been disciplined by the dormitory administrator for having an affair “with