World

Bambie Thug has become Ireland’s first Eurovision Song Contest finalist since 2018. The 31-year-old singer performed their alternative song Doomsday Blue at the Eurovision semi-finals in Malmo, Sweden. Ryan O’Shaughnessy made it to the competition for Ireland with Together in Lisbon, Portugal, six years ago – he came 16th. Image: The UK’s Olly Alexander performs

Vladimir Putin has thanked soldiers “fighting for our motherland” in Ukraine – as he was sworn in as Russian president for a fifth time. At the ceremony inside the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, Mr Putin placed his hand on the Russian Constitution and vowed to defend it as a crowd of hand-picked dignitaries looked on.

The term “inauguration” may feel slightly misleading. After all, this is not his first time. Today’s ceremony will be the fifth occasion Vladimir Putin has been sworn in as Russia’s president, and it marks the start of another six years at the top. He is already the Kremlin’s longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin, having been

Joe Biden’s dog – which has bitten US Secret Service staff several times – should be put down, a political opponent, who wrote about shooting her own dog, has suggested. Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor, who is being vetted as a candidate for Donald Trump’s vice president in November’s election, admitted shooting and killing

Mass flooding in Brazil has killed 75 people with more than 100 people still missing, local authorities said on Sunday. More than 80,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since downpours began across Rio Grande do Sul in the south of the country on Monday. Some 15,000 people have sought refuge in schools,

It is a paradox that humanity at its very worst so often also brings out its very best too. This is a story about the kindness of strangers. It’s a story about hope over hopelessness. It’s about the war in Gaza but also about the rarest of diseases. It is about two families in worlds

Diplomatic relations between India and Canada have been at their lowest since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the killing of a Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist leader saying there were “credible allegations” India was involved. India’s government rejected the allegations as absurd and motivated and accused the Canadian government of providing shelter to Khalistan

Hamas says it has accepted a ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar – as Israel suggests it will not accept the proposal in its current form. The Palestinian militant group has issued a statement saying its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had expressed his agreement in a phone call with Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s

Russia has denied allegations of breaching the international chemical weapons ban by deploying chocking agents against Ukrainian troops. The Kremlin on Thursday responded to claims by the United States that it had used choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops – the same agent used by German forces against Allied troops during the First World War.

Iran is willing to “expend every Arab life” in its efforts to end Western influence in the Middle East and destroy Israel, a former US national security adviser has said. HR McMaster, who held the position between 2017 and 2018 during the Trump presidency, told Sky News that there is still a risk of escalation

Police have raided Columbia University and arrested pro-Palestinian protesters after demonstrators occupied one of its buildings. It comes after New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday that the demonstration at the Ivy League school “must end now” and claimed “professional outside agitators” had infiltrated the protest. University bosses said they had called in

Pro-Palestinian students in the US have defied an order by university officials to dismantle a tent camp set up to protest Israel’s war in Gaza or face suspension. College authorities at Columbia University in New York, sent students a letter on Monday demanding they sign a form agreeing to obey university policies until June 2025

There was no clear winner in Solomon Islands’ election this week – now the two major opposition parties have struck a coalition deal with the aim of taking power.  The two parties are vying with former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare’s party to form a government. The election is being watched by China, the US and

Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger has been arrested following a three-day police manhunt for the actor, according to Australian media reports. The 30-year-old was due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday accused of assaulting a woman, Sky News Australia said. The actor had been granted bail on Monday for a court-ordered

Israel has denied accusations that it buried Palestinians in a mass grave, following the discovery of more than 300 bodies in the courtyard of a Gaza Strip hospital. Karima al-Ras went to the mass grave at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis to look for her son Ahmad. “I lost my son two months ago,” the

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing a widespread backlash after referring to Muslims as “infiltrators” during a campaign speech over the weekend.  Congress, the main opposition party to Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Monday reported the prime minister’s “deeply objectionable” comments to the Election Commission, saying they violated electoral law. The comments

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the crucial US aid package for Ukraine sends “sends a powerful signal” that his country “will not be the second Afghanistan”. After months of deadlock, Democrats and Republicans joined together in the US House of Representatives to approve a package – worth $60.8bn (£49bn) – to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s

Iran has said Israeli involvement in Friday’s attack is still to be established and dismissed the drones used as like children’s toys. Foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian claimed they took off from within Iran and only flew a few hundred metres before being shot down. Israel hasn’t commented but is widely believed to be behind the

The overnight events do not reflect well on President Biden. He had signalled so emphatically just days ago for Israel not to retaliate. “Take the win,” the American president told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the early hours of Sunday morning. Middle East latest – follow live Image: Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored Biden’s pleas.

Iran has grounded commercial flights across parts of the country after reports of explosions. State media also said Iran fired its air defence systems after reports of blasts near the city of Isfahan. It remained unclear if the country was under attack. But tensions remain high in the wider Middle East after Iran’s missile and