World

The new chief executive of beleaguered Dutch football club Ajax is facing the sack for alleged insider trading. Officials said they intended to fire Alex Kroes after it emerged he bought more than 17,000 shares in the club just a week before his appointment to the role was announced last August. “The supervisory board sought

Iran’s response to an airstrike on its Syrian consulate – which reportedly killed a senior military commander – will be “harsh”, the country’s ambassador has warned. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was reportedly killed in the explosion, which destroyed the Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital,

Japan’s imperial family has made its Instagram debut, in an effort to shake off their reclusive image and reach out to younger people on social media. The Imperial Household Agency, a government agency in charge of the family’s affairs, posted 60 photos and five videos showing Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako’s public appearances over the

Last spring, the mood in Ukraine was upbeat. The West had rallied to President Zelenskyy’s call for military support to enable a spring offensive, and there was an air of optimism that Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine was to be defeated. Russia-Ukraine latest: Putin signs conscription decree However, a year on, the much-anticipated Ukrainian spring

Donald Trump has faced fresh criticism after posting a video showing an image of President Joe Biden hog-tied on the tailgate of a passing pick-up truck. The footage has fuelled accusations the Republican candidate is “inciting political violence” in the run-up to the presidential election, amid increasingly inflammatory rhetoric. The former US president posted the

Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will return to the negotiating table for a new round of ceasefire talks with Hamas. Several sets of negotiations have so far failed to find a deal that would see Israel pause its military offensive in return for the release of the remaining hostages taken by the Iranian-backed militant group

The head of one of Haiti’s most powerful gangs, and the de-facto head of a consortium of gangs that have brought Port-au-Prince to a standstill has told Sky News he would consider a ceasefire and talks on the political future of the country if they were included. But Jimmy Cherizier, known universally as “Barbecue”, has

The presidents of France and Brazil – both wearing white open-necked shirts – have been pictured smiling warmly at each other and embracing, with social media users calling it a “bromance”. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva clutched Emmanuel Macron’s hand as he led him through some difficult terrain on the island of Combu in the

The melting of polar ice due to human-driven climate change has slightly slowed the Earth’s rotation – and it could affect how we measure time, according to a study. Although the disappearance of the ice has reduced the speed of the planet’s rotation, the Earth is still spinning a bit faster than it used to.

Ecuador’s youngest mayor and an aide were shot dead on Sunday, police in the South American country have said. Brigitte Garcia, 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente, and her communications director Jairo Loor, were found dead in Manabi province, officers said. Police added that the pair had both suffered gunshot wounds and that the gunfire had

The head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency has said it’s “outrageous” Israel will block its aid deliveries to northern Gaza. UNRWA boss Philippe Lazzarini said Israel had told the United Nations that convoys would no longer be approved. It comes after Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of participating in October’s Hamas terror attack. Nine

Russia is holding a day of national mourning following Friday’s concert hall massacre near Moscow, as relatives of the missing face an anxious wait to see if their loved ones survived the gun rampage. Public events have been cancelled and flags are being flown at half-mast following the deadliest attack on the country’s soil in

Vladimir Putin has claimed the gunmen behind the Moscow concert hall terror attack attempted to flee to Ukraine in the aftermath of the mass shooting. The allegation, made by the Russian president during an address to the nation, came despite the Islamist terror group Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) claiming responsibility for Friday night’s attack, in

Malaysia has rejected an offer to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games – putting it at risk of being cancelled for the first time since the Second World War. Officials said the Commonwealth Games Federation’s (CGF) offer of £100m in funding was insufficient and they had not been left with enough time to plan. Malaysia, which

Is today the moment the world’s top diplomatic body comes together in a collective call for a ceasefire in Gaza? Or will messy, discombobulating and cynical geopolitics get in the way? Will Russia vote for an American resolution? At 9am New York time (1pm UK time) the United Nations Security Council will vote on a

Russia has returned five Ukrainian children to Kyiv with thousands still believed to be held by Moscow. A report from Russian news agency TASS said that six children were reunited with their families after mediation at the Qatari embassy in Moscow. Five of the children were sent to Ukraine, and one was returned to relatives

Delhi has been named 2023’s the most polluted capital city in the world, as India – and the whole of South Asia – continues to grapple with smog and toxic air. A report into the most polluted cities around the world by IQAir, a Swiss-based air-quality monitoring group, found nine of the top 10 were

Ireland’s Leo Varadkar has announced he is stepping down as prime minister. In a statement delivered this afternoon in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said his reasons for leaving were “both personal and political”. He said he believed a new leader “will be better placed than me” to gain seats for his party Fine Gael in the

US President Joe Biden and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu have held their first phone call in a month, amid warnings of an “imminent famine” in northern Gaza. It comes as a group of aid agencies warned that an estimated 70% of the population in northern Gaza faced catastrophic hunger, and that virtually everyone in

Vladimir Putin has claimed victory in an election he said showed the people had “trust” and “hope” in him. Sunday was the last day of a presidential election that offered Russians no real alternatives to Mr Putin after he ruthlessly cracked down on dissent. Early returns after the polls closed showed he is poised to