World

Blasts have been heard in Beirut a day after 12 people were killed by pager explosions across Lebanon. Reuters have cited a security source and a witness as saying communications devices used by Hezbollah have detonated in the country’s south and in the southern suburbs of the capital. Follow live: Blasts heard in Beirut At

Germany has started checks at borders with five more European countries in an effort to crack down on “irregular” migration and guard against Islamist threats. Police are now checking vehicles at the land frontier with France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The checks are due to last six months and follow similar inspections, in

Prosecutors have asked judges to jail Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini over his 2019 decision to stop a ship carrying more than 100 migrants from landing in the country. Prosecutors in the city of Palermo have requested a six-year sentence for alleged kidnapping over the incident, which happened when Mr Salvini was interior minister.

Last weekend, the head of the CIA said Western allies should not be intimidated by Vladimir Putin’s threats when making decisions on how best to support Ukraine. “Putin’s a bully. He’s going to continue to sabre rattle from time to time,” Bill Burns said in a joint appearance in London with his British counterpart, Sir

Six British diplomats have been expelled from Russia after being accused of “spying and sabotage”. The country’s FSB security service said they worked in the “political department” of the British embassy in Moscow. A Whitehall source told Sky News the diplomats were kicked out in August as part of a wave of tit-for-tat expulsions. The

Almost 200 people have died and more than 125 are missing in Vietnam in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, according to local media. Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades, making landfall on Saturday with winds of up to 92mph (149kph) and causing flash floods and landslides. Some 197

New AI technology can detect early signs of more than 1,000 diseases, long before there are any symptoms, according to new research. The computer algorithm, called MILTON, analyses patient test results commonly collected by GPs to detect patterns in the data – and predict with high confidence a disease diagnosis many years later. Pharmaceutical giant

President Joe Biden is “not ruling out” allowing Ukraine to fire missiles deep into Russian territory, the US secretary of state has told Sky News. Antony Blinken made the comment after he told a news conference in London that Iran has provided Moscow with short-range missiles and Vladimir Putin will “likely use them within weeks

At least 140 drones have been launched by Ukraine into Russia, killing one person and injuring three others, according to Russian officials. Moscow’s regional governor Andrei Vorobyov confirmed several buildings have been damaged and there has been at least one fatality. “A woman was killed and three more people sustained injuries. Five residential buildings near

The head of the CIA has warned that any move by Iran to supply Russia with ballistic missiles for its war in Ukraine would be a “dramatic escalation” – but Ukrainian sources say this has already happened. It is part of a pattern of ever-tighter cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, which has already seen the

Iran is believed to have sent more than 200 ballistic missiles to Russia – a move security chiefs say would be a “dramatic escalation” of its defence partnership with Moscow. A Russian ship delivered the short-range Fatah-360 missiles from Tehran to a port in the Caspian Sea, a Ukrainian source told Sky News on Saturday.

A judge has postponed the sentencing of Donald Trump in his hush money case until after the 5 November presidential election. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, had been due to be sentenced in the criminal case on 18 September. However, Manhattan Judge Juan M Merchan has now postponed that date to 26 November, writing

Polls have opened in regional elections in Russia, which opposition activists say are a farce, after hundreds of anti-war candidates were barred from running. Ballots are being held in almost every part of the country at various different levels, from local councils to regional governors. But only a handful of races will feature a candidate

Germany is considering sending migrants to Rwanda – weeks after the UK ditched a similar plan. Migrants deported from Germany could be sent to the same accommodation originally intended for the UK’s now-abandoned scheme, migration minister Joachim Stamp suggested. German politicians are under pressure to tackle illegal migration after three people were killed by a

Ukraine is planning to hold the Russian territory it seized indefinitely, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Sky News’ US partner NBC News. In early August, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack into Russia’s Kursk region. Kyiv claims to now control almost 500 square miles (around 1,300 square km) and it has taken hundreds of prisoners

Brazil’s Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a decision to block Elon Musk’s social media platform X. The move undermines the billionaire businessman’s claims the original judge who banned the platform “violated the constitution of Brazil repeatedly and egregiously, after swearing an oath to protect it”. The tech tycoon posted a series of messages on X

Vladimir Putin has arrived in Mongolia on his first visit to a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it issued a warrant for his arrest nearly 18 months ago on charges of war crimes in Ukraine. The Russian president is due to meet Mongolian leader Ukhnaa Khurelsukh on Tuesday. Ukraine wants Mongolia to

The world’s second tallest man is competing in the Paralympics – but he is so tall, he has to sleep on the floor. Morteza Mehrzadselakjani, better known as Mehrzad, is 8ft 0.85in tall and a two-time Paralympic champion in sitting volleyball, representing Iran. But even though he had a custom-made bed for the Tokyo Paralympics,

A polio vaccination campaign is under way in Gaza – while medics claimed at least 49 people were killed in Israeli strikes ahead of the rollout. The UN, relying on daily eight-hour pauses in fighting between Israel and Hamas, is aiming to vaccinate 640,000 children in the territory. Healthcare workers in Gaza have warned of

A judge has ordered social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, to be taken down in Brazil. Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes made the order after the site’s billionaire owner Elon Musk failed to name a legal representative in Brazil. The judge and Musk have been feuding in public for months after X