World

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said that any movement of “Russian military forces across Ukraine’s border” will be met with a “swift, severe and united response”. He also warned Moscow’s “extensive playbook of aggression” would also be met with action – following his crunch talks with his counterpart foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, aimed

Austria’s parliament has approved a universal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for adults – the first of its kind in Europe. The mandate will come into force next month, with authorities writing to every household to inform them of the new rules. From mid-March, police will start checking people’s vaccination status during routine checks. Those who cannot

Britain’s armed forces have flown some 2,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine this week amid fears of an imminent, new Russian invasion. British surveillance aircraft have also been spotted. Open source flight-tracking software has plotted Royal Air Force C-17 transport aircraft flying back and forth between the UK and Ukraine. Image: A British military cargo C-17

More than 1.2 million people died from drug-resistant infections in 2019, according to a study. The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance report, published by The Lancet, comes after repeated warnings from health experts about the rise of drug-resistant bacteria. It blamed antimicrobial resistance for an estimated 1.27 million deaths in 2019, adding that a further

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned Russia that the world is watching as Moscow continues military manoeuvres involving 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine. After talks with Ukraine’s government in Kyiv, America’s top diplomat said Russia could double that number in short order and launch an attack on its neighbour. Mr Blinken

The rapid spread of the Omicron variant, combined with the roll-out of up to 20bn doses of vaccine means the COVID-19 pandemic could be over this year, according to one of the world’s leading public health experts. But Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust and former SAGE adviser told Sky News that more

A battered army ambulance pulls up in the freezing, snowy yard of a long-since abandoned factory in eastern Ukraine that is now the headquarters of the army’s 24th battalion.   The Soviet-era vehicle has been converted into a troop carrier; I say converted, in fact I mean everything has been torn out, plywood lines its

Satellite pictures have emerged showing Tonga covered in ash after a huge undersea volcano erupted. A plume of smoke can be seen rising from Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano in images taken before the eruption, with the volcanic island appearing to have all but disappeared afterwards. Australia and New Zealand sent military surveillance flights to assess damage to

The body of a British woman swept away by the tsunami in Tonga has been found, her brother has confirmed. Angela Glover, from Brighton, disappeared after an undersea volcano erupted near the country on Saturday, sending large tsunami waves crashing across the island’s shore. The 50-year-old’s family and friends had appealed for information on her

A series of website defacements in Ukraine this week were “cover for more destructive actions” according to a government official and a technical warning from Microsoft. The high-profile but ultimately ineffective defacements – which came with a fake ransomware notices, according to Microsoft – were immediately reported, but behind the scenes malicious software was really

Tsunami-hit Tonga has remained largely uncontactable due to telephone and internet links being severed. An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted yesterday, triggering warnings of 1.2-metre tsunami waves and evacuation orders on the shores of the island and several others in the South Pacific. The eruption caused internet and phone lines to go down at about

Novak Djokovic is set to be deported from Australia after losing a court appeal against the cancellation of his visa. Three Federal Court judges upheld a decision made on Friday by the immigration minister to cancel the unvaccinated tennis star’s visa on public interest grounds The full reasons behind the court’s unanimous ruling will be

A tsunami alert has been issued by the Pacific nation of Tonga after an undersea volcano erupted. Video posted on social media platforms showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas. The Tonga Meteorological Services said a tsunami warning had been put in force for all of Tonga. It is the latest in a series

Russia has “put its saboteurs inside Ukraine” and is preparing a “false flag” operation to create a pretext to invade Ukraine. That is the assessment of US intelligence, declassified by the White House at the end of a week of faltering diplomacy. Speaking to Sky News, the US Under-Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, said the

Novak Djokovic’s visa has been cancelled by Australia’s immigration minister, casting further doubt over his participation in the first grand slam of the year. The tennis player previously won his court appeal against the cancellation of his visa but the Australian government said it would continue to explore ways to deport him. “Today I exercised

Novak Djokovic will be detained again in Australia from tomorrow morning after his lawyers appealed a decision by the country’s immigration minister to cancel his visa for a second time. The tennis star first had his visa revoked on arrival in Melbourne last week when his COVID vaccination exemption was questioned. Please use Chrome browser