World

Major Chinese cities have started to lift COVID lockdowns and ease restrictions following widespread protests over stringent zero-COVID policies. Less than 24 hours after violent protests in Guangzhou, officials in at least seven districts of the sprawling port city north of Hong Kong announced they were lifting lockdowns. One district on Wednesday said it would

This winter will be the toughest in Ukraine’s history as an independent state as Russia targets power and water supplies, worsening the impact of the war, an energy boss has said. But Maksym Timchenko told Sky News that Moscow will fail to turn out the lights for too long with its missile strikes because of

Crowds in a major Chinese city have clashed with white hazmat-suited riot police, footage on social media shows, as the biggest anti-government protests in decades continue over stringent zero-COVID policies. The clashes took place in Guangzhou on Tuesday night, according to posts online. In one video posted on Twitter, objects can be seen flying at

“Whoever introduces external forces to get involved is a complete traitor!”  “I understand the rally organised this time was by… the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of America.” “Don’t be led astray by external forces. No matter what, you must love your country!” These comments are far from unusual on the Chinese social media site Weibo.

People living on the slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island have been told to prepare for a worst-case scenario as it continues to erupt and belch volcanic ash into the air.  Waves of orange, glowing lava are flowing from the world’s largest active volcano in its first eruption in 38 years

The pictures we have been seeing from China have been astonishing. People using loudhailers to demand democracy – others calling for freedom, their faces exposed. We have not seen this for more than three decades for good reason. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 2:38 Why are people protesting in China?

Sam Bankman-Fried looked unstoppable. The 30-year-old had built a £21bn business empire and was the CEO of FTX, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange. More than one million customers worldwide were using his platform to buy assets like Bitcoin – enticed by star-studded adverts that made everything look simple and safe. Bankman-Fried – known as SBF

Protests against stringent COVID restrictions have intensified across China – as a British journalist was beaten and kicked by police. Demonstrators and police clashed in Shanghai on Sunday night, despite being forcibly removed by officers using pepper spray only a few hours earlier. Sky’s Helen-Ann Smith described the atmosphere in Shanghai this morning as “very,

As night fell in Shanghai, they gathered in their hundreds. Ordinary, angry people who took their frustrations on to the streets. When we arrived, we followed the crowds right up to a barricaded road. It was blocked by a row of police standing shoulder to shoulder. They were preventing people from congregating at Wulumuqi Road,

Public anger in China towards COVID-19 lockdowns has sparked rare protests in a number of major cities in recent days, with some demonstrators calling on the Communist Party to step down. In Shanghai, which suffered a strict lockdown in spring, the protests continued on Sunday afternoon despite police clearing away hundreds of demonstrators with force

Landslides have destroyed buildings and left residents cut off on the Italian holiday island of Ischia, authorities say. It is not clear if anyone has died. Interior minister Matteo Piantedosi said there have been no confirmed deaths, contradicting an earlier statement from deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini who claimed there were eight. Heavy rainstorms and

In the flicker of candlelight, a 91-year-old grandmother says she is scared as night falls, plunging her apartment block in Kyiv once more into darkness. Anna Abrosimova fell over during a blackout this week, hurting her legs. She is too frail to move somewhere safer. “I am living in a nightmare,” she said, standing in

Vladimir Putin is trying to freeze and starve Ukraine’s people into giving up this winter by attacking power and water supplies but he will fail, the foreign secretary has told Sky News. James Cleverly, on his first visit to Ukraine, said he had never seen such devastation before and said it was vital for the

FIFA has confirmed fans will be allowed to wear rainbow bucket hats and take rainbow flags into the stadium for Wales’ match against Iran – after they were confiscated ahead of the side’s 1-1 draw with the USA earlier this week. The Football Association of Wales said venues in Qatar had been contacted and instructed

Elon Musk has announced he will grant “amnesty” for suspended Twitter accounts – prompting experts to predict a rise in harassment, hate speech and misinformation. The billionaire asked his followers in a poll to vote on reinstatements for accounts that have not “broken the law or engaged in egregious spam”. The yes vote was 72%.

China has intensified its COVID restrictions and lockdowns as its daily infection figures climbed to a record high. On Wednesday it recorded 31,444 new COVID-19 cases – exceeding the previous peak in April when Shanghai was in a city-wide lockdown that would last two months. It is also the highest daily figure since the virus

As if there weren’t other things for Russian MPs to worry about nine months into the Kremlin’s war with Ukraine. But as their president seeks to exalt traditional Russian values above what he has called the “outright Satanism” of the West, his parliament has adopted in the second reading a bill that further tightens the

Tensions between Israel and Palestinians have been rapidly worsening The news of two bombings at bus stops in Jerusalem is an extremely concerning development, and will immediately bring back memories of the bad days of the 2nd Intifada. Tensions between Israel and Palestinians have been rapidly worsening, and attacks by Palestinian militants on Israeli checkpoints

A tourist has gone viral after a TikTok video captured her trespassing up the ancient Mayan Temple of Kukulcan in Mexico and a crowd of locals booing her in the process. The blonde woman was filmed scaling up the 91 steps from a distance despite the public being prohibited from climbing the 79ft structure at

Children killed when their schools collapsed are among the 268 dead following an earthquake that devastated a town in Indonesia. More than 1,000 people were injured and 58,000 displaced after the 5.6-magnitude quake struck in mountains in West Java on Monday, causing significant damage to the town of Cianjur and burying at least one village