World

The head of an evangelical megachurch has been jailed for more than 16 years for sexually abusing three underage girls. Naason Joaquin Garcia, leader and self-styled apostle of the Guadalajara-based church La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World) admitted two counts of forcible oral copulation involving minors and performing a lewd act on a

A fourth-grade survivor of last month’s Uvalde school shooting has told a hearing how she dabbed blood on herself and pretended to be dead after the gunman murdered her teacher and friends. Miah Cerrillo and the parents of multiple young Americans killed and wounded in recent mass shootings has testified at the US House Oversight

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and blockade of its ports is having a direct impact on food crises around the world, say charities. The World Food Programme has highlighted the impact on Somalia in particular. Spokesperson Petroc Wilton told Sky News the war is making a terrible situation even worse. He said: “Food prices were already

Reports of heavy shelling near Izyum in the east of Ukraine suggests Russia is preparing to make a renewed effort on the northern axis, Britain’s defence ministry has said. In a tweet it said that Russia’s progress made through May on the southern Popasna axis has stalled over the last week and that the country

A US court has issued warrants to seize two luxury planes owned by Roman Abramovich under sanctions imposed due to the Ukraine war. The planes are a $350m (£280m) Boeing 787 Dreamliner – a cutting-edge aircraft used by many of the world’s top airlines – and a $60m (£48m) Gulfstream G650 ER. However, the chance

Ten months after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan and promised “amnesty for all”, data suggests they are the largest perpetrators of violence against civilians in the country – killing at least 341 people. Since 15 August 2021 – when the capital Kabul fell – the Armed Conflict Location and Event Project (ACLED) has recorded

Western unity is being strained by the economic impact of the war in Ukraine, the prime minister of Estonia has warned. Kaja Kallas has been nicknamed the Iron Lady of Estonia for her hard line with Russia. She told diplomatic correspondents in London: “The unity is always so very hard to keep. I am happy

The UK will send a “cutting edge” rocket system to Ukraine to help troops fight back Russia’s advance in the embattled east of the country, in defiance of a threat from Vladimir Putin. The M270 multiple-launch rocket system is now heading to the battlefield, despite Mr Putin’s warning that the provision of longer-range missiles would

Ukraine’s defence minister has said it is “possible” that the war with Russia could be over by the end of this year. Oleksiy Reznikov was speaking at an international security forum just hours after the war entered its 100th day. He said: “Russia continues to make efforts to occupy our entire state. “It is currently

Kyiv was rocked by multiple explosions overnight after weeks of relative calm in Ukraine’s capital, the city’s mayor said. At least one person was hospitalised but no deaths had been reported as of early Sunday, Vitali Klitschko said. Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said the bombardment was Russia resorting to “new insidious attacks” and hit

Ukrainian troops have recaptured a chunk of the city of Severodonetsk – a main focus of the Russian offensive and the site of heavy fighting – it is claimed. Serhiy Hayday, governor of Luhansk region, said Ukrainian forces have retaken 20% of the territory they had lost in the factory city as the conflict in

Through the dust I can see the brake lights of a van we are following, light up. It’s another checkpoint. We’d been through six or seven already as we headed towards the frontline of the Ukrainian forces, northeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine‘s second-largest city. I suddenly bolted upright. The checkpoint was being manned by a group

Boghdanivka is a small farming village on the road north from Kyiv to Chernihiv, just east of the Dnipro river. For many weeks in March and April, it was occupied by Russian soldiers as they tried to advance on the capital Kyiv, before retreating, defeated. They left behind memories of rampant depravity, torture and families

The war in Ukraine has entered its 100th day, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admits that Russia now controls about 20% of the country. Mr Zelenskyy was speaking to the parliament in Luxembourg when he said that the area controlled by Russia was larger than Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg combined, adding that “tens of thousands”

More than 300 people in France have reported being pricked out of the blue with needles at nightclubs or concerts in recent months. Although doctors and multiple prosecutors are on the case, no one knows who’s doing it or why, and whether the victims have been injected with drugs – or indeed any substance at

The Tartan Army applauded Ukraine’s supporters as they filed out of Hampden. Win or lose, no-one here was forgetting the bigger picture. Earlier in the day, thoughts of the war weren’t far as the yellow and blue travelling support made its way to Scotland’s national stadium. This was a road trip for the vast majority

Joe Biden has announced the US will send medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine to aid its forces as they struggle to stall Russian progress, in an apparent change of mind. The US president said on Monday that Washington was “not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that can strike into Russia”. But with Vladimir

The horizon in Lysychansk is now crowded with plumes of smoke from recently exploded shells. As we drive into the city in eastern Ukraine, another has just landed and is billowing out black, choking smoke from what looks like the middle of a group of homes. The streets look markedly devoid of life compared to

Russian troops now control “around half” of the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, an official has said, with British intelligence warning “gains are being held”. Ukrainian soldiers are fighting to retain control of the strategic city, but the evacuation of civilians is not currently possible, Oleksandr Stryuk, the head of the city’s administration, added. “The city

The war in Ukraine has prompted Western leaders to send the country military equipment worth billions of dollars. Experts say this, combined with the conflict’s role in pushing up military spending, will lead to a windfall for Western arms manufacturers – but there are risks. Since the invasion, NATO countries have committed more than $8bn