World

Doctors have suggested that the Pope has overcome the most critical phase of his pneumonia infection – as the pontiff marks two weeks in hospital. In an update on Friday morning, the Vatican said: “As in past days, the night was tranquil and the Pope now is resting.” This morning’s update marked the second day

Ukraine has agreed terms with the United States on a crucial minerals deal, a Ukrainian government source has told Sky News. There has been no confirmation from the US side yet but Donald Trump said on Monday evening that his Ukrainian counterpart “would like to sign the minerals deal with me”. The accord, once signed,

The body of a British businessman who went missing in Kenya more than a week ago was reportedly found in a sack of pineapples in a forest. Campbell Scott, believed to be from Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland, was last seen attending a conference at the JW Marriot Hotel in the capital Nairobi on 16 February.

A company in China that introduced a policy threatening single employees with termination if they were not married by the end of September says it has withdrawn its notice. The Shuntian Chemical Group, based in eastern China’s Shandong province, told its 1,200 employees last month that any unmarried workers aged between 28 and 58, including

Friedrich Merz, who is set to become the new German chancellor, has vowed to “create unity” in Europe as it adjusts to the new Trump administration and Russia’s war on Ukraine. Mr Merz’s task will be complicated by the need to form a coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats of outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz, who

China’s military has started live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin – after Vietnam published a map defining what it considers its territory in the body of water between the two countries. Vietnam’s foreign ministry announced the baseline – used to determine limits to territorial waters and exclusive economic zones – on Friday, saying it

Former Arsenal and Real Madrid footballer Mesut Ozil has transitioned into politics after joining Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party. The retired German midfielder, 36, was named on the ruling AK Party’s (AKP) Central Decision and Management Board during a party congress on Sunday. Ozil, who is of Turkish descent, received criticism later in his

In less than a fortnight, Donald Trump has shredded long-standing security assumptions about American support for Europe, creating a new crisis for Ukraine and leaving the whole continent in greater peril than at any time since the Second World War. The dramatic unravelling of transatlantic ties comes as Kyiv marks the grimmest of milestones –

A bulldozer tears huge chunks out of buildings in an emptied-out Palestinian neighbourhood. It is not clearing rubble, this is a demolition project – methodical and devastating. It is part of Operation Iron Wall, a massive Israeli military assault in the northern West Bank. Nominally, Iron Wall is about rooting out militant groups, to stop

A bulldozer tears huge chunks out of buildings in an emptied-out Palestinian neighbourhood. It is not clearing rubble, this is a demolition project – methodical and devastating. It is part of Operation Iron Wall, a massive Israeli military assault in the northern West Bank. Nominally, Iron Wall is about rooting out militant groups, to stop

Initial results appear to confirm what we have known for weeks: that the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) have got the most votes in the federal election, with Friedrich Merz most likely to be the next chancellor. While this result isn’t a surprise, it doesn’t mean

Russia has launched its biggest drone attack on Ukraine since the war started, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. He condemned Russia for its “aerial terror” as he reported more than 250 drones had hit his country overnight. It comes ahead of the third-year anniversary of Russia’s land, air and sea invasion of its smaller neighbour,

Four people have been arrested after a man was killed and seven police officers wounded in a knife attack in eastern France which has been linked to Islamic extremism. Those in custody include a 37-year-old Algerian man, identified by prosecutors as Brahim A, who is thought to have carried out the attack at a market

The release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners planned for Saturday has been postponed “until the release of the next hostages is secured without humiliating ceremonies”, Israel has said. In a statement early on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of “repeated violations” as it lashed out at “disgraceful

Hamas says the body of hostage Shiri Bibas has now been handed over, according to the group’s Al-Aqsa TV channel – as the Israeli military says it is checking the reports. It comes a day after Israel said Ms Bibas was not among the four bodies handed over on Thursday and that it received an

Israel says Hamas has not handed over the body of hostage Shiri Bibas – saying they had instead received the remains of an “anonymous body without identification”. Ms Bibas was kidnapped with her sons – four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir – from the Niz Or kibbutz during the Palestinian militant group’s incursion into Israel in

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he told Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy his country needs a “reliable and clear system of security guarantees” before a peace deal can be struck with Russia. Ukraine’s president met with retired US Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday as political tensions deepened between the two countries. The event was originally

Voters in Germany are being exposed to copious far-right narratives online from AI-generated content and Russian disinformation campaigns. Experts monitoring social media say Russian-based groups are involved, including “Doppelganger” and “Storm-1516”, which US officials found to be active in America’s election last year. Some of these campaigns are using artificial intelligence to spread their messaging

Australia has begun euthanising the false killer whales stranded on a remote beach in Tasmania. Authorities said they had begun putting down the animals after bad weather and the isolated location hampered efforts to refloat them. Earlier this week, 157 whales were found beached near Arthur River on the island. Despite the best efforts of

Donald Trump has said Volodymyr Zelenskyy “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left” as peace talks between the US and Russia continue – without Ukraine at the table. Officials from the White House and the Kremlin have this week begun holding discussions in Saudi Arabia. The decision for the