World

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said people found “guilty” for the deadly train crash in India will receive the “harshest punishment”. At least 288 people were killed and more than 850 injured in Friday’s accident in Odisha’s Balasore district state. On his visit to the crash site on Saturday, Mr Modi also pledged to look

The deadly crash at Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday, which has so far claimed over 280 lives and injured 900 more, has focused attention on the safety of the railway network in the world’s second most populous country. Run by state monopoly Indian Railways, the network is the fourth largest in the world and transports

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken his oath to be sworn in as Turkey’s president for an unprecedented third time. Mr Erdogan won another five-year term after a run-off with opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu last week. Neither candidate had failed to reach the 50% threshold on 14 May, but the second round two weeks later saw

Russia may have stepped up the frequency and intensity of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s capital, but Kyiv’s air defences appear to be holding firm. So what is the military benefit of targeting urban populations, and why is Vladimir Putin doing so? Historically, wars were fought to destroy the enemy’s army and occupy its

China is drilling a hole in the desert more than 11,000m deep in order to study areas deep beneath the planet’s surface. The operation – reported in state media – started on Tuesday and is located in the Xinjiang region in northwest China. The drilling process will go deep into the Earth, penetrating more than

China’s Communist Party has warned about the potential risks of AI, a day after experts said it posed a similar risk as nuclear war and pandemics. A meeting headed by President Xi Jinping called for “dedicated efforts to safeguard political security and improve the security governance of internet data and artificial intelligence”, the Xinhua News

Jordan is preparing for a royal wedding this week with Crown Prince Hussein set to marry a US-educated architect.  The 28-year-old Sandhurst-educated prince is marrying Rajwa Alseif, 29, at Zahran Palace – where his father King Abdullah II and his grandfather, the late King Hussein, also married. Thursday’s ceremony is expected to include some of

Russia has blamed Ukraine for a drone attack on Moscow that it said caused minor damage to buildings and injured two people. The defence ministry said Kyiv was behind the “terrorist attack”, but Ukraine denied the claim. “Eight aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were involved in the attack. All enemy drones are hit,” said the ministry.

The Ukrainian foreign minister has expressed his support for a tennis player who was booed off the court at the French Open for refusing to shake hands with her Belarusian opponent. Marta Kostyuk was jeered by the crowd at the end of the first round match as she snubbed Aryna Sabalenka, whose country has supported

Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have joined world leaders in congratulating Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his election win. In a letter to president Erdogan celebrating his narrow run-off victory on Sunday, Mr Putin addressed the Turkish leader as “Dear Friend” and praised his efforts at strengthening Russian-Turkish relations. “From the bottom of my

The man who revels in his image as Turkey’s strongman took an early lead almost as soon as polls closed in the second round of voting for President. Celebrations began long before the official declaration. But in truth, the dye was cast some time ago, before the election. Recep Tayyip Erdogan‘s demeanour even before campaigning

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared himself victorious in the presidential run-off election, with leaders from around the world congratulating him. Polls closed at 5pm local time (3pm BST) and while votes were counted fast, for hours it remained too close to call. At one point, less than a percentage point separated the incumbent from his

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have been Vladimir Putin’s favourite in this election. A hard truth to swallow for his Nato allies who will have been hoping, albeit privately, for change. Mr Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule, economic eccentricity and waywardness within NATO have all caused deepening alarm among allies. His defeat would have been welcomed

F-16s are on the way to Ukraine. US President Joe Biden‘s approval of the move at the G7 conference will certainly provide Ukraine with some much-needed aerial firepower – but combat air power is heavily dependent on modern technology and some F-16s are vintage jets. When the F-16 Fighting Falcon first flew in the late

Elon Musk’s brain chip firm Neuralink has said it has been given the go-ahead to start carrying out studies on humans. Neuralink said in a tweet on Thursday it had won the approval of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “to launch our first-in-human clinical study!” It represents “an important first step that will

What are the big threats to our way of life? This question was a lurking preoccupation at the London Defence Conference this week, attended by the prime minister and the chief of defence staff along with academics and politicians from across the Western world. The immediate crisis is Ukraine, of course. There was general consensus

Iran has successfully launched a 2,000km-range (1,243m) ballistic missile, according to the country’s state media – two days after the chief of Israel’s armed forces raised the prospect of “action” against Tehran over its nuclear programme. With one of the biggest missile programmes in the Middle East, Iran says its weapons are capable of reaching

Russia has accused the west of “growing involvement” in the conflict with Ukraine after releasing pictures of western-made military vehicles it claims were used in a border incursion. The images, which Sky News has identified as showing US-made Humvees, have been criticised by analysts as being “staged”, with suggestions the scene could have choreographed. Security

Millions of people in Mexico have been told to get ready to leave their homes as the country’s Popocatépetl volcano spews ash, rock and gas. Officials said people living downwind of “El Popo” should wear masks and cover their eyes but the country’s president played down the risk to life. The volcano, which lies in

A fire which killed 19 people at a secondary school dormitory in Guyana was deliberately set by a student, according to an official. The suspect – who is among the injured – was upset that her mobile phone was confiscated, investigators believe. She had been disciplined by the dormitory administrator for having an affair “with