A man dubbed Japan’s “Twitter killer” has been sentenced to death for murdering and dismembering nine people he contacted through the social media platform. Takahiro Shiraishi was arrested in 2017 after body parts were found in his flat in the city of Zama, near Tokyo. The 30-year-old admitted strangling and dismembering eight women and one
World
The Netherlands will enter a tough second lockdown for at least five weeks, the country’s prime minister has announced. Households have been urged to welcome no more than two visitors over the age of 13 from Tuesday, although an exception will be made for three days around Christmas when they can welcome three. In a
An explosion on an oil tanker in the Red Sea happened after it was hit by “an external force”, a shipping company has said. The incident happened just after midnight on Monday off the coast of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The 22 crew of the Singapore-flagged BW Rhine all escaped unharmed, the vessel’s owners, Hafnia,
Protests are continuing to grow over controversial new farming laws in India – but the country’s prime minister is refusing to back down. Demonstrations have been taking place across India and have now spread to other cities around the world, including the UK, the Netherlands and Canada. Farmers say the three federal laws, which deregulate crop
Germany is to be plunged into a national lockdown over Christmas amid rising cases of coronavirus. Under new measures which will last from 16 December until 10 January, schools and non-essential shops will be closed. Bars and restaurants will remain shut, while the sale of fireworks will be banned ahead of New Year’s Eve. Drinking
The UN secretary general has called on all countries to declare a climate emergency or face “catastrophic” results. Dozens of world leaders spoke at the virtual Climate Ambition Summit on Saturday – from the smallest nation’s worst-hit by climate change to the world’s worst polluters. Nations at the UN summit were urged to “stop the
Italy could soon overtake the UK’s coronavirus death toll, as it announced on Friday that another 761 people had died after contracting the virus. It brings the country’s total number of COVID-19 related deaths to 63,387 – close to the UK’s total of 63,506. The UK has the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe. Since
UK holidaymakers on the Canary Islands have hit out at new quarantine rules which have disrupted their Christmas plans. Travellers arriving in the UK from the popular Spanish islands from 4am on Saturday must self-isolate for two weeks. Tour operator TUI said it has around 5,000 UK holidaymakers on the islands, with a further 800
A painting worth more than €280k (£250k) which was accidentally left at a German airport has been reunited with its owner after being found at the bottom of a nearby recycling bin. The businessman, who chose not to be named, forgot to take the painting by French surrealist Yves Tanguy when he left the check-in
The trial of a prominent women’s rights activist has begun in Saudi Arabia, three years after she was first jailed. The family of Loujain al Hathloul has told Sky News they were informed late on Wednesday night that she would appear at Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court for a trial which United Nations Human Rights
The Chinese embassy in the US has said its Twitter account was hacked after it retweeted a baseless claim from President Donald Trump that the Democrats cheated in the election. “If somebody cheated in the Election, which the Democrats did, why wouldn’t the Election be immediately overturned? How can a Country be run like this?,”
The UN’s nuclear watchdog has warned against any further escalation in the wake of the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakrizadeh. In his first interview since the killing, reportedly carried out by Israel, the head of the IAEA Rafael Mariano Grossi told Sky News Iran should not follow through on threats to increase uranium
There are fears that poorer countries could be left behind as richer nations “hoard” more doses of coronvirus vaccine than they need. Wealthy countries have amassed a big enough stock of vaccine doses to immunise their people nearly three times over by the end of next year, assuming the vaccines in clinical trials are all
Farmers have gone on strike across India in a dispute over new agriculture laws, with thousands continuing to block key roads on the edge of New Delhi in protest. Heavy security is in place across the country to try to prevent any violence. In Delhi, the capital, police are out in strength and have warned
New Zealand’s police chief has joined the country’s prime minister and security services in apologising to those affected by the Christchurch terror attacks, saying: “We could have done more”. The words come on the publication of an 800-page Royal Commission report, which looked into whether the atrocity on 15 March last year could have been
At least one person has died and 200 others are in hospital in India due to a mystery illness. The first cases were detected on Saturday evening in the ancient city of Eluru, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Patients are suffering from symptoms ranging from nausea and anxiety to seizures, convulsions and loss of