World

Brazilian football star Pele has died at the age of 82, his agent has confirmed. The former Santos FC star, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, had been at the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Sao Paulo since 29 November. A medical report just before Christmas showed that he needed

Doctors in China have described the chaos unfolding within hospitals as COVID-19 infections sweep the country. Three health care professionals spoke anonymously to Sky News, painting a picture of emergency departments “packed” with patients, “ventilators and oxygen machines everywhere” and “not enough IV beds”. Strict zero-COVID restrictions were lifted just three weeks ago in China

More than half of passengers on a flight from China to Italy have tested positive for COVID-19 – as China prepares to open up its borders despite a huge surge in infections. Two flights into Milan were among the first to see passengers subjected to new mandatory testing imposed on Chinese travellers. Guido Bertolaso, Lombardy

A Rohingya mother and her five-year-old daughter have been found among 200 people rescued in Indonesia after being adrift on a boat for almost a month. Mohammed Rezuwan Khan, a Rohingya refugee living in a camp in Bangladesh, told Sky News his sister Hatemonnesa and his niece Umme Salima were rescued by Indonesian authorities on

A record-breaking Iranian footballer who criticised the authorities’ crackdown on anti-regime protesters has said his family were prevented from leaving the country. Ali Daei, who scored 109 international goals for Iran, the most for any country before Cristiano Ronaldo broke his record, said his wife and daughter were questioned by officials after a flight they

South Korea says it has scrambled fighter jets and attack helicopters, firing warning shots, after North Korean drones “violated” its airspace. The country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, a group of chiefs from each major branch of the armed services, said several unmanned North Korean drones crossed the border and were detected in the South’s territory

The man suspected of shooting dead three Kurds in Paris this week has told investigators of his “hatred of foreigners”, prosecutors say. The suspected gunman, 69, was arrested on Friday after two men and a woman were shot dead at a Kurdish cultural centre in the French capital’s busy 10th district. Three others were wounded,

Pele’s family are spending Christmas Day in hospital after the Brazilian football legend’s cancer progressed. A medical report earlier this week showed that the 82-year-old now needed care for cardiac and renal dysfunction, having been battling colon cancer since September 2021. He has been at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paul since 29 November.

The Taliban have banned Afghan women from working at non-governmental organisations in the country. The letter said female employees would not be allowed to work for NGOs until further notice because some had not adhered to the Taliban’s interpretation of the Islamic dress code for women. It added that failure to comply would mean the

Nine people have died in the US as the country grapples with a winter storm that has seen temperatures plunge as low as -45C (-49F). More than 200 million people – around 60% of the US population – are under some form of weather warning or advisory, with the brutal cold expected to continue through

Three people have been killed and three others injured after a gunman opened fire in Paris. A man, 69, has been arrested in connection with the shooting at a local Kurdish cultural centre, the prosecutor’s department in the French capital said. The French government asked police to reinforce the protection of Kurdish community sites in

The French murderer known as “The Serpent” has been freed from prison in Nepal after serving most of his sentence for the murders of American and Canadian backpackers. Charles Sobhraj, whose reputation as a disguise and escape artist earned him the nickname, was serving two life sentences in Nepal for the murders of Connie Jo

In a bunker below the fiercely contested city of Bakhmut, a jihadi commander with a half a million-dollar Russian bounty on his head, joins his men in prayer. Of the allies Ukraine has gathered in its war with Russia, among the most shadowy and deadly are the Chechens. They are some of Vladimir Putin’s oldest

A French murderer who admitted to killing several western tourists is due to be set free from prison in Nepal after the country’s supreme court ordered his release.  Charles Sobhraj, also known by the nickname The Serpent owing to his reputation as a disguise and escape artist, was serving two life sentences in Nepal for

The US will continue to back Ukraine in its fight against Russia for “as long as it takes”, President Joe Biden has said while outlining further military support. In a news conference at the White House, and stood at a podium next to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he paid tribute to Ukrainians’ “steel backbone, love

This will be a big moment in the war in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has addressed world leaders and gatherings by video throughout the conflict but his visit to the US is the first time he has left the country since Russia’s invasion. There will be security risks but they should not be overplayed as