World

Unvaccinated people in Germany are to be excluded from non-essential stores, cultural and recreational venues, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. In addition, parliament will consider making coronavirus jabs mandatory from February. About 68.7% of the population in Germany is fully vaccinated, far below the 75% minimum ministers are aiming for. Image: Angela Merkel says the

The world’s rich nations must help vaccinate the poorest nations or else they will face a continual cycle of economic shocks and restrictions in the face of new variants, the OECD’s chief economist has said. Laurence Boone told Sky News that the Omicron variant could cause the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to downgrade

All WTA tournaments have been suspended in China over concerns for the safety of player Peng Shuai. The head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said it was taking the step after Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion, accused a former high-ranking government official in China of sexual assault. Peng dropped out of public view

NASA has called off a spacewalk due to the threat of dangerous space debris. Two US astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron, were due to replace an external antenna on Tuesday. However, the expedition was cancelled when Mission Control found pieces of orbiting space junk had come dangerously close

China has for the first time become the single greatest focus for MI6, with its chief warning the risk “is real” of a miscalculation by Beijing through underestimating western resolve to push back. Pointing to Taiwan, Richard Moore said a desire by the ruling Chinese Communist Party – backed by an increasingly powerful military –

The Prince of Wales has formally acknowledged “the appalling atrocity of slavery” in the Caribbean, saying “it forever stains our history” at an event to mark Barbados becoming a republic. Prince Charles was invited to speak at the transition ceremony formalising the Caribbean island’s decision to remove the Queen as its head of state. Speaking

The speed with which new variants of the COVID-19 virus spread around the world can leave government’s scrambling to catch up. What is sometimes more remarkable is the speed with which those new variants are detected. It has taken barely two weeks from the initial testing of ‘patient zero’, before potentially the entire globe is

The Prince of Wales will reaffirm the “myriad connections between the people of our countries” as he flies to Barbados for a ceremony to remove the Queen as head of state and transition to a republic. Prince Charles, who said he believes it is “important” for him to attend the ceremony, arrived in Barbados late

Authorities in the Netherlands have detected 13 cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant among passengers from South Africa. Health officials said the infected people were on flights from the southern African nation earlier this week. A total of 61 people on the planes tested positive for the virus – and 21% of those had Omicron.

Global concern about the coronavirus pandemic is growing, with a number of countries detecting confirmed cases of the Omicron variant for the first time. Travel restrictions are also being imposed once again as governments suspend flights from southern Africa, the region where this strain was first detected. Here is a look at the latest COVID-19

So the new variant has a name, but we’ve no idea about its reputation. On paper at least the Omicron variant looks terrifying. It has more mutations than any previously observed strain of COVID. And the mutations aren’t just a random jumble of genetic changes. A worrying number of them are in parts of the

Vaccine manufacturers have expressed confidence that they will be able to rapidly adapt their jabs if the Omicron variant spreads. The new strain – previously known as B.1.1.529 – features some “concerning” mutations, and early evidence suggests it brings an increased risk of reinfection. There are also fears that the variant could be more resistant

The first victim of Wednesday’s tragedy in the Channel has been named as Mariam Nouri Hamadameen, a 21-year-old Kurdish woman from northern Iraq. She had travelled to Germany and on to France, hoping to join her fiance who already lives in Britain. Mariam was a student and recently engaged – she left her studies early

Boris Johnson has offered to work with France to “move further and faster” in order to tackle small boat crossings and avoid a repeat of the “appalling tragedy” in the Channel that left 27 people dead. The prime minister has written to President Emmanuel Macron and set out five steps he thinks both sides should

A mayday call by French coastguard requesting urgent help from “all ships” during yesterday’s Channel boat emergency has been obtained by Sky News. Twenty-seven people – 17 men, seven women and two teenage boys and a girl – died while trying to cross to the UK in a flimsy boat, which capsized near Calais. Two

At least 24 migrants have drowned while trying to get to the UK across the Channel in an inflatable dinghy, a French official has said. Several others are thought to be injured after their boat capsized off Calais this afternoon, as they tried to cross the world’s busiest shipping lane. “Strong emotion in the face