World

The UK will pay £400m to Tehran to free Iranian-British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, according to reports on Iranian state TV. The channel reported that deals have been reached to release prisoners with Western ties held in Iran. An official also said a deal with the US will see a prisoner swap in exchange for the

India is still hitting yet more staggering new global highs for daily coronavirus cases as its vaccine rollout-for-all stuttered and stumbled even before it got properly off the ground. Most states and many hospitals around the country reported being forced to postpone the programme for days, maybe longer as stocks failed to make it to

India has seen another record daily rise in coronavirus infections, as 18 people died in a fire on a COVID-19 hospital ward. A further 401,993 cases of coronavirus were reported in the country on Saturday, the first time the 400,000 mark has been surpassed. And 3,523 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking

The first funerals have been taking place for victims of a stampede disaster at a crowded religious festival in northern Israel. At least 45 people were crushed to death during the Lag B’Omer event on the slopes of Mount Meron, where annual commemorations include all-night prayers, singing and dancing. Devastated families have been identifying their

At least 44 people have died after a stampede at a religious festival in Israel resulted in a crush. More than 100 have been injured at the Lag B’Omer celebrations in Mount Meron, northern Israel. The national ambulance service told Sky News that “scores” of people have died, with the death toll continuing to rise.

At least 28 people have been killed after a “disastrous” crush at a religious bonfire festival in Israel. The country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has described the incident as a “heavy disaster”, adding: “We are all praying for the wellbeing of the casualties.” Dozens of people were hurt at the Lag Ba’Omer event in northern

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has appeared in public for the first time since going on hunger strike – via video link during a court hearing. The 44-year-old Russian opposition leader, who told the court he looks like a “creepy skeleton”, was arrested earlier this year and is serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in a prison some

Russian and Chinese media are trying to sow mistrust in western COVID-19 vaccines, according to a European report. The report says that between December and April, the two countries’ state media outlets published fake news online in a number of languages. They sensationalised vaccine safety concerns, publicised unfounded links between vaccines and deaths in Europe,

The number of people who have died with coronavirus in India has passed 200,000. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare gave an updated official figure of 201,187, although many believe the real figure is much higher. This means there were 3,293 deaths reported in the most recent 24-hour period, as the world’s second-largest country

There’s growing concern that India’s official tally of coronavirus deaths does not match what grieving relatives and others are seeing on the ground. India has continued to post alarmingly high global record numbers of coronavirus cases, with more than 300,000 every day for the past week. But its deaths are still low in comparison to

A major new report by Human Rights Watch has concluded that Israel is presiding over a system of apartheid in the Palestinian Territories which amount to “crimes against humanity”. The controversial 213-page document, produced over two years and titled A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution, accuses Israel of methodically

India’s hospitals are already full to bursting, but doctors in Delhi are warning there could be even worse to come. Hard to imagine just how much worse it could get when the country’s citizens are begging in the street for air; people are collapsing and dying on hospital doorsteps and administrators are saying oxygen is

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been sentenced to another year in prison on charges of “propaganda activities against the regime” in Iran, according to reports. The UK-Iranian national is also banned from leaving the country for one year, her lawyer Hojjat Kermani told Emtedad news website. “Nazanin Zaghari was sentenced to one year in prison and one

The frantic hunt for oxygen is an ugly one at the epicentre of the world’s coronavirus pandemic. There’s shouting. There’s pleading. There’s crying. And there’s death. Dozens of vehicles were crammed into a narrow road outside a Sikh temple in the east of the Indian capital, New Delhi. Image: The situation in the Indian capital

Ventilators are among 600 pieces of life-saving medical equipment being sent from the UK to India as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to “stand side by side” with India as it struggles with its highest numbers of new daily coronavirus cases to date since the pandemic

The heat is intense. The grief is palpable. Fires just do not stop burning in the Indian capital, Delhi, right now. The coronavirus dead are piled up in vehicles and ambulances and rickshaws – as India continues to set daily global records for new infections. Image: An crematorium in Delhi cremating people who have died