World

Sri Lankans rose up in their hundreds of thousands and clamoured for change – instead they have been handed more of the same. President-elect Ranil Wickremesinghe has been prime minister six times, is a veteran of 50 years in the swamps of Sri Lankan politics, and is closely aligned with the elites that have brought

Sri Lanka’s acting president has become the country’s new permanent leader after being selected in a parliament vote. Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as the prime minister in May 2022 but was temporarily placed in charge of the presidency on 13 July after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives. Sri Lanka is in the

Cyber spies suspected of working for Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) are targeting NATO countries in a recent hacking campaign, according to a new industry report. The hackers are using online storage services such as Google Drive and Dropbox to avoid being detected, said cyber security company Palo Alto. The hacking attempts have included phishing

Vladimir Putin visits Iran today for his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian president will meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as he seeks to bolster the few foreign alliances his regime still enjoys. Mr Putin has described Western sanctions against Moscow as a declaration of economic

Dramatic footage has captured a passenger plane as it flipped over during a crash-landing on an airport runway. The incident happened at Aden Adde international airport in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. The crew and all passengers on board – around 30 – escaped. Image: Firefighters spray water on the flipped jet. Pic: Reuters Video from the

The distraught family of a four-year-old killed in a missile strike in Ukraine have attended her funeral – while her unknowing mother remained in intensive care. Liza Dmytrieva died in the Russian bombing of the central city of Vinnytsia on Thursday. The blast left her mother, Iryna, in a “grave condition” in an intensive care

The Ukrainian head of security services has been fired due to alleged “treason”. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also sacked prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova amid claims dozens of employees in her office have “worked against our state”. Mr Zelenskyy said: “Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the state’s national security, and the links

A cargo plane operated by a Ukrainian airline and reported to be carrying 12 tonnes of “dangerous materials” has crashed in northern Greece. Residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions for two hours after the Antonov aircraft came down on farmland near the city of Kavala. The Soviet-era An-12 plane had been heading from

The Kagarlytskyi family narrowly escaped Russian occupation in the Kyiv suburb of Irpin. After three months on the run, moving from one place to another, they’ve returned home. But they’ve lost everything, and they’re now living in a train carriage as they try to piece their lives back together. Russia ‘storing weapons in nuclear plant’

Mexican military forces have captured notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the torture and murder of a US DEA agent in 1985. Caro Quintero, 69, was arrested after a search dog named Max found him hiding in shrubland in the town of San Simon in Sinaloa state during a joint operation by

A British aid worker who was detained by Russian separatists in Ukraine has died, a family member has told Sky News. Paul Urey is believed to have died five days ago “due to sickness”, according to information his family has received from the Foreign Office. He was charged with committing “mercenary activities” after being captured

Sri Lanka’s parliament has accepted a letter of resignation from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The letter was flown from Singapore late last night, and its authenticity has now been verified. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena says a new president will be appointed “quickly and successfully” – with the process set to be completed within seven days. Mr

A four-year-old girl has been killed and her mother was seriously injured after Russian missiles struck a city in central Ukraine. Another 22 people died, including two more children, and over 100 others were injured in the attack on Vinnytsia, which is 167 miles (268km) southwest of the capital Kyiv. Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence tweeted

The president of Sri Lanka has failed to resign despite promising to do so after thousands of people stormed his palace in protest at the economic chaos in the country. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife fled to the Maldives on Wednesday aboard an air force jet and he made the prime minister acting president

It was unfair to blame Liverpool fans for unrest in Paris before the Champions League final as state authorities failed to manage crowds, a report has found. France’s interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, pointed the finger at Liverpool fans to divert attention away from the failings of police and organisers, the report commissioned by the French