World

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?,”

Canada has become the latest country to approve Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine – describing it as “safe, effective and of good quality”. In a statement, Health Canada said the authorisation was a “critical milestone” in the fight against COVID-19 – and stressed that the review process had been “rigorous”. The country is set to

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

Breakdancing has been added as an Olympic sport for the 2024 games being held in Paris. The decision was confirmed by the International Olympic Committee on Monday, as it seeks to attract a younger audience to the historic competition. Other newly added sports include skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing, all of which will debut at

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

Iran’s top nuclear scientist was killed by a satellite-controlled machine gun, according to the country’s media. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh died in hospital on 27 November after gunmen fired at his car near Tehran, in an ambush Iran‘s president has blamed on Israel. Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Commodore Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic

The first reports from China of an unusual pneumonia in December 2019 worried Professor Chuang Yin-ching. “We were very cautious about that,” he told Sky News. “Because Taiwan is so close to China. It’s very important to prevent it, rather than treating it.” When he arrived on the ground in Wuhan in mid-January and spoke

Police clashed with protesters in Paris as demonstrations over a new French security law turned violent. Thousands took to the streets of the French capital and other major cities on Saturday to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed legislation, which they claim would restrict civil liberties and increase surveillance. Demonstrators were also marching against police brutality,

There is hardly a rush to get the vaccine, here at city clinic number 68 in Moscow. It is one of 70 polyclinics across the capital to offer Russia’s first registered vaccine, Sputnik V, to medics, teachers and social workers starting today. Only 17 people have signed up. Registration opened on Friday. You have to

Coronavirus vaccine clinics have opened across Moscow with health workers and teachers first in line to get Russia’s Sputnik V jab. Seventy COVID-19 clinics opened in the Russian capital on Saturday, three days after President Vladimir Putin ordered a “large-scale” immunisation programme that he claims will begin with two million doses being made available this

An RAF reconnaissance aircraft has captured images of the world’s largest iceberg as it heads towards the island of South Georgia. The 4,200-sq-km block, known as A68a, is currently travelling through the Southern Antarctic Front. The A400M captured details of the cracks and fissures within the main body of the iceberg as well as ice

Italy has unveiled tough new restrictions for Christmas after recording the highest number of daily coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began. Figures show there were 993 COVID-related deaths and 23,225 new cases on Thursday. The previous record of 919 deaths came in March at the peak of the first wave. Italy was the first Western

The Bangladesh government is moving thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote island in the coming days – despite human rights groups’ calls to stop the process. Bhasan Char, which emerged from the sea less than 20 years ago, is exposed to annual flooding and cyclones during the monsoon season, which lasts for five months

A cyber espionage campaign targeted at companies vital to the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has been detected. According to an alert issued by the US government and a research blog published by IBM, the hacking campaign started in September. It targeted a range of organisations, including in government and across the energy and IT sectors,

Former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing has died aged 94 after contracting coronavirus, his office has said. He led the country from 1974 to 1981 and became a champion of European integration. Mr Giscard d’Estaing died at home in the Loir-et-Cher region and had recently been in hospital in the town of Tours. A foundation