A man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007 has been freed early from jail. Rudy Guede served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence, said his lawyer, Fabrizio Ballarini. He was convicted in 2008 and had been due to be freed on 4 January next year, but a
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At least six people, including four children, have died after a ferry capsized off the coast of eastern Sri Lanka. A total of 12 people have been rescued so far, a spokesperson for the country’s navy, Captain Indika de Silva, confirmed. He added that a search operation was continuing to take place. Image: Sri Lankan
Germany’s health minister has warned that by the end of this winter “pretty much everyone” in Germany “will have been vaccinated, recovered or died”. Jens Spahn urged Germans to get vaccinated amid a rapid rise in COVID cases. Official figures showed more than 30,000 new coronavirus cases in Germany in the last 24-hour period, an
Austria is beginning another COVID-19 lockdown, as the government seeks to limit the spread of the virus. The lockdown is the first since vaccines became widely available, but it comes as just 65% of the population is fully vaccinated. Most gathering places – such as restaurants, cafes, bars, theatres, non-essential shops, and hairdressers – will
Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, believed to have been missing for nearly three weeks, has held a video call with the president of the International Olympic Committee. In the 30-minute call, she told Thomas Bach that she was safe and well. “She explained that she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing,
Missing Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has purportedly appeared in a video in which she is seen with friends in a restaurant. Peng, a former Wimbledon doubles champion, is seen smiling and is having fun in the apparently new footage released by state media. The video was posted on Twitter by Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of
Seven people have been arrested after rioters clashed with police in The Hague for a second night of violence in the Netherlands, sparked by protests over new COVID-19 restrictions. The unrest came a day after police opened fire on protesters in Rotterdam amid what the port city’s mayor called “an orgy of violence”, leaving three
At least seven people have been injured – including police – during riots in Rotterdam against COVID-19 restrictions. It comes as the Netherlands re-imposed some lockdown measures in a bid to curb a fourth wave of the coronavirus. Police confirmed they fired warning shots after a demonstration broke out on Friday night, with the injuries
Across Europe, sweeping COVID-19 restrictions are being imposed in a bid to tackle a fourth wave of the virus currently surging across the continent. With Europe once again the epicenter of the pandemic, Germany, Austria, and Slovakia have reintroduced restrictions in the run-up Christmas, amid a debate over whether vaccines alone are enough to tame
More than 400 migrants, who have camped for weeks at Belarus’ borders with the EU, have boarded a deportation flight bound for Iraq. Some 430 people, mostly Iraqi Kurds, were booked onto a flight due to leave this afternoon from Minsk airport, the Iraqi foreign ministry said. They were due to board the flight at
A British F35 jet from the UK’s flagship aircraft carrier has crashed into the Mediterranean while flying and the pilot has ejected in the first such incident to impact HMS Queen Elizabeth. Hostile action is not thought to have been involved. An investigation will likely focus on potential technical or human error. A Ministry of
“Take it from me, please don’t come… it’s bad here.” This is one of hundreds of messages sent by migrants on the Belarus border seen by Sky News. The texts warn others not to follow in their footsteps. “To those who are saying ‘the border is open’, it’s not open. It’s a lie,” another migrant
Human remains have been found in a New Zealand coal mine more than a decade after one of the country’s worst industrial disasters, police have said. Twenty-nine men were killed after a series of methane gas explosions ripped through the Pike River mine on the west coast of the South Island in November 2010. Two
A teenager has been found not guilty of the murders of two men and the attempted murder of a third at a demonstration in Wisconsin. Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, was arrested and charged last year after the widely publicised incident in Kenosha during protests sparked by the shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, by a
Ireland is introducing new COVID-19 restrictions including a midnight closing time for pubs, nightclubs and restaurants as the country battles a fourth wave of infections. The measures, which come into effect from Friday, will also see household contacts of those with COVID required to restrict their movements for five days, even if they have been
A “reckless and irresponsible” Russian weapons test has created more than 1,500 pieces of debris now endangering the seven crew aboard the International Space Station, US officials have said. Crew members were forced to take emergency measures on Monday after debris floated dangerously close by – and took cover in their docked capsules amid fears