Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his ex-UEFA counterpart Michel Platini have been charged with fraud in Switzerland. It follows a six-year investigation into a payment of two million Swiss francs (£1.6m) from FIFA to Platini. Blatter, 85, and French football legend Platini, 65, could now face a trial within months. “This payment damaged FIFA’s
World
2070. It’s the most distant net-zero target of any G20 nation, but, as one climate activist in Kolkata, India, told Sky News: “At least it’s a start, although I’ll be dead by then.” Coming into Glasgow’s COP26 climate summit, India hadn’t updated its previous carbon reduction commitments (or NDCs, Nationally Determined Contributions) pledged during the 2015
Drive through the swamplands of Western Siberia, and you’ll pass one oil installation after the next. This is the largest petroleum basin on Earth and the heartland of Russia’s vast oil and gas reserves. Pipelines cut through the swampy ground. Fuel tankers thunder past, carrying hydrocarbons for global delivery. There is not much sense of
The Maldives is fighting for its very survival. As an archipelago of low-lying islands in the Indian Ocean, it faces not one but three existential dangers, all driven by climate change. The rising sea levels threaten to submerge some of the islands with some scientists warning this disaster could happen within the next decade. Image:
A man brandishing a “long knife” while dressed as the Joker from Batman stabbed several passengers on a Tokyo commuter train before starting a fire in one of the carriages, local media reported. At least 17 people were injured in the attack, including three seriously, though not all the wounded had been stabbed. The incident
At least three people have died and several more are injured after security forces opened fire during Sudan’s largest pro-democracy protest since the military seized control earlier this week. Last Monday, Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah al Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council, declared a state of emergency and dissolved the country’s transitional government. Sudan’s
More than 160 buildings in a Myanmar town have been destroyed in fires caused by shelling from government troops, according to local media. Tensions between Myanmar’s military junta and opposing militia forces have continued to grow since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February. Now footage has
The US Senate has voted unanimously in favour of new restrictions on equipment from Chinese technology companies being installed in American telecommunications networks. The Secure Equipment Act will prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reviewing or issuing licenses to specific listed companies, including Huawei and ZTE. It will now pass to President Joe Biden
Failure to tackle global vaccine inequality at this weekend’s G20 summit could prolong the pandemic, civil society groups have warned. Campaigners have claimed previous calls to tackle structural problems with vaccine supply have so far been ignored, allowing doses to be “hoarded” by rich nations. The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of more than 75
Two weeks of global leaders meeting to save the world begin with a one-on-one between the leader of the planet’s biggest religious denomination and its most powerful superpower. US President Joe Biden flies into Rome for an audience with the Pope ahead of the G20 summit of world leaders and after that the COP26 climate
France has detained a British scallop trawler owned by Macduff Shellfish and given a verbal warning to another fishing boat in waters off its coast. French maritime minister Annick Girardin said it is “not war but this is a combat”, amid a warning the country could ban allowing British fishing boats to disembark at French
The president of the COP26 UN climate summit has told Sky News it is unclear if the crucial meeting will be a success and it is currently hanging “in the balance”. Just days from the summit, Alok Sharma said: “This is going to be difficult. “This is going to be a big challenge. “This is
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro should face a series of criminal indictments over his response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a committee of the country’s senators . The committee voted 7-4 to formally approve a report calling for prosecutors to try Mr Bolsonaro on charges ranging from charlatanism and inciting crime to misuse of public
Sudan’s prime minister Abdalla Hamdock and his wife are at home “under heavy security” after the military seized control in a violent coup. The premier was allowed to return to his house in Kafouri, in the state of Khartoum on Tuesday, according to an official who asked to remain anonymous. But it has yet to
Attacks by Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) in Afghanistan have become more deadly since the withdrawal of NATO forces, with at least 346 civilians killed by the group since late August. The insurgents carried out bombings in areas where previously they had little presence. A security expert told Sky News this could be a sign of
Japan’s Princess Mako has married her commoner boyfriend and left the royal family. The emperor’s niece, who was engaged to her college sweetheart for years, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over the scrutiny the pair were placed under. Mako and Kei Komuro, both 30, announced their engagement four years ago. The engagement was initially praised