World

At least 40 people – including many students – have been killed after a bomb exploded near a school in west Kabul, according to an Afghan government official. At least 50 are also reported to have been injured by the blast, which happened in the Shia-majority neighbourhood of Dasht-e-Barchi. No group has yet claimed responsibility

At least 136 people have been injured during clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. The violence at the major holy site, sacred to Muslims and Jews, is an escalation of weeks of violence in Jerusalem that has reverberated across the region. The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said 136

Remnants from a Chinese rocket are expected to fall back to Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry this weekend. The rocket, called Long March 5B, was launched from Wenchang Space Launch Centre on 29 April to carry Tianhe – the first module of China’s future space station – into orbit. The spacecraft contains what will become

At least 25 people, including a police officer, have died in a shootout with drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro, according to local media. The O Globo newspaper said two passengers on a metro train were also wounded in the shooting in Jacarezinho, a shanty town in northern Rio, Brazil. The shootings, it said, happened

An Australian woman who was convicted of killing her four children 18 years ago has petitioned the New South Wales governor for a pardon. Kathleen Folbigg, 53, was convicted on three charges of murder and one of manslaughter in 2003 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. But dozens of scientists have backed her

Two doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine can provide more than 95% protection against infection, severe illness, and death, according to the first nationwide data from Israel. A single dose of the jab, meanwhile, is associated with 58% protection against infection, 76% against hospital admission, and 77% against death, research published in The Lancet suggests. The

India accounted for nearly half of the coronavirus cases reported worldwide last week and one in four of the deaths, the World Health Organisation has said. The country was also responsible for nine in 10 of the COVID-19 cases and deaths in the WHO’s South East Asia region in the past week, according to the

A stolen car has just been recovered from a reservoir in Marin County in California, 25 years after it was dumped there. They only spotted it because the water level has dropped so low – a chilling sign of what the authorities say is a “historic” drought and the impacts of climate change. The reasons

At least 15 people have died after an overpass in Mexico City collapsed, derailing a train and leaving cars trapped under rubble. More than 30 people have also been taken to hospital after the accident, said the country’s civil protection agency. Emergency crews and firefighters have been searching through the wreckage for survivors. There were

Nearly two weeks after India began hitting global record highs with the number of daily coronavirus infections, hospitals are still suffering from an acute shortage of oxygen supplies. The capital’s authorities have asked for the army to be brought in to help set up and run coronavirus health facilities in New Delhi. Our Sky News

One of the world’s biggest international darknet platforms for child sexual abuse images has been busted with more than 400,000 users, German prosecutors have said. Four suspects from Germany were arrested in connection with the “Boystown” darknet site, which paedophiles used to exchange and watch indecent images of children and toddlers from all over the

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

Israel is observing a day of mourning for the 45 people crushed to death at a Jewish religious festival – as questions are raised about how the disaster happened. At least 45 people died during the Lag B’Omer event on the slopes of Mount Meron, where annual commemorations include all-night prayers, singing and dancing. 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