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
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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
Swedish police have arrested a man and a woman on suspicion of murder after two children fell “from a great height” and one of them died. One of those detained was reportedly injured and is being treated in hospital before they are questioned. The children, who were reportedly siblings and both under the age of
Austria is placing millions of people not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in lockdown as of today as Europe becomes the epicentre of the pandemic once again. Anyone over the age of 12 who has not been double-jabbed is now only allowed to leave their homes for work, school, exercise and buying essential supplies – with
Driving through the Bialowieza forest – next to Poland’s border with Belarus – a green light shines out from the porch of a house. The bulb throwing off a luminous hue into the darkness around. Pulling up to look, the owner comes out to talk. The green light is part of local movement offering help
The world was hoping for a lot from China at COP26. Or, at least, something. But there were no major new pledges from the world’s biggest polluter. That shouldn’t be a surprise: you only have to listen to the man who wasn’t there – President Xi Jinping. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible
Talks to reach a climate deal at a United Nations summit in Glasgow will continue into Saturday afternoon, after a Friday deadline passed without an agreement. COP26 president Alok Sharma has told delegates that revised documents for the agreements to be struck at the conference will be issued overnight, and be available by 8am on
A new draft climate deal has been published in Glasgow this morning as COP26 talks spill over and could last well into Saturday after passing the original deadline. Negotiators were given a new draft of the final agreement early on Saturday, which kept controversial phrasing on fossil fuel commitments. It calls on countries to accelerate
The Netherlands will return to a partial lockdown from Saturday amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, its government has announced. Under the three-week lockdown, bars, restaurants and supermarkets will have to close at 8pm, while professional sports matches will be played in empty stadiums. Stores selling non-essential items will have to close at 6pm, and
What’s happening is so extraordinary that at first it’s difficult to make sense of it. We’re in a town called Jharia, in northeast India, standing on the edge of an Indian government mine site. It’s about 9am and the air is already thick with choking coal dust that makes our eyes sting. In front of
A promise to end fossil fuel subsidies must not disappear from a final COP26 agreement despite opposition, the European Union’s climate policy chief has warned. Major fossil fuel exporters including Saudi Arabia and Australia have been accused of trying to water down or remove a section in the draft version that calls for an accelerated
Clinical trials are starting for a new Ebola vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, designed to tackle the two strains responsible for nearly all outbreaks and deaths worldwide. The university has launched a Phase I trial to test the vaccine in human volunteers, with the first jabs taking place today. The study is currently recruiting
Two groups of migrants have reportedly managed to cross the border from Belarus into Poland, amid accusations that Belarusian forces have fired shots into the air near a makeshift camp. Poland’s Defense Ministry posted a video on Twitter with noises of what sounded like shots in a border area. The footage cannot be independently verified
Singapore will no longer pay the medical bills for coronavirus patients who remain “unvaccinated by choice”, the country’s government has said. It comes as the southeast Asian island reported 3,397 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, compared to 2,470 the day before. The government said: “While the total number of COVID-19 cases in hospitals and the
A group of migrants have camped overnight on the far side of Poland’s eastern border in Belarus. Polish police posted a video on Tuesday, which showed the migrants were met with riot police and coils of razor wire, but officers said the situation overnight was calm. That followed a day of heavy tensions on the
The absence of President Jair Bolsonaro at the critical UN summit in Glasgow is not a problem, Brazil’s top climate diplomat has told Sky News. Asked if it was embarrassing that the President had not attended COP26, Paulino de Carvalho Neto said: “Not really. He had other things to do. We have a huge delegation
Satellite images have revealed that China has built mock-ups of US warships in its northwestern desert. The images captured by Colorado-based satellite imagery company Maxar Technologies dated on Sunday show the outlines of a US aircraft carrier and at least one destroyer that sits on a railway track. It comes as China has made a
The family of a 21-year-old Kenyan woman said to have been murdered by a British soldier are taking legal action against the Ministry of Defence. Relatives of Agnes Wanjiru, a single mother to a young baby, have instructed British legal firm Leigh Day to represent them in a bid to find answers to her death
Police in Western Australia have called off a search for a swimmer attacked by a shark. Paul Millachip, 57, was swimming at Port Beach near Fremantle on Saturday morning when he was attacked by what appeared to be a four-and-a-half-metre (15-foot) great white shark. The search was called off on Sunday afternoon, local time, with
Iraq’s prime minister has survived an attempted assassination by a drone armed with explosives. The government said the drone targeted Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi’s home in Baghdad’s Green Zone early on Sunday. Baghdad residents heard the sound of an explosion followed by gunfire from the heavily-fortified area, which houses government offices and foreign