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Russia has established "direct contact" with Syria's Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) rebel group, according to state media outlet Interfax.It reported that deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov told journalists that Russia was aiming to maintain its military bases inside Syria. Mr Bogdanov said contact with HTS was "proceeding in constructive fashion" and that Moscow hoped the group would fulfil its pledges to maintain order and ensure the safety of diplomats and other foreigners within Syria.Follow the latest updates on Syria"The bases are still there, where they were on Syrian territory," he said. "No other decisions have been made for the moment. "They were there at the Syrians' request with the aim of fighting terrorists from the Islamic State."I am proceeding on the basis of the notion ...

The head of NATO just told allies they must return to a "war mindset" and "turbo-charge" defence spending to counter growing threats in what is surely the most consequential speech by an alliance chief since the Cold War.The big question is whether national governments and their publics across Europe - including here in the UK - are listening. Sir Keir Starmer appears for now to favour peacetime priorities over preparing for war.His newly announced set of milestones includes voter-friendly goals such as raising living standards, reducing hospital waiting lists and building more homes, despite his own military chiefs increasingly sounding the alarm bell about the parlous state of defence.It is a very real example of how deciding to allocate - or not - billions of extra pounds to buy weapons...

It is not even Christmas yet: trees are still being decorated, turkeys are yet to be defrosted and Christmas puddings remain intact.But though 2024 is not even out, scientists already have a handle on how hot 2025 will be. Next year's global average temperature is likely to be the third-highest on record - going back to 1850 - after 2024 in the top spot and 2023 in second place, the Met Office said today.This year is on course to be at least 1.5C hotter than pre-industrial times, before humans started burning fossil fuels at scale, and 2023 was 1.45C warmer.Next year is forecast to be at least 1.29°C hotter, but probably closer to 1.4C, bumping 2020 into fourth place. And 2025 is expected to be hot even though the El Nino weather pattern, which had a warming effect on 2023 and 2024, has wa...

Bird flu can infect horses without causing any symptoms, according to new research, raising fears that the virus could be spreading undetected.It's another twist in the emerging threat of the H5N1 virus, widely seen as the most likely cause of the next pandemic. Scientists at the University of Glasgow found antibodies to the virus in blood samples taken from horses living in Mongolia. Their results have been published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Image: The HPAI H5N1 virus. File pic: iStock Professor Pablo Murcia, who led the research, told Sky News that the finding suggests horses worldwide could be vulnerable in areas where bird flu is present - and they could pass on the virus to humans."It's very importa...