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Ireland's Green Party, one of the three previous governing parties, may lose a significant number of seats as attention turns to forming a new coalition.Counting is still in the early stages, with the first seats filled in the late afternoon. The final result may not be clear for days. But that hasn't stopped the leaders of Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail speculating about the formulation of the next government. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:19 What to look out for in the Irish election Mary Lou McDonald told Sky N...

On a freezing cold, misty day, small groups of people gather, sometimes hugging, sometimes crying, sometimes just silent. In front of them, the wall of St Michael's golden-domed monastery in the centre of Kyiv's old town. The walls are now festooned with the faces of thousands of soldiers, all dead, all killed in this war with Russia.It started as a single picture of a fallen soldier placed on the wall. This memorial now stretches into the distance, and there's no space left except on the very top of the wall.A cafe worker brought out a ladder so a family could reach up and place their loved one's picture alongside fallen comrades. Image: The Kyiv memorial wall A short distance away, a funeral procession enters the grounds ...

Levan is sitting in his very old car smiling at us through the snow, his eyes twinkling, amused by our discomfort. Not many people come to visit this corner of Georgia, and today the snow is billowing around us. It is biting cold and there is a large stray dog staring at us with a slight air of menace. Welcome to Brotsleti. We are just a few kilometres from one of the most significant borders in continental Europe. Along the road is a heavily fortified checkpoint that protects the entrance to South Ossetia, the Georgian region that was annexed by Russia 16 years ago.Russian tanks rolled through this small village; missiles landed; troops marched in.Over the course of five days of one-sided conflict, the Russians took control, established borders and claimed that South Ossetia had become a ...

Counting is under way in Ireland's general election.But unlike the UK, it will take more than a few hours for all 174 seats to be filled - and much longer for a government to be formed. Here's three things you should look out for as the votes are being counted. Image: A first preference vote for Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonlad as ballot papers are counted at RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin. Pic: PA 1. The main parties' race to 88That's the number needed for a majority in Ireland's lower house of parliament, the Dail. But the three largest parties - Fianna Fail (FF), Fine Gael (FG) and Sinn Finn (SF) - have not fielded enough candidates to reach this, so they will be on the hunt for coalition partners.In the last election, FF wo...

Israel claims it has killed a Palestinian involved in the 7 October attack by Hamas.The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Saturday that it had carried out a strike in Gaza on a "vehicle with a terrorist that took part in the murderous 7 October massacre". The IDF said it was investigating claims that the person worked for the international humanitarian organisation, the World Central Kitchen (WCK)."The terrorist was monitored for a while by IDF intelligence and was struck following credible information regarding his real-time location," they said."We emphasise that it was a civilian unmarked vehicle and its movement on the route was not coordinated for transporting of aid." The World Central Kitchen provides food in conflict zones. Sky News has reached out to the WCK for c...

It had appeared to be a conflict frozen in time, but the operation launched with blistering speed by Syrian opposition fighters has turned all of that upside down.It is also a potent reminder of the complexity of the Syrian conflict. What was a stalemate has revealed that the regime of President Bashar al Assad may very well be standing on clay feet.Whether the rebel push continues its momentum and transforms into a wider offensive remains to be seen - but its significance politically and militarily is immense.Aleppo was once the country's largest city and was a key battleground in the civil war - it has also been a stronghold for the regime. Image: Rebels stand in front of University of Aleppo. Pic: Reuters What's happeni...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wide-ranging interview gives a window into the Ukrainian president's thinking on Trump, NATO and a possible end to the war.Speaking to Sky News's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay, Mr Zelenskyy talked about what it would take to negotiate with Vladimir Putin, whom he branded a "terrorist". In this story, we look at five key takeaways from the interview, which can be watched in full here.NATO protection for part of Ukraine?Asked about NATO, President Zelenskyy said "no one has offered" Ukraine a place in the alliance, but he suggested that if an invitation was extended to the parts of the country that his military controls, this could end the "hot stage" of the war. This would be under the condition that the NATO invitation itself recognises Ukraine's internationally-r...