Business

A former Premier League footballer has been jailed for 20 years for bribery, Chinese state media has reported.Li Tie, who played in midfield for Everton more than 30 times between 2002 and 2006, went on to manage the China national team between January 2020 and December 2021. It is alleged the 47-year-old received bribes of more than 50 million yuan (£5.4m).He was found guilty of "leveraging his positions" as head coach of the national football and national selection teams by a court in the city of Xianning.Li Tie was also charged with taking bribes between 2015 and 2019 while working for local football clubs. He pleaded guilty to bribery and corruption in March following an investigation which began in November 2022.Read more from Sky News:Economy in shock decline during OctoberRoyal Mail...

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...

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering an Irish schoolboy who has potentially been missing for more than two years.Police launched a murder investigation in October into the disappearance of Kyran Durnin from County Louth. Kyran was reported missing two months earlier but it is suspected that the boy might have died in 2022 when he was just six years old.Two houses in the Drogheda area have been searched today as part of the hunt for Kyran. In late October, investigators also searched a former family home in Dundalk and adjoining land.Read more:Durnin case 'unlike anything in 40 years', police chief saysIrish PM: Country is 'utterly heartbroken' by missing KyranThe arrested man is being held at a police station in the east of the country.On Tuesday, a woman was arrested and ques...

Two luxury real estate agent brothers have been charged with drugging and violently raping dozens of women.Oren and Tal Alexander, as well as their brother Alon, are accused by New York federal prosecutors of sex trafficking and using their position to take advantage of women from at least 2010 to 2021. Charges have also been filed in Florida, where the men live. Oren, 37, and Tal, 38, are known for brokering deals on luxury properties in New York City and Miami and have worked on properties owned by the likes of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Image: Alon Alexander, Oren Alexander, and Tal Alexander in pictures released by police. Pic: Reuters The indictment alleges they used "deception, fraud, and coercion" to convince wom...

Vladimir Putin has not been invited to attend Donald Trump's inauguration next month, Moscow has said.The Kremlin said it had not received an invitation for the Russian president to attend the US president-elect's swearing-in ceremony on 20 January. Meanwhile Mr Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend the inauguration in Washington DC, despite him threatening massive tariffs on Chinese goods.Mr Trump's incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed he invited Mr Xi but said it was "to be determined" if he would attend."This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies, but our adversaries and our competitors too," Ms Leavitt said during an interview on Fox News. "We saw this in his first term. He i...

The head of NATO has warned the alliance is not ready for the threats it will face from Russia in the coming years and that it is time to shift to a wartime mindset.Mark Rutte, the secretary general of the organisation, said NATO members had spent more than 3% of GDP on defence during the Cold War and argued future spending would have to be much higher than the alliance's current target of 2%. "Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us," Mr Rutte said during a speech in Brussels."We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years."He added: "It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, and turbocharge our defence production and defence spending."Mr Rutte said the current security situation was the "worst in my lifetime". ...

As rebels set about freeing those imprisoned by the reposed Assad regime, more missing people are being found.Earlier on Wednesday, a man who said he was locked up after crossing into Syria by foot seven months ago was found safe. There were initial suspicions it could have been missing US journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, but he and the reporter's family have confirmed otherwise.Syria latest as commander warns ISIS coming out of hidingMeanwhile, the whereabouts of a British journalist taken hostage in Syria in the same year also remain unknown, despite the British government previously claiming he is alive in 2019. John Cantlie has appeared in videos for ISIS and is thought to be the last known British hostage held by the extremist group.He was abducted in Novembe...