North Korea has said its main nuclear complex is fully operational and the country is ready to face US hostility with nuclear weapons "at any time". Its nuclear weapons are being improved "in quality and quantity", an official quoted by the state news agency KCNA said. The director of North Korea's Atomic Energy Institute said atomic scientists had "made innovations day by day" to

Take away the odd fire investigator or police patrol car and Middletown in California would be a ghost town. There is very little for many residents to return to. The small mountain community, just north of Napa wine country, took the full force of the Valley Fire that continues to rage across Northern California. At least one person died here, an elderly woman who could not escape and

Queen Rania of Jordan has called for European leaders to agree on a "holistic and cohesive" policy for tackling the refugee crisis. Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Queen Rania said the arrival of 1.4 million Syrian refugees into Jordan had caused "immense strain" to the country's economy. "This crisis has had an impact on us for coming up to five years now," she said. "We have had a

A man who killed the woman he lived with and a university professor in Mississippi has apparently shot himself dead. Greenville officers were following suspect Shannon Lamb when he pulled over, jumped out of his car and ran, police said. The officers heard one gunshot and found Lamb with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The 45-year-old was pronounced dead in hospital. Police

Germany is expecting one million migrants this year - 200,000 more than previously estimated, Angela Merkel's deputy has said. In a letter to party members, the country's vice chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, said: "Everything points to the fact that we won't have 800,000 migrants as has been predicted by the Interior Ministry, but one million." He also called for other EU nations to take their

Malcolm Turnbull has been sworn in as the 29th Prime Minister of Australia after a leadership challenge saw the ouster of Tony Abbott. Mr Turnbull's Liberal Party colleagues voted 54-44 to replace Mr Abbott during a surprise ballot on Monday. He becomes the nation's fourth leader in a little over two years, but despite division in his party, Mr Turnbull says he will lead a "very strong

The great trek north goes on unabated. Thousands upon thousands heading for the sanctuary of the west; or at least that is what they hope. This is already an intercontinental crisis but it could turn into a European catastrophe if previously open borders are shut. It will leave tens of thousands, eventually perhaps hundreds of thousands, trapped and homeless within the confines of at least

Russia has positioned seven tanks at a Syrian airfield where it has been building up defences, US officials claim. One of the officials, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Russian T-90 tanks and artillery have been seen at the airfield near the port city of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar al Assad.  It comes following news last week that Russia

US officials say they expect Russia to launch combat operations against rebels in Syria "very soon," following reports of a massive airlift of ammunition, Russian heavy armour and anti-aircraft missiles to back up the Damascus regime. The Pentagon has now tracked 15 flights of Russian Antonov-124 "Condor" flights into Syria and has seen two more Russian ships offload military cargo

Jeremy Corbyn has unveiled his full shadow cabinet as his office sought to defuse a growing row over the lack of women in key roles in the Labour's frontbench team. :: Latest On This Story Here A statement was issued after the newly elected party leader had refused to answer questions over the make-up of his shadow cabinet, which has been criticised. Mr Corbyn had pledged to ensure half

It wasn't all that long ago that many political and economic theorists had decided that the old era of left vs right politics was over. As the country and its citizens had become richer, rendering everyone middle class, those old divisions between right-wingers who wanted lower taxes and left-wingers who wanted higher public spending were supposed to disappear. But look at British politics

It says something about Labour under Jeremy Corbyn that the party's new shadow chancellor declares that one of his hobbies is "generally fermenting the overthrow of capitalism". Of all the people Mr Corbyn could have chosen to appoint as his most senior colleague, few could have been more divisive and uncompromising than John McDonnell. He is a Labour MP who has spent his political

China has confirmed it is to open up its vast empire of state-owned companies to private investors, as part of efforts to boost investment as credit dries up in its economy. The official Xinhua news agency said that guidelines issued by the Communist Party's Central Committee and the State Council, China's cabinet, included plans to merge some state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and allow part-privatisations. Xinhua

Sky News reflects on the rocky relationship previous leaders of the Labour Party have had with Britain's trade unions. :: Harold Wilson Labour and the trade union movement were almost one-and-the-same thing for many years. The party was formed by the unions, was funded by them, and remained inextricably linked to them.  Indeed, the role of the party in the first place was as a mechanism

The latest edition of iOS, Apple's mobile software, is nearly here - with people able to download it on Wednesday. All devices from the iPhone 4s onwards should receive a notification that the software - iOS 9 - is available to install. As well as being offered as a free upgrade for owners of older models of the iPhone, it will come pre-installed on the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models. The

Chinese internet giant Alibaba - which had the world's biggest public stock offering in history last year - has denied its share price is about to halve. The company raised $25bn (£16bn) in its November share flotation, as demand drove shares to open at $92.70 on the New York Stock Exchange - almost 40% above its $68 initial public offering (IPO) price. But after rocketing 75% in their