Transcript of The World with Anna Botting | Ukraine reportedly claims it killed senior Russian general in Moscow

Tonight, Russia vows revenge after the assassination of a senior general in Central Moscow. Moments after these images were recorded, a bomb exploded, killing the head of the Kremlin's chemical weapons unit. Igor Kirillov was accused by Kyiv of approving the use of toxic gasses against Ukrainian soldiers. But Ukraine says retribution for war crimes is inevitable. We'll examine the evidence that Russia is breaking international law.

Also coming up, we go inside the illegal drug factories which bankrolled the Assad regime.

Whilst most of the people of this country were living in absolute poverty, the economy devastated by the civil war, these little capsules were literally what were keeping the Assad family and their cronies in this kind of luxury.

That is the Israeli prime minister visited newly seized Syrian territory, insisting his forces would remain in place. Plus, the tip of the iceberg, the lawyer representing 1 of p Diddy's alleged victims thinks 100 of others are afraid to come forward. Hello there. Good evening. We begin though with a developing story tonight.

The man accused of killing a senior health insurance boss has been charged with murder as an act of terrorism and could soon be extradited to New York. Luigi Mangione has attracted online attention and thrown the spotlight on the health insurance industry. But speaking in the past few minutes, the New York's police commissioner hit out at those who appeared to glorify his actions.

In the nearly 2 weeks since mister Thompson's killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold blooded murder. Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack. People ghoulishly plastered posters threatening the CEOs, other CEOs with an x over mister Thompson's picture as though he was some sort of a sick trophy. And yesterday sorry. Yesterday, the New York Post reported that some extreme activists were circulating a deck of cards with other most wanted CEOs to be targeted for assassination.

These are the threats of a lawless, violent mob who would trade in their own vigilantism for the rule of law that protects us all. Let me say this plainly. There is no heroism in what Mangione did. This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk.

We don't celebrate murders, and we don't lionize the killing of anyone. And any attempt to rationalize this is a vile, reckless, and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.

Well, our US correspondent James Matthews is following the developments for us this evening. So explain the the charge or charges then, James, and and what has happened.

Yeah. Hi. Anna, a grand jury has been looking at the evidence, mounting steadily against Luigi Mangione, and they have come to the conclusion that he should face a a range of charges top of the list. And the 1 that would send him to jail possibly for life without parole, is murder 1, murder in the first degree. In furtherance of terrorism, they say.

Now this is quite rare in New York, and, normally, it's a charge reserved for the premeditated murder of a police officer, a judge, a public figure. But, that line in the furtherance of terrorism, I think what has brought Mangione under that umbrella is the manifesto that was found in his possession. When he talks about the murder of other CEOs who are to target health care CEOs. Essentially, a manifesto that outlines, terrorist activity, a strategy that would lead to the murder, in a on a premeditated way of others. So that is the most serious charge that they will pursue him on when he eventually faces justice in New York.

That might not be too far away. Currently, he's in Pennsylvania. The question is when will he be extradited across state? The indications are that, he will not resist that. So things could move very quickly, on the back of his court appearance in Pennsylvania on Thursday.

He won't, I might say, face the death penalty. New York did away with that in 2004.

James, bringing us up to date with that interesting development this evening. Thank you. Well, let us turn now to an audacious assassination just 5 miles away from the Kremlin. In the early hours of this morning, Ukrainian agents detonated a bomb attached to an electronic scooter, killing the Russian general accused of overseeing the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield. Igor Kirillov is the highest ranking Russian military official to be killed away from the frontline since the war began.

While claiming responsibility, security services sources in Kyiv described him as a war criminal and a legitimate target of what they called a special operation. That, of course, the very phrase used by Moscow for so long when referencing their invasion. Well, tonight, we examined the evidence that chemical weapons are being used and asked how much it matters that Ukraine has lost the moral high ground. Our Moscow correspondent, Ivor Bennett, with his report.

It didn't look like there was any danger when Igor Kirillov and his assistant left his Moscow apartment block. But hidden behind a lamppost circled in red was a bomb. And within seconds of leaving, both men were dead. Shattered glass, all that was left of this car windscreen. The bomb was concealed in an electric scooter and was reportedly the work of Ukraine's security service.

Kirillov was a top Russian general. His assassination here, not even 5 miles from the Kremlin, brings the war much closer to home for those living nearby.

I thought this was it. War has started. Drones. The building was shaking, and I live on the 23rd floor. I didn't even look out the window because it was so scary.

Lieutenant general Kirillov was in charge of Russia's nuclear, chemical, and biological protection forces, the ones deployed in conditions of contamination. Ukraine's accused him of using chemical weapons on the battlefield. Russia denies the allegation, but the UK believes it too and appeared to welcome his death.

Make no mistake. This was a bad man, and he has a proven and admitted record of using chemical weapons against troops in on the battlefield. And it was for that reason that as a government in October, we sanctioned him and his unit because they were breaking international law.

There's been a string of similar attacks in Russia since the start of the war, which Moscow's blamed on Kyiv. Among them, the killing of Daria Dugina, the daughter of ultranationalist ideologue, Alexander Dugin, in 2022. But Kirillov is the most high profile of them all. The fact this has happened so far from the battlefield and so close to the center of Moscow will be hugely embarrassing for Vladimir Putin because it's another reminder that despite all his talk of Russia being in control of the war, things still aren't always going to plan. Russia's investigative committee has classified the attack as an act of terrorism, and the Kremlin will undoubtedly respond.

Eva Bennett, Sky News, Moscow.

Well, you heard there that Igor Kirillov was described as a bad man with a proven record of breaking international law. In Russia, he's been described as a patriot, his killing as a terrorist attack. It is the latest in a series of assassinations apparently carried out by the SBU, Ukraine's security services. Here is our security and defense analyst, Michael Clark.

The The apparent assassination of general Kirillov is the most significant since the war began, and it happened just 4 miles from the Kremlin. But it's not the first time. In July, a Moscow car bomb targeted a military intelligence GRU officer and his wife, severely injuring them both. Russia blamed Ukraine, probably rightly. And last year, a pro war military blogger, Vladlyn Tatarski, was killed in the CAFE bombing in the center of Saint Petersburg.

The first such attack like this since the full scale invasion of Ukraine was also a car bomb killing Daria Dugina in August 2022, just west of Moscow. She was the daughter of the ultranationalist Putin ally, Alexander Dugin. Now Ukraine denies that it carried it out, but Moscow blamed them, and the western allies reportedly said that they believe that Ukraine had ordered the attack. What makes Kirillov's assassination so significant is what it tells us about the way the war is going and where it might go in the coming months. Kirillov was in charge of CBN, chemical, biological, nuclear, by which we mean radiological, and he was in charge of the protection of Russian troops from those elements, chemical, biological, radiological.

But his role went far beyond that. His actual behavior was that he was involved in the planning of chemical warfare in Syria, and he's had a great deal to do, and that's what the British government think, with chemical warfare all the way around the front, in Ukraine. The k 51 gas grenade, a grenade that carries CS gas, but in some cases in lethal concentrations is ubiquitous all along the front. It's used all the time, and there have been traces of sarin and cyanide, in a number of chemical attacks. The Ukrainians have said that about 5,000 attacks have taken place.

Western analysts say that might be a slight exaggeration, but the number is more or less credible. And the reason that this matters now is because of what is going to happen on the 20th January, the inauguration of president Trump, because we all believe that the political dynamics behind the war will begin to alter after the inauguration of the new president. And so both sides, both Russia and Ukraine, are pushing as hard as they possibly can for every ounce of military dominance before Trump takes over. And what the Ukrainians are doing, they're sending a message, not just to the Russians, but to the rest of the world that we are fighting for our lives, and we'll do whatever it takes. And if assassinations, which technically are terrorists, if that's what it takes, that's what we will do.

That's the message to the incoming president.

Professor Michael Clark there. Well, joining me now is Sergey Petukov, a former Ukrainian deputy justice minister and lawyer who has fought against Russian aggression in international courts. Welcome to you. So what justifies then extrajudicial state sponsored assassinations like this?

Look. Let's start by pointing out that Ukraine and Russia are in the state of an international armed conflict, and general Kirillov is a high ranking military official of Russia who's directly involved in this military, conflict. Therefore, this makes him a legitimate target under the international humanitarian law. He's a combatant. He can expect and other Russian generals can be expected to be targeted by Ukrainian, forces at any point everywhere where they might be.

And, international humanitarian law as such does not limit the way, you know, the what devices can be used against the person. What is important is that, you know, there's a proportionality there. There's, you know, it it does not cause any collateral damage unjustified collateral damage to the civilians. And as we can see, it appears that this, was a very well calculated calculated attack against the specific person when he approached, and there was no 1 else in the vicinity and no collateral damage. So strictly speaking, this is an act of war, that is just another element of this long standing war between Ukraine and Russia, where Ukraine has defended itself against the Russian aggression to the extent possible.

Yeah. The the problem is this is what we associate with Russia, isn't it? Extrajudicial kit killings. We know too well in the UK, right from polonium 210 and Alexander Litvinenko to the Salisbury poisonings, how damaging they can be. Do you accept that in doing this 1 act, Ukraine has lost the moral high ground?

Not at all. You are making a mistake by equaling the Russian military general and a civilian. We're not talking about extrajudicial killing here. We're not applying human rights law to a civilian who might be prosecuted for something. We're talking about a military person.

The general is not different from a soldier who is attacking Ukraine on the battleground who might be killed at any point of time. He's just as responsible for aggression. We are talking in terms of the the law of war, the international humanitarian law in Geneva Conventions, which allows you to kill, foreign competent when whenever you wherever you can find him. So applying the standards of the human protection according to civilians is simply wrong in the situation.

Okay. So tell us about Kirillov then. And have chemical, biological, or radiological weapons been used inside Ukraine? Certainly suggestion of the use of a riot control agent called chloropicrin. I hope I've pronounced that correctly.

So what is your understanding of what has been used by Russia on the on the battlefield?

I'm not a military expert. I don't have access to the information that is available to our secret services, but I do trust them when they, pronounce him a a war criminal for applying the chemical weapons against Ukrainians. This falls within the pattern of Russian violation of international humanitarian law. They are targeting civilians, civilian infrastructure. They're not counting lives.

They are waging all out war that was coming to 19th century and the in the earliest 20th century. They just simply deny the application of the international humanitarian law to Ukrainian nationals. So, in this respect, from from our perspective, this person was a war criminal, and, of course, we would have preferred him to be tried by an international tribunal. But Russia is not cooperating with the international justice, and, you know, the arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court against Putin and his generals are disregarded by Russia. So in this situation, it's very hard to, you know, to follow the judicial proceedings, which are existing, which are there.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague has been established exactly for situation like that, and Ukraine has recently ratified its statute and is cooperating with the courts, whereas Russia has been issuing criminal, cases against the judges of the International Criminal Court. So this is my take on it. I think, Russia has been violating the Geneva Conventions and applying illegal, weapons against Ukrainian soldiers and annihilating Ukrainian cities and civilians. And So

so what you're saying, you have no means of taking these people to the court, so you have to act this way. You've also said more to come. The problem is it works both ways, does it not? Retribution, no doubt, will follow by Moscow. Are you happy that your own leaders in Ukraine have enough protection, to see them safe?

Now look. I mean, this is this is the war, you know, we've been living in this state of war for 10 years. I I can't imagine anything new that Russia can do. They've been, saying they're retributing against Ukrainians, for you know, Ukrainians have been targeting military targets on the territory of Russia, and Russian response has been targeting civilian civilian objects. So I don't think Ukrainians are afraid of those words.

We've heard them repeatedly that Russia will retaliate, retribute. The reality is that they don't have any, resources to do that. And, I think, you know, it's an all out war. It's not a game for us. It's a question of survival of Ukrainian nation, and therefore, everybody's, pretty much prepared to do whatever it takes within the limits of international law

to win this war. I'm sorry to interrupt you. Just 1 more question, Sergei, if you don't mind. How this was done, explosives in an electronic scooter in Central Moscow. You know, what is the message you're trying to send to the leadership, in Russia, but also to the Russian people?

I think the message to the Russian leadership is, the justice will find you no matter what. If you are committing war crimes, sooner or later, you will be punished. And I think this is a very powerful message whoever chose to send it.

Thank you very much indeed for for joining us there, Sergei Petrukhov. Good to talk to you. Thank you. Now let's head to Syria now where the Israeli prime minister visited newly seized territory today and insisted that his soldiers would remain there until another arrangement was found. Benjamin Netanyahu says his forces took over the buffer zone to prevent jihadist groups from exploiting the current power vacuum to threaten Israel.

Let's get more and go to our Middle East correspondent, Alastair Bankel. So the Israeli leader stepping foot in Syria. Why was that important today, Alastair?

Well, for Beni Minh Sinha, it's the first time that he has stepped foot inside Syria for 53 years. I think I'm right in saying since he was a member of Sayeret Matakal, which is an Israeli special forces unit, which he used to serve in many, many decades ago. But for an Israeli prime minister to go inside Syria is quite an extraordinary moment, and it's come about because of the fall of Assad and Netanyahu pushing Israeli forces into the buffer zone and slightly beyond that in the aftermath of Assad's fall and demise. Now the Israelis say they're there to secure their border with Syria whilst things in Syria, remain in a flux. They don't know who's gonna take control of the security of the border, and of the country, and they will remain there until that becomes clear.

But the very sight of an Israeli prime minister like Netanyahu in, Syrian, sorry, an Israeli prime minister in Syrian territory will concern some that he has plans potentially to annex Syrian territory as the Israelis have done, in the past after 1967 war. At the moment, the Israeli government say that's not the plan whatsoever. It's about securing their borders. It's about trying to understand what is gonna happen in Syria with the new regime, with the new administration there, because, of course, they are concerned that there could be militant groups on their border in the future.

Of course, it came amid a report that Netanyahu was planning to travel to Cairo for ceasefire talks, confusion certainly about that. But does it feel like we are edging towards a ceasefire for Gaza?

Yeah. I mean, it looks like these reports that he traveled or was going to travel to Cairo were false. That's been denied by people in his office, by various Arab diplomats, and by the Egyptians as well. I think we are edging closer to a ceasefire deal. It's been like that for the last couple of weeks.

It's been pretty slow progress, but it's been progress in the right direction. There are reports that Hamas have softened on their position, where they were previously saying that the IDF had to leave Gaza completely before any hostages were released. Apparently, they're not seeking to that anymore. There's not an awful lot of information coming out because it seems like all sides wanna keep these talks quite secretive, so as not to jeopardize them. But it does look as though progress is being made, and there is optimism in all corners.

Certainly keeping an eye on that. Alastair, thank you very much indeed. Updating us there from Jerusalem. Well, British diplomats have now met the leader of the rebel group, which spearheaded the toppling of Bashar al Assad. Photos released by Hayat Tariya al Sham or HTS show Ahmed al Sharra, who was formerly known as Mohammed al Jalani with the UK officials in Damascus yesterday.

They include the special representative for Syria and Snow. And as the rebels seek legitimacy, they're allowing journalists to film a drugs trade not properly documented before. The amphetamine like substance, Captagon, sustained the Assad regime and fueled war and addiction in the region. Well, the former regime was effectively a narco state with senior officials building a smuggling empire across the Middle East, making up to 5 and a half $1,000,000,000 last year, almost all of Syria's 8 GDP. This report now from our international correspondent, Diana Magnais, begins at a private villa near the border with Lebanon and ends in a Captagon factory on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Now the dictator is gone and it's these men in charge, we can show you for the first time just how the production of an amphetamine called Captagon fueled Assad's narco state. So these are all the raw materials. Is that right?

Yes.

For years, Syria's neighbors warned about the flood of Captagon pouring out from Syria and across the Middle East, especially into the gulf.

It's the drugs.

Ah, right. Okay. Quite a lot

of drugs.

These are drugs.

And so this all gets crushed together and put into these small

tablets. Yes. Press and, small tablets. Yes. This.

A plastic balls, small balls, and inside, 4 tablets. Wow. Tablets. Drugs.

How much do you think you sell this for?

1 tablet's $5. $5. Yes.

So $20. It's difficult to open.

Yes.

The scale is extraordinary, especially when you think that this was just a private villa belonging to a man called Basim, a colonel in Syria's 4th armored division. So this is the part where the family actually lived. The other side is just the factory. And you look at this luxury, it's pretty tacky luxury. You think about the fact that whilst most of the people of this country were living in absolute poverty, the economy devastated by the civil war, these little capsules were literally what were keeping the Assad family and their cronies in this kind of luxury.

Abu Bilal has just returned to the farm he was forced to evacuate when the villa next door was built.

This entire area belonged to the 4th division. Not a single soul could come near here. We never knew what they were doing because we couldn't come near here. No 1.

The 4th division ran much of the captagon trade too under the control of Bashar's brother, Maher, famously thuggish, believed to have fled Syria for Iraq and possibly now Moscow. This is another cap taken factory in a Damascus suburb. The pills hidden in electric switching systems, 100 of 1000 of them. The factory belongs to Mohammed Al Thout. But when he fled the civil war in 2014, he says Mahe and his cronies moved in.

They turned my food production facility into a drug operation. I went to the relevant authorities to claim my factory back, and no 1 helped me.

Hardly surprising given the revenues that Captagon was bringing in. Somewhere between $26,000,000,000, the World Bank says, and an economy worth not much more than that. Diana Magnais, Sky News, Damascus.

Well, you're watching the world with me, Anna Boching. Stay with me because coming up, we'll get the view from Cyprus, the gateway between Europe and the Middle East about what should happen next in the region. And later, more on the desperate race to get food and supplies to Mayotte in the Indian Ocean after that deadly cycle.

We've come

to 1 of Moscow's Cold War Bunkers.

It was built as

a top secret command center. Being here really feels like you're stepping back in time. I'm Ivor Bennett, Sky's Moscow correspondent. A show of military might and menace. Courage, bravery, and sacrifice will win the day.

Amazing. It's a new subject. They'll learn about combat drones and some how to handle a Kalashnikov.

The Kremlin continues to put forward

its own version of events, both present and past. There are no mention of the fact that Russia invaded its neighbor. That's rewriting history, isn't it?

Now we are really careful.

Vladimir Putin put forward his plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine, telling Kyiv, pull out of your eastern territories and the war will end. Why should the west trust you?

Frankly, I don't care whether the west trust us or not.

Vladimir Putin is already the Kremlin's longest serving leader since Stalin. The question is, what will a 5th Putin term mean for Russia and the world? Why do you support Vladimir Putin, mister Seagal?

I can't answer a question that's stupid.

I've watched Vladimir Putin attempt to create a new world order. The Saint Petersburg Economic Forum was the backdrop to Vladimir Putin's latest verbal volley that Russia could send missiles to other nations to target the West. Ambassador, I wonder if we have a big word for Sky News. Is the West right? Are you fueling Russia's war machine?

Swedish media. Oh, my god. You are not afraid of being here.

American journalist Evan Gershkovitch is on trial here who was first on display. Russia says Evan Gershkovitch was caught red handed, but has never produced any evidence to back that up. Sky News. Get the full story first.

The most significant day of this conflict.

They keep telling us that they won.

This is what's left of it.

Don't save your people.

Why only in America?

People want their country to work.

Just want a job in a normal life.

Why are these homes in I want you to be honest with people.

That has happened within minutes. Sky News, the full story first. Free wherever you get your news.

Jubilation in the streets, while emotional.

This is a political victory for prime minister Modi and his Hindu nationalist party.

I'm Neville Lazarus, and I'm Sky's reporter based in Delhi.

Companies like these are helping Indur in its trajectory

to be a serious player in space exploration.

Sky News, get the full story first.

We've got your Sunday mornings covered. From the front page and the sounds of the streets to the voices of the people who make the major calls and big picture politics beyond Westminster. We'll put you at the heart of our story, and you start to Sunday. I'm ready. Are you?

Join me, Trevor Phillips, Sunday mornings on Sky News.

Well, welcome back. We have been focusing tonight on the future of Syria and indeed Gaza too. Cyprus is an important gateway between Europe and the Middle East. It hosts a British military base. It's been affected by migration from Syria, and it has vested interests in not allowing Turkey to dictate what happens next there.

Well, I've been speaking to the country's foreign minister Konstantinos Kombos about what happens next in the region.

There seems to be a window of opportunity opening. The question is whether this opportunity is, actually been taken advantage of. There is also a high risk of danger because in the event we have a collapse, especially in, the situation in Syria, there then we'll be going back to, what we have been seeing in the last few years. And the Syrian people deserve much more. They need to have an inclusive, open, transparent, autonomous process, leading to a transition of power, and of course, without the interference by third parties.

The issue of, direct contact is something that, we all need to be careful about in terms of, having the contacts if, that is being deemed necessary, but without actually legitimizing until we see what the, end game is. And we need to have assurances about the transition in an inclusive manner, in a manner that respects the rights of the minorities and respects the rich diversity of the country. So, we are still at the beginning of this, of this still very volatile, and it's very dynamic.

Donald Trump said yesterday in a news conference that Turkey had orchestrated the overthrow of Assad, suggesting HTS is controlled by Turkey. The quote was they've wanted it for 1000 of years. Do you agree? Is this being orchestrated by Turkey?

What we need to make sure is that, the influence that Turkey is trying to assert in Syria, is not going to create, an even worse situation than it is. We need also to be make to to make sure that, the sensitivities of all the other countries in the region are very much taken into consideration. We have seen now that there are there are in good conflicts in relation or against the Kurds. This is all creating a very volatile state of affairs, and therefore, we should all be extremely careful in sending the right messages.

When is it time to support a Kurdish homeland? Clearly, the Kurds straddle, you know, majority 3 nations, Turkey that you've mentioned, Iraq, Syria. They were crucial in the overthrow of Islamic State. Is it time to give them a protected area, and should Turkey, take heed of that?

We need to remember that, the Kurds were left, on their own at critical, moments in time. So the international community needs needs to look again at the whole issue in a way that ensures that there is a a necessary stability in the area. And the

Kurds are So does that mean that you would support can be Well, would you support a Kurdish homeland then? Is that the only way to give them stability?

The stability of the region depends on having, the Kurds are able to exercise their right of self determination in a way that is, constructive towards, Syria, towards, the whole region as a whole. But at the same time, we need to make sure that, the attacks that are ongoing against the Kurds are being contained, are being, stopped. And the international community needs to make sure that, there is, the actual, equilibrium of power in the region that, would ensure for a new Syria that is inclusive.

The west clearly wants to see Russian assets pulled out of Syria. We've seen movement with our own eyes this week in terms of their military equipment. Is it time to get Russia out of the region in its entirety? And, therefore, would we also include the Russian money that flows in or or or flows out of Cyprus in that?

I think, there is a misconception in the in the in the question. The the position of the Republic of Cyprus as regards the the financial, institution has been, very clear. There is a permanent presence of, of US, officials from the FBI and the Department of Justice in Cyprus assisting us in investigation and reorganizing. We have set a new, sanction, monitoring, unit up with the help and funding by the United Kingdom. And, of course, we're fully aligned with the 15 packages of sanctions adopted by the European Union as a member state of the European Union.

Therefore, these are, issues of the past that no longer concern the Republic of Cyprus.

And finally, should there be a ceasefire for Gaza?

There is a need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate release of the hostages. This is a very complex, situation. The situation that has been going on for over a year right now has expanded to Lebanon. You have seen the situation in the Red Sea. We now have Syria.

It's a very dangerous situation, and, the European Union has been asking for, the negotiations to to restart in order to reach an agreement. There seems to be there seem to be developments in that regard, and we are all hopeful that this would be a positive outcome.

Foreign minister there of Cyprus talking to me a little earlier. Well, this is the world with me, Anna Boting. Next up, just the tip of the iceberg. A lawyer for an alleged victim of Sean Diddy Combs tells Sky News that other celebrities will be implicated.

Play Sky News.

From the Sky News Center at 7.

Now that you're up to date, we can go into a bit more detail.

Things can change incredibly quickly. Taken by surprise.

Have you ever known a moment like this in British politics before?

Yes. Cheers. We'll start with breaking

news.

Let's get the latest on the ground.

So by the end, we'll hopefully all understand what's going on

in the world just that little better.

Well, welcome back. Let us focus now on the devastation wrought by Cyclone Shido. Last night, we heard from a senator on the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean who said people there were starving and that widespread looting had begun. Authorities fear that 100, maybe even thousands of people have been killed. The storm was the strongest to hit the island in 90 years with wind speeds of 200 kilometers per hour.

The tropical cyclone blew through the Indian Ocean, also battering nearby Madagascar and the Comoros Islands. Later, it made landfall in Mozambique on the African mainland. But Malawi was also hit with heavy rain and strong winds. French rescue efforts are being coordinated from the island of Reunion. Our correspondent, Ashish Joshi, reports now from the city of Sandini.

A bustling community just days ago, now shredded to splinters. This is the aftermath of cyclone Chido. Mayotte has not faced a storm this fierce for over 90 years. Nothing was spared. 100 of miles away across the Indian Ocean, a huge aid effort is underway.

It's being coordinated from this warehouse in Reunion's capital, Saint Denis. These are the kits that they're sending out to Mayotte at the moment. This is emergency shelter. It has everything that the people there can use to try and build some temporary accommodation until something more permanent is arranged. It has hand saws, measuring tapes, hammers, shears, and this is being shipped out on containers day by day.

Power of Myotte is out, and communication is patchy at best.

With the the tools and the plastic sheeting, at least they can have a shelter, an emergency shelter for the next, days.

The Red Cross has confirmed that some 200 workers dispatched to the island before the cyclone struck are still unaccounted for. The disaster relief effort is a logistical nightmare.

The telecommunications is very complicated. The information we get from the field, are still very partial. And then the logistic is a huge challenge with the airport, which is not operational. Only, military asset can, go now. So there's not enough capacity in terms of logistics.

The shipping containers will take up to 4 days to reach Miles. So emergency supplies have to be flown in by the French military. 4 or 5 planes each day carrying up to 50 tons of food, water, and medicine.

The personnel, the gendarmes, the civil protection service, the military are all mobilized to reinforce the plan to send around a 1000 people to the area to help by Wednesday.

But that will be 4 days after the deadly cyclone. People in my yacht will want to know why more help didn't arrive sooner. Ashish Joshi Sky News, Reunion Island.

The lawyer for 1 of the accusers of Sean Diddy Combs has told Sky News that the allegations seen so far are just the tip of the iceberg. Lisa Bloom represents Dawn Richard, a former member of a girl group signed to Diddy's record label. A warning, this report from our arts and entertainment correspondent, Katie Spencer, contains some flash photography.

From a lifestyle of super yachts and aspirational wealth to this. Sean Diddy Combs now behind bars at this notorious Brooklyn Detention Center as he awaits trial for sex trafficking and racketeering, pleading not guilty to charges that with the help of his employees, he coerced and abused for years using blackmail and violence to silence his victims. And on top of the criminal case made against him, the hip hop mogul also faces a mountain number of civil suits, more than 20 so far.

I look forward to taking Sean Combs' deposition in prison. For 1 thing, we know where he is. He can't say he's unavailable and out of town.

Lawyer Lisa Bloom is representing this woman, pictured next to Combs here, singer Dawn Rishard, a member of 2 bands formed by the rapper.

She alleges that she was groped and grabbed that by Sean Combs, that she witnessed him physically assaulting other women, that he restrained her, locked her into cars and other places, falsely imprisoned her. And it was just a really terrifying experience for her.

Combs' lawyers say Rishard's allegations are an attempt to rewrite history. False claims, they say, manufactured by a singer who has an album out and who's trying to get a payday. They argue if she had such a negative experience, why did she return to work with him?

This is just the tip of the iceberg, what we're seeing right now. I think we're gonna see a lot more accusers come forward. I have no doubt that there are 100 more people who have these types of allegations of sexual assault, physical violence, threats, sex trafficking against Sean Combs and people associated with him, and that many are just too afraid to come forward or that they signed NDAs and they think they have no rights.

You you take your time.

So could other famous names be dragged into the mix? Court filings were recently made against rapper Jay z who has vehemently denied allegations he raped a 13 year old girl allegedly with Sean Combs after the MTV Music Awards in the year 2000, calling for the lawsuit to be dismissed after inconsistencies emerged in her allegation.

People used to brag about going to Diddy parties, and a lot of people were there. Maybe some of them didn't know what was happening, but surely many of them did.

While both Combs and Jay z claim civil lawsuits are an attempt to extort money, the cases are continuing at a pace.

Right now, we are aggressively moving ahead with our cases. I think we might see more criminal charges to come.

From behind bars, the rapper, through his lawyers, said he is confident in his version of events, that he looks forward to proving his innocence in court. Katie Spencer, Sky News.

Well, this is the world with me, Anna Wasingh. Next up, the sister of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan describes how he spent 501 days in a tiny jail cell.

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Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan has now been behind bars for 501 days, but his dominance of politics seems as strong as ever. The former cricketer has become embroiled in 100 of criminal cases since being ousted from office in a parliamentary vote of no confidence back in 2022. Well, in November of that year, mister Khan survived an assassination attempt while he and supporters protested in the city of Warri Rabat. In May last year, he was arrested in a corruption case sparking more protests and riots by supporters. The Supreme Court later ordered his release.

He was arrested again a few months later and imprisoned for selling state gifts. He denies any wrongdoing, insisting all the charges are politically motivated. Well, as Imran Khan has remained behind bars, supporters have maintained their rage. Last month, there were deadly clashes when police tried to stop crowds from converging on Islamabad. Ali Makhan, the sister of the former prime minister, told me that the Commonwealth should be doing more, even intervening in Pakistan's political violence.

I spoke to her earlier and began by asking more about why her brother is in prison.

He's living in a tiny cell, maybe 7 feet by 10 feet. He, recently sort of was telling us about a few days ago that it's very cold because there are bars on his in his cell. And, they've got a plastic sheet on it, but the wind gets through the top and the bottom. And he wasn't complaining even. He just sort of matter of factly said it, but it really gets to us when we hear him say that.

Is he encouraging people, though, to protest on his behalf? And if it is putting them in danger, is it time to stop?

He never asked for them to come out for him. He's never asked for them to come out. What happened in Pakistan in the past few months remember, 8th February, first of all, when they removed his government, which is 1 nearly 2 years ago, the first thing they did was I mean, there's a there's a law which says that you've got to hold elections in 3 months. That never happened. Then they proceeded to what you call crush his party.

They took away the symbol. They took away everything. When they thought they were ready for it, they allowed the elections to go through on the 8th February. There was no party, no symbol, no campaigning. When the when they ended up getting, they actually swept his party without any symbol.

Independent candidate swept the election on 8th. On 9th, they started turning the election around and stole the people's vote. So now the anger within people started growing because their vote was stolen. They proceeded to there's abduction. It's commonplace.

People getting abducted. People going. People have done 3 or 4 rounds in prison.

What and what about you? Have you have you as well?

Yes. We we were taken we were, like, we were standing out on the road, my sister and myself. Nobody around. And police comes and arrests us.

Are you confident then that the protest, which you say Imran Khan is not instigating from his jail cell, are you confident that they will make a difference, or are you feeling hopeless right now?

Let me tell you. It's not an instigation. It's a

right under our constitution to protest.

It's not instigation. It's our right. Protest. And when peaceful protesters, which includes women and children, includes my my my sister's granddaughter, who's 15, 16 year old. If we take our children to a protest, we are not taking them to, because we are going to create it.

We are going to, I don't know, shoot somebody or, break a building or they we are joining a peaceful protest, and there were other women and children over there. And on the 26th, we are exercising our right according to our constitution, and we all we were part of the procession. I'm a eyewitness to it. My sisters and I witnessed to it. We were there when there were snipers on the building, started shooting at people.

Snipers. I mean, does that happen? People are on a boulevard. There are thousands of videos right now. There's a lot of evidence that they were shooting from this we saw the snipers on the building.

We were asked to leave the place, but we were sort of standing there. We sort of moved towards under the under some trees so that we don't get shot by snipers.

So are you asking for Commonwealth leaders and indeed the British government to step in, speak up, and indeed intervene?

The what's the point of helping a Commonwealth if we if the main fundamentals of the charter are not what holds us together? Is there a point of all these, organizations or these, common charters or when you come together as as a community? What what's the point?

And finally, on Imran Khan himself

Hello.

In a small jail cell, getting cold already as you've described, how is he, and should he give up politics?

This is not politics. He came up he came to it's much bigger than politics. This is about bringing a change in the thinking of a people, and he's trained the younger generation. And the change has already arrived in Pakistan, where he believes that you have to stand up for your own rights. You have to fight for your own rights.

You cannot be subject to a small elite mafia, and that generation has learned from him. And that's what democracy is. Stand up for your rights. Stand up for the rule of law. He's always spoken about the rule of law.

He's always spoken about democratic process, that you are accountable to the people. People here, this is not what the future generation wants anymore. They want a change, and they want a right to exist in this country. At the end of the day, when we as a community or a or when we are part of any charter or when we are part of a Commonwealth, we do expect that the principles of what the Charter is for of what the Commonwealth is for, it people should still support each other. But we didn't hear a thing from United, United Kingdom.

Not a thing. And, there are I mean, in the US, we hear voices, but it didn't come from the UK. And and, we do feel that, the people who are responsible for human rights abuses should in the future not take refuge in the United Kingdom.

Alima Khan, very, very interesting to talk to you. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.

Thank you.

And finally, with mysterious drone sightings causing panic and speculation in the eastern US, police are warning people against trying to shoot them down. Police in New Jersey, 1 of the states where the drones have been spotted, say firing on them could cause injuries or worse. Meanwhile, the FBI has joined the US defense department and other agencies in releasing a statement saying they don't see any national security or public safety risk. Well, that was the, world tonight. Do stay with us if you can.

I'll be back in just a few moments with Sky News at 10 and, of course, the press preview. See you shortly.

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