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The sale of a new book about the Royal Family has been halted in the Netherlands.

Xander, the publishers of the Dutch translation of Omid Scobie’s Endgame, have put sales of the book on hold “temporarily” over what it calls an “error”.

They said in a statement: “[We are] temporarily withdrawing the book by Omid Scobie from sale. An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being rectified.”

It comes amid reports that the translation appears to name a member of the Royal Family who allegedly questioned what colour Harry and Meghan’s son Archie’s skin would be when he was born.

The Duchess of Sussex claimed in her March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey that a member of the Royal Family raised “concerns” about Archie’s skin colour.

The couple refused to reveal who had made such comments, but Winfrey has since said that Harry told her it was not Prince Philip or the late Queen.

The claim sparked a rare response from the royals, with Prince William saying: “We are very much not a racist family,” in response to questions about the allegations.

In a statement following the interview, the Royal Family said that “whilst some recollections may vary”, the issues brought up in the interview were “concerning” and would “be addressed”.

Read more:
Five revelations from Omid Scobie’s controversial new book on Royal Family

Mr Scobie told Dutch chat show, RTL Boulevard, on Tuesday that he did not mention a name in his new book.

“The book is in several languages, and unfortunately I do not speak Dutch. But if there are translation errors, the publisher will correct them,” he told them.

“I wrote the English version. There was no version from me in which names were mentioned.”

Mr Scobie’s book claims that, in the aftermath of the interview, Meghan wrote a letter to King Charles expressing concern about unconscious bias in the Royal Family.

In the UK version of Endgame, he wrote that in the letter, Meghan revealed “two identities” of those “involved in the exchange”.

“Laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were,” Mr Scobie added in the book.

Sky News has approached Archewell, the organisation founded by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for a response.

Buckingham Palace has also been contacted, but they have declined to comment.

The world’s attention has been turned to the Israel-Hamas conflict, resulting in the war in Ukraine falling further down the news agenda.

Not only does this impact keeping pressure on Vladimir Putin but in Ukraine, momentum for the war is also running low. Independent reporting suggests the country is facing a recruitment crisis, with just one in four men joining the army voluntarily.

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson explores what this means for Ukraine’s defence against Russia with Dr Alexandra Walmsley, defence analyst at RUSI, and Sir David Manning, former UK permanent representative to NATO.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Interviews producer: Melissa Tutesigensi
Editor: Wendy Parker

A storm has reportedly forced Russia to return all its ships and missile carriers to their bases due to an increased threat of drifting mines in the Black Sea.

Tornadoes and winds approaching 70mph are now forecast for the region – a day after the storm knocked out power to two million people in Russia and Ukraine.

At least 14 people were killed in the two countries, officials said, as trees came down and coastal areas were pounded by large waves.

Ukraine war latest: Kremlin advances ‘greatest gains since spring’

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), based in Washington, said the weather had affected the “the tempo of military operations along the frontline” but hadn’t stopped them entirely.

“The Ukrainian Navy and Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command notably reported that dangerous weather in the Black Sea forced Russia to return all of its naval vessels and missile carriers to their base points,” said the ISW.

“A prominent Russian milblogger warned that the threat of mines in the Black Sea will increase for both military and civilian vessels in the coming days because the storm has broken boom nets and dispersed minefields, causing mines to drift throughout the northwestern Black Sea.”

It said “several sources” also reported rail lines had been damaged in coastal areas and that it could cause logistical problems for Russia in Crimea and southern Ukraine.

Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, is a vital military and logistics hub for President Vladimir Putin’s forces.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least five people had been killed in the storm in the southern Odesa region and that work was going on to restore electricity to some villages.

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Almost 100,000 people were also still without power in Crimea on Tuesday morning and some people had no water supply, according to the region’s Russia-installed governor.

A state of emergency is still in place in several areas there.

The storm also dumped 10 days’ worth of snow – about 25cm – in the Vologda region, north of Moscow, in one day, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.

Moscow itself was also covered in snow on Monday and blizzard-like conditions were seen in Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia on Sunday.

Barring any more breaches of the ceasefire, the Gaza truce should hold for at least two days.

There are thought to be enough women and children hostages in Gaza for Hamas to eke out another two after that. The Americans are reportedly hoping for a longer one that could start seeing men being let out too.

Israelis say Hamas is acting cynically, dangling the fate of some of the youngest hostages to drag this out longer.

Follow the latest in the Israel-Hamas war

Hamas reportedly says its knows the whereabouts of the Bibas boys aged nine months and four years but there is no sign of them being released imminently. Hamas calls this a humanitarian pause. There is nothing humanitarian about that.

By whatever means Hamas wants the truce to go on longer, hoping in the extra time something will come up that might end Israel’s onslaught. Israel is willing to give it a few more days. One of its stated war aims is getting back the hostages.

But Israeli officials insist the only way to persuade their enemy to yield all its captives is to maintain military pressure. By that logic, they will start doing so again, even while many of the hostages remain in the hands of the enemy.

While the guns remain silent, intense diplomatic activity is under way. US secretary of state Anthony Blinken is on his way back to the region. His priorities – to make sure more aid reaches Gaza, the hostages are released and also to seek “protections for civilians”.

Israel’s American and European allies are increasingly worried about the last part and what happens when this truce ends and the fighting resumes.

Israel wants to eradicate Hamas. It claims to have killed around 5,000 Hamas fighters in an operation that has lasted almost two months and cost as many as 15,000 civilian lives. There are thought to be as much as 25,000 fighters left. By that arithmetic obliterating Hamas could take us well into next year with many thousands more civilians killed.

That will be hard for America to stomach. Joe Biden is already facing trouble from the left of his party over the death toll. Two weeks ago, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said “too many civilians are losing their lives”.

That pressure will continue to build.

Read more:
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Four-day truce enters final 24 hours

Israel is thought to have urged the UN to build a tent city in open land to the west of Khan Younis to accommodate the exodus expected when its troops move into the south of Gaza.

The UN is reportedly unwilling to facilitate any mass movement of Gazans particularly after Israeli government minister Avi Dichter said Israel was “rolling out Nakba 2023”.

Nakba, or catastrophe, in Arabic is what Palestinians call their mass displacement in the war of 1948.

The weather is worsening, winter is coming, Gaza’s health services are buckling. There are already reports of dysentery and humanitarian organisations are unanimous in saying the temporary reprieve is not nearly enough. The prospect of Israel resuming operations and moving tanks and troops south is causing deep alarm among diplomats and international organisations.

Mr Blinken will want assurances about the forthcoming operation but also what happens next. The Biden administration is reportedly frustrated the Israelis do not seem to have a plan for the day after.

The wife of Ukraine’s intelligence chief is undergoing treatment after allegedly being poisoned with heavy metals.

Marianna Budanova is the wife of Lt General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency, known as the GUR.

The agency has been prominently involved in clandestine operations against Russian forces since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine war latest: Follow live

“Yes, I can confirm the information, unfortunately, it is true,” Andriy Yusov, the GUR’s spokesperson, said on Tuesday, when asked if Ms Budanova had been poisoned.

He did not give any further details about when the poisoning took place or who was behind it.

It is thought the poison was likely administered through food, according to local media, as the metals were not used domestically or in military equipment.

Local media reported Ms Budanova is in hospital in Kyiv.

If confirmed as deliberate, it would represent the most serious targeting of a high-profile Ukrainian leadership figure’s family member during the 21-month conflict.

Several other GUR officials were also diagnosed with the same poisoning.

Mr Budanov, 37, is reported to have survived 10 assassination attempts carried out by the Russian state security service.

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This includes a botched bombing of a car.

He had also previously told local media that his wife lives with him in his office, which could suggest he was the intended target for the poisoning.

There was no immediate comment from Russia, but some Russian media and commentators speculated it could be part of infighting in Ukraine.

In Ukraine, Mr Budanov is portrayed as a behind-the-scenes mastermind of operations to strike back at Russia, whereas in Russian media he is a hate figure.