France will relax Covid isolation rules from Monday, the government announced, in a bid to ease their impact on society and the economy.

A ban on the use of plastic to package a range of fruit and vegetables came into force in France on Saturday, to the dismay of the sector’s packaging industry.

Queen Elizabeth II on Friday announced a knighthood for former prime minister Tony Blair, while the traditional New Year’s Honours also decorated officials who  spearheaded Britain’s fight against Covid-19.

Ukraine yesterday said one of its soldiers was killed in fighting with pro-Moscow separatists, as the US again warned Russia against any attacks on the country.

A total of 45 journalists were killed worldwide in 2021, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said on Friday -- “one of the lowest death tolls” it has recorded for any year.

Pope Francis yesterday used his New Year’s message to issue a clarion call for an end to violence against women, saying it was insulting to God.

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have exchanged warnings over Ukraine but conveyed some optimism that diplomatic talks in January could ease spiraling tensions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday told US counterpart Joe Biden he is “convinced” that “effective dialogue” between Moscow and Washington is possible, hours ahead of telephone talks as tensions rise over Ukraine.

Germany will pull the plug on three of its last six nuclear power stations on Friday, another step towards completing its withdrawal from nuclear power as it turns its focus to renewables.

Across a quarter century of UN climate conferences tasked with saving humanity from itself, one was deemed a chaotic failure (Copenhagen/2009), another a stunning success (Paris/2015), and the rest landed somewhere in between. 

The United States said Tuesday it had seen possible progress in talks with Iran but joined European negotiators in pressing for urgency in rolling back Tehran’s nuclear programme. 

A Moscow court yesterday hit Russia’s most prominent rights group, Memorial, with a second ban in as many days despite an international

Two years in, as the now Omicron-fuelled Covid crisis rages, there is still hope the pandemic could begin fading in 2022 -- though experts say gaping vaccine inequalities must be addressed. 

France has ordered the closure of a mosque in the north of the country because of the radical nature of its imam’s preaching, regional

The United States and Russia will hold much-anticipated talks in January on European security and the Ukraine conflict after Moscow listed demands including to end Nato’s expansion.

France has ordered the closure of a mosque in the north of the country because of the radical nature of its imam's preaching, regional authorities told AFP on Tuesday.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has rejected accusations that Moscow is limiting gas deliveries to Europe and denounced Germany’s resale of gas to Poland amid soaring prices.

The world’s economic output will exceed $100 trillion for the first  time next year and it will take China a little longer than previously  thought to overtake the United States as the No1 economy, a report  showed on Sunday.

British police have arrested a man suspected of breaking into the grounds of Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth II was spending Christmas, with what was reported to be a crossbow.

Russia has blocked the website of a rights monitor tracking political persecution, saying it promoted terrorism and extremism, amid an unprecedented official crackdown on dissent.