The World Health Organization said yesterday it had not seen any reports of deaths relating to the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The United Arab Emirates ordered 80 Rafale fighter jets and 12 military helicopters on Friday, deepening economic and political ties with France through an arms contract worth 17 billion euros ($19.20 billion).

Russia and a number of Southeast Asian countries kicked off their first ever joint naval exercise along the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s most important

The UN warned yesterday that the need for humanitarian aid was skyrocketing worldwide, as the pandemic continues to rage, and climate change and conflicts push more people to the brink of famine.

A man dressed like a ninja attacked and wounded two policewomen with a sword in Cherbourg in northwestern France on Thursday before being shot and captured, a police spokeswoman said.

Germany on Thursday imposed restrictions on the unvaccinated as it sought to break a dramatic surge in daily coronavirus infections exacerbated by the discovery of the Omicron strain.

Migration between richer countries has risen, while conflict and climate change have increased internal displacement in fragile states that many people cannot leave, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said yesterday.

The European Commission yesterday announced a plan to mobilise 300 billion euros ($340 billion) in public and private infrastructure investment around the world, a move seen as a response to China’s Belt and Road strategy.

A World War II bomb exploded at a construction site next to a busy railway line in Munich on Wednesday, injuring four people, one of them seriously, German authorities said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that constitutional amendments adopted last year allowing him to seek two more presidential terms “stabilise” the country, but did not say whether he would actually stand.

The chief of Britain’s foreign spy service warned yesterday that the West’s adversaries such as China and Russia were racing to master artificial intelligence in a way which could revolutionise geopolitics over the next decade.

The United States yesterday warned Russia of “serious consequences” if it launches an invasion of Ukraine, as Nato ministers looked to counter a military build-up by Moscow on its neighbour’s border.

I mean the mutual recognition of vaccines and vaccination certificates, the availability of vaccines for all regions of the planet...”

The World Health Organization yesterday called for countries to keep calm and take “rational” measures in response to the new, fast-spreading Covid variant Omicron, which has sparked global panic.

Climate change is the “overwhelming factor” driving the country’s ever-more intense bushfires, Australian government scientists believe -- directly contradicting claims by the country’s political leaders.

Two migrants died and another four went missing off the Canary Islands on Saturday as Spanish rescuers came across a boat in trouble while returning from an earlier rescue, the coastguard said.

Russia’s ambassador to the United States said that 27 more Russian diplomats and their families were expelled from the United States and would leave on January 30.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday visited areas of Canada’s Pacific coast hit by catastrophic floods, warning of further climate mayhem as the region braces for more torrential rains.

The leaders of arch foes Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to ease tensions left over after their war over Nagorno-Karabakh last year under the mediation of Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Friday.

A Siberian mining region began three days of mourning yesterday after more than 50 people died in a coal mine accident and a rescue effort that ended in tragedy.