Lebanon buried the victims of its deadliest sectarian unrest in years yesterday after gunfire gripped central Beirut for hours and revived the ghosts of the civil war.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz yesterday took a step closer to succeeding Angela Merkel as chancellor, as his Social Democrats, the Greens and liberal FDP announced a preliminary deal to form a new government.

Representatives of the Taliban have confirmed they will take part in talks on Afghanistan in Moscow next week, President Vladimir Putin’s special representative on Afghanistan said yesterday.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday its newly formed advisory group on dangerous pathogens may be “our last chance” to determine the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and urged China to provide data from early cases.

Russia yesterday reported a pandemic high for both new coronavirus infections and fatalities over 24 hours, with the country’s vaccination drive at a snail’s pace and few restrictions in place.

With climate change threatening traditional coffee farming, Finnish scientists say they have produced coffee from cell cultures with an aroma and taste resembling the real thing.

Talk about this (succession) destabilises the situation.

Tank deployments and deadly exchanges of fire turned Beirut into a war zone yesterday after a demonstration organised by Shia parties against the lead investigator into last year’s devastating port blast turned violent.

A man armed with a bow and arrow killed five people and wounded two others in a series of attacks in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, local police said.

COP26 President Alok Sharma on Tuesday asked world leaders to slash their emissions “immediately” to avoid failure at next month’s summit and keep the Paris climate goals in play.

The global transition to clean energy is still far too slow to meet climate pledges and risks fuelling even greater price volatility, the International Energy Agency warned yesterday.

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and industrial group Siemens on Monday unveiled the world’s first automated, driverless train in the city of Hamburg, billing it as more punctual and energy efficient than traditional trains.

For its supporters, nuclear energy is the world’s best -- perhaps only -- hope to avoid catastrophic climate change. Opponents say it is too expensive, too risky and totally unnecessary.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was yesterday accused of “crimes against humanity” at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged role in the destruction of the Amazon, the first case seeking to explicitly link deforestation to loss of life.

The head of the academy that awards Nobel Prizes in science has ruled out introducing gender or ethnicity quotas after this year’s Nobel laureates included only one woman, continuing a historic imbalance among recipients.

We are losing our suicidal war against nature. Ecosystem collapse could cost almost $3 trillion annually by 2030 -- its greatest impact will be on some of the poorest and highly indebted countries.”

An expert panel set up by the Indian government yesterday recommended Covaxin, India’s indigenous Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech, for use on children between the ages of two and 18, Health Ministry sources said.

Three migrants have died in southwest France after being hit by a train while they were lying on the tracks, a police spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Three US-based academics yesterday won the Nobel Economics Prize for research on the labour market using “natural experiments”, or observational studies, that have revolutionised empirical research in the field, the jury said.

The World Health Organization’s vaccine advisers yesterday said over-60s who have been fully immunised with China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccine should be offered an additional third Covid-19 vaccine dose.