The man at the centre of a sexual assault scandal that prompted the Swedish Academy to postpone this year's Nobel Literature Prize denied two counts of rape at the start of his trial yesterday.

French senators yesterday grilled President Emmanuel Macron's disgraced former security aide Alexandre Benalla over an assault scandal that tarnished Emmanuel Macron's reputation.

A Turkish court yesterday ordered 24 workers and union activists to stay in jail after they were detained in a mass crackdown over protests on working conditions at Istanbul's giant new airport.

Syria accidentally shot down a Russian military aircraft, killing all 15 crew members, when its air defences swung into action against an Israeli missile strike, Russian and Israeli forces said yesterday.

Poland was banned Monday from the EU body representing the member states' judicial institutions over its perceived lack of

European leaders may need to hold an extra summit in November to clinch a Brexit deal and avert "a catastrophe" when Britain leaves in March, EU President Donald Tusk warned yesterday.

Germany yesterday rolled out the world's first hydrogen-powered train, signalling the start of a push to challenge the might of polluting diesel trains with costlier but more eco-friendly technology.

British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted her Brexit plan was the only alternative to leaving the EU without an agreement -- something the IMF said yesterday would inflict "substantial costs" on the UK economy.

Robots will handle 52 percent of current work tasks by 2025, almost twice as many as now, a World Economic Forum (WEF) study said yesterday.

The Dalai Lama said Saturday that he has known about sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers since the 1990s and that such allegations are "nothing new".

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for another referendum on Britain's European Union membership, saying the prime minister's handling of Brexit negotiations had become "mired in confusion and deadlock" and was leading the country down a damaging path.

Austria's far-right Interior Minister Herbert Kickl used a meeting of his EU counterparts in Vienna Friday to suggest processing migrants

Britain's former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has said he supports Prime Minister Theresa May and his opposition was not to her but

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday said that the Syrian regime is not preparing a major offensive against the opposition-held Idlib, adding that Moscow will do everything to protect civilians.

An EU court yesterday rejected a bid by eight Russian companies to cancel sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis, ruling that the measures were reasonable and proportionate.

As Prime Minister Theresa May clings to power and tries to stop her party splitting over Brexit, she is getting support from an unexpected and highly influential quarter -- the Daily Mail.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez yesterday denied allegations he plagiarised his doctoral thesis as he battles a raft of problems in a week that has seen him lose his health minister over similar reports of academic irregularities.

Two Russians resembling men Britain accuses of jetting to England to murder a former spy yesterday said that they were innocent tourists who had flown to London for fun and visited the city of Salisbury to see its cathedral.

Europe's top rights court yesterday ruled that Britain's programme of mass surveillance, revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden as part of his sensational leaks on US spying, violated people's right to privacy.

The United Nations listed 38 "shameful" countries including China and Russia on Wednesday which it said had carried out reprisals or intimidation against people cooperating with it on human rights, through killings, torture and arbitrary arrests.