Global momentum is building on the climate crisis but action will be impossible without two nations, China and the United States, which together account for more than half of emissions -- and whose governments don’t get along.

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.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has blamed the United States for tensions on the peninsula and accused the South of hypocrisy, state media reported yesterday, as he opened an exhibition showcasing his nuclear-armed country’s weapons.

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.

The Lebanon judge leading the investigation into last year’s huge port blast was forced to suspend his probe yesterday for a second time, moments after issuing an arrest warrant against a former minister.

Persistent supply chain disruptions and inflation pressures are constraining the global economy's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday as it cut growth outlooks for the United States and other major industrial powers.

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.

The UN refugee agency said it had recovered the bodies of 15 migrants and 177 survivors from two coastguard boats returning to Libya people who had sought to cross the Mediterranean.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday implored Israel not to “lose sight” of the need to establish a Palestinian state, as she wrapped up a two-day farewell visit.

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.

The United Arab Emirates’ economy ministry said on Sunday that the Gulf state and Syria had agreed on future plans to enhance economic cooperation and explore new sectors.

Turnout hit a record low for parliamentary elections in war-scarred Iraq, early figures showed yesterday, amid widespread disillusionment about a political elite seen as inept and corrupt.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday demanded France’s “total respect”, following a row over visas and critical comments from Paris about the North African country.

British pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca yesterday revealed more positive results from a trial of a treatment for Covid-19 symptoms.

1986 - A summit conference between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ended in Reykjavik without an agreement on arms control.

Iraq has captured the alleged finance chief of the Islamic State group, Sami Jasim al-Jaburi, who was sought by the United States, in an operation abroad, Iraqi authorities said yesterday.