No UK government minister will attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Wednesday, calling it “effectively” a diplomatic boycott.

Center-left leader Olaf Scholz on Wednesday became Germany’s ninth post-World War II chancellor, opening a new era for the European Union’s most populous nation and largest economy after Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure.

Britain will require all inbound travellers to take a pre-departure Covid-19 test and arrivals from Nigeria will have to quarantine in hotels to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, Health Minister Sajid Javid said.

A Russian airliner had to change course to avoid a Nato spy plane that was crossing its path above the Black Sea, Moscow authorities have said.

Pope Francis yesterday blamed the EU’s nationalist divisions for a lack of coordination on migration as he began a landmark trip to Greece, aiming to improve complicated relations with the country’s Orthodox Church.

One out of 10 Italians think astronauts never set foot on the moon while 5.8% believe the earth is flat, according to a poll published on Friday, which said conspiracy theories had taken root in Italian society.

Ukraine warned yesterday that Russia could launch a large-scale attack on the country in late January as tensions soar over an alleged Russian troop build-up near Kiev’s borders.

Seven jabs used as boosters against Covid-19 mostly produced a strong immune response, though results varied depending on the vaccine combination, a study said yesterday.

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

Greece has become a European port of call for refugees from Africa and Asia.

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.

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.

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.

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.