The Kremlin yesterday called on French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to encourage Ukraine to observe ceasefire agreements in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists.

Russia will ask 10 US diplomats to leave the country in retaliation for Washington’s expulsion of the same number of Russian diplomats over alleged malign activity, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday.

An unidentified attacker shot dead a man and badly injured a woman outside a Paris hospital on Monday before fleeing the scene on a motorbike, police said.

At least four people were found dead on a migrant boat off the Canary Island of El Hierro on Sunday, the Spanish Red Cross said.

The French government on Sunday condemned the defacing of an Islamic cultural centre in western France with Islamaphobic slogans, and said an attack on Muslims was an attack on the Republic.

cMembers of the anti-Islam, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany gathered on Saturday despite coronavirus restrictions for a two-day congress in Dresden, to finalise their strategy ahead of the general election on September 26.

India will accept compensation of 1.1 million euros from Italy for the families of two fishermen shot dead by Italian marines in 2012, signalling an end to a long-winding case that soured relations between the two nations.

Spain will only give AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine to people over 60 years old after European and British regulators found a potential link between the shot and rare brain blood clots.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian yesterday called on Tehran to be “constructive” during talks with world powers next week in Vienna.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte survived one of the biggest political fights of his decade in power Friday, narrowly winning a no-confidence vote over claims he lied about coalition talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered France into its third national lockdown and said schools would close for three weeks as he sought to push back a third wave of COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals.

Petr Kellner, the Czech Republic’s richest man, was killed in a helicopter crash on a skiing trip in Alaska.

Britain is planning booster Covid-19 vaccines for over 70 year olds from September to protect them from new virus variants as the government drives ahead with its vaccine rollout, The Telegraph reported, citing the vaccine deployment minister.

Britain is close to striking a vaccine deal with the European Union as soon as this weekend that will remove the threat of the bloc cutting off supplies, The Times reported.

New Zealand’s Catholic Church formally apologised to the survivors of abuse within the church yesterday and said its systems and culture must change.

EU leaders voiced frustration over a massive shortfall in contracted deliveries of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines, as a third wave of infections surged across Europe.

The European Commission will extend EU powers to potentially block Covid-19 vaccine exports to Britain and other areas with much higher vaccination rates, and to cover instances of companies backloading contracted supplies, EU officials said.

Britain’s Prince Harry will become the first chief impact officer of BetterUp Inc, a San Francisco-based firm that provides employee coaching and mental health assistance, the company said today.

Germany is extending its lockdown until April 18 and calling on citizens to stay at home for five days over the Easter holidays to try to break a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

Two police officers were seriously injured and at least two police vehicles were set on fire in the city of Bristol in southwest England during violent scenes after a peaceful protest, police said.