The European Union stepped up planning for a “no-deal” Brexit yesterday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government refused to revoke a plan to break the divorce treaty that Brussels says will sink four years of talks.

Thousands of migrants fled fires that tore through a camp under coronavirus lockdown on Greece's island of Lesbos, while the prime minister called an emergency meeting with ministers though there were no immediate reports of casualties.

In some good news for millions living in hope for a Covid-19 vaccine shot, the Russian Health Ministry yesterday said that the first batch of Sputnik V vaccine has been produced for civilian circulation.

Prominent opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova was detained by Belarusian authorities, a border official said, after thwarting what a Ukrainian government minister described as an attempt to expel her from Belarus.

Two Australian journalists yesterday fled China under diplomatic protection, fearing arrest as political pawns in the rapidly worsening relationship between Canberra and Beijing.

The EU voiced “serious concern and regret” on Monday over Belgrade’s commitment to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, casting a shadow over the resumption of Serbia-Kosovo talks.

Britain's government on Tuesday admitted that it may break international law by not applying parts of its Brexit divorce deal relating to Northern Ireland, as a top legal adviser quit, reportedly over the plans.

A French pensioner blew up his kitchen while trying to kill a fly that was disturbing his dinner.

Britain yesterday faced warnings it risked its international reputation if it reneged on its agreement to leave the European Union, as Brexit trade talks reached a crucial final stage.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given an October 15 deadline for a post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union, brushing off fears about "no-deal" chaos if talks fail.

Russia is actively trying to undermine voters’ faith in the US electoral system and especially in voting by mail ahead of the November 3 election, according to a Department of Homeland Security analysis Thursday.

Fourteen alleged accomplices to the Islamist gunmen who attacked the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015 went on trial on Wednesday, as the country recalled a dark episode that marked the onset of a wave of militant violence.

Families of victims gunned down at two New Zealand mosques urged a judge to impose the toughest possible sentence, life without parole, on the gunman as he showed no remorse and appeared to smirk at one survivor during a sentencing hearing yesterday.

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg said Monday she has returned to school after a year off campaigning to curb climate change. “My gap year from school is over, and it feels so great to finally be back in school again!” the 17-year-old tweeted.

The German government said yesterday it is “fairly likely” that Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who is currently being treated in a Berlin hospital, was poisoned.

The white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslims in last year’s New Zealand mosques shooting showed no emotion yesterday as distraught survivors confronted him in court with harrowing accounts of the atrocity.

Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanouskaya yesterday said she had fled abroad for the sake of her children, after two nights of clashes following the contested re-election of strongman President Alexander Lukashenko.

The death toll from the Beirut port explosion has risen to 154, state news agency NNA reported yesterday as authorities detained sixteen staff members at the port amid public anger.

The unprecedented fall in greenhouse gas emissions from lockdowns during the pandemic will do “nothing” to slow climate change without a lasting switch from fossil fuels, an international team of researchers said yesterday.

Thousands of migrants have died after suffering “extreme” abuse while crossing Africa, according to a UN report that estimated 72 people perish each month on the continent’s routes.