
The era when the United States and Russia decided the world's most important questions is in the past, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, saying China and Germany were now heading for superpower status.

The risk of COVID-19 spreading on flights appears very low but cannot be ruled out, despite studies showing only a small number of cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Chinese officials carried out a remote inspection of Brazilian slaughterhouses whose exports to the Asian country have been suspended due to Covid-19 cases among employees.

Belgium may resort to a 17th-century charter granted by a British king to retain fishing rights in Britain’s coastal waters if London and the European Union fail to agree on a trade deal by the end of this year.

Spain became the first Western European country to exceed 1 million coronavirus infections on Wednesday (Oct 21), doubling its tally in just six weeks despite a series of increasingly stringent measures to control the second wave.

Pope Francis has said that same-sex couples should be protected by civil union laws in some of the clearest languages he has used on the rights of gay people since his election seven years ago. He made his comments in a new documentary “Francesco” by Oscar-nominated director Evgeny Afineevsky that was released on Wednesday.

Britain's new polar ship, RRS Sir David Attenborough, has left her Merseyside construction yard. Sirens and accompanying tugboats marked the Attenborough's departure from builder Cammell Laird's wet dock at Birkenhead. Four years in the making, the £200m vessel is about to venture out on a series of sea trials.

Britain will resume talks with the European Union on Thursday, marking a new push by the two sides to protect billions of dollars worth of trade from the beginning of next year.

Britain’s government borrowing in the first half of the financial year was more than six times higher than before the COVID pandemic, official figures showed on Wednesday, taking public debt to its highest since 1960.

At least 13 South Koreans have died after receiving flu shots in recent days, according to official and local media reports, ramping up fears about vaccine safety even as authorities rule out a link.