France has accused Australia of lying shortly before Canberra cancelled a major submarine contract, with the French foreign minister declaring “someone lied”.

The forthcoming COP26 summit -- which could determine the viability of the Paris Agreement -- will “not be easy” but an outcome matching the urgency of the crisis is an “absolute necessity”, the UN’s climate chief said yesterday.

1938 - After signing the Munich agreement with Hitler in Germany, Neville Chamberlain returned to Britain and declared that there would be “peace with honour for our time”.

The World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa said yesterday that the agency was “heartbroken” by the findings of an independent commission on sex abuse in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

1923 - Britain began to govern Palestine under a mandate from the League of Nations.

The British government says it is putting the military on standby as part of further measures to address a supply chain crisis which has led fuel pumps to run dry amid panic-buying by motorists.

Greta Thunberg is not very optimistic about the climate talks held in Italy this week, the environmental youth activist said as she arrived at the venue in Milan yesterday.

A 36-year-old delivery driver appeared in court in Britain yesterday, charged with the murder of a young primary school teacher whose death sparked renewed calls to improve women’s safety.

A 1970 tape of John Lennon singing a hitherto unheard song called “Radio Peace” and expressing frustration at his Beatles image to a group of Danish schoolboys goes under the hammer in Copenhagen.

A Swiss investigation into the 1990 killing of Iranian opposition figure Kazem Rajavi must reopen, after a court ordered genocide and crimes against humanity charges added to the probe.

German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz vowed yesterday to strengthen the European Union and keep up the transatlantic partnership in a three-way coalition government he hopes to form by Christmas to take over from Angela Merkel’s conservatives.

The Covid-19 pandemic reduced life expectancy in 2020 by the largest amount since World War Two, according to a study published yesterday by Oxford University, with the life expectancy of American men dropping by more than two years.

It’s a lesson many politicians -- mostly male -- have learned the hard way over the past 15 years: never underestimate Angela Merkel.

German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz vowed on Monday to strengthen the European Union and keep up the transatlantic partnership in a three-way coalition government he hopes to form by Christmas to take over from Angela Merkel's conservatives.

A strong earthquake measuring 5.8 shook Greece's largest island Crete on Monday and one person was killed when a church dome collapsed, authorities said.

In a first in Europe, women hold more than half of the seats in Iceland’s new parliament, final election results showed yesterday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Saturday on the United States to take a more active approach to help resume stalled talks aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal.

Police in Britain investiga-ting the murder of Sabina Nessa, a 28-year-old British-Bangladeshi teacher who was found dead in a southeast London park last weekend, said they arrested a 38-year-old man yesterday.

Germans went to the polls on Sunday in a national election too close to call, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) mounting a strong challenge to retiring Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

Hundreds of people gathered in southeast London on Friday night at a vigil for Sabina Nessa, a 28-year-old British-Bangladeshi teacher who was found dead in a park, the latest case to spark public concern about women’s safety.