France yesterday prepared to throw open the doors of the capital’s Notre Dame cathedral after a half-decade closure, in a ceremony attended by dozens of world leaders celebrating the rebirth of the Paris landmark ravaged by a devastating fire.

Notre Dame will formally reopen Saturday five years after the Paris cathedral was devastated by fire, with US president-elect Donald Trump among world leaders there to celebrate its remarkably rapid restoration

In a year set to be declared the hottest on record, natural disasters caused $310 billion in economic losses globally in 2024, as climate change increasingly takes its toll, Swiss Re said Thursday.

Romanians yesterday flocked to the polls to elect a new parliament with the far right tipped to gain ground, potentially heralding a shift in the foreign policy of the Nato country bordering Ukraine.

Police in Georgia arrested dozens of people overnight and early yesterday in a violent crackdown on protests against the government’s decision to delay EU membership talks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday praised US President-elect Donald Trump as an experienced and intelligent politician and questioned whether he was safe after attempts on his life.

Russian missiles damaged residential buildings in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv and Odesa in the south, and a blizzard of drones caused temporary power cuts in Mykolaiv region and targeted the capital Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said yesterday.

Russia needs migrants in order to develop because of its dwindling domestic workforce, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview published yesterday.

Spain’s left-wing government yesterday announced an immigration law reform regularising tens of thousands more migrants per year, in a fresh contrast to harsher policies elsewhere in Europe.

UK jets were scrambled to monitor a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying close to UK airspace, the defence minister in London said yesterday.

Sweden’s newspaper of reference, Dagens Nyheter (DN), said yesterday it would stop publishing its articles on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, citing a “harsh and extreme” climate.

Russia said yesterday it captured another village in east Ukraine, closing in on the town of Kurakhove after months of steady advances.

Scholz -- mired in a political crisis and facing snap elections sometime in early 2025 -- congratulated Trump a second time on his election victory

A teenager in British Columbia has become the first person in Canada to test positive for bird flu, authorities said Saturday.

Canadian authorities said they’re on “high alert” with all eyes on the US border as the country braces for a possible influx of migrants from the United States.

Europe has increased defence spending since Russia invaded Ukraine, but its defence capacities including military manpower are still insufficient, a British security think-tank warned yesterday.

World leaders raced to congratulate Donald Trump yesterday as he triumphed in a stunning US election victory over Kamala Harris.

Russia yesterday claimed to have captured another Ukrainian village, just a dozen kilometres from the key eastern logistics hub Pokrovsk, as its troops advance rapidly.

The deadliest flash floods in Spain’s modern history have killed at least 211 people and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said yesterday.

Russia unleashed its latest overnight drone strike on Ukraine, targeting the capital Kyiv in an attack that lasted into midday and wounded at least one person, city officials said yesterday.