Germany yesterday said it would decide “shortly” whether to authorise the export of powerful German-made Leopard battle tanks long sought by Kyiv and encouraged allies to start training Ukrainian forces to use them.

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday she was grateful for her time in office, insisting that a sustained barrage of online abuse was not the reason for her shock resignation.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday ordered an investigation into a wealthy ally’s murky tax dealings as he again vowed “integrity” in his government after Boris Johnson’s scandal-plagued tenure.

The World Health Organization yesterday appealed for $2.54 billion for its work in 2023 to help millions of people facing health emergencies around the world.

The EU yesterday placed 37 more Iranian officials and entities on an asset-freeze and visa-ban blacklist over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on protesters, officials said.

Moscow’s forces are pushing towards two towns in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, where fighting intensified this week after several months of a stagnant front, Russian state media reported yesterday.

A court in northern France on Thursday sentenced 14 Sri Lankans to prison for operating a migrant smuggling ring across Europe, as authorities across the continent try to crack down on the lucrative criminal networks.

Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation yesterday sparked a push for New Zealand to choose its first Maori prime minister, as a small pack of candidates emerged for the top job.

The UK’s crisis-hit National Health Service (NHS) is set for its biggest ever day of industrial action next month after thousands of ambulance workers yesterday announced a series of new strikes.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg slammed business and political leaders attending the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday, saying it was “absurd” to listen to them while they fuelled “the destruction of the planet”.

Capping global warming at liveable levels will be impossible without massively scaling up the extraction of planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the first global assessment of CO2 removal warned yesterday.

Muddy holes dot the ground in a Dutch village where a map allegedly showing the location of Nazi loot buried in World War II has triggered an invasion of treasure hunters.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, a global figurehead of progressive politics, shocked the country yesterday by announcing she would resign from office.

Norwegian archaeologists believe they have found the world’s oldest runestone inscribed almost 2,000 years ago, making it several hundred centuries older than previous discoveries.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres skewered oil firms yesterday for having “peddled the big lie” about their role in global warming, telling the World Economic Forum that they should be held accountable.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that the United States was attempting to “contain” both Russia and China with the help of other countries, but they were alert to its “games”.

Scientists said Monday they have used a laser beam to guide lightning for he first time, hoping the technique will help protect against deadly bolts -- and one day maybe even trigger them.

Vietnam President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has resigned, state media said yesterday, after days of rumours he was about to be sacked as part of a major anti-corruption drive that has seen several ministers fired.

Italian anti-mafia police caught Sicilian godfather Matteo Messina Denaro yesterday, ending a 30-year manhunt for Italy’s most wanted fugitive.

Companies in the US, Europe and Asia have been helping Myanmar’s military manufacture weapons used in human rights abuses, according to former UN experts.