The United Nations Secretary-General, meanwhile, criticised travel restrictions imposed over the new Omicron variant as “travel apartheid”.

Peng Shuai’s situation has become emblematic of growing concerns about China’s authoritarian power, the role of sport in politics and the 2022 Winter Games. 

The best photos from around the world

Prince Andrew was also mentioned in proceedings a day earlier during testimony given by the financier’s pilot.

Gutting or overturning the landmark decision would severely limit access to terminations and further supercharge America’s vicious left-right culture wars.

Baldwin, who was holding a gun he was told was safe when it went off, spoke in his first full interview about the October 21 shooting in New Mexico.

Trump’s former chief of staff says the then president tested positive for the coronavirus three days before his first presidential debate with Joe Biden.

China lashed out at Shinzo Abe on Wednesday after the former Japanese prime minister warned of the serious security and economic consequences of any Chinese military action against self-ruled Taiwan.

The decision means a legally binding response convention that would determine a fairer production and distribution of vaccines for the next pandemic could be implemented in early 2024.

Authorities arrested the suspect at the school and recovered a handgun they said the shooter’s father had bought just a few days earlier.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

The American-born star was not only praised for her world-renowned artistic career but also for her spy role in the French Resistance and her activism.

The US and Australia have made much of their united front on China’s economic coercion, but the truth is American exporters have been eating Australia’s lunch.

The Lovely Bones author has told the man exonerated of her rape that she is struggling with the role she unwittingly played in sending him to jail for 16 years.

Merck’s pill would be the first that doctors could prescribe for patients to take on their own to ease symptoms, but concerns have grown about potential birth defects if used during pregnancy.

The European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, said the draft document had been intended to highlight European diversity.

“I am here before you, asking for forgiveness,” Emma Coronel Aispuro said, asking for a sentence that would allow her to watch her twin daughters grow up.

New data relating to the Omicron coronavirus variant on Tuesday confirmed that the strain was circulating in Europe well before South Africa sounded the alarm on November 24.

The British socialite is facing charges of recruiting and grooming underage girls for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

At the strike of midnight, a republic was born and the last colonial bonds severed nearly 400 years after the first English ships arrived on the island.

The World Health Organisation told its member nations that the overall global risk related to Omicron is “very high”.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

Chris Luxon may be the answer National has been looking for all along to take on the likeable NZ Prime Minister, but he’s hedging his bets.

The Chinese President also said a China-Africa cross-border yuan centre would be set up to provide African financial institutions with a credit line of $US10 billion.

Hyperpartisan debates over COVID and vaccination have led some of the vaccinated to express cruel sentiments towards the dead and their families.

“Ever since Eve was accused of tempting Adam with the apple, women have been blamed for the bad behaviour of men,” a lawyer for the socialite’s highly anticipated sex trafficking trial said. 

The answer depends on whether you look to Ancient or Modern Greece as a guide to your pronunciation.

The former finance minister had won a similar vote on Wednesday but resigned hours later after a junior coalition partner left the government.

For activists and journalists, it has become harder to distinguish between trolls, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s technology cell and the cyber volunteers.

Airport security screened 20.9 million people during the 10-day travel period that ended on Sunday -- 89 per cent of levels recorded before the pandemic.

Living standards are going nowhere, while locals accuse foreign corporations and politicians of getting rich.

The new Omicron variant has already begun to surge among South Africa’s young and unvaccinated, and experts are concerned about the effect it might have on the elderly.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

The pubgoers knew the weather forecast was dire, but not so much that piles of snow nearly a metre high would block the pub’s exits.

The details of an Israeli broadcaster’s sex life are hacked and leaked. Iran’s nationwide fuel distribution system to 4300 petrol stations was paralysed.

It’s a small triumph for the Duke of Sussex as a new documentary prepares to air claims a palace source helped newspaper in court.

Investors are fearing the worst after sinking their money into a developer’s vision of a “second Gold Coast of Australia”.

Andy Slavitt, who served as a COVID-19 adviser to Biden for several months this year, is among the critics and said energy should instead be focused on inoculations in Africa.

Over the past year, the frequency of Chinese incursions has increased, with about 150 aircraft over a period of four days.

French dictionary publisher Le Petit Robert chose to add “iel” to its latest online edition.

The country has been setting repeated records in new daily infections, hitting a record high of almost 28,000 cases on Thursday.

The variant was identified by scientists in South Africa, where early data suggest it is spreading more quickly than the now-dominant variant known as Delta.

Experts are urging caution but not panic, while admitting not enough is known about the new variant of concern that is shutting down flights around the world.

China has been one of the last nations to maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards COVID-19, saying the importance of containing local cases outweighs the disruptions.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

Many have noted that the World Health Organisation skipped a Greek letter that is also the name of the Chinese President in naming the new variant of concern.

The film has been such a runaway hit that fans have even been inspired to eat frozen potatoes in homage to the Chinese soldiers.

A top South African scientist warns that until we vaccinate enough people around the globe new variants will develop over and over again.

Dr Angelique Coetzee noticed otherwise healthy patients demonstrating unusual symptoms and worries how the new variant might hurt the elderly.

From a fourth COVID-19 wave continuing to wreak havoc across Europe to demonstrations around the world to prevent violence against women, these are the best photos from around the world in the past week, as chosen by The Age's photo editors.