Commuters across France faced severe disruptions yesterday as rail workers launched three months of rolling strikes, a major test of President Emmanuel Macron's resolve to reshape the country through sweeping reforms. More than three-quarters of train drivers joined the first day of the walkout.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres yesterday urged the warring sides in Yemen to reach a political settlement to end a conflict now in its fourth year that has left 22 million people in urgent need of aid. His Special Envoy Martin Griffiths will head to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the Yemeni government-held city of Aden in the drive for peace, Guterres told reporters.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and leading broadcasters launched a drive against fake news Tuesday with a new set of trust and transparency standards for journalists.

German prosecutors yesterday asked a court to order the extradition to Spain of Catalonia's ousted president Carles Puigdemont on a rebellion charge following his arrest in Germany last month. The request comes after demonstrations by independence supporters at the weekend in Berlin and Catalonia calling for Puigdemont's immediate release.

Even if humanity stops global warming in its tracks at two degrees Celsius, long seen as the guardrail for a climate-safe world, Arctic sea ice will still disappear in some years, scientists have warned. Holding the line at 1.5 C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), however, would make a huge difference, according to two separate studies published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday accused the UK and Western partners of playing "children's games" in their response to the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. He accused countries of "disregarding all accepted behaviour" and resorting to "open lies and disinformation".

Pope Francis led Roman Catholics in Good Friday services under tight security, urging people, including ministers of his Church, to

Russia yesterday said that Britain had to reduce its diplomatic staff by more than 50 more people as a crisis in ties between Moscow

Turkey has said that a French pledge to help stabilise a region of northern Syria controlled by Kurdish-dominated forces amounted to

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is ordered to stand trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling involving a judge from whom he sought information about an investigation, a legal source tells AFP.

Former Catalan minister Clara Ponsati, who is wanted by Spain for her role in last year's independence bid, surrendered to Scottish police

Poland yesterday signed a $4.75 billion (3.8-billion-euro) contract to purchase a US-made Patriot anti-missile system, a move that is

The EU yesterday launched plans to make it easier to move troops and equipment around the bloc as Europe seeks to boost its

President Vladimir Putin flew to the scene of a deadly shopping mall fire in Siberia that killed 64 people and promised angry residents

The expulsion of more than 100 Russian diplomats from the United States and several European countries Monday over the

Nato joined two dozen governments around the world yesterday in expelling Russian diplomats in response to a nerve agent attack in Britain, marking what London called a "turning point" in the West's relations with Moscow.

A German court said yesterday it was likely to take several days to decide whether to extradite former Catalan president Carles

Verified Facebook pages of Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla Inc disappeared on Friday, minutes after the

A French policeman who offered himself as a hostage to help end what President Emmanuel Macron branded an "Islamist terrorist

Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont faces arrest in Finland after authorities there received an international warrant for his