US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are to hold talks near Stockholm on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

In the week since the new virus strain was reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa, dozens of countries around the world have responded with travel restrictions -- most targeting southern African nations.

The UN agency, in technical advice to its 194 member states, urged them to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups and to "ensure mitigation plans are in place" to maintain essential health services.

"With the Omicron variant now detected in several regions of the world, putting in place travel bans that target Africa attacks global solidarity," said WHO regional director general Matshidiso Moeti. 

The cases -- more than one tenth of the 600 people on the two planes -- were quarantined in a hotel near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, one of Europe's biggest international air travel hubs.

In recent weeks the continent has been in the throes of surging cases and violent riots, wrestling with booster programmes and dramatic lockdowns to stem the tide as its death toll surpassed 1.5 million and it once again became the global epicentre of an unceasing pandemic.

The 40-year-old mother-of-two is expected to take on the role in early December once the new government -- made up of the Social Democrats (SPD), the liberal FDP and the Greens -- is formally installed.

Europe's largest economy is battling a fresh surge in coronavirus cases, and recorded 351 fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 100,119, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute.

The 54-year-old, with straight blond hair and no-nonsense attitude, describes herself as a "nice, hard-working woman" who likes to be in charge.

President Emmanuel Macron vowed France would not allow the Channel to become a "cemetery" and also spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to agree on stepping up efforts to thwart the traffickers blamed for the surge in crossings.

Phase-three clinical trials conducted by AstraZeneca suggest that a single dose of the antibody combination AZD7442 (commercially called Evusheld) is 83 percent effective at preventing severe COVID-19 in people over the age of 18 and could offer protection more than six months after administration.

The department issued Level 4 travel advisories -- the highest level -- for both countries, "indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country."

The aircraft carrier lost the F-35B plane last Wednesday. The pilots ejected safely.

Populist politics, the use of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to silence critics, a tendency of countries to mimic the anti-democratic behaviour of others, and disinformation used to divide societies are mainly to blame, the Stockholm-based intergovernmental organisation said in a report.

Lithuania allowing Taipei to open an office using the name Taiwan was a significant diplomatic departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing.

Keen-eyed observers can see that the French red-white-and-blue tricolour flying above the Elysee Palace and also placed behind Macron at news conferences and speeches now has a darker navy blue rather than the previous bright blue.

Washington wasn't informed in advance about the test, only the fourth ever to hit a spacecraft from the ground, and will talk to allies about how to respond, said officials. 

The Jakarta Post sat down with visiting United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to discuss what lay ahead in UK-Indonesia relations.

The agreement in Glasgow was the first time to include the words "fossil fuels" and "coal", the main culprits of global warming.

While the agreement won applause for keeping alive the hope of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, many of the nearly 200 national delegations wished they’d come away with more.

Rich countries stood accused of failing at the COP26 summit to deliver much-needed finance to vulnerable states at risk of drought, rising seas, fire and storms.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo hosted the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Thursday to follow up on Jokowi's meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this month.

Singapore was removed this week from a European Union list of non-EU countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases is now 4.89 million and total deaths rose 235 to 97,198, according to the Robert Koch Institute public health authority.

The show of cooperation between the world's two largest carbon dioxide emitters came as they prepare for a virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with US political news website Politico reporting that the event is tentatively scheduled for Monday evening.

The fin whale, weighing around 15 tonnes, apparently beached itself after getting injured, a rare phenomenon in the area.

The figure, published by Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI), surpasses the last high, which had been 197.6 reached on December 22, 2020. 

"We're expecting lots of people to come and join us in the streets, and not only youth but also adults supporting youth, and adults that want climate action,” said activist Isabelle Axelsson, 20, with the youth movement Fridays For Future, which is organising the march, to be led by Greta Thunberg.

Currently, the nearly 200 nations that submitted voluntary emissions-reduction schemes under the 2015 Paris Agreement have agreed to update those plans every five years, a process described as a "ratchet mechanism".

In a gesture of thanks to Merkel for her contribution to Franco-German relations that has seen her deal with four presidents of France, Macron treated her to a visit to the French town of Beaune in the wine-growing Bourgogne region.