WORLD

Boris Johnson has said the UK has “freedom in our hands” and must make the most of it as the country prepares to leave EU trading rules at 11pm. Historic changes to rules on travel, trade, immigration and security are to come into force as the UK enters a new …

Reports by some international media outlets say a Ghanaian man has been arrested in Italy for murdering his employer, a famous Ethiopian refugee. According to one such reports, Adams Suleimani, the Ghanaian, allegedly raped his employer, Agitu Gudeta, after hitting her with an object. “A Ghanaian employee on the farm …

The post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU takes effect at 23:00 GMT on Thursday, after it was signed into law. Parliament overwhelmingly backed the agreement in a high-speed process on Wednesday, following the two sides reaching agreement on Christmas Eve. It takes the UK out of the EU’s …

Agencies critical to US security have suffered “enormous damage” at the hands of the Trump administration, US President-elect Joe Biden has said. Mr Biden said his team was not getting the information it needed, including from the Department of Defense, as it makes its transition to power. He spoke after …

News information coming in from a court in China has revealed how a journalist by the name of Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years imprisonment after her live broadcast of the virus in Wuhan a town in China. According to reports, the former lawyer was said to have been arrested in …

Cases of the more contagious variant of Covid-19 identified in the UK have been confirmed in several other European countries as a vaccine is due to be rolled out across the continent. The infections, linked to people who had come from the UK, were reported in Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. …

Precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus mean Pope Francis will not recite the traditional Angelus prayer on Saturday before thousands of pilgrims, as in the past, but instead will declaim it from the calm of a Vatican library. The Vatican moved the location for Saturday’s noon-time (1100 GMT) …

The Neverland ranch of the late pop star Michael Jackson has reportedly been sold to a billionaire investor for a quarter of its initial asking price. Ron Burkle, a former friend of Jackson, recently bought the estate in Los Olivos, California, his spokesman said. He paid $22m (£16.2m) for Neverland, the …

EU ambassadors have received a Christmas Day briefing on the post-Brexit trade deal reached with the UK. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier updated them on the agreement, reached after months of fraught talks on fishing rights and business rules. MPs will vote on the deal in Parliament on 30 December, …

Pope Francis has called on world leaders to ensure unfettered access to coronavirus vaccines for everyone. In a Christmas Day address delivered online for the first time, the pontiff warned against putting up “walls” to treatments. The pandemic meant this year the annual Urbi et Orbi message was not presented …