BBC presenter's 'perfect hug' goes wrong

The European Commission and the UK government should not be discussing the distribution of coronavirus vaccines in an atmosphere of war, former president of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker has said. While he understood the recent move of the president of the Commission to threaten export bans, it could create a major reputational damage…

White House coronavirus adviser Dr Anthony Fauci is urging more Americans to get vaccinated as confirmed cases and deaths from Covid-19 continue to rise. He said some 70 million Americans entitled to the vaccine had not taken it, so this was “an outbreak of the unvaccinated”. Dr Fauci told BBC World News: “If ever there…

France is honouring the US-born 20th Century singer and activist Josephine Baker with a place in the Pantheon on Tuesday. She’s the first black woman to be remembered in the resting place of France’s national heroes, through her work on civil rights and for the Resistance during the Second World War. Producers: Marianne Baisnee and…

The Taliban say they will not extend the deadline for Western forces to leave Afghanistan. A spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, told the BBC’s Yalda Hakim that the 31 August was a red line and that any extension would be a “clear violation” of the Doha agreement between the United States and the Taliban. He said that…

Egypt is using all the diplomatic tools available to it so that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian militants can be reached, the country’s ambassador to the UK, Tarek Adel, has said. “There are casualties that are falling on both sides and this is not time to blame one side or the other, things…

Hamas is co-operating with international mediators to achieve a ceasefire and calm, a spokesperson for the Islamist militant group which runs Gaza has said. Bassem Naeem told BBC World News: “The key is very simple, to withdraw the security forces from the al-Aqsa compound and to stop ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people from Sheikh Jarrah.”…