The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution calling for a “lasting ceasefire” in Libya, where a fragile truce has been in place since January. The text, drafted by Britain, was approved by 14 votes out of 15, with Russia abstaining. It was subject to weeks of wrangling, reflecting ...

Traces of unknown ancestor emerged when researchers analysed genomes from west African populations   Scientists have found evidence for a mysterious “ghost population” of ancient humans that lived in Africa about half a million years ago and whose genes live on in people today. Traces of the unknown ancestor emerged ...

Palestinian officials welcome report, while Israel condemns it as ‘shameful blacklist’   The UN has published a list of companies with business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the US-based TripAdvisor and Airbnb and the British truck and digger maker JCB. Most of the 112 companies ...

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, urged Israel on Tuesday not to annex the Jordan Valley, a large swathe of the occupied West Bank, warning of Palestinian protests if it went ahead. Israel captured the West Bank in a 1967 war. The Palestinian Authority wants to make the area part ...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, appearing before the United Nations Security Council, angrily rejected US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace proposal on Tuesday as a gift to Israel and unacceptable to Palestinians. Waving a copy of a map that the US plan envisions for a two-state solution for Israel and ...

We have now entered the world’s sixth mass extinction event — the biggest, most rapid global biodiversity crisis since a meteor ended the age of the dinosaurs’ A massive decline of bumblebees — the world’s most important pollinators — is now underway due to “climate chaos” and other human impacts on ...

  An artificial intelligence tool has been developed to help predict the structure of the universe and aid research into the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter. Researchers in Japan used two of the world’s fastest astrophysical simulation supercomputers, known as ATERUI and ATERUI II, to create an aptly-named ...

Instagram has added a new feature to let you find out who you don’t like. The tool is intended to allow users to clean up their news feeds by unfollowing accounts they don’t interact with or want to see less of. It comes alongside another tool that lets people see ...

Support for Nato drops dramatically in Germany and France as east European members cling to it more over Russia fears   On the eve of a major Nato defence ministers’ summit in Brussels, malaise and uncertainty hung over the 29-member alliance. Donald Trump is demanding members of Nato take up more tasks ...

Exclusive: Public health epidemiologist says other countries should consider adopting China-style containment measures   The coronavirus epidemic could spread to about two-thirds of the world’s population if it cannot be controlled, according to Hong Kong’s leading public health epidemiologist. His warning came after the head of the World Health Organization ...