Top Democrats in the US House of Representatives made a last-minute pitch to Republicans yesterday for why they should put partisanship aside and vote to impeach President Donald Trump.

Danish-French actress Anna Karina, muse of New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard, has died of cancer at the age of 79, her agent told AFP yesterday. Karina, who epitomised 60s chic with her elfin features and big kohl-rimmed blue eyes, starred in seven films made by her ex-husband Godard

Tensions between the French government and unions opposed to pension reforms mounted on the 11th day of a crippling transport strike yesterday, with the prime minister warning the French would not tolerate being stranded at Christmas.

A handful of major states resisted pressure yesterday to ramp up efforts to combat global warming as a UN climate summit ground to a close, angering smaller countries and a growing protest movement that is pushing for emergency action.

Downing Street is threatening the future of the BBC by insisting it is seriously considering decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee, while boycotting Radio 4’s Today programme over the broadcaster’s supposed anti-Tory bias.

Britain’s main opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn apologised yesterday for waging a disastrous campaign that handed Prime Minister Boris Johnson a mandate to take the UK out of the EU next month.

Nicola Sturgeon has insisted that Scotland cannot be “imprisoned in the UK against its will” and warned that Boris Johnson’s continued refusal to grant her the powers to hold a second referendum can only increase support for Scottish independence.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will “get Brexit done” by January 31 and then agree a new trade deal with the European Union by the end of 2020, cabinet office minister Michael Gove said yesterday, vowing to deliver on the government’s top priority.

Boko Haram militants gunned down 19 cattle herders yesterday in northeast Nigeria, civilian militia sources and residents said.

Leaders of the G5 Sahel nations held summit talks in Niamey yesterday, after the death last week of 71 Niger soldiers in a militant attack, calling for closer co-operation and international support in the battle against the militant threat.

Exactly four months after they were banned, single use plastic bags are back in Islamabad. Corner shops and grocery stores that were previously wrapping items in paper or packing them in paper bags have now back to using plastic carrier bags, and fruit and vegetable vendors are using plastic bags

The winter chills intensify with the minimum temperature likely to fall by two to three degrees over the northern plains.