At the British general election in December 2019, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson campaigned on a pledge to “Get Brexit Done” -- and won by a landslide.

At least 50 people are dead after a tornado ripped through the southeastern US state of Kentucky, its governor told reporters, as storms ravaged large swathes of the country.

1901 - Guglielmo Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland, Canada.

China yesterday branded US democracy a “weapon of mass destruction”, following the US-organised Summit for Democracy which aimed to shore up like-minded allies in the face of autocratic regimes.

The West and its allies need to be united against authoritarianism, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said yesterday, as she hosted G7 counterparts with concern about threats from Russia and China.

The envoys of seven Western states plus the European Union urged Tunisia on Friday to respect “fundamental freedoms” and set a timeline for a return to democratic institutions.

At least 100 people were feared dead in Kentucky after a swarm of tornadoes tore a 200-mile path through the US Midwest and South, demolishing homes, levelling businesses and setting off a scramble to find survivors beneath the rubble, officials said Saturday.

Top diplomats from the Group of Seven industrialized nations gathered beside the River Mersey in Liverpool for a meeting Saturday that host country Britain called “a show of unity against global aggressors.”

After recently abandoning Afghanistan to an Islamist autocracy and famine, and finalising a $650 million arms sale to Saudi Arabia, US President Joe Biden thought it would be a fine idea to hold a two-day virtual gathering on democracy, where some of its worst offenders could pose as responsible upholders of freedom and dispense homilies on how to save the world from those like themselves, says an opinion piece written by Debasish Roy Chowdhury, published in Time magazine on December 10.

1946 - The United Nations General Assembly created the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) to provide relief to children in war-torn countries.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange yesterday moved a step closer to facing criminal charges in the United States for one of the biggest ever leaks of classified information after Washington won an appeal over his extradition in an English court.

Pressure on land and water resources has increased and poses a risk to not only feeding the next generation but the environment and security as well, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization warned Thursday.

The flag-wrapped coffin of India’s defence chief was towed through the streets of New Delhi on a gun carriage draped with flower garlands before he was cremated yesterday.

Champion of press freedom Maria Ressa yesterday said there was “no brighter light” than the Nobel Peace Prize and told AFP that her award was “for all journalists”.

A US federal appeals court on Thursday rejected former president Donald Trump’s bid to prevent the release of White House records relating to the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

The BBC yesterday urged Iran to end what it said was a mounting campaign of threats and intimidation against its journalists and their families at home and abroad.

Facebook’s parent firm opened its Horizon Worlds virtual reality platform on Thursday to the public in North America, in a step toward building its metaverse vision for the future.

Hungary’s constitutional court yesterday struck down a bid by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government to challenge a ruling by the EU’s top court against Budapest’s harsh asylum policy.

A deadline set by France for Britain to grant licences to its fishing boats was set to expire yesterday with Paris threatening legal action unless a last-minute compromise can be found.

French President Emmanuel Macron hailed a “convergence of views” with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday as the two men met for their first talks as leaders.