France recorded its first case of the new variant of coronavirus, as the number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 mounted in the country.
The French health ministry said a Frenchman who recently arrived back in France from London had tested positive for the new variant of the coronavirus.
The ministry said the case - the first in France - had been found in the city of Tours. The man in question arrived from London on December 19. He was currently self-isolating and felt alright, the ministry added.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock had said on December 14 that a spike in COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom might have been linked to the new variant of the virus in the country.
Hancock said more than 1,000 cases of the new variant had been identified, mainly in southeastern England.
Countries around the world have in recent days closed their borders to both Britain and South Africa following the identification of cases of the new, fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus in those countries.
France's number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 2,547,771 while its COVID-19 death toll stands at 62,427 - the seventh-highest in the world.
Israel bombarded northern Gaza overnight in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, causing panic amongst residents and flattening neighbourhoods in an area from which the Israeli army had previously down its troops, residents said on Tuesday.
Russia launched a drone attack on Ukraine that injured seven people in the Black Sea port of Odesa, two of them children, and also targeted Kyiv, the capital, Ukraine's military officials said early on Tuesday.
Taiwan's quake-hit eastern county of Hualien was rattled by more than 200 aftershocks late on Monday and early on Tuesday, but only minor damage was reported and no casualties and major chipmaker TSMC said it saw no impact on operations.
Two Malaysian navy helicopters collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for a naval parade on Tuesday, killing all 10 crew members aboard, the navy said in a statement.
New York prosecutors said on the first day of Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial that the former president broke the law and corrupted the 2016 election by trying to cover up encounters with an adult film star and a model, while his defense lawyer said he committed no crime.