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's military kept up its assault on Gaza City and the wider Gaza Strip on Saturday, dismantling underground shafts and booby-trapped structures in attacks that left 34 Palestinians dead, according to Gazan health authorities.
World leaders gather in New York this coming week for a UN General Assembly dominated by US President Donald Trump's return to the rostrum, war in Gaza and Ukraine, rising Western recognition of Palestinian statehood and nuclear tensions with Iran.
Russia launched a major drone and missile attack on Ukraine overnight, killing three people and injuring dozens, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday.
The UN Security Council voted on Friday to restore sweeping economic sanctions on Iran in response to renewed concerns over its nuclear activities, a move that drew sharp condemnation from Tehran.
The bodies of 19 people were recovered after the rubber migrant boat they were in sank off the eastern Libyan coast, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Friday.