It may be on the other side of the world, but that’s not stopping Britain from applying to join a trade partnership in and around the Pacific Ocean.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors.

The team members were seen walking through sections of the Baishazhou market — one of the largest wet markets in Wuhan — surrounded by a large entourage of Chinese officials and representatives.

Political tension in the south-east Asian nation soared this week after a spokesman for the military said a coup could not be ruled out if military complaints of widespread voting fraud in last November’s election were ignored.

Thousands of Hong Kongers have already arrived in Britain to take up new citizenship rights, driving estimates that hundreds of thousands might eventually flee China’s rule.

Former President Donald Trump has parted ways with his lead impeachment lawyers, raising doubts about the strategy of his defence team.

President Emmanuel Macron defended his decision to hold off on a third lockdown, telling the public he had faith in their ability to rein in COVID-19 with less severe curbs

Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny and his anti-corruption foundation have alleged the opulent mansion belonged to President Vladimir Putin.

EU officials confessed on Saturday to a “blunder” in invoking Northern Ireland Brexit emergency powers during a showdown with Britain over vaccines.

The 10 year old is an unlikely beneficiary of the GameStop craze, making more than 5000 per cent on a share gift.

Seattle hospitals rushed out COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of people in the middle of the night after a freezer they were being stored in failed.

Vermont, the home state of Bernie Sanders and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, is now also winning praise for its coronavirus response.

Israel, the UAE and Britain are the world’s top vaccinators against COVID-19. Meet the Australians overseas who have been vaccinated before Australia has even taken delivery of its first dose.

Vietnam approved its first COVID-19 vaccine and cut short an important ruling Communist Party meeting, state media reported.

Dominic Pezzola had “weapons- and bomb-making manuals” on a thumb drive device found within his home near Rochester, New York, prosecutors said in a court filing.

Jake Sullivan says returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was a priority for the new Biden administration.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Chinese aircraft did not come within 460 km of the US Navy vessels.

Analysts see parallels between what’s taking place on Wall Street and the streak of populism that powered Donald Trump’s rise to political power.

The company says its vaccine is 72 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in the US but a lower rate of 66 per cent was observed globally in the large trial conducted across three continents.

GameStop short sellers have endured mark-to-market losses of $US19.75 billion so far this year, according to S3 Partners.

Discord among US lawmakers remains after a January 6 riot during which Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

Organisers of the World Wide Robin Hood Society were surprised to find their 400 Twitter followers had swollen to 33,000 in a few hours.

The European Union exempted more than 120 countries from new export controls but Australia did not make the list.

Lai Xiaomin was executed on charges of taking bribes in an unusually severe penalty for a recent corruption case.

The regulator recommended approving the vaccine for people over the age of 18, the third vaccine to be cleared for use in the European Union.

The 46-year-old was diagnosed with brain tumours at the end of 2019 and has been living with his wife and two children in Japan.

Why does China have Taiwan in its sights? What does Taiwan want? And how would the US – and Australia – be likely to respond if there was an attack?

An abrupt decision by Britain to close its border to the United Arab Emirates has dealt a fresh blow to stranded Australians.

The government is even giving incentives to stop roughly 300 million domestic migrant workers from going home during the traditional holiday.

With polls showing increased support for Scottish independence from the UK, the British PM went to Glasgow despite a lockdown to promote the benefits of the union.

That is despite a drop of 23 per cent in the number of asylum seeker arrivals last year compared to 2019.

In echoes of a debate held in Australia in 2017, many hit out at the idea of a permanent barrier, saying the “people’s house” should not be fenced off from the public.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors.

The country’s vaccine committee says there is not enough trial data available for the age group. Australia says it trusts the TGA’s assessment.

The government defended the auction, saying the elephants would not be sold to zoos. “Only some circles of people, mostly foreigners, object to this.”

The meeting came three weeks after McCarthy enraged Trump by saying the then-outgoing president bore responsibility for the deadly January 6 riot.

It comes as the Chinese Defence Ministry warned: “Those who play with fire will get burnt.”

The king, who normally appears in public wearing a robe, was pictured in a dark T-shirt and with a surgical mask on his face as he got jabbed in the arm.

Efforts to curb trading by retail investors prompted a swift response from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who tweeted: “This is unacceptable” only for far-right GOP Senator Ted Cruz to agree.

The proposed remedy is being criticised as label censorship by advocates for alternatives to conventionally produced protein.

Frontex said that it was ceasing work in Hungary until the nationalist government brings its laws into line with a ruling by the EU’s top court in December.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene supported Facebook posts that advocated violence against Democrats and the FBI. One suggested shooting Pelosi in the head.

A World Health Organisation team has emerged from quarantine in the Chinese city of Wuhan to start field work in a fact-finding mission on the origins of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

The workers trekked through the snow on the highway, knocking on car windows in search of six lucky arms.

Officials are rushing to prepare up to 17,900 new plots on the outskirts of Jakarta as COVID deaths mount.

“We are dealing with incompetence, corruption, a total decay of the state, so these men are doing what they know best — taking away rights and freedoms from the citizens,” said a protest organiser.

Tony Blinken says hunger for US leadership is ‘almost palpable’.

The casino CEO and his actress wife allegedly flew to a remote community in Yukon Territory on a chartered flight and posed as hotel workers.

Australia has extended its suspension of the travel bubble with New Zealand for a further 72 hours after more community cases were reported. 

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors.