Democracies must deliver for their own people and they must rediscover a formula for social harmony and economic prosperity. To do so, they have to lift their game.

From Santa hitting the slopes in Maine to the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Center, these are the best photos from around the world in the past week, as chosen by The Age's photo editors.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his British counterpart Boris Johnson have confirmed their countries will join a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The high-level meeting between half-a-dozen Chinese executives and their Australian counterparts is the first sign that Beijing is re-engaging with Australian firms.

In a post-truth world dominated by online conspiracy theories, young people have coalesced around the effort to thumb their nose at, fight and poke fun at misinformation.

The French leader is using his six-month stint at the top of Europe as a reelection pitch aimed at French voters looking for a strong leader.

Two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, testified the Empire star paid them to participate in a phony attack and instructed them how to attack him.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has been questioned in Parliament about the decision last year by her government, which resulted in the loss of 5000 jobs in Denmark — and also turned out to be illegal.

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

Most worrying, the US president said, was the sense that people around the world feel democratic governments are failing to deliver for their needs.

A report from the Berlin-based AlgorithmWatch concludes the technology has failed to end the pandemic and now threatens to make such monitoring widely accepted.

On December 10, 1996, after more than six years of negotiations with black and white leaders, Nelson Mandela made South Africa’s new constitution law.

Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson have welcomed a baby girl – their second child together and the British Prime Minister’s seventh.

A notice in the US Federal Register said developments in Cambodia were “contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests”.

The US President wants to promote global democracy and defeat China in the battle for global supremacy, but those goals may be in conflict.

Researchers at Yale School of medicine have found that the coronavirus infects both fat cells and immune cells within body fat, prompting damaging responses.

The British Prime Minister came under sustained attack by the opposition and his own MPs as he attempted to distance himself from a new scandal.

“People aged 14 when the law comes into effect will never be able to legally purchase tobacco.”

The world’s youngest Prime Minister said she left her official phone at home and missed the isolation text after her foreign minister caught COVID.

The photograph of the pair at the woodland cabin in Glen Beg was among a trove of pictures that were recovered from hard drives and CDs at Epstein’s New York townhouse.

The companies also said they could deliver an upgraded vaccine targeted specifically at the Omicron variant in March 2022 if one is needed.

A Saudi man arrested in Paris over suspected links to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been released after officials concluded it was a case of mistaken identity.

With his down-to-earth and no-nonsense manner, Scholz has positioned himself as Merkel’s natural successor and a safe pair of hands to steer Europe’s largest economy.

General Bipin Rawat was among 13 people killed when the military helicopter they were travelling in crashed, the air force said.

A former Malaysian prime minister remains the only person sentenced to jail in what has been called one of the world’s biggest and most lurid corruption cases.

Najib Razak still faces 12 years’ jail for his part in one of the world’s worst fraud cases, 1MBD.

Canberra is pushing for a “digital free-trade agreement” that would make it easier for Australians to tap into markets in the US and other nations.

WHO Europe regional director Dr Hans Kluge urged countries to protect children and schools amid a rapid rise in cases among the 5 to 14 age group in the region.

Diplomatically, going second can be as risky as going first. Especially when announcing a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics.

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

Carolyn said she was introduced to Epstein in 2002 by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s most prominent accusers, who asked her “if I wanted to go make money”.

Pandemic rules in place at the time stated “you must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity”.

By promoting its credentials as a humanitarian vehicle, sport allows authoritarian regimes to associate themselves with powerful ideals of solidarity and equality even while crushing them.

The US also has an understanding with Germany about shutting down the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine, an aide told Reuters.

Young people are not only falling behind in school but are also lagging in the skills needed to cope with stress and decision-making that they would normally be developing now.

Raphael Marshall, a former Foreign Office desk officer, said thousands of emails asking for help were never even read.

Angela Merkel, a conservative, long shunned the word feminist. Until her final years in power, she rarely publicly promoted the issue of advancement for women.

Paul and Tenisha Austin suspected the valuer had underestimated their family home. So they made it look like a white family owned it.

Oppressive regimes are increasingly using the glitz and glamour of hosting major sporting events to deflect from deplorable human rights abuses.

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

Witness “Kate” told jurors she looked up to the Oxford-educated Ghislaine Maxwell, who boasted about being friends with people like Prince Andrew and Donald Trump.

The already fragile relationship between the heir to the throne and his youngest son appears at breaking point after Harry claimed he had raised concerns about Charles’ “cash for access” crisis.

The first reports of cane toad sightings surfaced a few weeks ago. Environmentalists warn that quick action is needed to ward off a full-on outbreak.

Drug detection wipes found traces of cocaine in places only accessible by MPs, including in a washroom near PM Boris Johnson’s parliamentary office.

US President Joe Biden has pledged his “unwavering support” to Ukraine in its standoff with Moscow and will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday AEDT.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki says US athletes will continue to compete and will “have our full support,” but added “we will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games”.

South Africa’s surge in COVID-19 cases following the emergence of Omicron is yet to overwhelm hospitals, prompting cautious optimism that the new strain may cause only mild illness.

A so-called statement of pardon was later issued stating that the Nobel laureate’s term had been halved and that she would be detained at her current location and not in prison.

The Biden administration’s plan to freeze out China’s games paves the way for Australia and other nations to follow suit.

The infection has raised fresh questions about how COVID-19 has spread between humans and animals during the global pandemic.