The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed 50m people. It would spread much more rapidly today, and recent outbreaks of ebola and yellow fever are a warning to us all, say Gro Harlem Brundtland and Elhadj As Sy.

Loosely based on a true story, Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s crowd-pleasing comedy has smashed box office records in France and charmed audiences around Europe.

European nations dropped an explicit threat of sanctions against the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad to try to win Russian support for what would be the first UN resolution condemning his military crackdown on civilian protesters.

ONE HOUR PHOTO: Sy ‘the Photo Guy’ (Robin Williams) works as a one-hour photo developing technician in a local superstore. He takes his work very seriously and prides himself on taking good care of his customers.

Exuberant comic star Robin Williams doesn’t think it’s odd that he has suddenly shaken up his screen image by doing a trio of back-to-back dark roles.