Junior doctors in England started a six-day walkout over pay on Wednesday (3 January), the longest strike in the 75-year history of the state-run National Health Service (NHS), which will hit patient care during a seasonal winter peak in demand.

Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday (3 January) announced their first exchange of prisoners of war in nearly five months, with more than 200 freed by each side after what both said was a complex negotiation involving mediation by the United Arab Emirates.

Iran blamed Israel and the United States on Wednesday (3 January) for twin bomb blasts that killed at least 95 people in the country's south, ripping through a crowd commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike.

This tumultuous year in EU politics started with investigations and arrests of MEPs implicated in the Qatargate scandal and ended with lawmakers agreeing on reforms to stiffen the bloc’s migration policies. Still, our most-read story dealt with an issue that most Brussels politicos thought had been left behind.