Australia will return 14 artworks to India, including at least six believed to have been stolen or illegally exported, the National Gallery announced yesterday.

Israel’s Defence Minister Benny Gantz told his French counterpart his country took “seriously” espionage allegations concerning the Pegasus software developed by Israeli firm NSO that is suspected of targeting President Emmanuel Macron and other French officials.

A Belgian judge on Wednesday opened an investigation for possible manslaughter over the floods there that claimed 38 lives, the prosecutors office in Liege announced.

Although more than four billion doses of anti-Covid vaccines have been administered around the world, poorer countries are still struggling to secure precious shots despite recent donations. 

A fire scorched forests at the base of Mount Penteli north of Athens on Tuesday, threatening suburbs but without causing casualties, firefighters and local authorities said.

Ecuador has revoked the citizenship of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is currently in a British prison. Ecuadorian authorities said Assange’s naturalisation letter had multiple inconsistencies, different signatures, the possible alteration of documents and unpaid fees, among other issues.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Paris owed “a debt” to French Polynesia over nuclear tests conducted in the South Pacific territory between 1966 and 1996, but stopped short of apologising.

The global economy’s business-as-usual approach to climate change has seen Earth’s “vital signs” deteriorate to record levels, an influential group of scientists said Wednesday, warning that several climate tipping points were now imminent. 

The Cuban Embassy in Paris said on Tuesday that its building had been attacked with petrol bombs, causing serious damage but no injuries to diplomatic staff.

An explosion at an industrial park for chemical companies shook the German city of Leverkusen on Tuesday, sending a large black cloud rising into the air. At least 16 people were injured and five remain missing.

Firefighting aircraft from France and Greece arrived in Italy on Sunday following an appeal for help in taming fires raging across parts of Sardinia that have forced hundreds of people from their homes.

Britain and France yesterday signed a new security deal aimed at protecting the public in the event of a terror attack in the Channel against a large vessel such as a passenger ferry, the British government said.

Russia’s media regulator has blocked 49 websites linked to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, his ally said yesterday, as pressure mounts on the movement of the opposition leader ahead of parliamentary elections in the autumn.

Nearly 200 nations started online negotiations yesterday to validate a UN science report that will anchor autumn summits charged with preventing climate catastrophe on a planetary scale.

TUNISIAN DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

Wildfires burned in regions across southern Europe on Monday, fuelled by hot weather and strong winds, as some northern countries cleaned up after a weekend of torrential rain and flooding.

Ahead of a key climate meet in London, scientists have warned that only four leading G20 nations’ climate targets would lead to disastrous global warming. 

French President Emmanuel Macron faced pressure to apologise for the devastating impact of decades of nuclear testing as he kicked off his first official trip to French Polynesia. 

Allegations that governments used phone malware supplied by an Israeli firm to spy on journalists, activists and heads of state have “exposed a global human rights crisis,” Amnesty International said, asking for a moratorium on the sale and use of surveillance technology. 

Energy and environment ministers from the Group of 20 rich nations have failed to agree on the wording of key climate change commitments in their final communique, Italy’s Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani said on Friday.