Author: staff

As temperatures soar across Rome, the Colosseum is keeping its doors open later into the evening, with guided tours now running until 11pm four nights a week. Up to 275 visitors can join each tour on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and the summer programme is already fully booked. After dark, visitors can explore the arena floor and underground passages away from the worst of the heat. The monument previously offered night tours on just two evenings a week, but the schedule has been doubled for the summer. Simone Quilici, director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, said the extension was…

Published on 14/08/2026 – 18:51 GMT+2 Paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth over $10.4 million (€8.9 million) which were stolen from an Italian museum in March have been recovered, Italian police said on Friday. The paintings were taken by thieves from the villa of the Magnani-Rocca Foundation, near Parma in northern Italy, in a heist that lasted under three minutes. Parma chief of police Andrea Pagliaro said the investigation centred around a gang of nine Moldovan suspects. Five are accused of carrying out the theft, he said. Video footage released by police showed two thieves wearing headlamps and with…

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Friday that Britain must face up to the changing climate and accelerate its move to clean energy as he visited a town where a wildfire gutted homes. In Stourbridge near the UK’s second largest city of Birmingham, smoke rose from smouldering ruins of several roofless houses as firefighters sprayed water on the wreckage Friday. The West Midlands Fire Service said 19 houses were completely destroyed and 18 others damaged in the town. Meeting firefighters after viewing the scene, Burnham sounded shocked as he said the “combustible situation” was related to climate change and showed…

Emergency crews worked through the night on Friday to rescue residents trapped under rubble and extinguish fires after eight FAB‑250 guided aerial bombs hit the city, local authorities said. Several private homes and a garage caught fire, while an apartment building suffered extensive damage. The strike caused sections of the ten‑storey apartment building from the first to the sixth floors to collapse, the emergency service said. Rescuers were filmed pulling a woman and a man from the rubble and helping residents leave damaged buildings. Firefighters also tackled flames at several sites across the city, while cars were damaged near the…

Shipping companies Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd moved another major Asia–Europe container service through the Suez Canal, marking a further step in the gradual return of shipping to the route. The AE19 service, operated jointly under the companies’ Gemini Cooperation, connects Asia, the Mediterranean, Saudi Arabia and Europe. It had previously been sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. The two carriers announced on Monday that the change would take effect immediately, beginning with the westbound voyage of the Berlin Maersk. Hapag-Lloyd told Euronews that the AE19 switch is expected to save around four weeks compared with sailing around the Cape of…

The dispute centers on two pillars of the EU’s corporate sustainability rulebook: the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which requires large companies to address human rights and environmental harms linked to their operations and supply chains, and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, which requires companies to disclose sustainability-related information. Brussels has scaled back both laws in its drive to cut red tape, but has stopped short of Washington’s demand to shield U.S. companies from their reach. Last week, Puzder similarly attacked the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism as a tariff on U.S. exporters. On Thursday, the White House also accused…

A wildfire on Croatia’s coast has left at least 10 people in intensive care and dozens more injured after fire crews battled overnight with “one of the worst” blazes in the country’s history, according to officials. Around 2,000 had been evacuated from nearby villages as the fire ripped through the surrounding hills, damaging homes and destroying cars in the early hours of Friday. As access reopened mid-morning, the AFP news agency saw the blackened remains of several burnt out cars along roads near Omiš, some ringed by silver puddles of metal that had melted under the intense heat of the…

Fourteen people were taken to hospital, with seven reportedly in a life-threatening condition early on Friday. Parts of Omiš lost power as the fire approached the town centre, while homes, cars and boats were damaged or destroyed. Evacuees spent the night in a sports hall, sleeping on beds and floors. Residents described chaotic scenes as they fled the advancing flames. Omiš fire brigade commander Slavko Tučaković said numerous homes and vehicles had been destroyed, causing extensive damage to property, the natural environment and wildlife. Firefighters brought the blaze under control by Friday, while crews were also deployed to another wildfire…

A Constitutional court in France on Friday rejected a bill that would ban access to social media for minors under 15 years old in a major blow to French President Emmanuel Macron. The Council of State, the top administrative court that advises the French government, said the restrictions in the bill disproportionately infringe on minors’ right to freedom of expression and communication. The bill also fails to put in place adequate protections for privacy, the court said. Macron had made Europe’s would-be first social media ban a flagship policy of his second and final term, aiming to push the new…

The Israeli cruise ship “Crown Iris,” which has repeatedly faced protests over the last year when it has docked at Greek ports, faced yet more public anger as it arrived in the city of Piraeus. Demonstrators had gathered there following a call by unions, various groups and associations, and pro-Palestinian organisations to voice their opposition to the ship’s arrival. The protesters chanted slogans in support of Palestine and against Israel, while police prevented them from getting close to the Crown Iris, a luxury cruise ship operated by Israeli firm Mano Maritime that can hold 2,000 passengers. “They are common criminals…