Author: staff

Canadair water bombers and helicopters drop water over a wildfire in the Corbières massif in the south of France, while firefighters work on the ground to contain the flames. The blaze has burned around 100 hectares since breaking out in Montséret, in the Aude region. Footage shows repeated water drops over the burning vegetation, with thick smoke rising from several areas. Fire crews hose down the flames as fire engines move through the affected area. The fire is burning near the site of a much larger blaze that destroyed about 11,000 hectares a year ago. The fire started shortly after…

Taiwan carries out an air raid drill in Kaohsiung, where traffic is halted and people take shelter as sirens sound across the city. Police stop vehicles on the roads while residents practise safety measures inside underground facilities. Held on 7 August, the exercise simulated an airborne attack and involved transport restrictions lasting around 30 minutes. Officers instructed drivers and motorcyclists to pull over, while Kaohsiung Metro staff guided people on how to protect themselves during an emergency.

Published on 07/08/2026 – 15:32 GMT+2 In Denmark, secondary school students are going back to school next week under stricter rules on their use of artificial intelligence (AI). On Thursday, Danish Education Minister Magnus Heunicke announced a set of immediate measures to tackle cheating with AI, including measures such as oral defences of written exam assignments and tools to monitor pupils’ screens during school tests. In a press release, Heunicke said that Danish upper secondary schools are facing increased problems with AI-assisted cheating, and therefore require prompt action. The first measure introduces oral exams for all written tests completed at…

Dozens of popular European destinations have brought in fines, taxes and other restrictions on travellers in recent months, in an attempt to combat overtourism. However, in 2024, Copenhagen took a very different approach. The Danish capital began rewarding tourists who demonstrate responsible and conscious behaviour through the CopenPay initiative. The main aim of this scheme is to show travellers that climate actions can be much easier than they think, in an effort to promote sustainable tourism. Incentives include providing free bike rentals, boat tours and lunches for travellers who help out in communal gardens, collect litter and take public transport.…

Published on 07/08/2026 – 16:03 GMT+2 Celebrated British musician and prolific record producer William Orbit has died aged 69. On a statement posted to social media today, William Orbit (born William Wainwright) was announced to have died at home on 23 July. “We are deeply saddened by his passing,” the statement reads. “He will be greatly missed by us and by so many whose lives he touched through his music, friendship and kindness.” No cause of death was given. Orbit worked with a number of musicians including Madonna, Blur, U2, Britney Spears, All Saints, Beth Orton, Robbie Williams and more…

The EU has added five individuals to its Russia sanctions list. The move was driven by Moscow’s “intensified strikes deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure” in Ukraine, according to a press release. The press release does not refer to a specific attack, but earlier this week Russia carried out one of its deadliest barrages on the Ukrainian capital, killing 17. In July, a similar attack in Kyiv killed 12. Among those included in the new sanctions is Ramil Badgutdinov — the head of a company that helps produce the Iskander-M ballistic missiles — and Aleksandr Dyukarev, head of the KrasMash…

Published on 07/08/2026 – 15:06 GMT+2 Five people have been arrested in the UK this week after anti-immigration protests broke out in the county of Norfolk in East Anglia. Violence erupted in the town of Thetford on Tuesday, with properties damaged and fences broken as some tried to force their way inside homes, Norfolk Police said. The disorder reportedly began after a list of properties alleged to have links to landlords with government contracts to house asylum seekers was published online. It comes amid pushback over a government proposal to turn the former military air base RAF Barnham – which…

Published on 07/08/2026 – 6:54 GMT+2•Updated 14:58 The suspect in a school shooting in Thailand killed a total of eight people on Friday, police said. First he shot his grandparents dead using his grandfather’s handgun, then went to his school north of Bangkok and killed three teachers and three students, national police said in a statement. The shooter was identified as a teenage student of the school and also reported dead, according to local media reports citing authorities. Some reports said police officers had shot and killed the suspect, while others said he had died by suicide. “It’s such a…

The Embassy of Israel in Portugal has criticised Kanye West’s concert, scheduled for this Friday in the Algarve, and has called for the show to be cancelled, citing the artist’s public statements, deemed antisemitic and supportive of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. “Someone who glorified Hitler, promoted antisemitism and claimed that slavery was a choice, a remark that deeply offended millions of descendants of slavery’s victims. This is not provocation, it is hate speech,” says ambassador Oren Rozenblat in a video posted on social media. In a statement, the ambassador recalled comments by the musician in which he said he “liked…

In addition to slamming Rome for imposing border controls that inconvenienced thousands of passengers by creating legal uncertainty in the middle of the summer holiday season, Madrid also took Italy to task for criticizing Spain’s handling of migrants while failing to protect its own borders. Even though “Italy is the EU member state that has recorded the highest number of irregular crossings in recent years, with figures that have at times been twice those of Spain … Spain has never introduced controls on travelers from Italy,” the Spanish government said. Madrid has now given the Italian government two days to…