Author: staff
A wildfire in southwest France has uncovered unexploded World War II shells, prompting bomb disposal teams to secure the area before residents can safely return home. Video showed scorched ground littered with wartime ammunition as specialists searched for and collected shells near residential properties. Officials said some munitions exploded in the extreme heat, sending shrapnel into nearby buildings and forcing the creation of a safety zone. Crews are removing visible explosives before carrying out a more thorough clearance operation once conditions are safe.
Published on 28/07/2026 – 9:24 GMT+2 A €890 million penalty handed down against Google by the European Union last week is turning into ammunition for a growing docket of private damages claims from tech-leaning companies across Europe. The fine, the first issued under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, is split into two parts. Brussels found Google had continued to favour its own services — including shopping, hotels, transport and sports results — over rival offerings in search results, undercutting fair competition and limiting the range of results available to users. Separately, it found Google had restricted app developers from steering…
A Paris court on Monday rejected Russian television star Xenia Fedorova’s appeal against a ruling that she must leave the country, a week after French authorities accused her of acting as “a conduit for disinformation campaigns” orchestrated by Moscow to “destabilize public order.” The former head of Kremlin-backed RT France, who has been under house arrest in Paris since Wednesday, challenged three government measures: the expulsion order, a requirement that she remain in Paris and report to police daily, and a six-month asset freeze. But an administrative court ruled she had failed to demonstrate any of these measures caused her…
Ukraine struck another Wildberries warehouse in Russia’s Vladimir region on Monday, the third attack in two weeks on the e-commerce giant’s logistics network as Kyiv targets what it says is a key supply chain for Russian military drone components. Thick black smoke could be seen rising from the e-commerce warehouse in photos and videos posted on social media by local residents. Drones were also seen flying overhead prior to the strike. In a post on Telegram, Wildberries’ press service confirmed that fire had broken out at the facility and initially said there were no casualties. Vladimir region governor Alexander Avdeyev…
Residents in Japan’s quake-hit southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto put out heaps of debris for collection as the region baked under intense heat. The heat and a lack of water supplies have added to the challenges in the severely damaged areas where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi briefly visited for the first time since a magnitude 7.1 quake hit Kumamoto Prefecture on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday. Thirty-eight people died during the quake, including one who died of apparent heat stroke while taking shelter in a car in hot weather and one other whose cause of death is still…
By David Del Valle Published on 29/07/2026 – 6:00 GMT+2•Updated 9:45 Barter, the oldest form of exchange known to humankind, is enjoying an unexpected second youth. In a context marked by inflation, rising living costs and economic uncertainty, more and more people are looking for ways to access services without having to use physical currencies. Paradoxically, the answer is coming in the form of technology: a new generation of apps is reviving the spirit of traditional exchange, replacing money with time, knowledge and skills. What for centuries meant swapping goods or favours between neighbours has now moved into the digital realm.…
A new index ranking the best countries and territories to relocate to in 2026 has just been released, and a Baltic state has come out on top. Estonia ranked first globally in the Rumavi Global Relocation Index thanks to its banking infrastructure, business opportunities and property rights for non-citizens. Released annually at the end of Q2, the index scores 192 countries across 24 metrics which are grouped into four categories: financial and tax, livability and health, safety and stability, and settling and opportunity. The index makes use of several data sources as well as expert assessments. For example, for general…
“Migration is a European challenge that requires a European response,” she wrote. “And in this, solidarity is fundamental.” The Commission, she said, had offered Spain financial and operational support, with Frontex, Europol and the EU asylum agency ready to assist. Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner on Friday told Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska that the bloc was willing to “increase support for Spain” to “control the situation,” and to deploy members of Frontex, the EU agency that supports member countries in monitoring and managing the EU’s external borders, to Ceuta. Frontex currently has staff deployed in Ceuta, as well as on the Canary…
The migration crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta will be the focus of an extraordinary meeting of European Union interior ministers on Tuesday, where Spain will call for a common response from the bloc and respond to criticism from several EU partners, led by Italy and Denmark, following the mass arrival of thousands of migrants from Morocco. On the eve of the meeting, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in an interview with TVE that Spain will demand “solidarity from all the member states of the European Union” and warned that those who refuse to offer it “are working…
Divers gathered in Kosovo on Sunday for the annual Fshajt Bridge diving competition, one of the country’s longest-running sporting and cultural events. Fifteen competitors jumped from the 22-meter-high bridge near Gjakova, aiming to impress judges with their technique as they plunged into the river below. The event, known as Ura e Fshejte, was first held in 1954 but was suspended during the 1998–1999 Kosovo war after the bridge was damaged. It returned in 2014 and continues to draw participants and spectators from across the region.