Author: staff

Near the point where La Rioja, Navarre, Zaragoza and Soria meet, on the banks of the Alhama and standing since the 12th century, is the Monastery of Santa María la Real de Fitero. This Cistercian Romanesque gem, founded by the warrior monk Raimundo de Fitero, was robbed in 2010, when six hermitages, two churches and the monastery itself in the Comunidad Foral of Navarre had part of their artistic heritage stolen. Sixteen years on, a joint operation by the National Police and Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra has succeeded in recovering a carved, gilded and polychrome wooden relief depicting Saint Bonaventure. The…

Published on 04/08/2026 – 11:25 GMT+2 Three lions at a Tokyo zoo have died from suspected heatstroke and others are under treatment, a spokesperson said on Tuesday, with the big cats struggling with high humidity. Japan sweltered through its hottest summer on record last year and parts of the country have hit 40C in recent weeks, qualifying for the new designation “cruelly hot day,” with thousands of people hospitalised. Ten of the 16 lions in Tama Zoological Park have suffered symptoms such as “loss of appetite and decreased activity” since mid-July, and three lionesses died, the zoo said in a…

How many times has the “let’s plan a trip!” message landed in your friends or family group chat, only for a prolonged back-and-forth about dates, destinations and budgets ends up without anyone actually travelling anywhere. Flying solo just might be the solution, according to a new global poll. The “Solo Travel Trends 2026: The Year of Travelling Alone with Purpose” survey by Opodo asked 9,000 travellers, including 2,000 from the UK, what drives them to take the journey abroad alone. Among UK solo travellers, “freedom” was their biggest motivation, with 32% saying it was their main reason for going alone.…

Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez may be just days away from tying the knot. After last week’s rumours that had pointed to a wedding on the first weekend of August failed to materialise, speculation now appears to be drawing to a close and the ceremony could in fact take place this Saturday. According to The Sun (source in Portuguese), the Portuguese star and his partner of 10 years have chosen Madeira, the footballer’s home island, as the setting for their wedding. The religious ceremony is reportedly scheduled for next Saturday at Funchal Cathedral. The church is said to have been…

Published on 04/08/2026 – 10:35 GMT+2 Sri Lanka closed schools in its tea-growing mountainous regions on Tuesday as heavy rains triggered floods and mudslides that left five people dead and three wounded, officials said. Heavy downpours over the last two days have wreaked havoc in many parts of the country, flooding homes, fields and roads. The mountainous areas in the country’s central region are the worst affected by the severe weather, according to the government’s Disaster Management Centre. So far, five people have died after being buried in mudslides that overran two houses in the central region, while three others…

Published on 04/08/2026 – 10:18 GMT+2•Updated 10:21 Total will acquire around four gigawatts of electricity production, mainly solar and wind power in operation or being built in Italy and the Netherlands, as well as solar, wind and battery storage projects in Italy, Britain and Spain. The sale is worth several hundred million euros, a source close to the transaction told AFP. At the same time, TotalEnergies said it would sell a 50 percent stake in a portfolio of wind and solar assets in Germany, Spain, France and Poland to the US investment firm KKR, in a deal that values the…

Published on 04/08/2026 – 9:03 GMT+2•Updated 9:04 Apple has launched a fresh legal challenge against the UK government’s demand for access to its customers’ encrypted data, months after it withdrew a security feature for UK users rather than comply with an earlier version of the same request. The US technology company filed a complaint last month with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), an independent court that examines claims of unlawful conduct by UK intelligence services. At the heart of the dispute is whether the UK government can force Apple to give it access to iCloud data that is otherwise protected…

As anyone who has ever tried photographing their pet will attest, capturing the perfect shot is easier said than done. The winners of this year’s International Pet Photography Awards make it look effortless. Founded in 2019 by Australian photographers and educators Charlotte Reeves and Craig Turner-Bullock, the annual competition has grown into what the organisers describe as the world’s largest professional pet photography awards. This year’s edition attracted more than 4,200 entries from photographers in 48 countries. From that field, a panel of 27 judges named Australian photographer Callie Soden International Pet Photographer of the Year, the competition’s highest honour.…

Firefighters in Greece were hoping to contain a wildfire on the outskirts of Athens on Tuesday that is burning for a fifth day, with easing winds enabling the use of vital aircraft. “Today, more than 30 aircraft will be deployed in the area,” enabling access to difficult mountain terrain, fire department deputy spokesperson Yiannis Artopios told state TV ERT. Over 500 firefighters were deployed in villages around Mount Kithairon, some 60 kilometres northwest of the capital according to the fire service. “We want to keep the fire in a controlled situation,” Artopios said. Large areas affected by the fire still…

Four people, including three civilians, were killed by an unidentified soldier in the Black Sea city of Sevastopol in Russian-annexed Crimea, the city’s Moscow-installed governor said on Tuesday. “A tragedy in Sevastopol…According to initial information, a soldier opened fire on his fellow servicemen, killing one person, before attacking civilians and killing three of them,” Mikhail Razvozhayev wrote in a post on Telegram. He added the assailant, whose nationality was not specified and whose motives were not immediately clear, was arrested. “Emergency services, investigators and forensic experts are currently working at the scene. All the circumstances and causes of what happened…