Zelensky sacks Ukraine army chief Oleksandr Syrsky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that he was dismissing Oleksandr Syrsky, commander-in-chief of Ukraine‘s army, and appointing joint forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty in his place. «I have decided that the new Commander-in-Chief…
Row escalates in Ukraine over army chief’s future
«I perceived our relationship as a working one,» he wrote in an op-ed for the Militarny website. «If I offended anyone, Mykhailo Albertovych [Fedorov], I’m sorry.» The general said the issues of military contracts, procurement and mobilisation…
Outrage in France as Macron appoints senator who fought gay marriage to key rights job
France has a new human rights ombudsman – tasked with defending certain rights that he previously fought in parliament. Lawmakers in the lower house National Assembly and the Senate on Tuesday narrowly backed right-wing Senator François-Noël Buffet to…
Two French firefighters die tackling blaze near Bordeaux airport
Also on Tuesday, a huge fire broke out in the south-eastern Var department. The blaze in the Pontevès commune «is currently out of control and is evolving rapidly», said the PSFDF volunteer association, which monitors fires across France. It said 500…
Evenepoel beats Pogacar by seconds in stage 16 of Tour de France
Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel stormed to victory in Tuesday’s 26.1km individual time-trial at the Tour de France to shave valuable seconds off Tadej Pogacar‘s overall lead. Belgian Evenepoel, 26, blasted over the stage 16 course along the…
Brazil’s Amazon sees sharp decline of area burned in 2025
In 2024, the Amazon rainforest experienced its worst forest fires in over two decades, which the Copernicus Climate Change Service put down to «climate extremes and human activity». «The 2025 figures are significant and show that it is possible to reduce…
Beirut hopes to gain Trump support to bring ‘normality’ back to south Lebanon
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is set to meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on July 21, as Beirut’s military moved into an area of the south under a deal with Israel to disarm Hezbollah. The pilot ‘safe zones’…
Watch Texas police officer pull man from burning car
Bodycam and dashcam footage shows a police officer rescue a man seconds before his car was engulfed in flames near Dallas, Texas. Corporal Joshua Swisher was conducting a traffic stop on a motorway when he was alerted to a nearby vehicle emitting smoke.…
UN says 144 migrants and refugees reported dead or missing off the coast of Mauritania
The United Nations said Tuesday that 144 refugees and migrants were reported dead or missing after «tragic maritime incidents» off the coast of Mauritania last week. The UN refugee agency UNHCR said that overall, three rescue and disembarkation…
Chile floods: Towns evacuated following heavy rain in Coquimbo
Officials in Chile have declared a state of catastrophe in the Coquimbo region, and the province of Huasco, after heavy rains triggered floods and mudslides. At least five people are reported to have died, say local mayors. Chile’s disaster…