Alarm is growing among German shipping and industry about low rainfall sapping major waterways, with one stretch of the Rhine briefly dipping to its previous record low on Friday.
As a wildfire closed in, residents of the town of El Tiemblo grabbed shovels and rakes to defend an elder -- "El Abuelo," a centuries-old chestnut tree, one of Spain's most treasured.
An English court on Friday threw out a challenge against planning permission for a Chinese "mega" embassy in central London, but residents seeking to block the contentious project vowed to fight on.
Sports
Santi Denia, who guided his native Spain to 2024 Olympic gold, has been appointed head coach of the Czech Republic, the national federation (FACR) announced on Friday.
July 31, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Ukraine has hit the warehouses of Russia's largest online retailer Wildberries around a dozen times since mid-July, killing at least eight people and knocking out a large chunk of the company's storage capacity.
July 31, 2026
RECENT NEWS
BP has launched moves to sell its North Sea business, the British oil and gas giant announced Friday, as new Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces pressure to ease drilling restrictions in the area.
July 31, 2026
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) joined UEFA and CONCACAF in condemning world football's governing body FIFA's proposed private investment plan, saying on Friday they were alarmed it had reached the point a "World Cup boycott has entered public discourse".
July 31, 2026
A Russian TV commentator ordered to leave France after accusations of parroting pro-Kremlin propaganda on Friday slammed what she called "censorship" and "political pressure".
July 31, 2026
Politics
A trial over one of the worst war crimes in the 1990s Kosovo conflict opened on Friday in Pristina, with 21 Serb officials to be tried in absentia over killings that had prompted NATO intervention.
July 31, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Italian defender Franco Baresi, the captain of AC Milan in the 1980s and 1990s when they won three European Cups and six Italian league titles, has died at the age of 66, the club announced on Friday.
Search teams found four bodies near the site of an avalanche in northern Pakistan that left 10 people missing from a climbing expedition led by renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, police said on Friday.
Greek firefighters faced another day of battling flames in high-risk conditions for new ignitions on Friday as France and Spain hoped for reprieve from massive infernos that blackened swathes of terrain.
Thousands of migrants crossed overnight from Morocco into Spain's north Africa's Ceuta enclave, a police source said on Friday, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was set to arrive to manage the latest migrant crisis on the border.
July 31, 2026
Politics
Нооша Аубель (50 років, безпартійна) вступила на посаду обербургомістерки столиці федеральної землі Бранденбург — Потсдама — 24 жовтня 2025 року, отримавши надзвичайно високий кредит довіри: у другому турі виборів за неї проголосували 72,9 відсотка виборців. Аубель обіцяла сучасну, прозору та дієздатну адміністрацію, більше доступного житла, якіснішу освіту та серйозний діалог із громадянами. Вона впевнено заявила, що не потребує жодного пільгового періоду. Саме за цими заявленими стандартами Аубель тепер і має оцінюватися — не за привабливими дописами в соціальних мережах, зокрема у Facebook, не за гучними словами, покликаними підтримувати професійно вибудуваний публічний образ, і не за демонстративним проголошенням моральних цінностей, а за конкретними результатами.
July 31, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Noosha Aubel (50, independent) took office as Lord Mayor of the Brandenburg state capital of Potsdam on 24 October 2025 with an extraordinary mandate of confidence: 72.9 per cent of voters backed her in the run-off election. Aubel promised a modern, transparent and effective administration, more affordable housing, better education and a genuine dialogue with the city’s residents. She confidently declared that she did not need a grace period. Aubel must now be judged by precisely these standards—not by polished social-media announcements on Facebook, grandiose rhetoric designed to promote a carefully managed public image, or ostentatious displays of moral virtue, but by concrete results.
Acclaimed British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who is missing after an avalanche on Pakistan's Broad Peak, is a trailblazer who summited the world's tallest mountains and smashed records.
British singer Boy George pulled out of a West End production of the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" after facing a backlash for releasing a pro-Israel song, "We Will Dance Again".
BP has launched moves to sell its North Sea business, the British oil and gas giant announced Friday, as new Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces pressure to ease drilling restrictions in the area.
July 31, 2026
- Chipmaker Kioxia reports AI-driven 45-fold surge in quarterly net profit
- Sony hikes profit outlook on strong gaming earnings
- Wildfire rages on Crete as strong winds hamper firefighting
- Baresi -- the 'Johan Cruyff of defenders'
- Hamas agrees to disarm under Trump plan, but no word from Israel
- Legendary Italian football defender Franco Baresi has died: AC Milan
- Alonso says new Chelsea signing Lacroix has 'winner's mentality'
- Drugged Malaysian pilot risks death penalty for smuggling in Indonesia