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A large fire broke out in a building on boulevard des Capucines, near the Place de L'Opera square in central Paris on Saturday, sending clouds of smoke rising into the air.

Source: reuters.com

Tesla drivers say they have been locked out of their cars after an outage struck the carmaker's app. Dozens of owners posted on social media about seeing an error message on the mobile app that was preventing them from connecting to their vehicles. The Tesla app is used as a key by drivers to unlock and start their cars.

Source: bbc.com

A boat carrying the bodies of 10 migrants found dead at sea arrived in Sicily on Friday, along with dozens of people it rescued this week as they tried to cross the Mediterranean. The crew of the Geo Barents vessel, run by charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), found the corpses on an overcrowded boat 30 nautical miles off the Libyan coast.

Source: reuters.com

Single-use plastic items such as plates, cutlery and polystyrene cups could be banned in England as the government seeks to eliminate plastic waste. Under proposals in a 12-week public consultation, businesses and consumers will need to move towards more sustainable alternatives. A separate call for evidence will also investigate how to limit other polluting products such as wet wipes, tobacco filters and sachets.

Source: theguardian.com

Crowds of rioters in the port city of Rotterdam torched cars and threw rocks at police who responded with shots and water canon, as protests against COVID-19 measures turned violent on Friday night. "We fired warning shots and there were also direct shots fired because the situation was life-threatening," police spokesperson Patricia Wessels told Reuters.

 

At least 17 people were killed after flash floods ravaged the four Rayalaseema districts of Chittoor, Kadapa, Kurnool and Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh on Friday. The incessant rains started on Thursday evening, triggered by the deep depression formed over the Bay of Bengal, throwing life out of kilter in the region. More than 100 persons are feared to have been washed away in separate incidents in the four districts.

Source: indiatimes.com

Protesters gather on the dried up riverbed of the Zayandeh Rud River, demanding action to return water to the river.

Source: aljazeera.com

Auctioneers revealed Friday the identity of the buyer of an extremely rare original copy of the US Constitution for a record $43 million -- a billionaire who will loan it to the Crystal Bridges museum in Bentonville to maximize the document's viewing. 53-year-old Kenneth Griffin is the CEO of the hedge fund Citadel in Chicago. Griffin’s personal fortune is estimated at nearly $21 billion, according to Forbes.

Source: france24.com

A wide range of designer handbags are going under the hammer at a Christie's auction this month, with some expected to fetch more than $100,000. "Handbags Online: The London Edit" is open for bidding until Nov. 23, with bags, luggage and accessories on offer.

Source: reuters.com

Twelve people will stand trial in France for their role in robbing celebrity Kim Kardashian of jewels and diamonds at gunpoint in 2016, sources close to the case told AFP on Friday. In the biggest French holdup targeting an individual in 20 years, Kardashian was robbed of jewellery worth an estimated six million euros ($7 million) while she was staying at a luxury residence during Paris fashion week.

Source: france24.com

More than 28,000 Afghans have applied for admission to the US, but only about 100 have been approved since the Taliban takeover.

Source: aljazeera.com

Days after Austria imposed a lockdown on the unvaccinated, it has announced a full national Covid-19 lockdown starting on Monday. Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said it would last a maximum of 20 days and there would be a legal requirement to get vaccinated from 1 February 2022.

Source: bbc.com

Leonardo DiCaprio said he signed up for Netflix's star-studded film about a comet threatening to wipe out life on Earth because it is an urgent analogy for the climate crisis. The dark satire "Don't Look Up" stars DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as astronomers whose warnings about imminent catastrophe fall on deaf ears in a starkly partisan and divided United States led by an incompetent president -- played by Meryl Streep.

Source: france24.com

Florida on Thursday banned schools and businesses from requiring vaccination against COVID-19 and set the stage for a possible withdrawal from the federal agency aimed at protecting workplace safety. Governor Ron DeSantis, a right-wing Republican widely believed to be planning a run for the U.S. presidency, signed the new laws in a community called Brandon, the same name used as a euphemism for a coarse epithet in a chant against Democratic President Joe Biden.

Source: reuters.com

Pakistan freed a hardline Islamist leader on Thursday, a week after removing his name from a terrorism watch list under a deal to end weeks of deadly protests by his followers, the government and his lawyer said. Followers of Saad Hussain Rizvi, the head of militant group Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan, held weeks of protests that killed at least seven police officers.

Source: nbcnews.com

Taiwan has opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania in a diplomatic breakthrough for the self-ruled democratic island that China, which described the move as “egregious”, claims as its own territory. Taipei announced on Thursday it had formally opened the office in the Baltic state – its first in Europe in 18 years – in defiance of a pressure campaign from Beijing.

Source: aljazeera.com

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest has hit its highest level in over 15 years, official data shows. A report by Brazil's space research agency (Inpe) found that deforestation increased by 22% in a year. Brazil was among a number of nations who promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030 during the COP26 climate summit. The Amazon is home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people.

Источник: bbc.com

With the Beijing Winter Olympics just three months away, the Biden administration will soon have to make clear whether it plans to send an official delegation to China. But sooner rather than later, according to several sources familiar with the plans, the White House is expected to announce that neither President Biden nor any other U.S. government officials will attend the Beijing Games.

Source: washingtonpost.com