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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has let the world know that he had rung Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to wish him a happy 86th birthday, disregarding any potential disapproval from China. Beijing regards the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in northern India for more than six decades, as a dangerous “splittist”, or separatist, and frowns on any engagement with him.

Source: aljazeera.com

France has hit back at a new Russian law ordering French champagne makers to label their bottles as sparkling wine. France has strict rules protecting its bubbly, meaning to be called champagne it must be from the French region that shares the name. But under Russia's new law, only local producers can call their drinks "shampanskoye" - the Russian equivalent of champagne. France's main champagne industry group called the law "unacceptable". French producers are still allowed to use the word champagne on the front of bottles, but the use of "shampanskoye" is allowed only on local produce.

Source: bbc.com

Thousands of people have fallen prey to an elaborate wide-ranging scam selling fake coronavirus vaccines in India, with doctors and medical workers among those arrested for their involvement, authorities say. At least 12 fake vaccination drives were held in or near the financial hub Mumbai, in the country's western Maharashtra state, said Vishal Thakur, a senior official of the Mumbai police department. An estimated 2,500 people were given fake shots, he said. The organizers charged their victims fees for the shots, earning up to $28,000 in total.

Source: cnn.com

Behind the dark green facade of a new Paris pizzeria, arms wielding ladles and spatulas perform an intricate ballet to churn out made-to-order pies -- but no human hands are involved in the performance. The glass-enclosed kitchen is staffed by silver robots that build, bake and box up pizzas with the help of specially developed equipment, at a rate of up to 80 an hour. After ordering at self-service terminals, clients can watch as the machines flatten fresh dough, spread tomato sauce, add organic vegetables, cheese and other toppings, then whisk the creations into the oven.

Source: france24.com

The 20-year-old Belgian named Big Jake lived on Smokey Hollow Farm in Poynette. Big Jake was 6-foot-10 (nearly 2.1 meters) and weighed 2,500 pounds (1,136 kilograms). The Guinness Book of World Records certified him as the world’s tallest living horse in 2010.

Source: apnews.com

Tropical Storm Elsa: Cuba reels as storm moves towards Florida
After causing devastation in the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Elsa is moving north towards the Florida Keys. More than 100,000 people in Cuba were evacuated before Elsa hit on Monday, causing mudslides and "flooding rains". In the days before, the storm passed over the Dominican Republic and St Lucia, killing three people. The storm is expected to approach the Florida Keys on Tuesday.

Source: bbc.com

New Zealand has recorded its warmest June since recordkeeping began, as ski fields struggle to open and experts predict shorter southern winters in the future. A range of factors led to the record, including more winds coming from the milder north rather than the Antarctic south, and unusually warm ocean temperatures, said Gregor Macara, a climate scientist at the government-owned National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.

Source: apnews.com

Richard Donner, the prolific Hollywood director and producer whose helming credits include some of the most iconic movies of the 1970s and ’80s including the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman, The Goonies and the Mel Gibson-Danny Glover buddy cop series Lethal Weapon, has died. He was 91. Donner died Monday, according to his wife, the producer Lauren Schuler Donner, and his business manager. No cause of death has been revealed.

Source: deadline.com

Italy defender Leonardo Spinazzola had surgery on his Achilles tendon on Monday in Finland. Spinazzola injured the tendon in his left leg in Italy’s 2-1 win over Belgium on Friday in the quarterfinals of the European Championship. The 28-year-old Spinazzola was in tears when he was taken off the field on a stretcher but he posted a photo on Instagram of himself smiling from his hospital bed after the surgery in Turku.

Source: apnews.com

The Taliban plan to present a written peace proposal to the Afghan government side as soon as next month, a spokesman for the Islamist insurgents said even as they make major territorial gains in the breach left by departing foreign forces.

Source: reuters.com

Raffaella Carrà, the pop singer and actor who was an entertainment icon in her native Italy, has died aged 78. Star of music, TV and film who had UK Top 10 hit in 1978 with Do It, Do It Again had been suffering an undisclosed illness.

Source: theguardian.com

Chowdown champ Joey “Jaws” Chestnut broke his own record to gulp to a 14th win in the men’s Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on Sunday, while Michelle Lesco took the women’s title. Chestnut downed 76 franks and buns in 10 minutes. That’s one more than he did in setting the men’s record last year, when the contest unfolded without fans because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: nbcnews.com

The Duchess of Cambridge is self-isolating after coming into contact with someone who has since tested positive for Covid-19, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace told CNN on Monday. Kate will not attend Monday's engagements, the spokesperson added. She was alerted on Friday afternoon and began isolating then. UK government guidelines stipulate that anyone who has had close contact with an infected person must isolate for 10 days.

Source: cnn.com

Some of the extra barriers installed around the White House over the last year will be removed, the Secret Service announced on Sunday. Once again, people will be able to walk up to the fence on the North Lawn of the compound, a space which has hosted tourists and protesters alike for more than 100 years. 

Source: independent.co.uk

The population of a rare type of antelope has more than doubled since 2019, in a remarkable turn around in fortunes. According to the first aerial survey in two years, the number of saiga in their Kazakhstan heartland has risen from 334,000 to 842,000.There were fears the animal was on the brink of extinction following a mass die-off in 2015.

Source: bbc.com

For four days, Darren James and his family were multibillionaires. The real estate agent from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and his wife were doing a routine check on their finances last Saturday when they noticed $50 billion had been mistakenly deposited into their Chase Bank account. But to his disappointment, it wasn't an inheritance -- just an incredibly unusual error. Chase Bank restored the family's account to its correct balance on Tuesday, James said.

Source: cnn.com

A day after the Czech Republic was eliminated from the European Championship, team captain Vladimír Darida retired from international soccer. The 30-year-old Hertha Berlin playmaker missed the 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in the round of 16 with an unspecified injury and came on as a substitute in the 2-1 loss to Denmark in the Euro 2020 quarterfinals on Saturday.

Source: apnews.com

Face masks are set to become a "personal choice" in England with the further easing of coronavirus restrictions, a senior UK government minister said Sunday. Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News: "I don't particularly want to wear a mask, I don't think a lot of people enjoy doing it." The UK government is currently considering whether to lift all remaining restrictions on social contact on July 19. The government's new Health Secretary Sajid Javid has signaled he would like to ease coronavirus restrictions.

Source: cnn.com