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Droughts and heatwaves are causing Europe’s forests to turn brown in the summer months. Last year, 37 per cent of Mediterranean and central European forests were affected, a new study reveals. Researchers from ETH Zurich University and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) have been examining the phenomenon over the past 21 years. The results, published in the journal Biogeosciences, show that summer forest browning is spreading across Europe. What’s behind summer forest browning in Europe? Using high-resolution satellite data, researchers identified periods where areas of forest were not as green as they should be during summer.

The Dalai Lama has apologised after footage showed him asking a boy if he wanted to suck the Tibetan spiritual leader's tongue. His office said he wanted to apologise to the child and his family "for the hurt his words may have caused". The video also shows the Dalai Lama kissing the child on his lips. "His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident," his office said. The footage has sparked widespread criticism. According to the statement, the boy had asked the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug - this is not visible in the 23-second clip being circulated online. It is not clear when and where the incident took place. Sticking one's tongue out can be a form of greeting in Tibet. The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since fleeing Tibet in 1959, following an uprising against Chinese rule there.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr slammed former President Donald Trump as "the weakest of the Republican candidates," predicting that Trump will ultimately lose to President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election. "I think ultimately the savvy Democratic strategists know [the Manhattan District Attorney's Office probe] is going to help Trump, and they want him to be the nominee because he is the weakest of the Republican candidates, the most likely to lose again to Biden," Barr said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.

China said it was simulating "sealing off" Taiwan in a third day of drills as it appeared to use an aircraft carrier to launch jets towards the island. Taiwan said it had detected jets to its east while China said its Shandong aircraft carrier had taken part. Beijing began the exercises on Saturday after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met the US House Speaker in California. So far however the drills are not as big as those that followed Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei last August. Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state. China sees it as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under Beijing's control - by force if necessary. On Monday Taiwan said it had spotted another 70 warplanes and 11 ships in its surrounding waters.

Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla says it is expanding in China as it builds a new factory to make its large-scale batteries. The plant in Shanghai will be able to produce 10,000 of its "Megapack" energy storage units a year, the firm says. A Megapack is a very large battery that can be used to help stabilise energy grids and prevent power outages. Tesla already has Megapack plant in California, which also produces 10,000 of the units each year. Mr Musk said on Twitter that the new Chinese plant will be in addition to Tesla's US factory.

A British national and a Thai woman have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking in Thailand's seedy 'Sin City' resort of Pattaya. Cops raided the 'Flirt' bar on the area's notorious Soi 6 road - packed with dozens of sex bars - next to the beach at around 9pm on April 5. Footage from the raid shows dozens of young women being frogmarched into a police truck and taken to the local station to be questioned. Englishman William Reece and local woman Jaranya Deeppair, 31, were detained by police chiefs. The Brit was seen being led into the police station in what appeared to be handcuffs. Officers said that arrest warrants had been issued against the British man on April 4 for allegedly conspiring to commit human trafficking.

Police in India have arrested a man who raped an eight-year-old girl before strangling her to death and hacking her corpse apart to dispose of her remains. Kamlesh Rajput, 21, was arrested on suspicion of rape and murder on Sunday after police officers investigating the disappearance of the girl discovered bloodstains by Rajput's house in Lopda village, near Udaipur city. Investigators later found plastic bags containing the girl's remains in a patch of isolated wasteland not far from the farm of the victim's family.

Suffering for their faith: Devotees nail themselves to crosses in the Philippines in gruesome reenactment of the crucifixion as Christians around the world commemorate Good Friday WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Dozens of men walked barefoot through the streets of Manila 'You just pray, then you cannot feel the pain,' said participant Da

A research team in China has published analysis of samples taken more than three years ago from the market linked to the outbreak of Covid-19. The Huanan seafood and wildlife market has been a focal point in the search for the origin of the coronavirus. But this is the first peer-reviewed study of biological evidence gathered from the market back in 2020. By linking the virus with animals sold in the market, it could open new lines of inquiry into how the outbreak began. The research reveals swabs that tested positive for the virus also contained genetic material from wild animals. Some scientists say this is further evidence that the disease was initially transmitted from an infected animal to a human. But others have urged caution in interpreting the findings and it remains unclear why it took three years for the genetic content of the samples to be made public.

The Israeli military struck targets in the Gaza Strip early Friday, pushing the region closer toward a wider conflagration after a day of rocket fire along the country's northern and southern borders following two days of unrest at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site. At least two loud explosions could be heard in Gaza. It was not immediately clear what was struck. The airstrikes came after militants in Lebanon fired a heavy barrage of rockets at Israel earlier in the day, forcing people across Israel's northern frontier into bomb shelters, wounding at least two people. In Gaza, militants also fired rockets toward Israel.

France on Thursday faced another day of protests and strikes against the government's pension reform raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. The plan to make the French work for longer also requires 43 years of work to earn a full pension at 64 - otherwise, workers would have to wait until they turn 67. This rule is to kick in by 2027, while the statutory retirement age will go up by three months each year, starting in September, eventually reaching the 64 years mark by the end of the decade. The government says the reform is needed to make the French pension system financially sustainable as the nation's population ages. But the opposition and unions are calling for other options, such as making companies and the wealthy pay more to finance the pension system.

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year triggered Finland's application to NATO along with that of Sweden. On Tuesday, Helsinki completed the fastest accession process in the alliance's history. But Sweden, for the moment, remains left behind. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine rages on, and China's position is sparking fresh concerns from NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg, who has accused Beijing of spreading the Kremlin's wartime narrative and sustaining its economy. Euronews' Efi Koutsokosta spoke to US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in Brussels to discuss Finland, Sweden, Turkey, Taiwan and US-China relations, for this latest episode of the Global Conversation.

A Japanese military helicopter which went missing with 10 people aboard is thought to have crashed into the sea in Okinawa prefecture, officials say. They say floating debris that could be aircraft parts has been spotted during a search and rescue operation. "We believe that an air accident has occurred," General Yasunori Mori<deleted>a told reporters in Tokyo. The UH60 helicopter, known as the Black Hawk, vanished from radar screens near the Miyako island on Thursday. The four-blade, twin-engine transport helicopter of Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF) went missing at about 15:55 local time (06:55 GMT), the military said. It was surveying the local area at the time it disappeared. Japan's Coast Guard says patrol ships later retrieved a folded lifeboat that apparently belongs to the GSDF, according to Kyodo News. Oil, and objects including what could be part of a rotor blade, have also been found in the sea the news agency reported. The Miyako island - located about 400km (250 miles) east of Taiwan - houses a GSDF missile unit.

People who do not have symptoms for prostate cancer could get a life-saving diagnosis with a new test for sugars in blood. Research at Swansea University is looking into the blood of those with the disease to help develop a test for early detection. Prostate cancer affects one in eight men in the UK and diagnosis has tripled over the last three years. Simon Gammon, 62, who has a terminal diagnosis, said it could save lives. What losing my wife taught me about life and loss 'Game-changing' AI used to diagnose cancers Pioneering blood tests for bowel cancer patients

US President Joe Biden's administration has blamed its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan on his predecessor, Donald Trump, in a new report A 12-page summary of the report says Mr Biden was "severely constrained" by Mr Trump's decisions, including a 2020 deal with the Taliban to end the war. But the report also acknowledges that the government should have begun the evacuation of civilians earlier. Mr Trump responded that the White House was playing a "disinformation game". The deadly pull-out in August 2021 ended America's longest war. Thirteen US soldiers and nearly 200 Afghans were killed as US troops scrambled to evacuate more than 120,000 people in a matter of days.