France

Fiji set to play France and England in pre-World Cup warm ups

Due to the impact of COVID-19, the Flying Fijians have only played in 11 Tests since the end of the last tournament in Japan.

But recently-appointed head coach Simon Raiwalui has revealed a far-reaching, five-match itinerary that involves games against three of the top 10 teams in the world rankings.

“We’ve got Tonga in Fiji on the 22nd (July) in Lautoka, Samoa in Apia on the 29th – I think it’ll be the first test match in Samoa for a number of years so that’ll be a good occasion – and Japan in Japan on the 5th (of August),” he said.

Teacher stabbed to death by pupil in France

French government spokesman Olivier Véran confirmed Wednesday's attack and said the perpetrator was 16 years old.

Police attended Saint-Thomas d'Aquin school with the local prosecutor, where the student was arrested.

French newspaper Sud Ouest said the attacker entered the classroom while the teacher was giving a Spanish class and attacked her.

The teacher was in her 50s and died of cardiac arrest after emergency services arrived at the school, local media reported.

Hosts end holders' 14-win run in Dublin thriller

Ireland scored three first-half tries with Hugo Keenan, James Lowe and Andrew Porter all crossing.

Damian Penaud's brilliant counter-attacking try and three Thomas Ramos penalties kept France in touch.

Ramos cancelled out Ross Byrne's penalty with a drop-goal, but Garry Ringrose's try secured Ireland's win.

The victory further underlines Ireland's status as the world's number one side and gives Andy Farrell's side a national record 13th straight home win, while ending France's dream of a second successive Grand Slam.

England knocked out by France

In a historic occasion the two nations kicked off against each other in a World Cup match for the first time in forty years, with their last meeting coming at Spain 1982.

Early in the first half, France opened the scoring through a spectacular long shot from Aurelien Tchouameni in the 17th minute.

France winger Ousmane Dembele received the ball from Kylian Mbappe before laying it off deep to the Tchouameni who smashed long shot into the bottom left corner past Jordan Pickford.

Europe storms: Deaths are reported in France, Austria and Italy

The deaths, most from falling trees, were reported in Italy and Austria, and on the French island of Corsica.

Heavy rain and winds wrecked campsites on the island, while in Venice, Italy, masonry was blown off the belltower of St Mark's Basilica.

The storms follow weeks of heatwave and drought across much of the continent.

In Corsica, winds gusting up to 224 km/h (140mph) uprooted trees and damaged mobile homes.

Authorities there said a 13-year-old girl was killed by a falling tree on a campsite.

France firefighters battle 'monster' wildfire near Bordeaux

The raging blaze near the city of Bordeaux has gutted a number of homes and forced 10,000 residents to flee.

"It's an ogre, it's a monster," firefighter representative Gregory Allione told France's RTL Radio.

Strong winds and high temperatures are hampering the firefighting operation.

President Emmanuel Macron announced that Austria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Romania "are coming to aid" France in battling the blaze. "European solidarity at work!" he tweeted.

Beluga put down during dramatic rescue mission

Officials say vets took the decision as the four-metre (13ft) mammal was being moved in a refrigerated truck.

Overnight, rescuers spent nearly six hours lifting the 800kg (1,763lb) whale from the river using a crane and nets.

They had planned to release the animal in the sea but its health deteriorated after failing to eat.

"It is with heavy hearts we announce that the beluga did not survive," Sea Shepherd France conservation group wrote in a Twitter post on Wednesday.

"We are devastated by this tragic outcome that we knew was very likely," it added.

Thousands escape wildfires in France, Spain and Greece

More than 11,000 people have been forced to leave France's south-western Gironde region in the past few days.

Dozens of fires are burning in Portugal and Spain where temperatures have surged above 40C.

At least 281 deaths in both countries were linked to the heat and several towns in western Spain were evacuated.

Portuguese villagers were also told to flee when flames crossed the border from Spain.

Australia's new PM vows 'reset' with France after submarine row

Australia in 2021 cancelled a multi-billion dollar contract with a French firm to build the submarines.

It instead signed a new defence pact with the US and the UK, infuriating French President Emmanuel Macron.

He accused then leader Scott Morrison of lying to him, briefly recalling France's ambassador in protest.

Mr Albanese - who was elected in May - will travel to Madrid next week for the Nato summit. He will make a detour to Paris to smooth over ties.

"It is important that a reset occur," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Sick killer whale 'found dead in France'

The four-metre male orca was first spotted two weeks ago near the river's mouth, but made its way dozens of miles upstream towards the city of Rouen.

A plan to guide it back to the sea using sound stimuli failed, and experts concluded it was seriously ill.

The authorities had been preparing to euthanise the animal but activists say it died of natural causes.

Environmental campaign group Sea Shepherd tweeted that the orca's corpse was found at 11:48 local time (09:48 GMT) on Monday.