World

Thick grey smoke engulfed Mount Pentelicus that dominates Athens on Monday as the Greek capital battled the infernal fallout from what promises to be its hottest summer on record.

A 30-kilometre (20-mile) long line of fires, some with flames more than 25 metres (80 feet) high, was moving towards Athens, the ERT public broadcaster reported.

The co-founder of the Sinaloa drug cartel claimed Saturday that he had been kidnapped in Mexico and delivered into US custody against his will, deepening international speculation over the murky circumstances behind his dramatic arrest.

"I was ambushed," Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, 76, said in a statement released through his lawyer that he said aimed at clearing up the rumors and misinformation surrounding his capture.

Paris (AFP) – From a colourful, sometimes controversial opening ceremony to boxers caught up in a gender row to respectful bows on the gymnastics podium, the 2024 Olympics served up many memorable moments.

AFP Sport looks at 10 of the best:

The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the "release from custody of Travis Scott today as well as the dropping of the case over the offence being insufficiently established".

Paris (AFP) – "It's probably the biggest Olympics mystery of all," says historian Hilary Evans of the chaotic 1900 rowing race in Paris that may have produced the youngest-ever champion.

As the third Olympics hosted in Paris draw to a close, the identity of a child coxswain who steered two Dutch rowers, Francois Antoine Brandt and Roelof Klein, across the finish line first in Paris more than a century ago remains unknown.

Sicilian lemon producer Rosario Cognata is furious: his fruit is withering due to the drought, while just a few kilometers away rainwater is being dumped into the sea.

The Trinita dam, built in 1959 in the town of Castelvetrano in the west of the Mediterranean island, has not been tested and therefore has never been officially approved for use.

Pascal Vent let out a nervous laugh as he peered down at the ground from Berlin's newest tourist attraction, a swing on the top of a 40-storey tower block.

Billed as the highest swing in Europe, the contraption on top of a hotel next to Berlin's famous TV tower is a novel way to take in the city -- with a dose of adrenaline thrown in.

Moscow on Saturday mounted a "counter-terror operation" in three border regions adjoining Ukraine to halt Kyiv's advance deeper into Russia and warned that the fighting endangered a nuclear power plant.

Ukrainian units stormed into Russia's western Kursk region on Tuesday morning in a shock attack, the largest and most successful cross-border offensive by Kyiv of the two-and-a-half year conflict.

Georgian-American businessman Giorgi Rtskhiladze will be allowed to sue for being mentioned in Robert Mueller's final report over Russian election meddling, court documents show.

Rtskhiladze was named in the report, which he says has hurt his reputation. The U.S. Court of Appeals in the Washington, D.C. Circuit agreed on Friday that he can pursue a case, but he can't claim for damages, reported Politico's Kyle Cheney on X.

Jailed Iranian Nobel peace prize winner Narges Mohammadi and other female inmates were hurt in clashes that erupted at Tehran's Evin prison following a spate of executions, her family said, raising new concerns for her health.

Iranian authorities acknowledged a confrontation had taken place on Tuesday but blamed Mohammadi for a "provocation" and denied any of the prisoners had been beaten.