World

News broke on Monday that special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed the Trump Organization for financial information concerning deals it made with seven foreign countries as part of the investigation into classified documents found in the former president's Mar-a-Lago home.

As the report landed and sparked speculation that he might even be suspected of trying to make money from the documents, the man himself was bragging about his new Saudi-connected golf tournament.

The French government plans to move homeless people out of Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in the capital, sparking criticism from some mayors of regional towns and villages which are expected to house them.

From mid-March, the government began asking officials around France to create "temporary regional accommodation facilities" that can handle an outflux of homeless people from the capital, many of them migrants.

The Olympics opening ceremony will begin at 8:24pm on July 26, when the first boat – carrying the Greek delegation – emerges onto the River Seine from the eastern part of the capital. The vessel will lead a flotilla of boats carrying the athletes participating in the Games 6 kilometers west through the heart of the French capital, past famous landmarks and crowds of spectators.

The last boat, carrying the French delegation, will arrive at 11:50pm at the Eiffel Tower, where athletes and other spectators will witness the artistic and musical spectacular of the official ceremony along with the lighting of the Olympic flame.

The weekend school dormitory blaze that killed 19 minors in central Guyana is believed to have been started by a disgruntled pupil angry at having her mobile phone confiscated, a government source told AFP on Tuesday.

Sunday's inferno gutted the building in the regional capital of Mahdia, which housed girls aged 11-12 and 16-17. Some are still hospitalized.

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has condemned the handling of fresh allegations of Covid lockdown rule-breaking as "bizarre and unacceptable", as he faces a further possible probe into the "Partygate" scandal that helped push him from office.

It emerged on Tuesday that a government ministry had handed two police forces material about alleged violations of pandemic regulations.

German police on Wednesday carried out raids across seven states targeting climate activists of the "Letzte Generation" (Last Generation) group, which has sparked controversy with protesters glueing themselves to roads to block traffic.

The raids were ordered in an investigation targeting seven people aged 22 to 38 over suspicions of "forming or supporting a criminal organisation", said a joint statement by Bavaria's police and prosecutors.

New Zealand's prime minister on Wednesday joined a chorus of Kiwis complaining about the treatment of their national bird by a Miami zoo.

New Zealanders have been appalled by revelations that Zoo Miami allowed visitors to pet one of the shy nocturnal animals under harsh lights.

More women than men are competing for medals at the Chelsea Flower Show this year -- a first after more than a century of competition at the flagship London event.

The highlight of the British horticultural year opened to the public on Tuesday, with some 145,000 people expected to attend by Saturday's close.

About 100 climate campaigners on Tuesday demanded the attention of executives and shareholders at Shell's annual general meeting, refusing to be silenced as they spent several hours disrupting the profits-focused gathering to condemn the oil company for its continued planet-heating fossil fuel extraction.

Dozens of advocates gathered outside the Exhibition Center London (ExCeL) with banners reading, "We mourn the lives Shell has taken" and "Shell Profits Kill," while others entered the meeting and refused to allow the event to begin for more than an hour.

Billie Eilish will bring star power to a concert in Paris next month promoting a campaign to retool global finance to battle climate change, the NGO Global Citizen said Tuesday.

The US pop star will appear alongside Lenny Kravitz and other musicians on June 22 on the sidelines of an international conference sponsored by French President Emmanuel Macron.