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Facebook Tweet Email Link A fast-moving wildfire in southern France has scorched more than 11,000 hectares across 15 municipalities, killing one person, local officials said Wednesday. “We mourn the death of an elderly woman in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, who apparently did not want to leave her home,” Rémy Recio, a regional official, told CNN affiliate BFMTV. The blaze, which broke out Tuesday afternoon near Ribaute in the Aude department, has also injured two civilians and seven firefighters, Recio added. About 1,500 firefighters battled the flames overnight, with 320 more reinforcements arriving Wednesday. Aerial operations had resumed Wednesday morning with four Canadair water…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Rome Reuters  —  Italy’s government was set on Wednesday to give the final approval to the multi-billion-euro project to build a bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland, paving the way for works to begin after decades of discussions. Construction for the 3.6-km (2.2-miles) bridge, projected to be one of the longest in the world, has been talked about since the late 1960s to help develop the impoverished south of Italy. The right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made it a priority and has set aside 13.5 billion euros ($15.63 billion) over the next 10 years…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Taipei, Taiwan  —  Taiwanese authorities have detained three current and former employees of the world’s largest chip manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), for allegedly stealing trade secrets, prosecutors said Tuesday. Law enforcement officers questioned several suspects and witnesses late last month; searched their homes and detained three of them over “serious suspicions of violating national security laws,” the intellectual property branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office said on Tuesday. TSMC produces more than 90% of the world’s advanced semiconductor chips that power everything from smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI) applications to weapons, with key…

Facebook Tweet Email Link The House Oversight Committee has issued nearly a dozen subpoenas to the Justice Department and high-profile Democratic and Republican figures for files and information related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a major move that comes as many congressional Republicans call for more transparency around the case. The subpoena to the Justice Department calls for it to provide Congress any Epstein files in its possession, with victims’ names redacted. It also calls for communications between former Biden administration officials and the Justice Department related to the case. The Republican-led panel additionally subpoenaed 10 individuals…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Top Trump administration officials will gather at the vice president’s residence Wednesday evening as they continue to weigh whether to publish an audio recording and transcript of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent conversation with Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. The administration’s handling of the Epstein case, as well as the need to craft a unified response, is expected to be a main focus of the dinner, three sources familiar with the meeting told CNN. The meeting will include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director…

Facebook Tweet Email Link The meeting between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday was “constructive and useful,” the Kremlin said, according to Russian state media TASS. The meeting took place amid the backdrop of a looming sanctions deadline threatened by US President Donald Trump if Russia does not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine. Witkoff and Putin discussed Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, state media outlet RIA Novosti reported, citing the Kremlin. “Putin conveyed some signals to the United States on the Ukrainian issue. Corresponding signals were also received from President Trump,” RIA…

Facebook Tweet Email Link American journalist Alec Luhn, who went missing while hiking in a Norwegian national park, has been found alive, according to the Norwegian Red Cross. Luhn was found near Folgefonna National Park by helicopter crew and has been taken for medical treatment, the organization wrote on X Wednesday. “We are very, very happy! Many thanks to everyone in Norway who has helped to find him,” Luhn’s wife Veronika Silchenko told local news outlet VG by phone after her husband was found. The journalist was found with some injuries to his legs, according to Svein Buer, an emergency…

Facebook Tweet Email Link In an absolute blitz of news this week, the cable sports institution ESPN showed how it is fully transforming into a streaming-first player. The network inked several new deals with the NFL, announced the imminent launch of its all-inclusive streaming service, and added new wrestling programming from the WWE to entice subscribers. The overarching goal is to maintain and grow ESPN as a must-have media brand. Here are the headlines point by point: • ESPN will turn on its eponymous direct-to-consumer streaming service on August 21. It will cost $29.99 a month. The service will include…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Warsaw Reuters  —  Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian and supporter of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, was sworn in as Poland’s president on Wednesday, setting the stage for conflict with the centrist government and potentially cooler relations with Ukraine. Nawrocki took the presidential oath in a ceremony in the Polish parliament. The election victory of Nawrocki, who was backed by the nationalist opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), dealt a blow to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s hopes of cementing the pro-European Union course he has set for the bloc’s largest eastern member and left his government floundering…