WORLD

  Paris, France | AFP | At least 15 natural disasters linked to climate change this year caused damage of over $1 billion and seven of them cost at least $10 billion, British charity Christian Aid said Friday. This year is set to be the second hottest year in history and …

Podgorica, Montenegro | AFP |  More than a dozen Montenegrin opposition MPs were detained in parliament on Friday after they violently protested a controversial law on religious freedom, which was passed after the group was taken away. The law has raised tensions in recent weeks between the government and a pro-Serb …

  Paris, France | AFP | “Made in China” may still evoke more off the rack than catwalk, but Chinese designers are slowly installing themselves in Paris, the fashion capital, as a part of an upscale march towards the lucrative luxury market, a segment that is increasingly made up of Chinese …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a “huge” victory Friday, after winning a leadership primary that ensures he will lead his right-wing Likud party into a March general election. Israel’s longest-serving premier, who faces a corruption indictment and a third general election in 12 …

Shanghai, China | AFP |  A company run by Bruce Lee’s daughter is suing a Chinese fast food chain for allegedly using an image of the late martial arts film star without permission. Shannon Lee’s Bruce Lee Enterprises accuses restaurant chain Kungfu Catering Management of having used her father’s image …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | A top Brussels official has written a “love letter” to Britain expressing his grief at its decision to leave the European Union — and stressing it was always welcome back. “I know you now. And I love you. For who you are and what you …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  Italian Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement said Thursday he had resigned because his ministry is underfunded. Fioramonti wrote on Facebook that he informed Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of his decision on Tuesday, saying he had taken up the portfolio to …

Gideon Saar, the man challenging Israel’s Netanyahu for Likud leader Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | He looks more like an accountant than a political predator, but on Thursday Gideon Saar will challenge his former mentor Benjamin Netanyahu for the leadership of Israel’s ruling party. Saar, 53, has been a senior …

Paris, France | AFP |  Angry citizens have swelled the streets of cities across the globe this year, pushing back against a disparate range of policies but often expressing a common grievance — the establishment’s failure to heed their demands for a more equitable future. While street protests are nothing …

  Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis ushered in Christmas on Wednesday for the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics with a message of unconditional love, saying “God continues to love us all, even the worst of us”. “You may have mistaken ideas, you may have made a complete …