The Belgian government has reached a deal to close seven ageing nuclear reactors by 2025. The reactors, housed at two plants in Doel and Tihange, have long been controversial. They have been shut down repeatedly for safety checks and have sparked fear in neighbouring countries. A compromise was reached after years of debate and overnight talks by government ministers. The plan in principle was confirmed at a press conference on Thursday. Closures will begin in 2022 with the aim of both plants being safely decommissioned and demolished by 2045, Reuters news agency reports. Some reactors at the plants, operated by utility company Engie, have been operational since the 1970s and have long been a source of regional concern.(BBC)…[+]

Regulators in Australia have issued hundreds of animal cruelty charges over the deaths of dozens of koalas in the state of Victoria. The animals were found dead at a partially cleared timber plantation at Cape Bridgewater last year. More were later euthanised because of dehydration and injuries sustained during the incident.

A landowner and an earthmoving business are accused of harming and killing the animals by clearing the area. They face 126 charges each. A second firm, a contractor, faces one charge of animal cruelty for disturbing the koala population. They have yet to enter pleas. Victoria state’s Conservation Regulator did not name the accused. Each charge can carry a large fine or a maximum 12-month jail sentence, BBC Sydney correspondent Shaimaa Khalil reports.(BBC)…[+]

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has won an apology from a publisher over defamatory allegations. HarperCollins published a book which included the claim that Mr Abramovich bought London football club Chelsea on the orders of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday the company apologised to Mr Abramovich and confirmed it had reached a settlement. It has amended the book and will make a charitable donation in lieu of damages. UK journalist Catherine Belton’s book Putin’s People, published by HarperCollins last year, included an allegation by another Russian billionaire, Sergei Pugachev, that Mr Abramovich had bought the club in 2003 on the orders of Mr Putin. In a statement, the publisher said Ms Belton’s book “contained some inaccurate information” about Mr Abramovich.(BBC)…[+]

As many as 100 people are feared missing after a landslide at a jade mine in Myanmar. Rescue teams are desperately searching for people in a nearby lake, with most victims believed to be illegal miners. One person is confirmed dead. The landslide occurred in the Hpakant area of northern Kachin state at 04:00 on Wednesday (21:30 GMT Tuesday). Myanmar, also known as Burma, is the world’s biggest source of jade, but its mines have seen numerous accidents. The landslide is believed to have been caused by an overflow of rubble discarded from lorries to the open-pit mines. The rubble creates large slopes that can be dangerous in an area denuded of trees, forcing those looking for fragments of the semi-precious stone to labour in hazardous conditions. Rescue teams consisting of about 200 people from Hpakant and the nearby town of Lone Khin joined search and recovery efforts at the site. Boats were used to search for the missing in a nearby lake.(BBC)…[+]

The Turkish lira has seen a second day of dramatic gains after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled a new plan aimed at strengthening the currency. In Tuesday trading, it rose as much as 15%, after soaring 25% on Monday. The gains came after Mr Erdogan pledged to compensate savers for currency moves that have eroded the value of bank deposits held in lira. The currency had fallen to record lows as the rise in the country’s cost of living hit 21.7%. But at one point on Tuesday, it firmed to just over 11 to the dollar before falling back slightly.

The leading actresses of the Sex And The City TV show have expressed support for two women who have accused their co-star Chris Noth of sexual assault. Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis said they were “deeply saddened” to hear of the allegations. “We support the women who have come forward and shared their painful experiences,” they said in a joint statement. Mr Noth, 67, has rejected the accusations as “categorically false”. The actor, who played the character of Mr Big in the hugely popular series – the main love interest for Sarah Jessica Parker’s protagonist – has said the encounters with both women were consensual. However he has been dropped from several contracts since the allegations were made in The Hollywood Reporter magazine last week.(BBC)…[+]

Israel has rejected allegations from Church leaders that unnamed “fringe radical groups” are trying to drive Christians out of the Holy Land. The patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem said authorities had failed to curb assaults against Christians and desecration of their sites. The Archbishop of Canterbury said the statement was an “unprecedented and urgent alarm call”. But the Israeli government called it baseless and distorted.

While the overall number of Palestinian Arab Christians in Israel, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip is growing, the community has been in decline for years as a proportion of the population. Christians now make up less than 2% of the population and fewer than 2,000 are believed to be left in the Old City of Jerusalem.(BBC)…[+]

The Ethiopian military has regained control of the historic town of Lalibela from Tigrayan rebels. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said it had decided to withdraw its fighters from all areas in the Amhara and Afar regions. It added that it took the decision to clear the way for a peaceful resolution to its conflict with the government. The conflict has caused a massive humanitarian crisis, with international mediation efforts having so far failed. It is unclear when the military retook Lalibela, but Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen visited the town, in Amhara, on Sunday. Lalibela, famous for its rock-hewn churches which date back to the the 12th and 13th Centuries, was designated a Unesco world heritage site in 1978. The town has changed hands several times since August. Its airport has been badly damaged in the fighting. On Saturday, the government said its troops had retaken several other towns as well, including Weldiya. The TPLF has been withdrawing its fighters to its stronghold of Tigray after being forced to abandon its plan to advance on the capital Addis Ababa.(BBC)…[+]

Pope Francis has condemned domestic violence against women as “almost satanic”, in some of his strongest language yet on the issue. The head of the Catholic Church made the remark during a programme broadcast on Italy’s TG5 network on Sunday. He spoke to a panel of four people from difficult backgrounds, including a survivor of domestic abuse. He lamented the “very, very high” number of women “who are beaten and abused in their homes.” “The problem is that, for me, it is almost satanic because it is taking advantage of a person who cannot defend herself, who can only [try to] block the blows,” said Pope Francis. “It is humiliating. Very humiliating.” He spoke with a woman named Giovanna who said she had escaped from a violent home with her four children.(BBC)…[+]

At least 375 people are now known to have died after a powerful storm struck the Philippines on Thursday, police say. Super Typhoon Rai – with winds of about 195km/h (120mph) – sent some 400,000 people running for safety when it hit the country’s south-eastern islands. At least 500 people were injured and 56 others have been reported missing by local police. Rescue teams have described scenes of “complete carnage”. But establishing the scale of the losses is difficult, as communication to a number of areas has been cut off. There are fears widespread landslides and flooding may have claimed more lives. “Many areas have no power, no communications, very little water,” the chair of the Philippines Red Cross, Richard Gordon, told the BBC. “There are some areas that look like it has been bombed worse than World War Two.”(BBC)…[+]