NEWS ANALYSIS

Washington, United States | AFP | The thousands of fires burning in the Amazon don’t look like the major forest fires of Europe or North America — instead, they are fueled mainly by branches, vegetation and other byproducts of deforestation in cleared areas, experts say. The dramatic scale of this year’s …

New York, United States | AFP |  Serena Williams has the US Open spotlight as she chases tennis history, but a host of Grand Slam winners and high-ranked rivals are also taking aim at the title. The 37-year-old American will be the focus of attention when the Flushing Meadows fortnight begins …

Paris, France | AFP |  French winegrowers are on tenterhooks as they wait to see whether Donald Trump will follow through with his repeated threats to raise tariffs on French wine in retaliation for the new GAFA tax. As the leaders of the world’s richest countries gather for the G7 opening …

Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP |  Manchester United’s acquisition of Aaron Wan-Bissaka for £50 million ($61 million) in June raised eyebrows for a right-back with fewer than half a century of senior appearances in a far less pressurised environment at Crystal Palace. But the opening two games of the Premier League …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia will launch the world’s first floating nuclear reactor and send it on an epic journey across the Arctic on Friday, despite environmentalists warning of serious risks to the region. Loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov will leave the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP |  Vincent Kompany might have been seen as the saviour when he returned to Anderlecht as player-manager, but early results suggest it will take time for the 33-year-old to make his mark on Belgium’s most successful club. Anderlecht caused a sensation when they announced in May the …

Madrid, Spain | AFP |  Lionel Messi could be ready to play against Real Betis on Sunday and Barcelona could do with him back. In other circumstances, Messi might have left it another week, having missed the whole of pre-season with a calf injury he sustained in his first training session …

Berlin, Germany | AFP |  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Paris on Thursday, a day after Berlin offered a glimmer of hope that an agreement could be reached to avoid a chaotic “no deal” Brexit. On the second leg of his first foreign visit since taking office, Johnson will meet his …

Cape Coast, Ghana | AFP | US preacher Roxanne Caleb blinked away the tears as she emerged from a pitch-dark dungeon where African slaves were once held before being shipped across the Atlantic to America. “I wasn’t prepared for this. I’m heartbroken,” she told AFP as she toured the Cape Coast …

Washington, United States | AFP | Amazon, Microsoft and Intel are among leading tech companies putting the world at risk through killer robot development, according to a report that surveyed major players from the sector about their stance on lethal autonomous weapons. Dutch NGO Pax ranked 50 companies by three criteria: …