PRESIDENT of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has said he will only accept an offer of international aid to fight Amazon fires if French leader Emmanuel Macron retracts comments that he finds offensive.
Bolsonaro said his French counterpart had called him a liar, and accused him of questioning Brazil’s sovereignty amid tensions over devastating fires sweeping the Amazon region.
The French leader has questioned Bolsonaro’s trustworthiness and commitment to protecting biodiversity.
The G7 nations have pledged $20 million (£16.3m) to help fight the flames in the Amazon and protect the rainforest, in addition to a separate $12m (£9.8m) from Britain and $11m (£9m) from Canada.
AT least 40 Europe-bound migrants were missing and feared drowned after the boat they were travelling in capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, the coast guard and the UN refugee agency said.
Ayoub Gassim, a spokesman for Libya’s coast guard, said at least five bodies, including a child, were recovered near the western town of Khoms, around 75 miles east of Tripoli.
He said they rescued at least 65 migrants, mostly from Sudan, and that search operations are under way for those still missing.
TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the opening of an annual Russian air show as a guest of President Vladimir Putin and expressed interest in purchasing the latest Russian fighter jets.
Nato member Turkey started taking deliveries last month of Russia’s S-400 air defence system and the visit is a sign of a rapprochement between the countries.
The US had pushed Erdogan’s government to scrap the deal, arguing that its purchase would aid Russian intelligence and compromise a US-led fighter jet programme.
Erdogan has refused to budge despite the Trump administration kicking Turkey out of the multinational programme to produce the high-tech F-35 fighter.
Turkish officials have dangled the idea of buying Russian Su-35 fighter jets instead.
ONE of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers says the late US financier was a “coward”, and she feels “very angry and sad” that he killed himself before going to trial.
Courtney Wild spoke at a Manhattan hearing on yesterday.
Wild has said she was sexually abused by Epstein when she was 14 in Palm Beach, Florida. She has come forward publicly and has agreed to be identified while some other accusers testified anonymously at the hearing.
Epstein had pleaded not guilty to charges he sex trafficked women in the early 2000s.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here