ROME (AFP) - An Italian court is to rule on the country’s first climate lawsuit against the state, with claimants hoping Rome will be ordered to slash greenhouse-gas emissions sharply. The case, known as “Giudizio Universale” (Last Judgment), was launched in June 2021 by environmental group A Sud and more than 200 other associations and individuals. They accuse the state of violating fundamental rights by failing to take sufficient action to meet the goals laid out in the landmark 2015 Paris agreement to reduce carbon emissions.

 

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KOLKATA (Reuters) - At least 19 people were killed and two dozen more injured Saturday in eastern India after a stampede that occurred during sudden rainfall at a Hindu religious gathering, officials and Indian media said. West Bengal’s Chief Minister Suvendhu Adhikari told reporters the fatalities included a seven-year-old girl, adding that 25 other people were injured outside a pavilion “in a stampede” at the Hindu festival of Durga Puja in the city of Kolkata.

 

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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two people, including a child, were killed and multiple others injured after a vehicle drove through a soccer game in the U.S. state of Kansas on Saturday, local police confirmed. The incident happened at around 3:25 pm local time (2025 GMT) at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kansas, according to the Wichita Police Department. A youth soccer game was taking place at the field. An adult and a child were confirmed dead at the scene, while multiple injured people were transported to area hospitals, the police department said. The vehicle remained at the scene, and the driver was in custody, police said, adding that there was no ongoing threat to the public.

 

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JAKARTA (AFP) - Fires in Indonesia that have sent toxic smoke sweeping across Southeast Asia have triggered the highest-level alert by the regional bloc’s meteorological monitor. The months-long pollution spell has closed schools, fuelled a surge in respiratory conditions and restricted outdoor activities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and East Timor. The haze is made up of fumes the forest and peatland fires that have ravaged parts of Indonesia, most notably on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. These areas are covered in dense forests and vast stretches of peatland that are especially prone to fire during the dry season, which usually runs from April to October.

 

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PARIS (AFP) -Two Italian Eurofighter jets operating under NATO command were scrambled Sunday after a drone was detected in Lithuanian airspace, with debris later damaging a moving civilian vehicle in the country’s north. “We can confirm that this morning, two Italian Eurofighter jets were scrambled in response to the presence of a drone in Lithuanian airspace. The aircraft were operating under NATO command,” a NATO official said, according to Italian news agency ANSA. The official said an investigation was underway and the alliance remained in close contact with Lithuanian authorities.

 

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SEOUL (AP) - South Korea on Sunday vowed to continue efforts to resume inter-Korean dialogue with Pyongyang and seek peaceful coexistence, local media reported. Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said Seoul will strive to lay the groundwork for the resumption of the long-stalled dialogue, Yonhap News reported. “Efforts will be made to open the door for dialogue between South Korea and North Korea and to hold talks on peace and joint prosperity,” Han said. Calling inter-Korean division a “reality,” the premier highlighted that the pain of displaced residents and separated families is “ongoing.” “Our efforts to open the road to peaceful coexistence of South Korea and North Korea cannot stop,” she further said.