In 2022, Spain was the country in Europe worst hit by forest fires. More than 300,000 hectares went up in smoke in almost 50 separate fires. Due to drought and global warming, the Spanish government has decided to start this year’s prevention plan a month and a half early. Across the nation, regional governments, which each have their own firefighting unit, are preparing for the risk of blazes. Our correspondents report from the southern region of Valencia.

Without substantial action now, we are destined to continue our take-make-use-waste cycle, Tahmid Chowdhury writes.

President Zelensky said he wants a clear signal that his country can eventually join NATO. Those comments from the Ukrainian president come ahead of a major summit the military alliance is holding in Lithuania next week. FRANCE 24’s International Affairs commentator Douglas Herbert tells us more.

Secondary schools in the Netherlands are preparing for a government ban on all mobile phones amid fears they distract students

Europe’s workhorse Ariane 5 rocket blasted off for a final time on Wednesday, with its farewell flight after 27 years of launches coming at a difficult time for European space efforts.

Authorities on Wednesday probed the death of a man who may have been felled by a police rubber bullet during riots in Marseille, as France counts the cost of its most intense urban violence in nearly two decades.