EUROPE: French President Emmanuel Macron began a state visit to Germany today, the first in 24 years.
Germany and France are the EU’s biggest economies and usually seen as the dominant partnership within the bloc. They will discuss European rearmament, with France critical of Germany’s recent decision to purchase mainly US-produced equipment for the European Sky Shield air defence project, saying it undermines European arms manufacturing.

INDIA: Investigations continue into devastating fires that killed 34 people over the weekend.
A blaze at a theme park in Rajkot in Gujarat killed 27. The owner, Yuvraj Singh Solanki, and the manager have been arrested, with the local fire brigade saying it hadn’t been authorised as safe. In New Delhi, a fire broke out at a baby care centre, killing seven infants.
Northern India is in the grip of a fierce heatwave, with temperatures in the capital hitting 50°C.

AVIATION: Twelve people were hurt on a Qatar Airways flight from Dubai to Dublin today.
Six passengers and six crew needed medical attention on landing. The incident will raise fears over the safety of Boeing aircraft following the death of a man on a Singapore Airlines flight earlier this month — both flights involved Boeing passenger jets, the Dublin-bound one a 787 Dreamliner. The aerospace firm’s planes have been involved in a number of high-profile accidents in recent years.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: The death toll from a massive landslide that took place last Friday has risen above 670, authorities believe.
UN migration agency official Serhan Aktropak said the figure was based on calculations that more than 150 homes were buried when part of Mount Mungalo collapsed. Only five bodies have been recovered so far.