"At least 38 people died in a powerful earthquake that hit central Italy early on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the civil protection department said."

"An unknown amount of diesel fuel has leaked from a Transocean Ltd. drilling rig that ran aground in Scotland, authorities in the U.K. said Wednesday."

"Several wild fires broke out in various parts of southern France on Wednesday, causing a major firefighting operation in which four firemen were injured, three of them seriously, the interior ministry said in a statement."

"Thirty years after atomic fallout from the Chernobyl meltdown rendered an area the size of Luxembourg uninhabitable for centuries, Ukraine is seeking investors to develop solar power near the defunct Soviet reactors."

"The French utility EDF said on Thursday that its board had approved a plan to build the first nuclear power plant in Britain in a generation."

"Donald Trump may have been grabbing headlines in Cleveland [last] week, but over in Europe it looks like he’s just lost an ongoing, albeit more low-profile battle."

"The cast has changed following Theresa May’s reshuffle, but the play remains the same. It’s a struggle pitching free-market red tape slashers against those backing a clean, green economy as the UK’s best long term bet. The big question is whether this performance will have a different ending."

"The U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union could make it more difficult for the country to cope with rising seas, floods and the spread of tropical diseases compounded by climate change, according to government advisers."

"European commissions’ opposition to a proposed global ban will spell the beginning of a mass extinction of African elephants, warn officials from 29 African states".

"As the EU member States meet today to discuss their position on whether to ban the ivory trade, a delegation of the African Elephant Coalition, representing 29 African countries, is calling urgently on the European Union and the European Commission to grasp a historic opportunity and follow through on their commitments to ban the ivory trade."