Variety

“Leonardo is the magic name,” a dealer said as the Renaissance master’s works, and even copies of his works, continue to fetch eye-popping prices. A tiny Leonardo da Vinci sketch sold on Thursday at Christie’s for £8.9 million with fees, or about $12.2 million, a record price for a Leonardo …

A study released by India’s federal Health Ministry in August 2020 predicted that the South Asian nation would surpass China as the most populous country on the planet in 2031. India’s population is expected to grow by 25 percent between 2011 and 2036 around 1.52 billion. The Law Commission of …

The giant panda has been moved one level upon China’s extinction threat scale due to its increasing numbers, the country’s conservation chief has said. “The panda population in the wild has risen to about 1,800, which reflects their improved living conditions and China’s efforts in keeping their habitats integrated,” Cui …

About 155 million people around the world live at crisis levels of food insecurity, 20 million more than last year, a new report says. Eleven people die every minute of hunger, according to a new report by Oxfam, which also found the number of those facing famine-like conditions globally has …

An enormous 1,174-carat diamond has been unearthed in Botswana, a mining company has said, the second massive diamond to be found in the country in the space of a few weeks. The rare rock was recovered at the Karowe diamond mine last month and presented to the government in a …

Authorities in India arrested 14 people in connection with a scheme that allegedly saw 2,000 people injected with fake COVID-19 vaccines containing saltwater in Mumbai, the New York Times reported on Sunday. A total of around $20,000 was confiscated from the arrested suspects, some of whom are medical professionals. At …

The French Senate has voted to block a referendum promised by President Emmanuel Macron on whether to enshrine the fight against climate change in the French constitution, it said in a statement on Monday. Macron had pledged to organise such a vote in response to criticism that he has not …

Russia’s Orthodox Church admonished people refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, calling them sinners who would have to atone for the rest of their lives, as the country reported another jump in new infections and deaths. The church urged all its faithful to be inoculated as another 24,353 new COVID-19 …

Danish households are the richest in the European Union, according to a data analysis by the country’s central bank. The average household in Denmark had 1.88 million Danish kroner ($300,000) in financial assets as of the fourth quarter of 2020. The data, released Wednesday, was extracted from the European Central …

Newly arrived overseas tourists on Thailand’s island of Phuket were able to roam free without quarantine on Friday for the first time in more than a year, as Thailand launched a special programme for vaccinated visitors to the island. Tourists swam in hotel pools and walked along Phuket’s postcard-perfect beaches …

A truck filled with 2,000kg of illegal fireworks has exploded while police officers were in the process of seizing the goods. EXPLOSION! LAPD was disposing of illegal fireworks in South LA when the explosion occurred. At least 5 are injured. @KTLA @heli_CvP pic.twitter.com/99e9TzVtOr — Ryder Christ (@RyderChristNews) July 1, 2021 …

An 82-year-old woman who has spent six decades trying to reach space will join Jeff Bezos on the first human flight by his space company later this month. Wally Funk was one of the “Mercury 13” who underwent training in the 1960s. Mr. Bezos has invited Ms. Funk as an …

A spike in deaths has been reported in Canada’s British Columbia as it bears the brunt of a record-breaking heatwave stifling the country. Dozens of people are believed to have fallen victim to the extreme temperatures. A wave of searing heat has plagued Canada’s western provinces since Friday, resulting in …

Greek police have unearthed a painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso that was stolen more than nine years ago in a daring heist at the National Gallery in Athens. The Picasso painting, Woman’s head, was found with a damaged work by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian in a warehouse about 50 …

A number of Russian scientists discovered an ancient and unknown settlement around Tal Duhaila in southern Iraq.

Cairo has said it will allow travelers to visit the country without providing a negative PCR test, as long as they have been inoculated with vaccines approved by the World Health Organization and the Egyptian Medicines Authority.

Devastating climate effects from unliveable heat to more widespread disease are accelerating and will become obvious within 30 years, draft UN report says.

Ancient Egypt met modern medical technology when a mummy underwent a CT scan at an Italian hospital as part of a research project to discover its secrets.

Thousands of Russian tourists began arriving in Turkey on Tuesday, boosting hopes for its tourism sector after a two-month suspension in flights imposed by Moscow due to concerns about a surge in COVID-19 cases in April.

More than 8,500 children were used as soldiers last year in various conflicts across the world and nearly 2,700 others were killed, the United Nations said on Monday.