On July 12, the landmark Nature Restoration Law was adopted in a cliffhanger vote at the European Parliament. Our guest, prominent Finnish MEP Heidi Hautala – who's one the parliament's vice-presidents – says she is "relieved" that the EU parliament now has a position to negotiate with the member states. She applauds the law as "step towards combating climate change", and decries what she calls the use of "fake news and disinformation" by far-right as well as right-wing parties on the nature restoration issue.

A former government minister is investigated for corruption in Ghana. The inquiry comes after Cecilia Abena Dapaah reported her housekeeper for stealing a large sum of money, but prosecutors want to know where the money came from. Also in this edition: at least 30 people have been killed by a building collapse in Cameroon.

Italian police have arrested dozens of suspected mafia members from the violent "Societa foggiana" in Puglia. Those arrested are accused of drug trafficking, illegal weapons possession and extortion.

Senegal's opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has been mired in a flurry of legal woes, which he says are a bid to keep him out of politics.

As the first few hundred French and European nationals are evacuated from coup-hit Niger, the military governments of Mali and Burkina Faso say any foreign armed intervention in Niamey will be treated as a declaration of war against them all. Also, two protesters are killed in demonstrations that erupted in Senegal after opposition figure Ousmane Sonko was jailed on Monday.

Ahmad H. allegedly led a pro-Assad militia in the suburbs of Damascus during the early years of the Syrian civil war. He has been accused of crimes against humanity and arrested in Bremen.

The Navy servicemembers are accused of providing Chinese intelligence with sensitive information, including detailed technical manuals for warships and their weapons systems.

Police in Brazil arrested a man on suspicion of planning an assassination attempt on President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of the Amazon summit to be held next week.

An undisclosed European government has bought dozens of second-hand tanks that once belonged to Belgium, according to the weapons dealer who sold them. The vehicles are to be stripped, repaired and then sent to Ukraine.

Germany's domestic intelligence agency has warned dissident Iranian activists about the threat of cyber espionage against them. The hackers work by gaining the trust of their targets.

South Korean authorities linked a hacking attempt to a North Korean group known as Kimsuky, but added that no classified military information was compromised.

Zimbabwe's opposition blasted a "fundamentally flawed" electoral process, saying that delays, intimidation and other irregularities meant the ballot was "unable to produce a free and fair electoral outcome."