Paris

French President Francois Hollande awarded the highest decoration in France - the Order of Legion of Honour to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

Bokova was awarded the third highest degree of the Order - Commandeur (Commander) at a special ceremony in the Elysee Palace on Friday, daily Sega reports.

A Paris-based arbitration court has decided on the behalf of Turkey's gas grid Bota? in a case against Greece's state-run energy company DEPA, said Turkish Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z. 

"We opened an arbitration case, which was between Bota? and DEPA, in Paris four years ago. The court has made its decision on the behalf of Turkey," Y?ld?z said. 

Three migrants trying to smuggle their way into the Channel Tunnel to reach Britain were burnt by an electric shock, one seriously, local French authorities said on July 14.

Chinese artist Xu Hongfei's upcoming Istanbul exhibition, 'Chubby Women,' will be held under tight police measures, due to attacks against Far East tourists in Turkey With his famous fat women sculptures, Chinese state-approved artist Xu Hongfei will be in Istanbul between July 23 and 29.

French special forces evacuated 18 people who had been hiding in a mall near Paris on July 13 after gunmen attacked a Primark store inside the centre, police said.

Gunmen have taken on Monday several hostages in a suspected armed robbery of a Primark store in a shopping centre in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, north of Paris.

According to the police, two or three armed men entered the store, where up to ten people might be held hostages, the BBC reports.

Russia will start construction of its own Mistral-class amphibious assault ships in 2020, a Defense Ministry source has told a Russian news website.

It will take three to four years for Russia to build such a vessel after Moscow renounced a EUR 1.2 B deal with France to buy two ships, Lenta.ru quotes the source as saying.

Pope Francis on July 7 said protecting the planet was no longer a choice but a duty and called for a new "social justice" where access to the earth's resources would be based on equality instead of economic interests. 

Europe's main stock markets fell on July 7 awaiting more high-level talks on the Greek crisis and following heavy losses the day before.

After rising at the open, indices turned red as Frankfurt's DAX 30 dropped 0.56 percent to 10,829.62 points compared with Monday's close.

Ankara-based chef Daniel Evangelista has won the prestigious World Pasta Championship 2015 of Academia Barilla in Italy, beating 21 contending chefs from around the world.