A fire on the popular holiday island of Rhodes that broke out on Sunday was burning out of control on Monday due to extreme drought and strong winds, dpa reported, citing fire department's statement. Hotel facilities on Rhodes are not affected so far by fire and heavy smoke, but three villages in the west of the island's capital were ordered to evacuate. There were temporary power outages across large parts of the island on Sunday evening.

The controversial Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline could soon be outdated, a top German environmental official warned, dpa reported. "Nord Stream 2 could quickly become something of a dinosaur among energy projects, because we want to get by with zero emissions by 2045," the president of the German Environment Agency (UBA), Dirk Messner, told media group RND in remarks published on Monday.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Berlin on Sunday despite the ban on several demonstrations, including those from the Querdenken (Lateral Thinking) movement which is sceptical of the German government's anti-coronavirus measures, dpa reported. There were several clashes between protesters and police, while water cannon were deployed at the Victory Column in the centre of the Tiergarten park.

The crews of several private sea rescue organisations saved hundreds of migrants in the central Mediterranean Sea on Sunday, dpa reported. In the early morning hours, the Ocean Viking and Sea-Watch 3 vessels alone took on board about 400 people in an hours-long operation, the aid groups behind the missions said.

A 5.4-magnitude tremor occurred early Sunday in the Aegean Sea, near the small Greek island of Nisyros, west of Rhodes, the Athens-based Institute of Geodynamics reports.

Amazon is currently in a hot seat after the European Union privacy agency decided to file a lawsuit against the giant retailer for allegedly illegal user personal data collection activities. As a result, now the company faces the biggest ever EU privacy fine.

The Czech government announced that state employees who have received their COVID-19 vaccination will be entitled to two days paid holiday. The holiday is valid until the end of 2021, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told a news conference in Prague.

France has seen a third consecutive weekend of mass protests, as planned tightening of coronavirus restrictions continue to anger segments of the public. The Interior Ministry said about 204,000 people joined about 180 protests across the country on Saturday. It was about 44,000 more than marched a week ago, French media reported, citing the police.

German politicians and associations are making great efforts to promote vaccinations against Covid-19, as the new school year draws closer and as interest fades in the jab.

The European Union said on Friday it had adopted a legal framework for a sanctions regime targeting Lebanese individuals and entities after a year of crisis that has left Lebanon facing financial collapse, hyperinflation, as well as food and fuel shortages. As the EU stated, this framework would provide for the possibility of imposing sanctions on those responsible for undermining democracy or the rule of law in Lebanon.