President Sarkozy reshuffles his cabinet for the second time in three months. Also, one year after cyclone Xynthia hits the coast of France, survivors look back on the storm that left nearly fifty dead. Finally, France pays tribute to one of its biggest musical icons, singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.
Northern Australia was the scene of massive destruction Thursday morning, with houses and crops flattened by the most powerful storm in a century. There have been no reports of deaths or serious injuries so far.
Residents of northeastern Australia have been hit by devastating cyclone Yasi, stretching 650 kilometres across and packing winds with speeds of up to 290 kilometres an hour. The storm made landfall around midnight (1400 GMT).
Two years after Cyclone Nargis struck Burma, our correspondents went to take a look at how the humanitarian aid was being used, and whose hands it ended up in.
Thousands of people fled to evacuation centres as a powerful cyclone with winds of 175 kilometres an hour smashed into Fiji on Monday. The storm was reported to generate seven metre-high waves, and shipping has been warned away from the area.
At least 107 people were killed in floods and landslides caused by Typhoon Morakot which ravaged Taiwan over the weekend. Hundreds of people are still missing in remote villages in the south of the country.
Taiwan has begun a helicopter rescue of more than 700 people who were found alive in three villages flattened by landslides triggered by the torrential rains that accompanied Typhoon Morakot, a senior military officer said.
Flooding and landslides in Taiwan triggered by Typhoon Morakot have killed at least 50 people and scores are still missing, according to rescuers. About 100 people are feared dead after a mudslide caused by the typhoon buried a small village.
At least 42 people died and scores more were reported missing on Tuesday after typhoons ravaged Taiwan and Japan, causing floods and landslides and toppling multi-storey buildings as parts of the region experienced their worst weather in 50 years.
Dozens of lives have been claimed across northeastern Asia as Typhoon Morakot and tropical storm Etau have devastated the region. Japan, which is now bracing itself for the arrival of Etau, has seen at least thirteen deaths due to flash floods.
