Violence erupts after about 4,000 gather in La Rochelle amid heightened tensions over water resources

A police officer and five protesters were injured when violence erupted after about 4,000 people turned out for a demonstration in La Rochelle over the use of reservoirs to supply large-scale agriculture, local officials said.

Police fired teargas and brought in water cannon trucks and reinforcements to disperse the demonstrators after the unrest broke out on Saturday afternoon, with several shop fronts smashed and at least seven people arrested.

Iryna Farion, 60, a former MP known for her opposition to officials speaking in Russian, was attacked on the street

A nationalist former member of Ukraine’s parliament known for her vociferous campaigns to defend the Ukrainian language has died after being shot in Lviv.

Police launched a wide search for the gunman alleged to have shot Iryna Farion, 60, on a street in the western city.

Boat carrying more than 80 people was headed to Turks and Caicos as gang violence pushes Haitians to leave country

At least 40 people have been killed at sea after a boat carrying Haitian migrants caught fire, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Port-au-Prince said on Friday.

The boat, which was carrying more than 80 people, departed from Fort Saint-Michel in Haiti’s north and was headed for the Turks and Caicos Islands, the IOM said in a statement, citing the Caribbean nation’s migration authority.

• Smoking is illegal for anyone under 20 in Japan
• Miyata was an outside chance for medal in Paris

Shoko Miyata, the 19-year-old captain of the Japan women’s artistic gymnastics team, has withdrawn from the squad for the Paris Games after violating the team’s code of conduct by smoking, the Japanese Gymnastics Association (JGA) said on Friday.

JGA officials said Miyata arrived in Japan on Thursday after leaving the team’s training camp in Monaco for investigation, which confirmed the violation including drinking alcohol. The women’s squad would compete with four athletes instead of five, the JGA told a media conference.