News around the world

Staff at the Eiffel Tower shut down the Paris landmark on Wednesday afternoon in protest over a new access policy that they say is generating "monstrous" lines for tourists. Access to the monument, which welcomed more than 6 million visitors last year, was blocked from 1400 GMT, according to a sign at the base of the tower. Staff had already been set to strike on Thursday. The site's management said staff took action after talks with unions fell apart earlier on Wednesday afternoon. The site was not evacuated, and tourists already inside were allowed to finish their visit. © Aurélien Morissard/IP3/Getty Images   The Eiffel Tower has been hit by repeated strikes by staff in recent years. Staff are angry over a decision last month to start setting aside half of the Eiffel Tower's daily tickets for people who buy them online in advance and choose a scheduled time for their visit. Previously just 20 percent of tickets to go up the 324-meter (1,063-foot) ...

(CNN) A ship carrying 40 migrants, including two pregnant women, has been stranded for two weeks in the Mediterranean, after four countries refused it permission to dock. The Tunisian-flagged offshore supply vessel, the Sarost 5, is currently three kilometers from Zarzis on the southeastern Tunisian coat, the ship's second-in-command, Aymen Ourari, said. The ship is the latest to be caught up in the diplomatic deadlock over what to do with migrants rescued from the Mediterranean: Malta, France, Italy and Tunisia have all rebuffed requests for it to dock. Ourari told CNN that if the Sarost is forced to remain at sea, the 14-strong crew foresees "serious incidents" for those on board, who have "about three or four days' worth of food" among them. The international humanitarian agency the Red Crescent visited the boat Wednesday, Ourari said, describing the situation as a "health crisis." The 40 migrants were picked up on July 1...

A BRITISH teen who urged an Australian man to commit a terror attack at Melbourne’s Anzac Day parade wants his name kept secret forever. The boy was only 14 when he exchanged hundreds of messages with Sevdet Besim, 18, including obsessing over a sharp large knife. “Wow, that’s a weapon. The blade is perfect for tearing through [a] throat.” Besim, who was then 18, and the boy, who can only be known as RXG, exchanged hundreds of encrypted messages over several days and an atrocity at Melbourne’s 2015 Anzac Day commemorations was only averted after counter-terrorism police foiled the plot. Besim was jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to plotting a terror attack and RXG was jailed for inciting terrorism overseas. Britain’s youngest terrorist, he is approaching his 18th birthday and can be released in 2020 if he can convince authorities he is no longer dangerous. But it is what he is trying to convince a judge of now that is causing controversy in Britain. The teen wants his name sup...

A BRITISH teen who urged an Australian man to commit a terror attack at Melbourne’s Anzac Day parade wants his name kept secret forever. The boy was only 14 when he exchanged hundreds of messages with Sevdet Besim, 18, including obsessing over a sharp large knife. “Wow, that’s a weapon. The blade is perfect for tearing through [a] throat.” Besim, who was then 18, and the boy, who can only be known as RXG, exchanged hundreds of encrypted messages over several days and an atrocity at Melbourne’s 2015 Anzac Day commemorations was only averted after counter-terrorism police foiled the plot. Besim was jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to plotting a terror attack and RXG was jailed for inciting terrorism overseas. Britain’s youngest terrorist, he is approaching his 18th birthday and can be released in 2020 if he can convince authorities he is no longer dangerous. But it is what he is trying to convince a judge of now that is causing controversy in Britain. The teen...