TEENAGE HACKERS FACE CHARGES OVER PARIS TERROR HOAX

French prosecutors have placed two minors, aged 16 and 14, under formal investigation over a false alert that triggered a vast anti-terrorist operation in central Paris last weekend. Investigators say the 16-year-old is one of two hackers who raised the alarm about a supposed hostage crisis at a Paris church and then bragged about the hoax online. A source close to the investigation told AFP news agency the suspect had confessed to police following his arrest in a suburb of the French capital on Monday, acknowledging he had boasted about the hoax under the Facebook pseudonym “Tylers Swatting”.

EX-EU COMMISSIONER UNDER SCRUTINY OVER UNDECLARED OFFSHORE DIRECTORSHIP

The European Commission said on Thursday it was looking into whether to take action against former EU commissioner Neelie Kroes for failing to declare a directorship of an offshore firm in the Bahamas. Kroes, who was the Commission’s anti-trust chief and then oversaw digital affairs under former president Jose Manuel Barroso for a decade until 2014, confirmed to newspapers which published leaked Bahamas documents that she should have declared her interest in the offshore company.

MIGRANTS FLEE BURNING CAMP ON GREEK ISLAND OF LESBOS

Thousands of asylum seekers were forced to flee to safety Monday when their camp on the Greek island of Lesbos was badly damaged in a fire apparently started on purpose after a scuffle between migrants. No casualties were reported but tents at the Moria camp were "almost entirely destroyed" and containers that provide additional accommodation and health and registration services were damaged, a police source in Athens told AFP.

CHINA AQUARIUM REFUSES TO DELIVER 'SAD BEAR' PIZZA TO UK

A Chinese aquarium keeping a forlorn-looking polar bear named Pizza said Tuesday it has "no need" for foreign interference, after activists offered to move the animal to a British zoo. Animals Asia, a Hong Kong-based organisation, created a petition calling for the closure of the Grandview aquarium in the Chinese city of Guangzhou that attracted half a million signatures.

NEW YORK AUTHORITIES SEEK 28-YEAR-OLD MAN LINKED TO BOMBING

New York authorities said Monday they are seeking a 28-year-old man in connection with a bombing in the city that injured 29 people. Police and the FBI released a photo of Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized US citizen of Afghan origin, saying he was "wanted" for questioning in the explosion Saturday night in the Chelsea neighbourhood. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on CNN that Rahami, of New Jersey, "could be armed and dangerous”.