Fagradalsfjall (Iceland) (AFP) – It has been six months since the volcanic eruption currently mesmerising spectators near Reykjavik first began, making it the longest Iceland has witnessed in more than 50 years.
Atlantic Ocean, United States (United States) (AFP) – Four SpaceX tourists land in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida after spending three days in space, successfully concluding the first orbital mission in history with no professional astronauts on board.
Paris (AFP) – French tightrope walker Nathan Paulin makes his way across a 600-metre long slackline between the Eiffel Tower and Theatre National de Chaillot in Paris – a feat he himself describes as “not as easy as I thought”.
Moscow (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin votes online in a parliamentary election, after he announced this week he was self-isolating due to a coronavirus outbreak at the Kremlin.
Islamabad (AFP) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi calls on the international community to help prevent a failure of state in Afghanistan, warning such a collapse could trigger a refugee crisis.
Moscow (AFP) – Russian leader Vladimir Putin calls on the Taliban to keep its word to normalise life for Afghans and prevent violence spilling over into neighbouring countries at the summit of a Moscow and Beijing-led bloc.
Vienna (AFP) – The first civil lawsuit has begun in a court in Vienna over a notorious outbreak of coronavirus at the popular ski resort of Ischgl in March 2020, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected.
Berlin (AFP) – Anas Modamani, a young Syrian who had just arrived in Germany, saw a limousine and decided it was his chance for a selfie with a woman he then believed to be a “famous actress”. Within hours the snapshot of the 18-year-old refugee and the chancellor became a symbol of Merkel’s generous migration policy in the face of what she called a humanitarian emergency. It also changed Anas Modamani’s life forever, for better or for worse.
Helsinki (AFP) – A new ‘rage room’ in Finland’s capital allowing clients to vent their post-pandemic anger with a baseball bat is proving a smash hit among the Nordic country’s women. The venture has been fully booked since opening this summer, with frustrations caused by the pandemic the main causes of clients’ anger, but with a divorce-themed smash-up room also proving popular.
Brussels (AFP) – The organisers of the queer arts festival Q.ARTz are giving Brussels’ notorious Manneken-Pis statue a new costume described as “100% queer”. The “Little Pissing Man” will have the punk-inspired outfit for just one day to pay tribute to the queer movement.
Star City (Russia) (AFP) – Russian actress Yulia Peresild, director Klim Shipenko, and their backup crew train in zero gravity ahead of their space launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on the 5 October, in a race against a parallel US project.
Berlin (AFP) – A free kebab for every newly vaccinated person. Berlin is trying to encourage people to get a Covid-19 jab as vaccination rates wane in the country.
