Guzara (Afghanistan) (AFP) – 78 people have died after a bus carrying Afghan migrants collided with two other vehicles in western Afghanistan. The state-run Bakhtar News Agency says it was one of the deadliest accidents in the country in recent years.
Kumamoto (Japan) (AFP) – UGC footage filmed by the dashcam of a motorist in the Kita Ward Of Kumamoto city shows a fireball streaking across the sky above southern Japan. Toshihisa Maeda, head of Sendai Space Museum in the Kagoshima region in southwestern Japan, says the phenomenon was a fireball, an exceptionally bright meteor.
Ensuès-la-Redonne (France) (AFP) – Once limited to the surrounding hills, thousands of stray goats now wander villages freely on the outskirts of Marseille. As the herd keeps multiplying, so too does the debate over whether the goats are a loveable quirk or a problem that needs urgent control. There are now almost two thousand according to the first deputy mayor of Châteauneuf-les-Martigues.
Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians mourn loved ones, including an infant, killed in an airstrike that targeted their apartment in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. “Find us a solution Donald Trump,” pleads one Gazan. “Either we live a decent life or just drop a nuclear bomb on us.”
Moscow (AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accuses European leaders of making “clumsy and unethical attempts” to change US President Donald Trump’s position on Ukraine. “We did not hear any constructive ideas from the Europeans,” he adds, referring to Trump’s meeting on Monday with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Kjustendil (Bulgaria) (AFP) – Hundreds of pilgrims gather in Bulgaria’s Rila mountains to welcome their “spiritual” new year with a special meditative dance known as “paneurhythmy” and singing. They are followers of the Universal White Brotherhood, an esoteric society that combines Christianity and Indian mysticism.
London (AFP) – London Zoo carries out its annual weigh-in of animals, including Ring-tailed lemurs, penguins and tortoises. The data collected from over 10,000 animals across 400 species is shared on a database so zookeepers across the globe can preserve endangered species.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Residents of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv respond with a mixture of scepticism and muted hope after talks between the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his US counterpart Donald Trump. Zelensky travelled to the White House accompanied by several leaders from Kyiv’s European allies, following a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on 15 August that failed to produce a ceasefire. As a result, continued Russian strikes overshadowed any immediate sense of progress for those in Ukraine.
Kiruna (Sweden) (AFP) – Weighing 672 tonnes and more than a century old, the red wooden Lutheran church of Kiruna isn’t what you’d expect to find rolling down the road. But that’s exactly what the building is doing, with crowds turning out to watch its massive relocation project. The Kiruna Kyrka, along with the rest of Kiruna’s town centre, is being moved due to the expansion of a huge underground mine that has weakened the ground.
Gondulfes (Spain) (AFP) – Illuminated by flames, Spanish firefighters battle wildfires that have been raging throughout the country’s west and northwest for over a week. The bulk of the devastation — with 373,000 hectares burnt — has taken place in the northwestern provinces of Zamora and Leon, Galicia’s Ourense province and Caceres in the western region of Extremadura. On Sunday 17 August, two firefighters were killed, one in Spain and one in neighbouring Portugal, taking the total death toll to four in Spain and two in Portugal.
Washington (AFP) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says the “question of territory is one that we will keep between me and Putin,” after talks in Washington DC with US President Donald Trump and several European leaders. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Zelensky says it is important that the US gives “a clear signal” that it will participate in security guarantees for Ukraine.
Beijing (AFP) – China supports “all efforts that are conducive to peace” in Ukraine, says foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, following talks between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited Washington alongside several European leaders on 18 August.
