Messina (Italy) (AFP) – Italian firefighters battle wildfires on the island of Sicily, with one wildfire getting so close to Palermo airport that it shut down for several hours on Tuesday morning. A heatwave has hung over the south of Italy, with the island’s civil protection agency reporting a temperature of 47.6 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Celsius) in Catania on July 24.
Yachimata (Japan) (AFP) – As Japan’s population ages and dwindles, researchers say the country could be facing an ‘era of mass closures’ in which thousands of small businesses die off, with major consequences for the economy. One such firm is Kiyoshi Hashimoto’s machinery factory outside Tokyo, which he founded nearly four decades ago.
New York (AFP) – Deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing people experience a live concert in New York with the aid of haptic suits, wrist and ankle bracelets. The wearable technology, provided by the company Music: Not Impossible, translates sound onto the skin via vibrations.
Malmö (Sweden) (AFP) – Swedish police remove climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and other fellow activists from a protest, hours after a court fined her for disobeying law enforcement at a rally last month.
El Kseur (Algeria) (AFP) – UGC images filmed from the heights of El Kseur, southwest of Bejaia, show forest fires and a plane in the middle of a thick smoke cloud, as the country continues to experience an unprecedented heatwave.
Los Angeles (AFP) – Tue Nguyen became a TikTok star by posting videos of herself cooking Vietnamese dishes during the pandemic. She’s now opened a restaurant.
Vinsobres (France) (AFP) – On the hills of Vinsobres, in southern France, grape vines and hundred-year-old oak trees thrive in harmony. The practice of planting trees and crops on the same plot could help mitigate the effects of frost in winter or episodes of extreme heat.
Malmö (Sweden) (AFP) – Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg was fined for disobeying police at a rally last month, but says she acted out of necessity due to the climate crisis.
La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland) (AFP) – A violent storm sweeps through La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland on July 24. Local news media reported widespread damage across the Swiss city, with winds of up to 200 km per hour.
Rhodes (Greece) (AFP) – Aerial shots show the widespread devastation caused by wildfires near the seaside town of Kiotari on the Greek island of Rhodes, with much of the landscape blackened by the flames. Greece has been sweltering under a lengthy spell of extreme heat, with tens of thousands forced to flee Rhodes in peak tourist season.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar says the country’s forces over the past week have recaptured more than 16 square kilometres (six square miles) from Russian forces in the south and east of the country. Kyiv began its highly anticipated counteroffensive against Russian troops last month after stockpiling Western weapons and building up its offensive forces.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky says that Russian strikes on Odesa were destroying the port city’s historic city centre, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. “On this night alone in Odesa, nearly 50 buildings were damaged, 25 of them architectural monuments,” Zelensky says, adding that the altar of the Transfiguration Cathedral had been hit. Moscow denies targeting the cathedral.
