Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Aerial imagery provided by the Israeli army shows the moment of multiple strikes on a building targeting a senior militant from the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, prompting the militant group to warn Israel has “started a war”.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – People in Gaza survey the damage and emergency services deploy after the Israeli army launched multiple air strikes on the Palestinian enclave.
Fagradalsfjall (Iceland) (AFP) – Scientists and curious onlookers admire the “incredible” eruption of a volcanic fissure in an uninhabited valley 40 kilometres to Iceland’s capital Raykjavik. The eruption happened on Wedneseday near the site of the Mount Fagradalsfjall volcano in southwestern Iceland that spewed magma for six months between March and September 2021.
Pontevedra (Spain) (AFP) – Firemen battle against a blaze in the Spanish region of Galicia, where pockets of wilfire threatening the municipalities of Caldas de Reis and Vilagarcia de Arousa continue to break out.
Ourense (Spain) (AFP) – Firemen battle a blaze threatening the Galician towns of Verín and Arbo in Ourense province amid an ongoing heat wave in Spain. Scientists warn that heat waves are becoming more intense and longer-lasting as a result of climate change, making wildfires more likely.
Dalgety (Australia) (AFP) – An astrophysicist examines a charred chunk of space junk jutting out from a paddock in Dalgety — a remote area near Australia’s Snowy Mountains, southwest of Sydney. The debris was originally spotted by an Australian sheep farmer, and has since been confirmed to be part of one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX missions.
Phnom Penh (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he hopes Beijing “will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretext to increase its aggressive military activity,” at a meeting with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. China fired ballistic missiles and deployed fighter jets and warships on Thursday as it held its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, a show of force sparked by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.
Hrensko (Czech Republic) (AFP) – Czech firefighters drop water from a helicopter onto the remainders of a wildfire which ripped through the Bohemian Switzerland National Park on the Czech-German border amid record temperatures in late July. Scientists say climate change is making heatwaves around the world more frequent and more intense, increasing the risk of fires.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – As part of the ‘Army of Drones’ project initiated by Ukraine’s armed forces, new reconnaissance drones are being sent to Ukrainian soldiers who are on the frontline of the war with Russia.
Washington (AFP) – The United States says that China’s launch of nine ballistic missiles around Taiwan is an overraction to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. “China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” says US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
Washington (AFP) – White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre urges Moscow to accept the United States’ “substantial offer” of a deal for the release of basketball star Brittney Griner and another American citizen, after Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison on drug charges. “We are willing to take every step possible to bring home our people,” adds Jean-Pierre during a press briefing.
Cape Canaveral (AFP) – South Korea’s first-ever lunar orbiter is launched from the US on a year-long mission to observe the Moon, with a payload including a new disruption-tolerant network for sending data from space. Danuri — a portmanteau of the Korean words for “Moon” and “enjoy” — is carried on a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida by Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX. It aims to reach the Moon by mid-December.
