Kennedy Space Center (United States) (AFP) – NASA scraps its launch of a 30-story rocket due to orbit the Moon, citing a fuel leak in delaying the mission for a second time. The leak occurred as liquid hydrogen was being pumped into the rocket. No new date for another try was immediately announced.
Colombo (AFP) – Images show the motorcade of Sri Lanka’s deposed former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the airport in Colombo, as he returns to the country seven weeks after he fled amid the island’s worst-ever economic crisis.
Herat (Afghanistan) (AFP) – Images of the Taliban monitoring traffic at checkpoints Herat after a huge bomb blast at one of the biggest mosques in western Afghanistan killed at least 18 people, including an influential imam who earlier this year called for those who commit “the smallest act” against the government to be beheaded.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk says he has “no interest” in fighting anyone else but Tyson Fury, as he seeks to add Fury’s WBC belt to his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles.
Charsadda (Pakistan) (AFP) – Pakistan’s record-breaking floods may have passed, but for Hajira Bibi and her child, only 10 days old, the pain has only just begun. They’ve returned to their village in the northwest of the country to find her home unlivable.
Singapore (AFP) – Singapore’s two adult pandas will stay in the city-state after their zoo signed an agreement with Chinese authorities to extend their 10-year loan.
Buenos Aires (AFP) – After a man pointed a gun at Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Kirchner, President Alberto Fernandez calls the attempted attack the “most serious thing that has happened since we restored our democracy”, and claims Kirchner is only alive by chance. “The gun, which had five bullets in it, did not fire even though the trigger had been pulled” he adds.
Berlin (AFP) – German Finance Minister Christian Lindner announces that the G7 group of countries will move towards the implementation of a price cap on Russian oil imports, in order to stop Moscow from raking in huge profits from soaring energy prices.
Chengdu (China) (AFP) – Residents in the Chinese city of Chengdu formed long queues on Thursday to be tested for Covid-19, while the city’s street market was crowded with shoppers stocking up on food, after the megacity announced a shutdown to combat a new wave of infections.
Philadelphia (AFP) – US President Joe Biden took fierce aim Thursday at Donald Trump and his “extremist” supporters, labeling them enemies of American democracy in a prime-time address that sought to fire up voters ahead of key midterm elections.
Irpin (Ukraine) (AFP) – As children across Ukraine get back to school, President Volodymyr Zelensky makes a surprise appearance to visit a classroom in Irpin – whose school building was bombed back in March in the Russian invasion.
Paris (AFP) – Speaking to French ambassadors at the Elysee Palace, French President Emmanuel Macron says preserving European unity is key in the face of Russia’s war in Ukraine, as “the division of Europe is one of Russia’s war aims”.
