Trie-sur-Baïse (AFP) – The French village of Trie-sur-Baise celebrates the 43rd edition of its Pourcailhade festival, an unusual event famed for its pig-squealing championship. The commune in the Hautes-Pyrenees welcomes around 4,000 visitors, four times its population, for the festival, which was first held in 1981.
Moskau (AFP) – Russia’s Investigative Committee is launching a terrorism investigation following a Ukrainian drone attack on the Republic of Tatarstan that has killed 13 people, including a child, and injured 75 others. The Ukrainian attack on the central Russian region is one of the deadliest carried out by Kyiv since the war began more than four years ago.
Moscow (AFP) – In Russia, where protests against the war in Kyiv are promptly repressed, an old liberal party emerges. With every parliamentary vote since 2003 being won by the ruling “United Russia” party, Yabloko has resurfaced three months before the September Duma elections, drawing in young voters. “If we can save people’s lives, then our involvement will not have been for nothing,” says the party’s chairman. The party has already received the backing of several exiled opposition figures, including Yulia Navalnaya — the widow of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny — both listed as “extremists” in Russia.
Osijek (Croatia) (AFP) – Water levels of rivers across the Balkans continue to reach record lows, disrupting navigation and threatening energy supplies. On the Drava River near Osijek in Croatia, dry stretches of riverbed expose long-submerged boats, while cargo boats remain stranded on the Danube near Sarengrad.
Weybridge (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Thousands of motorsport fans and vintage car enthusiasts flock to the Brooklands Museum in Surrey, southwest of London, for an event marking almost exactly 100 years since the first British Grand Prix took place on 7th August 1926. “The car is alive, it’s fantastic to drive, it’s light, nimble, plenty of power, and sounds glorious. It’s the closest thing I’ve got to being a genuine work of art in metal,” says Julian Eckersley, owner of a vintage Bugatti car.
Neu Delhi (AFP) – Youth-led protests in India last month turned television journalists into targets, exposing a deepening crisis of trust in flagship broadcasters accused by demonstrators of being government mouthpieces. The protests, spearheaded by the online Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, became a flashpoint for anger, not only at the government, but also at TV networks widely perceived as sympathetic to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration. India ranks 157th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, down 17 places from 2013.
Chilbolton (AFP) – In the sweeping shadow of a huge 1960s antenna, staff at the Chilbolton Observatory in southern England track objects orbiting the Earth, such as debris and rocket bodies, providing — alongside other sites around the country — the data that underpins the UK’s space monitoring and protection efforts. “Our role is to look at everything that happens and is in space,” says Matthew Archer, deputy director for launch and space domain awareness at the UK Space Agency.
Donostia-San Sebastián (AFP) – Beachgoers gather to see specimens of Physalia physalis, a marine hydrozoan commonly known as the Portuguese man o’ war or bluebottle, wash up on Ondarreta beach in the Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian. The deadly animal has venom-filled stings.
Bury St Edmunds (AFP) – With giant dust clouds emerging from his parched fields in Suffolk, farmer John Pawsey has noted a staggering 30 percent drop in crop yields after the driest July on record. “I am worried about the coming years,” he says. With intensifying droughts affecting Britain’s food security, experts warn that without immediate actions, shortages could soon become the country’s new reality.
Tubize (AFP) – “It’s an honour,” says Mark van Bommel at his first press conference as Belgium coach. The 48-year-old former Dutch international midfielder has succeeded Frenchman Rudi Garcia, who stepped down having guided Belgium to the World Cup quarter-finals. “Now I have the opportunity to become the coach of the national team from the neighbour land,” he adds.
Skardu (Pakistan) (AFP) – Rescuers transport the body of renowned British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja to the city of Skardu, in the Shigar district of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, after days of a difficult evacuation mission hampered by extreme weather. The 43-year-old, known as ‘Nims Dai’, was killed by an avalanche on 30 July, along with the nine other members of an expedition climbing Broad Peak in northern Pakistan’s Karakoram range. Three of the climbers remain missing, with Purja’s company confirming there were no survivors.
Hangzhou (China) (AFP) – China has launched its first robot school, a facility training an initial cohort of 30 students for roles across the industrial, service, security and entertainment sectors. The robo-pupils undergo physical assessments, specialised coursework in their fields — which can include medicine and the arts — before a final skills certification. The tuition is “tailored to specific requirements of different robot hardware,” but there is “a core curriculum,” explains Zhu Tianle, an engineer at the Hangzhou Robot School based at the Zhejiang University Robot Research Institute.
