Tokio (AFP) – In the sweltering heat of Tokyo, Hiroto Uchida “keeps pushing through,” delivering parcels around the Japanese capital. “When I first started, I felt like I was going to collapse,” says the worker from Sagawa, one of Japan’s largest delivery companies, as he toils through the country’s hottest summer on record.
Cherson (AFP) – Footage released by Ukrainian police shows a civilian man being pursued by a drone in a marketplace in the southern city of Kherson. The images, which have not been authenticated by AFP, show a man in dark clothing running around a vehicle, trying to escape a remotely-piloted FPV drone, which follows him before detonating its explosive charge. According to police, the 52-year-old man survived, but suffered injuries and a concussion.
Gaza (AFP) – Palestinians in Gaza City hold a mass funeral for more than 100 people whose remains were recovered from the rubble after nearly three years of war. An October ceasefire remains in place between Israel and Hamas, but it has not halted the violence. At least 1,214 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose figures the United Nations considers reliable.
Doha (AFP) – Mediator Qatar blames Israel for delays in implementing a Gaza peace plan, as US President Donald Trump says militant group Hamas had agreed to disarm while Israel refuses to leave the territory. “It is clear to the international community who is obstructing the implementation of the agreement,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari tells reporters. “The full responsibility lies on the Israeli side,” he adds.
Madrid (AFP) – Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska says that “the Schengen Area has in no way been compromised” by the migrant influx seen in the country’s north African enclave of Ceuta. “There has been no secondary movement, nor any possibility of such movement”, he adds during a press conference days after tens of thousands of people arrived into Ceuta from Morocco, pitting the Spanish government against many of its EU partners.
Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP) – Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos says Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is seeking “successive Israeli withdrawals from Lebanese territory, leading to a full withdrawal”, a day before a new round of direct talks with Israel in Rome.
London (AFP) – In a London hospital, surgeon Sasha Stamenkovic leads a robotic-assisted lung cancer operation using the new da Vinci 5 robotic-assisted surgical system. The UK government has set a target for robotic assistance to be used in nine out of 10 keyhole surgeries carried out in England by 2035. “The benefits are shorter length of stay, less pain for the patient, patient going home day one, day two,” says Ali Ansaripour, a senior cardiothoracic trainee completing a robotic fellowship.
Kryo Pigádi (Greece) (AFP) – Helicopters dump water to fight a wildfire in Kryo Pigadi, about fifty kilometres west of Athens, while Greek firefighters, aided by a lull in the wind, continue battling multiple blazes that have already left atleast five people dead across the country.
Tehran (AFP) – Iran’s foreign ministry says there were currently no negotiations with the United States but there were talks with Oman over the management of the Strait of Hormuz. This comes after US President Donald Trump said negotiations between the two sides were commencing on Monday August 3.
Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinian roller skaters lace up and practise their moves amidst the rubble of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, where they say the sport offers release from displacement and daily hardship. “After the war ended we continued with skating and we tell the whole world that there is talent in Gaza and we have huge potential,” says skater Mohamed Saad El-Din, who retrieved his skates from under a collapsed building.
Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV says he is “following with concern the alarmnig situation in Ceuta,” and prays to God for a solution of “peace, stability and justice”. At least 72 people died during a mass influx of migrants into Spain’s Ceuta enclave in recent days, when tens of thousands of people mostly swam around the border post from Morocco.
Vienna (AFP) – More than 600 beer enthusiasts gather at Vienna’s Ottakringer Brewery in a bid to break the world record for the largest number of people pouring a beer at the same time. “It was spectacular, it was brilliant,” says Patricia Hasch.
