Wetlet (Myanmar) (AFP) – Severe monsoon flooding has swamped villages and paddy fields across central Myanmar, forcing people out of their homes, including many already displaced by war. “Our livelihoods are completely ruined,” says U Sint, a Burmese villager. The UN estimates that 390,000 people across the country have been affected by the severe flooding.
Santa Cruz de la Serós (Spain) (AFP) – Footage released by Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit show firefighters continue to battle a large wildfire in northeastern Spain. Authorities in the Aragon region have deployed what they call the largest firefighting force in its history, with French reinforcements also due to assist. Around 1,000 firefighters, including army personnel and crews from other parts of Spain, are expected to be involved.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian firefighters extinguished flames overnight after Russian strikes in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left at least five people dead and several others injured. “Russia won’t spare anyone. You see what they’re doing?” says Nadiya, a worker at a book market that was struck. At the same time, hundreds of Ukrainian missiles targeted Russia, killing at least seven people, according to authorities.
Santa Cruz de la Serós (Spain) (AFP) – Firefighters are struggling to contain a wildfire in northeastern Spain, which has already burnt 15,000 hectares of land and forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 residents, according to the local government in Aragon. It comes as countries across Europe battle wildfires amid blistering temperatures and tinder-dry conditions.
(AFP) – Canadair water bomber aircraft from the Croatian military respond to areas hit by wildfires along Croatia’s Adriatic coast on 14 August. Flames ravaged a residential area near the town of Omis, on the central coast, overnight from Thursday to Friday, leaving one person dead, one missing, at least 40 injured and causing significant property damage.
Labuan Bajo (Indonesia) (AFP) – Guests evacuate a damaged hotel in Labuan Bajo, one of Indonesia’s main tourist destinations, after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Flores Island in eastern Indonesia. “We were on the fifth floor. We ran looking for the emergency exit. We managed to go down one floor, but just as we were about to go down further, stones were already scattered everywhere, and the shaking was still intense,” Kadek, one of the hotel guests, tells AFP.
Konotopie (Poland) (AFP) – Towering over farmlands around the Polish village of Konotopie, Europe’s tallest statue of the Virgin Mary is set to be consecrated on 15 August. At 55 metres (180 feet) high, the concrete and steel figure is the tallest Marian statue in Europe, and second in the world behind the 98.15 metre Mother of All Asia effigy in the Philippines.
Clacton-on-Sea (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Hard-right British politician Nigel Farage has been re-elected to his parliamentary seat in a by-election shunned by the major parties — handing his main rival, joke candidate Count Binface, a larger than expected share of the vote.
Sakura (Japan) (AFP) – Streets remain flooded, and cars are left abandoned in Japan’s eastern Chiba region the day after torrential downpours triggered landslide warnings and power outages. Forecasters issued the highest level heavy rain warning for the region for the first time as at least five people died after the heavy rain.
Catania (Italy) (AFP) – Molten lava pours out of the slopes of an erupting Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, drawing in flocks of tourists to the active volcano site despite local guides’ concerns. The rising plumes have forced Italian authorities to stop flights, with the closure of Catania Airport. Mount Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe.
Upper Hambleton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – England’s dry weather has revealed the remains of a former village, flooded in the 1970s to create a reservoir. It is located within the East Midlands, one of the many regions under drought after England and Wales experienced their driest July on record.
Cali (Colombia) (AFP) – Vickye Giraldo, a 56-year-old lawyer whose building was destroyed by the earthquake in Colombia’s Cali, happily greets Polux, one of her pet cats rescued from the rubble. Colombia’s magnitude 7.4 quake has killed at least 265 people, injured more than 3,500 and left almost 500 missing, according to local authorities, as the critical 72-hour window for finding people alive draws to a close.
