Rhodes (Greece) (AFP) – As tens of thousands flee from fires in Greece that have killed at least three people, other Mediterranean countries are also struck by extreme heat and deadly wildfires. Fires have also flared in Croatia and Italy and flames killed dozens of people in Algeria earlier in the week.
Guayaquil (Ecuador) (AFP) – Ecuador’s police releases footage of weapons and ammunition that were seized from the Guayas 1 prison in Guayaquil, where at least 31 inmates died in a riot that started on July 23.
Albany (Australia) (AFP) – Rescuers refloat several pilot whales after dozens stranded themselves on a beach on Australia’s west coast, causing more than 50 of the animals to die.
Beijing (AFP) – A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry repeatedly declines to comment on the ousting of foreign minister Qin Gang, who was abruptly removed from office by Beijing’s top lawmaking body on Tuesday after just 207 days in the job. ++ COMPLETES WITH VIDI_33PV3H6++
Paris (AFP) – One year before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Olympic torch was unveiled in the presence of a delegation of French athletes, IOC President Thomas Bach and sprint legend Usain Bolt.
Palermo (Italy) (AFP) – A passenger drives past wildfires raging on the side of a road in Palermo, Sicily. A heatwave has hung over the south of Italy, forcing the evacuation of at least 1,500 people from the Palermo area. At least three people have died following the wildfires in Sicily, with firefighters having spent the night fighting the flames.
Cascais (Portugal) (AFP) – Firefighters and locals work together to fight wildfires near the Portuguese holiday destination of Cascais, west of Lisbon. Firefighters tried to extinguish the fires with a hose as locals cut down branches and carried water.
Odesa (Ukraine) (AFP) – Compared to many of the other buildings in Odesa’s historic UNESCO-listed centre, the Transfiguration Cathedral is very recent: with the original destroyed by the Soviets, its modern replacement was only completed in the early 2000s. But a fresh set of Russian strikes on the Ukrainian port city has left its walls cracked and officials fighting to restore it.
Saint-Aignan (France) (AFP) – Yuan Meng, the first giant panda to be born in France, leaves his French zoo en route back to his ancestral China. Yuan Meng, who was born in 2017 in the Beauval zoo in the Loire region, is the son of Yuan Zi and Huan Huan — the first pandas loaned to France by the Chinese authorities in 2012.
Pereira (Colombia) (AFP) – Two chimpanzees named Pancho and Chita that escaped from a zoo in Colombia were shot dead on Monday, police said, after the primates escaped on Sunday night from a zoo in the western city of Pereira. Circus director Raul Gasca, who owned Pancho before donating him to the zoo, says that the news of his death was “like losing a family member”, calling the chimpanzee “super smart”.
