AFP Video

Stornoway (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Around 55 pilot whales have died in a mass pilot whale stranding on a beach on the Isle of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland. Marine rescuers were called to the beach north of the town of Stornaway on Sunday at 7am (0600 GMT). Eight adults and four calves who were still alive had to be euthanised on July 16. According to British Divers Marine Life Rescue, one of the dead whales appeared to have had a vaginal prolapse while giving birth, which possibly caused the whole pod to strand.

Moscow (AFP) – Russia accuses Ukraine of being behind an attack on a road and rail bridge linking the Russian mainland to Crimea in which it said two people were killed. “Two civilians died: a man and a woman, driving a car on the bridge,” the Russian Investigative Committee says.

Fort Lauderdale (United States) (AFP) – Lionel Messi greets his new Inter Miami fans and is hailed by the club’s owner as “America’s number ten” at a damp but celebratory unveiling event.

Moreno Valley (United States) (AFP) – Firefighters are battling the Rabbit and Gavilan Fires in Moreno Valley, California, as a powerful heatwave grips the US state. The Rabbit Fire has so far scorched over 7,500 acres and prompted evacuation orders.

Barcelona (AFP) – Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez holds an electoral rally in Barcelona. One week ahead of the national vote, opinion polls are placing victory in the hands of his right-wing opposition rival Alberto Nunez Feijoo. Sanchez caught everyone off guard in May when he called for snap elections after the left was defeated in local and regional elections.

Rome (AFP) – With temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius in the Italian capital, Rome’s zoo distributes refreshing treats made of frozen fruit to the animals to help them cope with the sweltering heat. Italy faces weekend predictions of historic highs with the health ministry issuing a red alert for 16 cities including Rome, Bologna and Florence.

Sidon (Lebanon) (AFP) – Among meandering alleyways in the historic market of Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon, cobblers and tailors are seeing an uptick in business as the country’s crippling economic crisis revives demand for these once receding trades. N°33NK9AT

Bogotá (AFP) – Four Indigenous children who survived 40 days in the Colombian Amazon have been discharged after a month of care in a military hospital. Colombia’s state child protection agency will temporarily have custody of the minors who will be sent to a shelter in a rural area of the country. Siblings Lesly, Soleiny, Tien Noriel and baby Cristin were the only survivors after the small plane they were flying in crashed in the jungle.

Jakarta (AFP) – The United States “remains committed to upholding freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells a press conference at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta. China has held drills in the South and East China Seas around Taiwan, and claims almost the entirety of the strategic waterway that overlaps with the territorial claims of other Southeast Asian nations like Indonesia and Vietnam.

Sriharikota (India) (AFP) – India launches a rocket seeking to land an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, its second attempt to become only the fourth country to do so.