US envoy meets Putin ahead of ceasefire deadline
US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, just days before a White House deadline for Russia to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire or face new sanctions, BBC reported.
The Kremlin gave no details of the meeting. Earlier, Witkoff also met Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, involved in past peace talks.
President Trump has warned of penalties, including possible tariffs on Russia’s trade partners, if no deal is reached. “Get a deal where people stop getting killed,” Trump told reporters.
Putin says he wants peace but insists Ukraine must cede territory and drop NATO plans. Kyiv demands an immediate ceasefire, according to BBC.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef hit by record bleaching as oceans warm
The Great Barrier Reef has suffered its most widespread coral bleaching since monitoring began in 1986, driven by record ocean heat in 2024, a new Australian government report has confirmed.
Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) found severe bleaching across the reef, with coral cover in the southern region falling by nearly a third. The damage, largely caused by climate change, marks the biggest annual decline in nearly 40 years, according to Al Jazeera.
AIMS CEO Professor Selina Stead said bleaching events are becoming more frequent and severe, stressing the need for urgent emissions cuts and stronger reef management.
Despite global concerns, Australia continues to resist listing the reef as “in danger” while remaining a major fossil fuel exporter, Al Jazeera reported.
Monsoon peaks in south China, unleashing landslides, disease
Rescue crews raced on Wednesday to clear debris and flooded roads as southern China braced for more extreme rainfall and spreading infection after some of the worst downpours this century, brought by a peak in East Asian monsoon rains, Reuters reported.
Forecasters warned of more thunderstorms after the century's second-heaviest August rains pounded Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, forcing its Baiyun airport, one of the world's busiest, to cancel 363 flights and delay 311.
The day before, the skies above Hong Kong and the high-tech cities of China's Pearl River Delta turned livid and dumped the heaviest August rainfall since 1884 on the Asian financial hub, according to Reuters.
Three Pakistani soldiers killed in Balochistan IED blast, BLA claims responsibility
Three Pakistani Army personnel, including a major, were killed and three others seriously injured in a roadside bomb blast in Balochistan's Nushki district on Tuesday night, The Tribune reported.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the report, the incident occurred around 8:00 pm (local time) when a bulletproof military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Gargina area of Nushki.
The soldiers killed in the attack have been identified as Major Rizwan, Naib Subedar Ameen, and Lance Naik Younis. Three other personnel sustained serious injuries in the explosion, according to The Tribune.
