World News: Israel announces daily pauses in Gaza fighting as aid airdrops begin

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The Israeli military has announced a daily pause in military activity in three densely populated areas of Gaza to ease the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces declared a "tactical pause" in fighting from 10 AM until 8 PM local time daily until further notice in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Al-Mawasi, while launching air-dropped aid.

To facilitate aid delivery, Israel has also designated secure corridors for UN and humanitarian convoys, which will be in place permanently between 6 AM and 11 PM.

More than 100 truckloads of food, medicine, and supplies were dispatched toward southern Gaza.

Meanwhile, Jordan and the UAE also airdropped about 25 tons of flour, sugar, and canned goods into the enclave.

The military pause aims to "increase the scale of humanitarian aid" amidst warnings of mass starvation.

However, aid groups say that only under 8 percent of World Food Programme trucks have successfully distributed supplies due to delays and theft, and point out that airdrops are inefficient and sometimes dangerous.

A passenger train derailed in southern Germany on Sunday, killing at least three people and seriously injuring others.

Around 100 people were aboard the train when two carriages came off the rails at 6:10 PM local time, in a wooded area near the town of Riedlingen in the southwest of the country.

Authorities are examining whether strong winds that swept the region shortly before the incident contributed to the derailment.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed grief on his social media, saying, "We mourn the victims."

Greece and Türkiye are grappling with a record-breaking heatwave and major wildfires, prompting mass evacuations as strong winds and scorching temperatures fuel the flames.

As temperatures reached 42.4 degrees Celsius in central Greece on Sunday, emergency services battled more than 50 wildfires across regions including the Peloponnese, Evia, and Crete, with new evacuation alerts issued.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Türkiye, a Mediterranean heatwave reaching a record 50.5 degrees Celsius has ignited widespread blazes.

Over 1,700 residents were evacuated from Bursa, the country's fourth-largest city.

Authorities reported that more than 70 wildfires broke out within 24 hours in the country.

In the UK, a pair of mixed-breed dogs and their human guardians made headlines at the Dog Masters Festival on Sunday, held at a beach in Dorset.

Two teams broke a Guinness World Record with Matt Jenkins and his dog Gigi, alongside Benn Gray and Boo, breaking the 50-meter paddleboard sprint record in a time of 32 seconds.

The festival, hosted as part of the UK Dog Surfing Championships, featured paddleboarding, surfing displays, and world-record attempts.

Another World Dog Surfing Championships is set to take place in the San Francisco Bay area on August 2.

Choi Chi-hee, Arirang News.