Our world in photos: August 13

August 13, 2024
Brooklyn Eagle Staff

TURKEY — With the Perseid meteor shower in the background, an ancient ruler’s monument to himself remains prominent: Ancient statues are seen during the Perseid meteor shower atop Mount Nemrut in southeastern Turkey, Sunday, Aug.11, 2024. Perched at an altitude of 2,150 meters (over 7,000 feet), the statues are part of a temple and tomb complex that King Antiochus I of the ancient Commagene kingdom built as a monument to himself. The ruins were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987. Half Persian and half Greek, Antiochus was king of the Greco-Iranian kingdom of Commagene and its most famous king. He reigned from 70 B.C. to 31 B.C., just before the time of Christ.

The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle, usually visible from mid-July to late August.

PHILADELPHIA — Expensive sky poster for a late August event: The Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori performs a flyover at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Monday, Aug 12, 2024. The team is headlining the Air Dot Show in Ocean City, Maryland, on Aug. 24-25. The Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori are visiting the USA for the first time in over 30 years, with a performance to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano’s expedition to America in 1524, according to the Air Dot Show’s website. Also known in English as the “Tricolour Arrows,” The Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team has ten aircraft and holds the distinction of being the world’s largest acrobatic patrol.

Some New Yorkers may have seen the Frecce Tricolori fly over New York Harbor on Monday, Aug. 12, reports ABC-7 News. They flew over the Statue of Liberty and other New York landmarks. A famous bridge in New York Harbor, named after Giovanni di Verrazzano, marks its 60th birthday on Nov. 21, 2024.

HAVANA — Impact on the runway — a champion returns home: Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez Nunez, a five-time Olympic champion, waves a Cuban flag from the pilot’s window of a plane as he arrives at Jose Marti airport in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. Now a retired Greco-Roman style wrestler, Nunez is widely considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Already a five-time World Champion and five-time Pan American Games champion, Nunez and Cuban judoka Idalys Ortíz were designated as the flag bearers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

When he beat Yasmani Acosta of Chile in the 2024 Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling 130 kg final on Aug. 6, López became the first and only athlete in modern Olympics history to win five consecutive gold medals in the same individual event, reported ESPN that day.

Nunez turns 42 next Tuesday, Aug. 20.

LONDON — Private Olympic moment — racing a jet’s shadow? A swimmer in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool suspended 35 meters above ground between two apartment buildings, is in the water during hot weather in central London, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. Photos on the website for the Embassy Gardens luxury apartment complex show the pool connected to each of the buildings, with the steps leading down to the water from the end of the pool atop a roof.

The Embassy Gardens complex sits adjacent to the U.S. Embassy, near the Thames River, with the Tate Art Gallery and Lambeth Palace nearby.

JAKARTA — Commercial alleyway sets up merchandise for a celebration: A three-wheeled motorized vehicle drives past people in an alley where vendors have displayed national flags and decoration material for sale ahead of the country’s Independence anniversary in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. The flag is an important symbol and is at the center of Indonesia Independence Day, which is observed on Aug. 16-17 each year. It commemorates the Aug. 17, 1945, declaration of independence from the Netherlands. Citizens are obligated by law to display their flags on this day. A public flag-hoisting ceremony takes place in the morning, and a flag-lowering ceremony takes place before sunset. The people enjoy festivities in between the two ceremonies.

The flag’s centrality is so vital to the nation’s history and ethos that the Indonesian government gives flags to families who are observed as having not displayed one.

SAO PAULO — Aftermath of a plane crash: Friends and relatives of Danilo Santos Romano leave Penha Cemetery after his burial in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. Romano was the pilot of the plane that crashed into the backyard of a home in the city of Vinhedo on Aug. 9. The Associated Press reported that all eight passengers were doctors dedicated to saving lives and were en route to an oncology conference to learn new innovations in treating cancers that kill tens of thousands of Brazilians annually.

The black boxes — containing flight data and cockpit audio — were recovered. French authorities are also part of the investigation as the aircraft had been built in France. Although icy air conditions were detected, weather is not considered to have been a major factor in this crash.

ATHENS — Nature’s revenge? Another of the numerous wildfires raging around the globe: Two men try to extinguish the flames at a burning business during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of the Greek capital. As of Tuesday, Aug. 13, a new evacuation alert was activated for the Greek seaside town of Nea Makri, with fierce localized hotspot wildfires continuing to affect the suburbs of Athens. Fire officials told the British Broadcasting Corporation that the body of a woman was found inside a shop in Vrilissia, a town in northern Athens. Several other businesses are under fire threat.

The threat of newly igniting wildfires remains throughout the week, fire officials told the BBC.

MOSCOW — Obvious alliances: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk after their meeting at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. During the meeting, Putin reportedly told Abbas that Moscow was pained by the plight of his people and backed their aspiration to create a full-fledged state, according to a Reuters story reprinted in The Times of Israel. Putin told Abbas that Moscow is paying attention to developments in the Middle East even in the midst of Russia’s own war in Ukraine.

The Arab-language news agency Al Jazeera reported that Putin also affirmed Russia’s position on the war in Gaza and commitment to Palestinian statehood.