Our world in photos: August 15

August 15, 2024
Brooklyn Eagle Staff

BRUSSELS — Floral-themed collage made with flowers: Volunteers work placing Belgian-grown begonias into a giant flower carpet with an Art Nouveau theme at the historic Grand Place in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. About 750,000 bright Belgian begonias comprised the carpet, a four-day tradition now in its 20th year and celebrated annually in August. The deep pinks and reds, in particular, create the geometric patterns characteristic of an Anatolian (Turkish) kilim, in a nod to Belgium’s recent relations with the strategic Middle Eastern nation that straddles both Europe and Asia.

Half a century ago, about 220,000 Turks began arriving in Brussels as part of an immigration pact. The event, now in its 19th year, is named for the time it was launched: the 2014 Brussels Flower Carpet.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, arrives to address the nation from the rampart of the 17th century Mughal-era Red Fort monument during the country's Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. Photo: Manish Swarup/AP

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation from the 17th century Mughal-era Red Fort monument during the country's Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. Photo: Manish Swarup/AP

Assam Police personnel take part in a parade during the country's Independence Day celebrations in Guwahati, India, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. Photo: Anupam Nath/AP

INDIA — Cooler than Disney’s Cadet Kelly: Assam Police women commandos take part in a parade during the country’s Independence Day celebrations in Guwahati, India, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. These policewomen have been given on-the-job training and deployed at Police Commissionerate Guwahati to tackle crime against women. India on Thursday marked 78 years since it attained freedom from the British Raj. Tricolors were hoisted across the nation at the dawn of Aug. 15, 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurled the Indian flag in New Delhi.

Legendary classical music conductor and Mumbai native Zubin Mehta led the Symphony Orchestra of India in an exhilarating rendition of the Indian national anthem at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai. Metha has become a leading international exponent of Western classical music.

Mourners pay their last respects to Mohammad Sarsour, 18, who was killed during clashes with the Israeli army amid an overnight operation to demolish two apartments in Ramallah, during his funeral in the West Bank refugee camp of Amari in Ramallah, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. Photo: Nasser Nasser/AP

Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas in Gaza hold photos of their loved ones, including Haim Peri, center, during a protest calling for their return in Tel Aviv, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. Photo: Ariel Schalit/AP

WEST BANK — The most vulnerable population left in the ashes of war: orphans … Mourners carry 6-month-old Abdullah Sheikh Khalil during the funeral of his father, Ahmed Sheikh Khalil, 20, and Wael Misha, 18, both killed by an airstrike overnight during an army operation in the occupied West Bank, at the family house in the refugee Camp of Balata, in Nablus, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Associated Press estimates that 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, which is approaching its 11th month. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said on Thursday, Aug. 15, that most of those who perished were women and children. He asserted that “This unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war,” according to the UN Global Perspective news agency. He also declared that the killing must end “once and for all” — along with the release of all hostages.

Meanwhile, negotiators are prepared to meet in Qatar to renew efforts for a cease-fire.

ASHEVILLE — Now that Joe’s out of the race, his fist pumps seem less inspired: Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign rally in Asheville, N.C., Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. Presenting generalized, grandiose ideas during his talk at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in that city’s downtown district, he frequently went off-script with jibes about President Biden and Vice President/Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The Associated Press reported that Republicans were expecting more about the economy from the GOP nominee’s speech.

Trump held the second press conference on Thursday in consecutive weeks at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. A few hours before the event, his campaign managers announced an expansion in the GOP nominee’s staff.

BALTIMORE — Lost the catch to his shadow: Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander is unable to catch a fly ball hit in by Washington Nationals’ Alex Call during the second inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Baltimore. However, the Orioles, with two runs each in the second and seventh innings, still won the game 4-1. The Orioles (71-50) are second in the American League East. The National League team, Washington Nationals, isn’t having quite as stellar a season.

Twenty-one years ago, on Aug. 14, 2023, the Orioles hosted the New York Yankees at Camden Yards. That was the night of the northeast Blackout, which began cascading from a power plant in Eastlake, Ohio, and lasted until early the next morning. The game was broadcast over AM radio, and New Yorkers took a step back in time by imagining the game as the announcers called it. The Yankees won 8-5.

PUERTO RICO — Nature’s revenge — land and water becoming one: La Plata River floods a road after Tropical Storm Ernesto passed through Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. Ernesto knocked out power for nearly half of all customers in the U.S. territory Wednesday as it threatened to strengthen into a major hurricane heading toward Bermuda, reports the Associated Press. As of early Thursday, the storm was bearing northwest 675 miles south-southwest of Bermuda. Maximum sustained winds were 85 mph (140 kph).

Latitudinally, the archipelago comprising Bermuda is about 650 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

DHAKA — Motorcycle helmets aren’t just for the road; they’re also protective in riots and egg tosses: Policemen escort former law minister Anisul Huq, center, to the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. Huq was arrested on Aug. 13 at Sadarghat while attempting to flee by boat, along with Salman F. Rahman, a former adviser to Sheikh Hasina, who resigned and went into exile in early August. Haq and Rahman were arrested in connection with the murders of a student and a hawker on July 16 during the quota reform movement protests.

Before being forced out, Huq was the Bangladesh government’s Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs from 2014 to Aug. 6, 2024.

ARGENTINA — Excitement for the goal or an expression of desire for two hot dogs? Paulo Diaz of Argentina’s River Plate celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal against Argentina’s Talleres during a Copa Libertadores round of 16 first leg soccer match at Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in Cordoba, Argentina, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.

FRANCE — It’s hard enough remaining present with one phone, nevermind two: The multi-tasking — French President Emmanuel Macron looks at two smartphones during a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Provence during World War II at the Boulouris National Cemetery in Boulouris-sur-Mer, southeastern France, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024.

Often called “the forgotten D-Day,” this particular Allied invasion of the French Riviera in World War II had the mission of pushing back the Nazis.

Thursday’s ceremonies honored the many soldiers from Africa who had a role in the invasion, ABC News reports. Many of them had been deployed by then-French colonies.

ATHENS — Nature’s revenge — the aftermath of a blaze approaching the nation’s capital: Vapor rises as a firefighter sprays water near burned vehicles inside a damaged business in Penteli, a suburb of Athens, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, following a deadly wildfire near the Greek capital.

A European Union satellite mapping agency reported that 40 square miles of land, an area larger than Manhattan, was burned in a wildfire this week northeast of the Greek capital.