Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Olympic Games open on Friday after a soaking wet ceremony in which athletes were cheered by the crowd along the Seine, dancers took to the roofs of Paris and Lady Gaga sang a French cabaret song.

France’s three-time Olympic gold medallists Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner then lit the Olympic cauldron, suspended on a hot-air balloon, before Canada’s Celine Dion sang Edith Piaf’s “Hymn to Love”, in her first public performance in years, drawing huge cheers from the crowd.

NASA did not say it found life on Mars. But it’s very excited about this rock.

Japan Times

Scientists working with NASA’s Perseverance rover state emphatically that they are not claiming to have discovered life on Mars.

This handout image obtained on July 26, 2024 

But many would regard a rock that the rover just finished studying as “Most Likely to Contain Fossilized Microbial Martians.” The rover has drilled and stashed a piece of the rock, which scientists hope can be brought back to Earth in the coming years for closer analysis and more definitive answers.

Hundreds trapped in Khan Younis as battles rage

Al Jazeera

The UN’s humanitarian aid agency says hundreds of Palestinians remain trapped in eastern Khan Younis “amid intense hostilities” and rescue teams are “unable to reach them due to the denial of access by the Israeli military”.

Amid starvation and fears of spreading disease, the average daily volume of humanitarian aid cargo entering the Gaza Strip has decreased by 56 percent since April, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.

Two Indian Army soldiers injured, one Pakistani killed in fresh encounter with terrorists in Kupwara

Hindustan Times

Three army personnel were injured during an exchange of fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Saturday.

Two Indian army personnel were injured, and one Pakistani person was killed during an exchange of fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Saturday morning. According to the Indian Army, the injured soldiers have been evacuated and taken for treatment.

The incident took place near the Kamkari post in the Macchal sector of the north Kashmir district.