Emergency services fight flames after an explosion sparked a fire at a plastics factory on the outskirts of Bangkok, killing at least one firefighter and wounding 29 people, according to officials.

Thai police deploy rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon in Bangkok as protesters defy Covid-19 restrictions to call for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha's resignation and mark the one-year anniversary of a pro-democracy movement.

Peru is seeing an alarming rise in coronavirus infections. The country has the highest per capita COVID-19 death rate in the world, with nearly 200,000 people dead. As DW's Johan Ramirez reports, a slow vaccine rollout has the public health care system reeling.

China has confined the residents of entire cities to their homes, cut domestic transport links and rolled out mass testing in recent days as it battles its largest coronavirus outbreak in months.

Baseball fan Masamitsu Takahashi opened his "izakaya" bar-restaurant in 2013, when Tokyo was chosen to host the 2020 Olympics. Never had he imagined that, eight years later, he would be watching Japan beating the USA in the quarter-final there all alone. Other bars have decided to stay open despite the state of emergency, but Takahashi says he prefers "to avoid the situation deteriorating to the point where there isn't even baseball".

When Tokyo last hosted the Olympics, in 1964, Itsuo Masuda was deeply depressed, struggling with his sexuality. This year he watched openly gay and transgender athletes compete with pride, in the most LGBTQ-friendly games yet.

Hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police in Thailand during a rally in Bangkok on Tuesday. The slow start to the coronavirus vaccination programme and economic pain from restrictions and business closures drew out protestors, heaping pressure on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha's government.

Barcelona, Spain, Aug 16 (EFE).- FC Barcelona has debts totaling 1.35 billion euros ($1.6bn) and its economic situation is “worrying,” the club’s president Joan Laporta confirmed Monday, a week after the Catalan giants had to let go of star player Lionel Messi due to financial woes.

Officials in Spain said that, while wildfires could now be under control, the possibility of another flare-up was high as forests are very dry. In Greece, two new blazes were being tackled.

Protesters march in Thailand’s capital to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Demonstrations have become increasingly frequent on the streets of Bangkok, with protesters flinging projectiles to defend from riot police using rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons.

Kotchakorn Voraakhom believes greening rooftops is one way to combat rising temperatures.

Flooding is an annual hazard during the July-September rainy season in Cameroon's largest port city, Douala. But, impelled by suspected climate change and worsened by urban planning and blocked drains, such events have become more and more frequent.