Armed conflicts and attacks
War in Afghanistan
Fifteen Taliban militants, including the shadow governor for Kunar Province, are killed in a NATO airstrike. (IANS via Business Standard)
Syrian Civil War
Thousands of Syrians flee into Turkey as Kurdish fighters come closer to capturing the border town of Tell Abyad from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. (AP)
Disasters and accidents
2015 Tbilisi flood
Flooding in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, destroys animal enclosures at a zoo resulting in the release of potentially dangerous animals and the death of three zookeepers and six other people. (AP), (USA Today), (Reuters, DPA via WA Today)
2015 Alaska Sockeye wildfire
A wildfire near Willow, Alaska in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough burns over 6,500 acres, numerous structures and closes the George Parks Highway, severing the road link between Anchorage and Fairbanks.(Alaska Dispatch News)