Our daily stroll around the world

🇳🇱🇩🇰🇳🇴🇺🇦 The Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway are donating US-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. It marks Ukraine’s first time receiving F-16 jets, which have largely been replaced in most NATO militaries by the successor model F-35. But experts say the F-16s still represent a significant upgrade over Ukraine’s current Soviet-era combat planes, and will allow the country to provide much-needed air support to its ongoing counteroffensive. The US military yesterday announced it will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 jets in October.

🇦🇺🏗️☕ Australian scientists discovered a way to reduce emissions and make concrete stronger using coffee grounds. A team of researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne found that adding a specially-prepared mixture of coffee grounds during the concrete-making process resulted in a product 30% stronger than typical concrete. The scientists say the procedure also reduces the amount of organic waste that ends up in a landfill, where it would emit large amounts of methane (a greenhouse gas 21x more potent than CO2).

🇷🇺 A Russian court extended the detention of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich by threethree months. Gershkovich was initially arrested in late March over allegations of stealing state secrets on behalf of the US government, claims which US officials and the WSJ have repeatedly denied. His pretrial detention, which was set to expire on August 30, has now been extended to at least November 30. Gershkovich is the first American journalist arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the end of the Cold War.

+Update: The BRICS bloc of nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – will welcome Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia as new members next year.