NISAR, built jointly by NASA and India’s space agency and launched on Wednesday, will use radar to monitor tiny changes across our planet’s land and icy regions.

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The rains set off flooding and landslides, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in the capital and neighboring Hebei Province.

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Television news footage showed bent tracks and piles of mud at the scene of the accident near the town of Riedlingen in southern Germany. Three people were killed and 41 injured.

© Markus Ulmer/Reuters

Thousands of people were working on the informal mining site in eastern Congo, in an area controlled by an armed militia.

© Reuters

As rescuers search for the missing under the rubble, thousands of evacuated villagers face the daunting task of rebuilding their homes.

© Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters