Three homes were destroyed by a forest fire and a man was injured by a falling tree in the Bega Valley region of southeastern Australia, prompting a government leader to warn on Wednesday that a "horror" wildfire season was approaching.

Scores of wildfires have recently raged across the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania as Australia's driest September on record and unusually warm weather have brought an early start to the annual wildfire season, which peaks during the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Strife-torn Myanmar won its first medal at the Asian Games in China on Wednesday, beating Indonesia to take home gold in men's sepaktakraw, a popular regional sport also known as kick volleyball.

The Southeast Asian nation took two straight sets from Indonesia in the sport with similarities to volleyball, but played only with the feet, knees, head and chest.

A video that shows ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting on the ground beside a procession of foreign Christian worshipers carrying a wooden cross in the holy city of Jerusalem has ignited intense outrage and a flurry of condemnation in the Holy Land.

The spitting incident, which the city's minority Christian community lamented as the latest in an alarming surge of religiously motivated attacks, drew rare outrage on Tuesday from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.

The House of Representatives is entering uncharted territory after a far-right effort to remove fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy from the speakership succeeded thanks to support from Democrats.

A resolution — titled a motion to vacate — from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., passed Tuesday with the support of eight Republicans and all the Democrats present and voting. The vote made McCarthy the first speaker in history to be removed from office, a bitter humiliation that came after less than nine months on the job.

Turkish warplanes have carried out new airstrikes against suspected Kurdish militant sites in northern Iraq, days after a suicide attack in the Turkish capital. Police, meanwhile, detained almost 1,000 people in raids across Turkey.

A defense ministry statement said the air raids hit 16 targets, including caves, shelters and depots, used by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK in the neighboring region. It said the operation aimed to protect Turkey's borders and prevent terror attacks.

Twenty-three Indian army soldiers were missing Wednesday after a cloudburst triggered flash floods in the northeastern state of Sikkim, the army said in a statement.

The flooding occurred along the Teesta River in Lachen valley, the statement said, adding that some army camps and vehicles were submerged under watery mud and that search efforts were underway. The army said water released from a nearby dam also caused water levels to rise.

Tunisia has announced it would reject an installment of funds sent by Europe to help the debt-ridden country patrol the Mediterranean Sea as migrant boat crossings spike to levels not seen in several years.

President Kais Saied on Monday accused the European Union of not following through on agreements made earlier this year to help Tunisia patrol its border, curb smuggling and balance its federal budget. Though he called the disbursement "a small amount," Saied said the decision was less about its size and more about how it "lacks respect."

It was more than just another fashion show in the City of Light. Louis Vuitton's latest extravaganza on Paris' most famous avenue, the Champs-Elysées, transformed an iconic 19th-century art nouveau space into an evolving artwork. As guests entered, they encountered an ephemeral installation — a vast, expanding balloon structure that melded with the walls. But as avant-garde as it was, the installation's plastic, coupled with an autumnal heat wave, had some attendees likening it to a fashionable, yet sweltering, greenhouse.

The designs? A riot of colors, ludic patterns, and subtle riffs on harlequins. A visual feast that kept the eyes and iPhones flitting from one ensemble to the next.

Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz eased to his 12th semifinal appearance of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 win over seventh-seeded Casper Ruud at the China Open on Monday.

The top-seeded Spaniard recovered from falling a break behind in the first set before he overpowered Ruud with 30 winners and four breaks of serve to advance.

Brazil winger Raphinha won't play in the next two rounds of South American World Cup qualifying because of injury.

The Brazilian soccer confederation said Monday that David Neres will replace the Barcelona star in the national team squad for games against Venezuela on Oct. 12 and five days later at Uruguay.