INTERNATIONAL: Fires in the US, floods in Europe are dominating international headlines this Friday. A swift-spreading wildfire is raging through south-central Oregon for a ninth day. Two-thousand homes are threatened and hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate. The so-called “Bootleg Fire” has already burnt its way through almost 86-thousand hectares, razing 21 homes and 54 other buildings. Elsewhere in Oregon, firefighters dropped retardant from the air as the Grandview fire tore through Deschutes and Jefferson counties. These are just two of 60 large fires that have torched over 400-thousand hectares across 12 US states this fire season.

Ariel footage in the Netherlands is showing the full extent of flooding in Europe. Dozens of homes are under water in the Netherlands. 42 people have been killed in Germany, where hundreds of troops have been called into assist. Across the border in Belgium, two men have been swept away after torrential rain. A 15-year old girl is missing. Record rainfall in western Europe has caused rivers to burst their banks. The region’s famous vineyards have all been flooded. The death toll is already over 65.

The luckiest guy on the planet has also been named. 18-year-old physics student, Oliver Daeman, is to fly into space with the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos. He secured the seat in place of someone who bid $28-million in an auction. Bezos will lead an all-civilian crew in Tuesday’s flight. Apart from Daeman, who will be the world’s youngest person to go into orbit, it will also carry the world’s oldest – 82-year-old Wally Funk. Blue Origin will rocket into space atop Bezos’ “New Shepard” rocket. New Shepard is just over 18m tall and is fully autonomous, so it doesn’t need a pilot. The launch is set for West Texas, sometime on Tuesday night, Cambodian time.