Australian Explorers Set New Record for Deepest Cave

The cave site of Panga ya Saidi, in Kenya's Kilifi County is
seen in this undated photograph.  Mohammad Javad Shoaee/Handout via
REUTERS
The cave site of Panga ya Saidi, in Kenya's Kilifi County is seen in this undated photograph. Mohammad Javad Shoaee/Handout via REUTERS
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Australian Explorers Set New Record for Deepest Cave

The cave site of Panga ya Saidi, in Kenya's Kilifi County is
seen in this undated photograph.  Mohammad Javad Shoaee/Handout via
REUTERS
The cave site of Panga ya Saidi, in Kenya's Kilifi County is seen in this undated photograph. Mohammad Javad Shoaee/Handout via REUTERS

A team of Australian cave explorers descended in a 400-meter-deep cave chain in Tasmania region, bringing a new record to their country, according to the German News Agency.

“The team successfully connected a newly discovered cave, named ‘Delta Variant,’ to the Niggly/Growling Swallet Cave system, taking the record for Australia’s deepest known cave to an anticipated 401 vertical meters. The team entered Delta Variant right before noon, on Saturday.

After first negotiating a difficult horizontal section, they descended down the ropes that had been fixed over the last six months.

When they reached the end of the last rope they tied, they descended another 35m, and reached the bottom of Delta Variant, breaking through into the Niggly System.

The team then exited via the Niggly System to achieve the first system traverse using this entrance,” Southern Tasmanian Caverneers said in a statement.

The team faced very challenging conditions with high water levels and spent over 14 hours underground.

“Making the connection between Delta Variant and Niggly is a momentous achievement for the caving community, but also adds to our scientific understanding of the extensiveness of Australia’s karst systems,” said team member Ciara Smart.



Acropolis Trims Hours Again Amid Greek Heatwave

A drone view of the empty Acropolis, after the authorities closed the site for the hottest part of the day, as a heatwave grips Athens, Greece, July 8,  2025. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
A drone view of the empty Acropolis, after the authorities closed the site for the hottest part of the day, as a heatwave grips Athens, Greece, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
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Acropolis Trims Hours Again Amid Greek Heatwave

A drone view of the empty Acropolis, after the authorities closed the site for the hottest part of the day, as a heatwave grips Athens, Greece, July 8,  2025. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
A drone view of the empty Acropolis, after the authorities closed the site for the hottest part of the day, as a heatwave grips Athens, Greece, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

The Acropolis in Athens will limit its operating hours for a second straight day because of heatwave conditions, the Greek culture ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry in a statement said the world-renowned site would be shut till 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) "for the safety of workers and visitors, owing to high temperatures."

The four-day heatwave confirmed by meteorologists began Sunday and is the second to grip Greece since late June.

Temperatures are expected to reach 41 Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, with a maximum of 37 Celsius in Athens, according to national weather service EMY.

The Greek civil protection authority has warned of high fire risk in the greater Athens area, in central Greece and the Peloponnese peninsula on Wednesday.

The heatwave will abate on Thursday.