Guatemala City (AFP) – The United States deports Guatemalan migrants from its territory. The migrants walk down the runway after arriving at the Guatemalan Air Force Base in Guatemala City, during the last deportee flights of the year. Guatemala closes 2024 with more than 61,000 deported from the US, say Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM).
Damascus (AFP) – Syrians carry crosses and copies of Koran as they rally in Damascus’ Umayyad Square in celebration of the ousting of former president Bashar al-Assad, nearly three weeks after he fled to Russia, in the presence of fighters from the new administration parading in the square.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says in an evening address from Kyiv posted on social media that “several” wounded North Korean soldiers have died after being captured by Ukrainian forces, as he accuses Russia of offering them “minimal protection”. Ukraine and its western allies say North Korea has sent thousands of soldiers to support Russia’s army, in what is seen as a major escalation in the nearly three-year war following Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
Douma (Syria) (AFP) – AFP photographer Sameer al-Doumy returns home after fleeing Syria in 2017 just one year before a horrific chemical weapons attack in April 2018 on his hometown of Douma, a rebel stronghold near Damascus. The 26-year-old award-winning photographer, who has spent the last few years covering the migrant crisis for AFP’s Lille bureau in northern France, said it felt “like a dream” to be able to return, following the fall of president Bashar al-Assad.
Baku (AFP) – The bodies of four people from the AZAL plane crash, together with seven more injured people, have been transported to Baku. A passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines flying Baku-Grozny crashed on December 25 near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. Thirty-eight of the 67 people on board died, with some reports suggesting the plane could have been accidentally shot at by Russian air defences.
Damascus (AFP) – Families of detainees and missing Syrians protest outside the Hijaz train station in Damascus, demanding accountability for perpetrators of crimes under Assad’s now-deposed government. “These people deserve to recover the remains of their relatives, at the very least. They deserve to know who killed and tortured them,” says Angelina jolie Nadour as she holds portraits of missing people during the protest.
New Delhi (AFP) – Indian flags fly at half-mast at the country’s presidential residence and parliament building in memory of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014, died at the age of 92 late on Thursday evening at a hospital in New Delhi. He will also be accorded a state funeral.
Berlin (AFP) – German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves parliament and confirms the expected February 23, 2025 date for the general election prompted by the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s government last month. Scholz’s coalition was brought down by internal fights over how to revive Europe’s largest economy, but a deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market last week has renewed the country’s heated debates over security and immigration.
Douz (Tunisia) (AFP) – The 56th edition of the prestigious International Sahara Festival has opened in Douz, an oasis 500 km south of Tunis in Tunisia, for four days of cultural, tourist and sporting events at the gateway to the desert. Festival-goers marvel at the array of features, including equestrian competitions, camel races, sloughi (desert greyhound) hunts and re-enactments of nomadic customs and lifestyles.
Prayagraj (India) (AFP) – Beside India’s holy rivers, a huge makeshift city is being built for a Hindu religious festival expected to be so vast that it will be seen from space.
