Tokyo (AFP) – Halloween may not be for months, but it’s already peak haunted house season in Japan, where seeking a bone-chilling fright is a long-established summer tradition. Summer is closely associated with the dead in Japan, because it is believed that ancestral souls return to their household altars during the mid-August “obon” holiday.
Najaf (Iraq) (AFP) – Joufi is one among several farmers to be receiving support from the agriculture ministry whose experts have been developing innovative methods to save Iraq’s rice production. “Using traditional methods, 10 to 15 people were required to manually get the water from here and there. Now, only one person is needed to operate the sprinklers and pump, and the field is irrigated properly,” he explains.
Tokyo (AFP) – Japanese philosopher Kohei Saito has become a face of the global movement for “degrowth.” From his collectively-owned patch of forest outside Tokyo, he argues that humans need to stop consuming to save the planet.
Hong Kong (AFP) – With two of its three gold medals won in fencing, Hong Kong has emerged as a powerhouse in the sport at the Paris games. The impact of the success of Edgar Cheung Ka-long, and in particular Vivian Kong, is already being felt across the city.
Dhaka (AFP) – Bangladesh student protest leaders say they want Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to lead an interim government, a day after the military took control as mass demonstrations forced longtime ruler Sheikh Hasina to flee the country.
Dhaka (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of protesters in Bangladesh march towards the prime minister’s residence in the capital Dhaka to celebrate after Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country in the wake of more than a month of deadly protests.
Swabi (Pakistan) (AFP) – Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan rally in Swabi, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on the first anniversary of his imprisonment.
Santiago (AFP) – Chilean President Gabriel Boric hosts his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the main entrance of the Moneda Palace, in Santiago. Both are set to discuss economic issues and bilateral relations. IMAGES
Canberra (AFP) – The head of Australia’s Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Mike Burgess, says there is a homegrown rise in “extreme ideologies” and a “greater than 50 percent chance of an onshore attack or planning in the next 12 months.”
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian fans in the Kyiv fan zone watch fellow countrywoman and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh win the women’s Olympic high jump in Paris on Sunday, 4 August.
