China (AFP) – Robots are making coffee, playing football and gesturing like humans at the World Intelligence Expo in the northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin, as companies and engineers show off their high-tech robotics to a sea of curious visitors.
Puerto Princesa (Philippines) (AFP) – President Ferdinand Marcos says the Philippines “will not be intimidated” by anyone after a violent clash between the Filipino navy and the Chinese coast guard in the South China Sea.
Vienna (AFP) – Heaving with bratwurst and meaty delicacies, Vienna’s popular sausage stands are a popular cultural landmark, so much so that the owners of 15 stands are applying for Vienna sausage stand culture to be recognised as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. “We want to create a kind of quality seal for Vienna sausage stands,” says 36-year-old Patrick Tondl, whose family owns Leo’s Wuerstelstand — the Austrian capital’s oldest operating sausage stand.
Nairobi (AFP) – Hundreds of young Kenyans take to the streets of Nairobi to protest the government’s proposed tax hikes, clashing with police who fire water cannons and tear gas to disperse them. The demonstrations — dubbed “Occupy Parliament” — began in Nairobi on Tuesday on 18 June, before spreading nationwide on Thursday.
Qamishli (Syria) (AFP) – Animals are sprayed with water to cool them off during a heatwave at a zoo and a chicken farm in Qamishli in Syria’s northeastern Hasakeh province. “For more than 15 days, the abnormal temperature has led to the death of chicks at the rate of 70 chicks per day. It’s a big loss”, says the owner of the farm.
Sarajevo (AFP) – Hundreds of people with LGBTQI flags attend the annual Pride Parade in Sarajevo. IMAGES
Costa de los Amates (Honduras) (AFP) – Several villages in southern Honduras have been cut off after heavy rains flooded the Goascorán River. “It is no exaggeration, we have lost everything,” says Joaquin Ferrufino, a resident of Costa de los Amates in the department of Valle. Torrential rains across Central America have left at least 27 dead in landslides and flooding over the past week, mainly in El Salvador, but also in Guatemala and Honduras.
Ariel (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – With many Israelis gripped by a sense of insecurity following Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack, the number of women applying for gun permits has soared. The deadliest-ever Gaza war began with the October 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza although the army says 41 are dead. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,551 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Hundreds of yoga aficionados take part in a mass session at sunrise on the famous Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, a day after International Yoga Day.
Xichang (China) (AFP) – A Long March 2-C rocket carrying a satellite jointly developed by China and France lifted off from a space base in Xichang, in southwestern China. The launch took place around 3:00pm (0700 GMT). The satellite, dubbed the Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM), will seek out gamma-ray bursts, powerful cosmic explosions that offer clues about the history of the universe. IMAGES
