Beijing (AFP) – China test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, the defence ministry says, a the rare trial run as Beijing flexes its military might.
Haifa (Israel) (AFP) – Residents in the northern Israeli city of Haifa are watching on anxiously as tensions between their country and longtime foe Hezbollah mount. The group has been fighting Israel for decades, but the last year has seen an escalation, with the two exchanging near-daily fire since the October 7 attacks on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Pokrovsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Despite burning rubble dotting the streets, Russian troops on the advance and the not so far-off sound of artillery, some residents of the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk refuse to leave. “I’m not scared. Why should I be?” says Galyna, one of those staying.
Mexico (AFP) – Strong winds, torrential rain and thunder hit Mexico’s southern Pacific coast as Hurricane John slams into the country as a major Category 3 storm, bringing winds of around 120 miles per hour.
Hanoi (AFP) – Waist deep in water, rice farmers in northern Vietnam are harvesting what they can in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, which brought devastating flooding to the region in early September. The storm killed nearly 300 people in Vietnam and caused severe damage to key facilities in what is a major production hub for global tech firms.
Beijing (AFP) – China’s foreign ministry says it is “deeply shocked” by Israel’s air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after at least 558 people, including 50 children, were killed in the deadliest bombardment since a devastating war in 2006. Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire for almost a year, following Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) – American actor Meryl Streep speaks up for Afghan women and girls at the United Nations, urging the international community to do more to “stop the slow suffocation” of half the population.
Wajima (Japan) (AFP) – Two huge earthquakes 17 years apart robbed Shoichi Miyakoshi first of his wife, and then his home. Now, his temporary dwelling flooded after heavy rains deluged Japan’s Noto Peninsula, he must start afresh again. “It’s now September and will soon be October, then the winter will be right here,” Miyakoshi told AFP. “I have to start over, through another cold winter”.
Kutupalong (Bangladesh) (AFP) – “Dead bodies were lying everywhere,” says Mohammad, one of thousands of Rohingya who have entered Bangladesh in recent months, fleeing what they say is worsening violence in Myanmar. Fighting near the border has escalated and refugees making the crossing say they been targeted by drone and mortar attacks. Experts have pointed to the forced recruitment of Rohingya by armed groups as a cause of what they say are retaliatory attacks on refugees, carried out by rebels fighting against Myanmar’s military junta. Around a million Rohingya live in refugee camps in Bangladesh after fleeing a 2017 military crackdown that followed decades of persecution against the Muslim ethnic minority group.
Scranton (United States) (AFP) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visits an ammunition factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as part of a trip to the United States during which he will explain Kyiv’s plan to end the war. Zelensky’s visit will take in New York and Washington as he tries to secure the go ahead to use Western weapons on targets inside Russia, a strategy that is yet to be approved by the supplying states.
