Shoresh (Israel) (AFP) – Yotam Haim, a keen musician and sportsman, was gunned down in the Gaza Strip by Israeli soldiers who failed to realise he was a freed hostage — yet a month later his mother refuses to criticise the army. Iris Haim has become a hero to many Israelis for her stance, which began with an extraordinary message she sent to the army unit involved in her son’s killing.
Beijing (AFP) – China’s economy last year suffered one of its worst annual performances in more than three decades, as the country also reported a continued population decline in 2023, China’s National Bureau of Statistics reveals. Gross domestic product expanded 5.2 percent to hit 126 trillion yuan ($17.6 trillion) last year. The figure is better than the three percent recorded in 2022, when strict zero-Covid curbs destroyed activity, but marks the weakest performance since 1990, excluding the pandemic years.
Hajo (India) (AFP) – Tiny songbirds flutter around a fighting ring in India’s Assam state, in a centuries-old tradition criticised by some as cruel but which has returned after an eight-year ban was overturned.
Kabul (AFP) – From pickup games in dusty parks or narrow alleys to high-intensity training at well-kitted academies, young Afghans have cricket fever — a trend spiked by the surprise performance of the Afghan national team at the recent ODI World Cup. Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the sport has emerged as a rare arena of national unity, with the Afghanistan Cricket Board working hard to expand facilities, giving young players a route to potential sporting stardom.
Copenhagen (AFP) – At least 1.4 million lives have been saved in Europe thanks to Covid vaccines, the World Health Organization says, whilst warning that the virus was “here to stay”. “Today, there are 1.4 million people in (the WHO European) region –- most of them elderly -– who are around to enjoy life with their loved ones because they took the vital decision to be vaccinated against Covid-19,” WHO Europe regional director Hans Kluge tells reporters.
Birkenhead (United Kingdom) (AFP) – The terraced houses of the town of Birkenhead in northwest England lie blanketed in snow, with Liverpool’s skyline across the Mersey and the Welsh hills visible in the distance, as a cold snap hits the United Kingdom. IMAGES MUTE AT SOURCE
Des Moines (United States) (AFP) – Donald Trump delivers a speech following his win at the Iowa caucuses. Major US networks took just 30 minutes to project the winner in Iowa’s caucuses, with Trump opening up an unprecedented 32-point lead over second-placed Ron DeSantis over the following hour or so.
Rafah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinian elders remember how the war that coincided with the creation of Israel in 1948, uprooted their families when they were children. Now, 75 years later, they say the war raging in Gaza is even worse. “This one is hard, it’s harder than any of the displacements” brought by previous conflict, says Liga Jabr, 89, in Rafah refugee camp where she’s been staying with relatives after her home in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah was hit by a strike. Fighting began with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel, which resulted in about 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel in response vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a relentless military campaign that the Gaza health ministry says has killed nearly 24,000 people, most of them women and children.
Santiago (AFP) – Hot-air balloon pilots and visitors attend the International Balloon Festival in the Chilean capital Santiago.
Shanghai (AFP) – A hit Chinese television series set in a gritty but glamourous 1990s Shanghai has sparked a wave of nostalgia for the city’s boom days and renewed interest in its culture and declining dialect.
