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Moscow (AFP) – As the second anniversary of the Ukraine conflict looms, the female relatives of Russia’s mobilised men are becoming more and more outspoken in calling for their loved ones to come home, with their pickets and impassioned appeals gaining traction on social media. Their activism, whilst largely ignored by state media, remains a sensitive issue for the Kremlin, which is keen to project an image of national unity around President Vladimir Putin ahead of his inevitable re-election in a vote in March.

Unknown (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron urges French people to start exercising daily as Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 200 days. Posting a video clip of himself on X, formerly Twitter, in a T-shirt, boxing gloves slung over his shoulder and with a punching bag in the background, the president encourages his compatriots to work out for 30 minutes a day, “and longer if you can”.

Abidjan (AFP) – The 2024 Africa Cup of Nations is the talk of Abidjan, where supporters from various nations are feeling confident. Africa’s premier football tournament takes place from January 13 to February 11.

Akasaki (Japan) (AFP) – The New Year’s Day earthquake in Japan demolished wooden buildings all across the Noto Peninsula, but thanks to decades-old smart architecture, one small fishing village stood strong.

Shika (Japan) (AFP) – Snow covers damaged buildings in the town of Shika close to the epicenter of Japan’s deadly New Year’s Day earthquake. The death toll has jumped to 161, authorities say, as snow complicates rescue efforts.

Doha (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could deteriorate and threaten security in the wider Middle East. During a joint presser with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Blinken said there was a risk the conflict could “metastasize”. The war began on October 7 when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel which resulted in about 1,140 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The militants also took around 250 hostages, 132 of whom remain in captivity, according to Israel. In response, Israel has carried out a relentless bombardment and ground invasion that have killed at least 22,835 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Pasto (Colombia) (AFP) – Artists, craftspeople and revelers fill the street of Pasto, southwestern Colombia, during the Blacks and Whites Carnival, a fusion of different cultural celebrations, including from the Andes, the Amazon and the Pacific. It takes place every year from January 2 to 7 and is on Unesco’s intangible heritage list.

Moscow (AFP) – Partners of Russian men mobilised to fight in Ukraine demand that their husbands return from the front by staging one-person pickets outside the country’s defence ministry and by placing flowers by the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Kremlin’s walls. Anger has been growing for months among those close to the reservists mobilised on President Vladimir Putin’s orders in September 2022, a sensitive subject for the authorities who have until now been careful not to repress this emerging protest movement. “We should not pretend that these people are not dying there – they are dying there,” Maria Andreeva, a 34-year-old pediatrician, says.

Dhaka (AFP) – Protesters take to the streets of Dhaka to boycott Sunday’s election, which is guaranteed to give Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a fifth term in office. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), whose ranks have been decimated by mass arrests, called for a general strike and urged the public not to participate in what it called a “sham” election. Some 25,000 opposition cadres including the BNP’s entire local leadership have been arrested since October. The government puts the figure at 11,000.

Ukhia (Bangladesh) (AFP) – Thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been left without shelter after a suspected arson attack ripped through their camp burning nearly 800 homes. Bangladesh is home to around a million Rohingya, many of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown on the Muslim minority in neighbouring Myanmar that is now subject to a UN genocide probe.