Moskau (AFP) – When Russians started being arrested for opposing the Ukraine offensive, Maria felt the same kind of fear she guessed her ancestors, victims of repression under Soviet leader Josef Stalin, must have lived through. Two and a half years into its military offensive, Russia has imprisoned hundreds for protesting or speaking out — even in private — against that campaign in a crackdown that has paralysed the Kremlin’s domestic critics.
Thimphu (AFP) – Thousands of Bhutanese people dressed in colourful dresses gather at Tashichho Dzong Buddhist monastery in the kingdom’s capital, Thimphu, to celebrate the Buddhist Tshechu festival.
Tegucigalpa (AFP) – Thousands of Hondurans take to the streets to show their support for embattled President Xiomara Castro after a video emerged allegedly showing her brother-in-law meeting drug traffickers.
Dry Tortugas National Park (AFP) – SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission capsule splashes down off the coast of Florida after making history when its crew conducted the first-ever spacewalk by non-professional astronauts. The Dragon spacecraft landed in the ocean at 3:37 am (0737 GMT), a webcast of the splashdown shows, with a recovery team retrieving the capsule and four crew.
Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns Yemen’s Huthis that they “should have known by now that we charge a heavy price for any attempt to harm us” as he heads a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. A Yemeni rebel missile triggered a rush to shelters in central Israel, a rare incident that caused no casualties but again added to regional tensions nearly a year into the Gaza war.
Głuchołazy (AFP) – Storm Boris lashes central and eastern Europe with torrential rains and high winds. The rains have flooded streets and submerged entire neighbourhoods in some places while shutting down public transport and electricity in others. Seven people have died as a result of the storm, and thousands have been evacuated across the continent.
Undisclosed (AFP) – Released Ukrainian prisoners of war celebrate their return near the Ukraine-Belarus border on September 13. The release mostly concerned soldiers — including 23 women — captured around the siege of Mariupol in 2022. The following day, Moscow and Kyiv swapped an additional 103 prisoners of war each in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
Kerkennah (AFP) – Off a quiet Tunisian island, Sara Souissi readies her small fishing boat. As a woman in the male-dominated trade, she rows against entrenched patriarchy. Tunisian women have long played a major role in the fishing sector. But their work has been undervalued and unsupported, a recent study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found.
L’Alpe d’Huez (AFP) – Aerial images of the first snow to fall in France’s Alpe d’Huez ski area in Isere.
Corumba de Goias (AFP) – As fires continue to ravage the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, a rescue center in Brazil treats jaguars injured in the blaze. The wildfires have been aggravated by the country’s worst drought in seven decades, which experts attribute to climate change.
