Cairo (Egypt) (AFP) – Egyptian incumbent president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi casts his vote at a polling station in Cairo in a presidential election where four candidates are contending, with little doubt that Sisi will secure a third term.
Carisbrooke (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Thundering at each other with lances while dressed in full armour, modern-day knights still practice the ancient sporting tradition of jousting at historic sites in the United Kingdom, following in the centuries-old hoof prints of their predecessors. “It’s not pretend. This is the real thing,” says Dominic Sewell, one of the UK’s best known jousters and trainers.
Hollywood (United States) (AFP) – To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the famed Hollywood sign partially lights up once again. “The sign was first lit with about 3700 light bulbs around the perimeter of each letter when it originally said Hollywoodland,” says Jeff Zarrinnam, chairman of the Hollywood Sign Trust.
Jacumba (United States) (AFP) – Hundreds of migrants who cross into the United States each day are being herded into open-air camps, where they have no access to food or water, and some are left to sleep on the open ground in a desert riddled with scorpions and snakes, activists say. “I don’t want my son to suffer like I did. I chose to do everything I could to come here,” says Ecuador national Carla Morocho.
Saint-Denis (France) (AFP) – “The key word, really, is joy and good humour”, explains Romeo Traetto, dancer in the official choreography for the 2024 Olympic Games. Devised by choreographer Mourad Merzouki, the dance is intended to be simple and inclusive.
Novosibirsk (Russia) (AFP) – Cold water swimming enthusiasts take a dip in an ice hole in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, where the temperature lingers at around minus 35 degrees Celsius.
Havana (AFP) – UNESCO has recognized bolero music as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, defining it as “identity, emotion and poetry turned into song.” Bolero was born in Santiago, southeastern Cuba, at the end of the 19th century and later took roots in all of Mexico, where it is sang and beloved as “music that makes you feel alive, that touches your life.”
Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong Democracy activist Agnes Chow broke her years-long silence after leaving for Canada and said she would not return. Speaking from Toronto, the 27-year-old recounts the repression she faced following her arrest under the accusation of endangering national security and how she regained her passport, which was seized at the time of her arrest, only after penning a letter of “repentance” and attending a “patriotic” trip to Shenzhen.
COLOMBIA (Colombia) (AFP) – In the remote Colombian Amazon region of Pira Parana, some indigenous community members have taken legal action against an initiative sold to them as planet-saving. The project allows companies to buy carbon credits from environmental initiatives like forest preservation to offset or “compensate” for their greenhouse gas emissions. But the system is not without controversy. REDD+ projects, like the one in Pira Parana, have taken a significant hit this year with several scientific studies and investigative reports questioning their credibility.
Moscow (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin says that “there there is no other way” other than for him to run for re-election in 2024, which would allow the Kremlin leader to extend his decades-long grip on power into the 2030s. The 71-year-old has led Russia since the turn of the century, winning four presidential ballots and briefly serving as prime minister in a system where opposition has become virtually non-existent.
