Jajarkot (Nepal) (AFP) – Aerial images show survivors of the deadly Nepal earthquake carrying bodies of the dead decorated in orange marigolds along the hillside to a cremation site, in a traditional Hindu funerary rite. The 5.6 magnitude earthquake, which struck a remote pocket of Nepal, killed at least 157 people in isolated western districts of the Himalayan country.
Doha (AFP) – On a visit to Qatar, France’s foreign minister Catherine Colonna calls for an “immediate, lasting and sustained humanitarian truce in Gaza”. Since a Hamas attack of southern Israel on 7 October, which Israeli officials say killed 1,400, mostly civilians, Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip to destroy the Palestinian group. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says more than 9,480 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes.
Havana (AFP) – In Cuba, a growing number of teenagers are falling in love with K-pop, a form of pop music originating in South Korea. At her home in Havana’s Playa neighborhood, Samyla Trujillo, turns her living room into a dance floor. She has been a fan of K-pop since the age of ten: “It’s incredible how they dance. When I saw BTS, I said to myself, I want to dance like them,” says the 14-year-old.
Ayolas (Paraguay) (AFP) – At least three people have died and thousands have been displaced in Paraguay after tornadoes and downpours caused massive flooding around the Parana River. In the city of Ayolas, 300 kilometres from Paraguay’s capital, hundreds of homes were submerged. “It hurts a lot to see families abandon their homes, it hurts to see very humble families with huge losses,” says Richard Ramirez, the governor of the Misiones department where Ayolas is located.
Machu Picchu (Peru) (AFP) – Princess Kako of Japan, niece of Emperor Naruhito, visits the Machu Picchu citadel in Cusco, as part of a six-day visit to Peru marking the 150th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. With some 224,000 descendants, the Japanese community in Peru is one of the largest in Latin America, second only to Brazil.
Buenos Aires (AFP) – Thousands of people take part in the annual LGBTQ+ pride march in Buenos Aires. IMAGES
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Fans arrive at the Macarana Stadium for the Copa Libertadores 2023 final between Boca Juniors and Fluminense, amid tensions between fans and multiple calls for the final to be played in peace. Fluminense have the advantage of playing at the 78,000-capacity Maracana, their home ground in Rio de Janeiro and the spiritual home of Brazilian football. IMAGES
Hâsbaïya (Lebanon) (AFP) – Displaced Lebanese take refuge in a hotel turned into a shelter by the Hasbaya munic ipality in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, as the crisis-hit country struggles to prepare for a possible war. A gruelling, four-year-long economic collapse has left Lebanon ill-prepared for another disaster, and volunteers and local authorities are scrambling to fill the gap with limited means. “I am frustrated and not optimistic at all. We are heading towards the worst,” says Ali Khalil Awada who was displaced from the Khiam village bordering Israel.
Moscow (AFP) – Russian president Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the monument to Minin and Pozharsky on Moscow’s Red Square to mark national Unity Day during a ceremony with the country’s religious leaders, including the country’s Jewish and Muslim representatives. The holiday marks the expulsion of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces from Moscow in 1612.
Moscow (AFP) – A patriotic exhibit displaying achievements in the fields of culture and technology from each of Russia’s regions has opened to visitors at the VDNKH complex in the capital Moscow. The venue served as a nationwide general purpose trade show during the Soviet era. The exhibit features stands representing the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, which Moscow claims as its own, along with the Kherson region. Russia’s offensive in Ukraine is nearing its two-year mark.
