Thousands of people displaced by 12 years of war are stuck in squalid, unofficial camps in Syria’s Kurdish-held northeast, languishing in extreme poverty and largely cut off from international assistance. “We’ve been completely forgotten,” says Rahma al-Hammud, 33, standing at her tent — a shoddy patchwork of worn-out fabric, tarp and old fertiliser bags crudely sewn together.
Famous for its freshwater lochs, rivers and rain, Scotland is seeing the impact of climate change with drier, warmer weather arriving ever earlier, prompting previously unthinkable warnings of water scarcity. At Loch Ness, famous for hosting a mythical monster in its murky depths, 84-year old harbour master and local since childhood Gordon Mangus says “it’s been this low for several months now and I have never, ever seen it this low.”
Belém (Brazil) (AFP) – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opens an Amazon rainforest summit in Belem, in northern Brazil, in a “context of severe worsening of the climate crisis” as South American leaders are set to seek a roadmap to save the Amazon. It is the first summit in 14 years for the eight-nation Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, set up in 1995 by the countries that share the Amazon basin: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Medellín (Colombia) (AFP) – Farmers carry flower arrangements known as “silletas” during the traditional silleteros parade held as part of the Flower Festival in Medellin, Colombia.
Taipei (AFP) – Former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso warns a Taipei security forum Tuesday that the international community must “wake up” to the worsening situation surrounding the Taiwan Strait, a hotspot waterway separating the democratic island from China.
Hong Kong (AFP) – Dozens of previously removed neon shop signs in Hong Kong have been restored and are shining again at an exhibition curated by a neon conservation group. Neon once illuminated the diverse businesses of Hong Kong’s streets but citing safety concerns, city authorities have begun removing neon signs, which are widely seen as part of the city’s cultural heritage.
Havana (AFP) – Havana residents react to a set of rules issued by the Cuban Central Bank banning state and private businesses from using ATMs and limiting cash transactions between them, as the island struggles with an inflationary spiral and a severe liquidity crisis. The new regulations limit cash transactions to 5000 pesos ($208).
Buan-gun (South Korea) (AFP) – Organisers of the World Scout Jamboree asked host South Korea Monday to “urgently” evacuate tens of thousands of children from their campsite ahead of a typhoon, just days after a heatwave. The government had said it would send 1,000 buses to move the mostly teenage scouts from the site.
Albu Mustafa (Iraq) (AFP) – Iraqi villager Omar Ziad gazes at the cracked and barren earth where his fish farm once stood, lost to water conservation efforts during a devastating four-year drought. Drastic government measures have restricted water use for some purposes, including crop irrigation, and authorities have cracked down on illegal practices they long ignored.
Sarmadā (Syria) (AFP) – In the northern rebel province of Idlib, near the Turkish border, displaced Syrians are demonstrating against the closure of an important cross-border humanitarian aid route, vital for the inhabitants of a region still outside Damascus’ control.
