Colombo (AFP) – Student leader Wasantha Mudalige remains lionised by many for channelling public anger at an unprecedented economic crisis into a movement that shook the foundations of Sri Lanka’s political system. At the height of last summer’s unrest, he helped spearhead a siege of government buildings in Colombo that saw once-loved premier Gotabaya Rajapaksa chased into a humiliating exile.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Protesters and police clash as thousands block Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv, following the resignation of Tel Aviv police chief Ami Ashed. Police use water cannons and mounted horse units to remove protesters.
Jenin (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – The Israeli army ended a two-day raid in the occupied West Bank, leaving several dead and thousands displaced. The operation involved hundreds of forces, drone strikes and armored bulldozers, targeting the West Bank city of Jenin, a center for multiple armed Palestinian groups.
Ulaanbaatar (AFP) – Flooded streets and inundated homes in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar after torrential rains forces hundreds of people to flee their homes.
Kabul (AFP) – Images of beauty parlors in Kabul after Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have ordered them to shut within a month, in the latest curb to further squeeze women out of public life.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Images show police and emergency services at the scene of an alleged suicide bombing outside a Kyiv court, which has left one man dead and two officers injured. IMAGES
Kharkiv Oblast (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian servicemen share their dugout with an unusual friend, a pet raven named Mavic. While loved, Mavic is a known troublemaker, stealing and hiding everything from phones to bullets.
Beijing (AFP) – China’s Foreign Ministry says that a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Japan’s plan to release treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea cannot be “used as pass” by the country, while urging it to “respect science and facts”.
Chongqing (China) (AFP) – People join cleanup and rescue efforts after torrential rain triggered landslides and floods in the metropolis of Chongqing in southwestern China. Scientists say that rising global temperatures — caused largely by burning fossil fuels — increase the likelihood of extreme weather events such as the flash floods and heatwaves experienced in many Asian countries in recent weeks.
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Japan) (AFP) – The UN’s nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi visits Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant ahead of the controversial release of the facility’s treated wastewater into the sea. The planned, decades-long discharge of accumulated water from the devastated nuclear facility has been approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as meeting global standards.
