Karokh (Afghanistan) (AFP) – Many Afghan schoolgirls are resorting to working in the country’s saffron fields in the western province of Herat since the Taliban shut their schools for more than a year now. While the industry has always recruited women, this year it has seen a surge in female employment as more and more high school girls work in the fields.
Los Angeles (AFP) – Librarian Rosie Grant spends her free time baking cookies from recipes found on gravestones throughout the country. She documents her cooking on TikTok, under the account @ghostlyarchive, where she currently has over one hundred thousand followers and 4.5 million likes.
Morbi, Gujarat (India) (AFP) – India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the disaster site where a newly renovated pedestrian bridge collapsed in his home state of Gujarat, leaving 134 people dead. Nine people have been arrested on homicide charges over the collapse of the 150-year-old structure. The suspension bridge was packed with people celebrating the final day of the Diwali holidays. Forty-seven children were among those killed.
Tokyo (AFP) – The Tokyo Metropolitan Government building is illuminated with rainbow lights as the Japanese capital begins issuing partnership certificates to same-sex couples who live and work in the megacity, a long-awaited move in a country without marriage equality.
Mumbai (AFP) – Worshippers in Mumbai pray to the setting and rising sun as part of Chhath Puja. The four-day festival is dedicated to Surya, the Hindu sun god.
Kennedy Space Center (United States) (AFP) – SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launches the USSF-44 mission to orbit from a launch complex at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Beijing (AFP) – China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian rejects a “false” statement signed onto by fifty countries at a UN debate that condemned the “severe and systematic” human rights violations in Xinjiang region.
Tokyo (AFP) – A government building lights up in rainbow colours as Tokyo begins recognition of partnership certificates to same-sex couples who live and work in the capital, a long-awaited move in a country without marriage equality. IMAGES
Berlin (AFP) – An exhibition of over 250 art pieces created during the communist era (1949-1990) by the deceased East German artist, Jürgen Wittdorf (1932 – 2018), has been a success. The exhibit has attracted more than 20,000 visitors since it opened last month in Biesdorf Castle, a suburb far from Berlin’s historic city centre. At a time when sexual freedom is under renewed attack around the world, even amongst EU democracies like Hungary or Romania, Wittdorf’s work is enjoying a renaissance four years after his death.
Tokyo (AFP) – Tokyo lesbian couple Miki and Katie have long been without any official proof of their relationship, but that changes as the Japanese capital commences a much-awaited same-sex partnership programme.
