Tokyo (AFP) – Hundreds of protesters against the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gather in a street near the Nippon Budokan ahead of the state funeral. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead on July 8 while campaigning, and a publicly funded state funeral honouring him will be held on September 27. IMAGES
Mexico City (AFP) – Clashes erupt during a protest in Mexico City on the eighth anniversary of the disappearance of 43 students. Investigators last month branded the atrocity a “state crime” involving the military and other institutions.
Tokyo (AFP) – Members of the public lay flowers to honour assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe, as thousands of Japanese and foreign dignitaries gather in Tokyo on Tuesday at a rare state funeral that has sparked controversy and protest.
Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Young Ukrainian ‘geeks’ make drones — for both reconnaissance and destruction — in the basement of a house near the Donbas frontline. A short distance from their base and less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the Russian lines, a navigator and a pilot prepare a drone to drop a bomb on Russian positions.
Sochi (Russia) (AFP) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says he is confident that Russian citizens who have gone abroad will eventually return home at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi. “Let them run” he says, adding that the “majority” of those who left Belarus in 2020 are “asking: take us back”.
LARSI CHECKPOINT (Georgia) (AFP) – Russian vehicles flock to cross the Georgian border after President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilisation. Regional Russian authorities says 2,300 private vehicles were waiting to enter Georgia at one crossing.
Rome (AFP) – Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni says she is ready to govern for “all Italians” after her eurosceptic populists swept to victory in general elections, putting her on course to guide Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.
Bushehr (Iran) (AFP) – Protesters cheer as a woman burns her headscarf in Iran’s southwestern city of Bushehr. Demonstrations have rocked major cities across Iran for 10 straight nights, since the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.
Geneva (AFP) – The Fortune Pink, an exceptionally rare giant gemstone, will be auctioned in Geneva on November 8, when it is expected to fetch up to $35 million. Christie’s says that the vividly coloured gem is the largest pink pear-shaped diamond ever to be offered for sale at auction.
An Giang (Vietnam) (AFP) – Tens of thousands of spectators gathered in southern Vietnam Saturday for the annual Bay Nui ox race, a celebrated ritual of the country’s Khmer minority.
