AFP Video

New Delhi (AFP) – One of India’s holiest rivers – the Yamuna – is coated with toxic foam, adding to the woes of New Delhi residents already enduring a blanket of thick smog over the capital. The city government has blamed the blight on “heavy sewage and industrial waste” discharged into the river from further upstream last week. But it didn’t stop several Hindu worshippers from taking a dip in the river to mark Chhath Puja, a four-day festival to offer prayers to the sun.

Tuvalu (Tuvalu) (AFP) – Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister Simon Kofe calls for COP26 nations to urgently address climate change, standing mid-thigh in seawater, from one of the countries most threatened by rising water levels. Tuvalu is a pacific island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia.

Iquique (Chile) (AFP) – A mountain of discarded clothing including Christmas sweaters and ski boots cuts a strange sight in Chile’s Atacama, the driest desert in the world, which is increasingly suffering from pollution created by fast fashion.

Rabat (AFP) – Law enforcement officers in the Moroccan capital Rabat disperse a demonstration against a Covid-19 health pass, which authorities now require citizens to carry in order to enter government offices, restaurants, shops and other venues.

Houston (AFP) – Images of emergency services rushing to the scene of a deadly accident at the Astroworld Festival in Houston and of an injured concertgoer being stretchered away. At least eight people died and several were wounded in a crush at the music festival in the southern US state of Texas.

Freetown (AFP) – Large fires blaze near a petrol station following a massive explosion in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown that has reportedly killed 92 people. According to witnesses, the blast happened when a fuel tanker caught fire at a petrol station after a road accident. The flames then spread, burning people in cars and on roads nearby.

Stockholm (AFP) – Swedish pop sensation ABBA have made a comeback with their new album “Voyage”, nearly 40 years after they split up, with a digital avatar concert planned in London, as fans giddily celebrate their return.

Lindau (Germany) (AFP) – German Health Minister Jens Spahn is advocating for the widespread injection of a third dose of Covid vaccine for all in order to cope with the intense resurgence of the pandemic in the country.

Glasgow (AFP) – United States climate envoy John Kerry says there is a greater sense of urgency at COP26 in Glasgow and calls for promises to be ‘implemented’.

Abisko (Sweden) (AFP) – Scientists from the Abisko Research Station above the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden catch, weigh and measure birds and track their winter migration patterns, to see, among other things, what impact climate change and shifting weather patterns are having on their movements.