Moscow (AFP) – Russia has recorded 1,000 coronavirus deaths over 24 hours for the first time since the start of the pandemic, with the country’s jab drive at a standstill and few restrictions in place.
Amneville (France) (AFP) – France’s Amnéville zoo presents its newest resident, Mosl, a 50 kg baby rhinoceros born of a conservation programme for the species.
Kandahar (Afghanistan) (AFP) – +COMPLETES VID9PQ6EY+ Ambulances drive through downtown Kandahar in Afghanistan after a Shiite mosque was hit by explosions, killing at least 32 and wounding 53. The cause of the blasts has not been immediately identified, but they come exactly a week after a suicide bomb attack on Shiite worshippers in the northern city of Kunduz, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.
Idlib (Syria) (AFP) – “I didn’t know what a marathon was until today”, says one of a group of Syrian orphans taking part in a race in the rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib. The event has been organised by an NGO in a bid to introduce children who have lost their parents in Syria’s ongoing conflict to different kinds of sports. Nearly 500,000 people have died in the conflict since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations.
