Colombo (AFP) – Images of a Saudia plane landing in Singapore thought to be carrying Sri Lanka president from the Maldives. Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka Wednesday after his palace was overrun by protesters at the weekend.
Ourém (Portugal) (AFP) – In Portugal, firefighters battle a blaze which has ravaged thousands of hectares of land in the central municipality of Ourem since Thursday.
Colombo (AFP) – Dozens of Sri Lankans gather outside the president’s office in Colombo on Thursday morning as representatives of the anti-government demonstration said they were in talks to hand back official buildings they seized, even as they insisted the president and prime minister both quit in the face of an economic crisis.
Beirut (AFP) – The “Buck” supermoon, the brightest moon of the year due to its closeness to earth, rises over Beirut.
Panama City (AFP) – Demonstrations against fuel price hikes and corruption have been going on for more than two weeks in Panama, in one of the largest waves of protests in the country in the last three decades.
Manicoré (Brazil) (AFP) – Die-hard Brazilian tree climbers aren’t just trying to be in touch with their primate side: they are helping scientists discover the wonders of the Amazon. Their work installing cameras and collecting samples in the rainforest’s canopy is very risky – but it’s crucial to our understanding of one of the world’s most diverse habitats, about which we still know so little.
Landiras (France) (AFP) – Fires raging in the pine forests of the Gironde region of France have already burnt 1,000 hectares in Landiras, some 40 kilometres south of Bordeaux. “It was apocalyptic,” says the village’s mayor, speaking of flames 30 metres high in the middle of the night.
Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine claim that their self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic had been recognised by North Korea. Denis Pushilin, head of the DPR, hails North Korea’s approval as “a new victory for our diplomacy.”
Colombo (AFP) – Thousands of protesters gather outside the office of Sri Lanka’s prime minister as the crisis-hit country declared an indefinite nationwide state of emergency on Wednesday, hours after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the island nation.
Ilimanaq (Greenland) (AFP) – You can only get there by boat or helicopter, but Michelin-starred chef Poul Andrias Ziska hopes his restaurant in remote Greenland, far above the Arctic Circle, is worth the journey. At KOKS, the 30-year-old chef is serving up a menu of traditional Greenlandic ingredients prepared in unexpected ways.
