Colombo (AFP) – Residents in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, are hoping for change following the country’s election of its first leftist president in Anura Kumara Dissanayaka. The previously fringe politician, whose party led two failed uprisings in the 1970s and 1980s before renouncing violence, has ridden a wave of support since Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic meltdown.
Colombo (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s first leftist president, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, is sworn into office, vowing to restore public faith in politics. The leader of the People’s Liberation Front warned, however, that he had no magic solution to the hardships suffered following an unprecedented economic crisis.
Kolkata (AFP) – Fans of India’s tram system hail it as the “glory” of Kolkata and an integral part of how the megacity grew, but the 151-year-old network is under threat.
(AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in the United States to present Kyiv’s plan to end two and a half years of war with Russia. Speaking on board his flight to Pennsylvania, Zelensky called the proposal a “victory plan” which he said would bring “a truly just peace.”
Leticia (AFP) – An intense drought in Colombia has lowered the water levels of the Amazon River, the longest and most voluminous river in the world. Indigenous communities in Leticia, the capital of the Amazonas department, and surrounding towns are unable to navigate waterways and have to walk up to four hours. Experts partly blame rampant deforestation in the Amazon, which in turn reduces humidity and rainfall, for the receding water levels.
Genf (AFP) – Children under the age of five account for nearly a third of mpox cases in Burundi, according to UNICEF’s Regional Health Advisor for Eastern and Southern Africa, Paul Ngwakum. The east African nation is now the second hardest hit on the continent, after the Democratic Republic of Congo, since the World Health Organization declared the outbreak an international emergency last month.
Glasgow (AFP) – When the Taliban banned women in Afghanistan from attending university, many students had to abandon their dreams for the future. Now, a campaign by the Linda Norgrove Foundation will enable 19 Afghan women studying medicine to continue their education in Scotland.
Beirut (AFP) – Exchanges are intensifying between Israel and Hezbollah after the explosions of thousands of Hezbollah devices in Lebanon. Israel said Friday it had pounded the Iran-backed militant group in overnight strikes, just hours after the group’s leader vowed retribution for the blasts that targeted its communication devices. A source close to the movement later said a top military leader was among several killed in a strike on Beirut, which Israel said was “targeted”.
Washington (AFP) – Hezbollah’s “Nasrallah could stop the terrorist attacks across Israel,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller tells reporters in Washington. Hassan Nasrallah, chief of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, vowed to keep fighting Israel in a speech following the explosion of thousands of communications devices in an assault widely attributed to Israel.
A growing number of Chinese fathers are becoming stay-at-home dads, bucking deep-rooted social norms of men as breadwinners.
Uusi-Valamo (AFP) – At the dazzling white Valamo monastery in southeastern Finland, the monks have just finished breakfast and are getting to work. Their numbers here have grown, with the brotherhood almost doubling from 10 to 18 monks in the last few years, part of a wider trend that has surprised experts. Christianity and conservatism have been winning over young men in what is a predominantly secular and progressive country.
