Singapore (AFP) – Hundreds of Buddhists bring their pet dogs, cats, rabbits and even crustaceans to a temple in Singapore to receive blessings from monks and nuns as part of the Vesak celebrations. “After my animals are blessed, they are more sensitive and they are more aware and there’s more bonding,” said one pet owner.
Sanaa (AFP) – The first commercial flight in nearly six years takes off from Yemen’s rebel-held capital, a major step forward in a peace process that has provided rare relief from conflict.
Las Vegas (AFP) – SOUNDBITEN°9WP2K3″I’m so sorry, but my show ain’t ready,” says Grammy Award-winning superstar Adele in a video posted to Instagram a day before it was due to begin. Adele, who sobbed throughout the video, blamed “delivery delays and Covid” as the reasons for the adjournment of her Las Vegas residency initially due to start on January 21.
Geneva (AFP) – Russia is not expecting any breakthrough during crunch talks with the United States on fears of war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warns as the meeting begins.
Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Eastern Ukraine has been dogged by fighting since 2014, when Moscow seized control of the Crimean peninsula and Russian-backed separatists launched insurgencies in regions around the eastern cities of Donetsk and Lugansk. Now residents fear what the future holds as troops amass at the border with tensions at a boiling point.
Barri de Bellvitge (Spain) (AFP) – Seemingly milder for some but still highly contagious, Omicron has filled intensive care beds again at a hospital near Barcelona where shattered staff are still fighting a virus that refuses to retreat.
Nuku’alofa (Tonga) (AFP) – Following a massive volcanic explosion and tsunami, much of the island nation of Tonga is left devastated, with the first humanitarian flights arriving on Tonga five days after the dual disaster cut the Pacific kingdom off from the rest of the world.
Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Former pope Benedict XVI has been heavily incriminated in a new report on the handling of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Munich and Freising when he was the Archbishop Cardinal Ratzinger, says the law firm that carried out the probe.
Samburu (Kenya) (AFP) – An elephant has given birth to twins in Kenya’s north in a moment rarely witnessed among the endangered species. Just one-in-100 elephant births result in twins making the arrival of these calfs — one male and one female — a moment of nerves and celebration. Conservation group Save the Elephants said the twins were born to a mother named Bora and were first spotted by lucky tourists on a safari drive at the weekend in Samburu reserve.
Pyongyang (AFP) – Snow blankets the North Korean capital Pyongyang, leaving a layer of white over the city streets.
Tonga (Tonga) (AFP) – Satellite images of areas in Tonga before and after the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano erupted. The photos taken on January 18 show buildings in a residential area and port facilities covered by volcanic ash.
Afrin (Syria) (AFP) – A snow storm hits a camp for the internally displaced and left some with no shelter after losing their tents, in Syria’s town of Afrin in the rebel-controlled northern countryside of Aleppo.
