AFP UK

Pekon (Myanmar) (AFP) – “Before the coup, I was just an ordinary farmer,” says Aung Hla, one of many in Myanmar who have turned to opium production in the wake of the 2021 seizure of power by the junta. The 35-year-old used to farm rice before he was forced from his land by fighting, a common experience across the war-battered country. Like many displaced farmers, Hla has found poppies to be a more reliable source of income than other agricultural products, but says he wouldn’t be cultivating opium – the key ingredient in heroin – if he had “any other choice.”

Mae Sot (Thailand) (AFP) – Nearly 300 Indian nationals are escorted through Thailand’s Mae Sot airport after being freed from criminal scam centres in neighbouring Myanmar. In recent weeks, around 7,000 workers have been released from the compounds — which operate online scams to steal money from victims — as part of a crackdown implemented by China, Thailand and authorities in Myanmar. China has repatriated more than 2,000 of its own nationals, treating them as criminal suspects, despite claims by many that they were lured or tricked into the work.

Alotenango (Guatemala) (AFP) – Around a thousand people have been evacuated after a new eruption of the Fuego volcano in Guatemala, near the capital and considered the most active in Central America. The colossus, located about 35 km southwest of Guatemala City, increased its eruptive activity on March 9 with the release of columns of lava, ash, and rocks. IMAGES

Tokyo (AFP) – On her sixth birthday 80 years ago, Shizuko Nishio clung to her mother as US B-29 bombers started a firestorm that turned humans to ash and Tokyo into a wasteland. At least 80,000 people died, according to Japanese and US historians. Five months before the United States dropped atomic weapons on Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the nighttime raid on March 9-10, 1945 was World War II’s deadliest using conventional bombs. Before its surrender to the Allies in August 1945, Japan had conducted a brutal imperial expansion across Asia. China alone says more than 20 million of its citizens died as a result of Japanese invasion, occupation and atrocities.

Nuuk (AFP) – Greenland’s former colonial power Denmark previously pursued assimilation policies that included forced sterilisations and de facto bans on the Inuit language and traditional tattoos. As Greenland gradually regained autonomy in the second half of the 20th century, its population, still almost 90 percent Inuit today, began to rediscover long-stifled traditions — which US President Donald Trump’s expansionist ambitions have only spurred on further.

Damaskus (AFP) – Syrian security forces fire into the air to disperse rival protests after pro-government demonstrators clash with a gathering mourning dead civilians, following the reported mass killings of Alawites. Deadly violence in Syria’s Alawite heartland in the country’s north-west has seen hundreds killed in targeted attacks against the religious minority or in clashes between security forces and armed groups loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said security forces and allied groups had killed 830 Alawite civilians over the past four days.

Jerusalem (AFP) – Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says US President Donald Trump’s widely condemned plan to relocate millions of Gazans to other countries is “taking shape”, but acknowledges it would be a massive logistical undertaking.

Gold Coast (AFP) – Heavy rain and strong winds continue to thrash Australia’s east coast after former tropical cyclone Alfred made landfall over Bribie Island on the Queensland coastline in the late evening on March 8, 2025. The weather system has whipped up gale-force winds that toppled trees, brought down power lines, and damaged buildings.

Peking (AFP) – China’s military says it would tighten its “noose” around Taiwan if separatism over the island escalates, warning proponents to step back from the “precipice” or face a “dead end”. The comments, made during China’s “Two Sessions” annual political gathering in Beijing, come days after the country announced a 7.2 percent increase to its defence budget in 2025.

Elanora (AFP) – A huge tree lies atop a house after ex-Cyclone Alfred unleashes dangerous gusts and heavy rain on Australia’s east coast. Near the property, crews work to repair electricity lines while others clear fallen trees blocking roads. The tropical cyclone — now downgraded to a depression — battered the coastline with gale-force winds, toppling trees, bringing down power lines, and damaging buildings.

Jakarta (AFP) – People rallied on International Women’s Day across Asia and Europe, with more protests expected in the Americas later on.

Rom (AFP) – Worshippers continue to pray for Pope Francis outside the Gemelli hospital in Rome, where the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church has been battling pneumonia since February 14. According to the latest report from the Vatican, the pontiff “is going on with treatment and physiotherapy this morning”, following a “calm” night.