Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (AFP) – Workers remove a dead humpback whale from Barra da Tijuca beach in Rio de Janeiro. Although several had been sighted earlier, this is the first to strand and be found dead in the city this year, as the migration season begins. IMAGES
On her official visit to Brazil, Japan’s Princess Kako of Akishino visits Sao Paolo governor Tarcisio de Freitas at the Bandeirantes Palace and receives the Ordem do Ipiranga medal. IMAGES
El Hamma (Tunisia) (AFP) – Deep in Tunisia’s desert south, camels stride toward humming milking machines. Their milk is at the heart of a women-led project promising an economic lifeline for disadvantaged communities. Spearheading this effort is 32-year-old Latifa Frifita, who launched Tunisia’s first, and so far only, camel milk pasteurisation unit two years ago in Medenine. Containing up to five times more iron than cow’s milk, camel milk is non-alergenic and some studies have suggested that it has immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory properties.
Arequipa (Peru) (AFP) – Peruvian authorities seized 110 stuffed lizards that were to be used illegally for traditional medicine treatments in southern Peru, the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (Serfor) says. The lizards were preserved in glass jars with alcohol and were being sold illegally as alternative treatments to herbal remedies.
New York (AFP) – Dozens of influencers have been setting up their live feeds alongside traditional media outlets at Sean “Diddy” Combs trial in Manhattan. Some say being present at the courthouse has boosted their popularity online and led to brand deals. “I gained like 10.5 thousand followers. It was like craziness […] It’s definitely changed my life,” says a creator who goes by the name of Kealohalika online.
Beijing (AFP) – Hopeful parents accompany their teenage children to the gates of a Beijing test centre, among millions of high school students across China sitting their first day of the highly competitive university entrance exam. Nationwide, 13.35 million students have registered for the multi-subject “gaokao” series this year, according to the Ministry of Education.
Kharkiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Firefighters are on the scene of a smouldering building after an early morning Russian strike destroyed apartment blocks and homes in Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv. Mayor Igor Terekhov calling the strike which killed at least 3 and injured at least 17, “the most powerful attack” since the war began.
Thousands gather in Nice for a drone show ahead of the UN Ocean Conference, where more than two thousand drones light up the sky with marine creatures. France will host world leaders this week to confront what the UN calls a “global emergency”. There is pressure on the conference starting Monday to show countries can unite and deliver more than just talk for the world’s ailing and neglected seas.
Mina (AFP) – Pilgrims perform the last major ritual of the hajj — the ‘stoning of the devil’ — as Muslims around the globe celebrate the beginning of the Eid al-Adha holiday. Many of the 1.6 million pilgrims headed to the site just outside the holy city of Mecca before daybreak to avoid the searing temperatures and to begin throwing seven stones at each of the three concrete walls. The ritual commemorates Abraham’s stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obeying God’s order to sacrifice his son. AERIAL IMAGES
Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump has signed a travel ban on 12 mostly Middle Eastern and African countries, reviving a controversial measure from his first term expected to trigger a fresh wave of legal challenges. The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the White House. Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Mumbai (AFP) – India’s central bank cuts interest rates more than expected, citing muted inflation and a need to kickstart economic growth as the impact of US tariffs weighs on the country’s outlook. The Reserve Bank of India lowers the benchmark repo rate, the level at which it lends to commercial banks, by 50 basis points to 5.5 percent.
