AFP UK

Skardu (Pakistan) (AFP) – Rescuers transport the body of renowned British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja to the city of Skardu, in the Shigar district of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, after days of a difficult evacuation mission hampered by extreme weather. The 43-year-old, known as ‘Nims Dai’, was killed by an avalanche on 30 July, along with the nine other members of an expedition climbing Broad Peak in northern Pakistan’s Karakoram range. Three of the climbers remain missing, with Purja’s company confirming there were no survivors.

Hangzhou (China) (AFP) – China has launched its first robot school, a facility training an initial cohort of 30 students for roles across the industrial, service, security and entertainment sectors. The robo-pupils undergo physical assessments, specialised coursework in their fields — which can include medicine and the arts — before a final skills certification. The tuition is “tailored to specific requirements of different robot hardware,” but there is “a core curriculum,” explains Zhu Tianle, an engineer at the Hangzhou Robot School based at the Zhejiang University Robot Research Institute.

Baringo (Kenya) (AFP) – As the lakes of Kenya’s Rift Valley expand — the result, scientists say, of intense rainfall — residents are increasingly coming face to face with new and dangerous neighbours: crocodiles. After the first significant surge in water levels in 2011, Mary Milka Tiren’s husband was killed by a hippo. A decade later her nine-year-old son spent three months in hospital following a crocodile attack, his scars still prominent. “He’s the one who was hurt the most,” she says, “because it carried him off for a bit.”

Seoul (AFP) – Thermal images of people and traffic in Seoul illustrate a searing heatwave baking the South Korean capital. In the last week, the country saw three new all-time high temperatures set, with the mercury peaking at 42.5C on Sunday 2 August. Seoul is under a “severe heatwave warning”, the first issuing of the alert since its introduction this year.

Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – It’s at the wacky end of the rock spectrum, but an unlikely recipe of polka-dot pyjamas, floppy-nosed masks and hypnotic guitar riffs has propelled Canadian duo Angine de Poitrine to viral stardom. Clad head to toe in black-and-white robes with their faces hidden by outsized masks, the duo, known only by pseudonyms, perform the hip Botanique venue in Brussels. “These two people are just totally bizarre and so intriguing at the same time,” says graphic designer, Peter Somers. “It’s just incredible.”

Moskau (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin announces the first permanent head of the country’s drone forces, during a meeting with top Defence Ministry officials.

Taipeh (AFP) – Taiwanese soldiers participate in the first day of the largest military drills of the year as the island democracy attempts to prepare its population for a potential Chinese invasion. The annual “Han Kuang” exercise, which runs from August 5-14, stages combat scenarios for troops and reservists to practise responding to an attack on the island, defence officials say.

Tangerang (AFP) – CCTV footage shows the moment Indonesian custom officials discover drugs in the suitcase of a Malaysian pilot after he flew a passenger plane to Jakarta on July 28. The pilot tested positive for meth, MDMA and cocaine — and is accused of smuggling more than 70,000 ecstasy tablets in his suitcase.

Dunedin (AFP) – Jo Galer, a local councillor in Dunedin on New Zealand’s south island, joins a high-stakes meeting from a bathroom, her laundry clearly visible in the background — prompting comments from the city’s mayor Sophie Barker.

(AFP) – Japanese product designer Satoshi Nakagawa has worked out a way to harness electrical current naturally present in everything from food to soil. While he knows that the dribble of power is too tiny to power anything more than a tiny LED, Nakagawa insists that the technology has a serious role to play. “As the population moves toward 10 billion, energy issues will become just as critical as food issues,” he tells AFP from his lab in Ibaraki. “In that kind of situation, even if it’s just a small contribution, I want people to be able to produce their own electricity.”

Prag (AFP) – At Prague Zoo, polar bears and gorillas nibble on ice cream and roll around in piles of snow as a second heatwave of the summer reaches its peak, with national temperatures hitting a near-record 41.5 degrees. Polar bear twins Gregor and Aleut receive up to three tonnes of ice on such days, while they munch on ice cream filled with apples, carrots, mackerel and salmon. The zoo’s gorillas, for their part, like their ice cream — also sweetened with fruit — to be suspended down to them on a rope.

Kathmandu (Nepal) (AFP) – Hundreds of Nepalis hold a candlelight vigil honouring 10 climbers killed in an avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak, as rescuers battled treacherous conditions to recover the remaining bodies.