Uruma (Japan) (AFP) – As people globally commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, dozens of people living on the Japanese island of Okinawa renew their calls for American troops stationed there to leave. The US has around 54,000 military personnel in Japan, mostly on Okinawa, and a string of incidents over the years, including sexual assault cases, have angered residents.
La Paz (AFP) – Bolivia’s presidential candidate Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga holds his final campaign rally in La Paz, ahead of the August 17 election. Right-wing ex-president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga and center-right business tycoon Samuel Doria Medina, both of whom are on their fourth attempts at the presidency, are neck-and-neck in opinion polls, trailed by six other hopefuls. IMAGES
El Alto (Bolivie) (AFP) – Bolivia’s presidential candidate Samuel Doria Medina holds his final campaign rally in El Alto, ahead of the August 17 election. Right-wing ex-president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga and center-right business tycoon Samuel Doria Medina, both of whom are on their fourth attempts at the presidency, are neck-and-neck in opinion polls, trailed by six other hopefuls. IMAGES
Bogotá (AFP) – Miguel Uribe’s family, friends and collages accompany his coffin to the cemetery Gardens of the Apogee [Jardines del Apogeo in Spanish] in Bogota, where the burial takes place. The Colombian presidential hopeful died on August 11, two months after being shot in the head at a campaign event. The 39-year-old conservative senator, a grandson of former president Julio Cesar Turbay (1978-1982), was shot in the head and leg on June 7 at a rally in the capital Bogota by a suspected 15-year-old hitman. IMAGES
Kabul (AFP) – The day after the Taliban stormed into the Afghan capital in August 2021, Afghans desperate to evacuate clung to the fuselage of a departing American plane at Kabul airport — only to fall to their deaths. Four years later, their families still relive those desperate acts and endure wounds they say will never heal.
Bogotá (AFP) – Members of the honor guard transfer the coffin of Colombian presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe to the Primada Cathedral, on Plaza Bolivar, for a mass before his burial. The 39-year-old conservative senator, a grandson of former president Julio Cesar Turbay (1978-1982), was shot in the head and leg on June 7 at a rally in the capital Bogota by a suspected 15-year-old hitman. Colombian and foreign politicians, friends and Miguel Uribe’s family paid their respects to Uribe on the final day of his wake in Congress. IMAGES
Patras (Greece) (AFP) – Countries across Europe battle wildfires, which scientists say human-induced climate change is intensifying. A heatwave has stoked blazes and forced the evacuation of thousands in the south of the continent.
Charlbury (United Kingdom) (AFP) – People in the British town of Charlbury hold a protest against US Vice President JD Vance as he is holidaying with his family nearby. Around 60 people gather for the demonstration in the Cotswolds, carrying signs reading “Go Home”, “Not Welcome Party” and “Sod Off”.
Bogotá (AFP) – Colombian and foreign politicians, friends and Miguel Uribe’s family pay their respects to the presidential hopeful on the final day of his wake in Congress. The 39-year-old conservative senator, a grandson of former president Julio Cesar Turbay (1978-1982), was shot in the head and leg on June 7 at a rally in the capital Bogota by a suspected 15-year-old hitman. IMAGES
Moscow (AFP) – Russia brands European diplomatic consultations with Ukraine as “insignificant” ahead of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders are due to hold urgent talks with Trump, hoping to convince him to respect Kyiv’s interests in the looming summit with Russia.
Berlin (AFP) – Hundreds of Berliners take a dip in the Spree river to protest a 100-year-old ban on swimming in the city’s main waterway. The ban was briefly lifted to allow what organisers called a “swim demonstration”. The ban was put in place in 1925 due to industrial pollution, which now is no longer a problem, but sewage is still periodically discharged into the river when rainfall overwhelms the city’s drainage system.
Taitung (Taiwan) (AFP) – High waves roll in toward a fishing port in Taiwan’s southeastern Taitung city as Typhoon Podul hits the island. Businesses and schools across the south are closed, and power has been knocked out for tens of thousands of households.
