Soúda (Greece) (AFP) – The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, returns to a naval base in Crete, Greece, after taking part in Middle East war operations. The vessel reported a laundry fire on March 12, which injured two crew members. The Ford, alongside fellow aircraft carrier the Abraham Lincoln, has played a key role in US-Israeli military operations against Iran.
Suwa (Japan) (AFP) – For centuries, priests from Japan’s Yatsurugi Shrine have led the watch for a phenomenon called “God’s Crossing” at Nagano’s Lake Suwa which is becoming rarer due to climate change. Known as “miwatari” in Japanese, it occurs when a crack opens up in the frozen lake surface, allowing shards of thinner ice to break through and form a ridge where local deities are believed to have crossed.
Tbilisi (AFP) – Thousands of Georgians attend the funeral of influential Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II, following his death at the age of 93 after nearly half a century at the helm of one of the country’s most powerful institutions. His death removes a towering figure in the Caucasus country, where the church remains highly influential, and has sparked speculation that a Russia-linked candidate could replace him.
Santiago (Chile) (AFP) – Chileans clash with police in the streets of Santiago as thousands gather to protest President Jose Antonio Kast’s decision to pull out of dozens of environmental decrees issued by his predecessor. The demonstrators had originally gathered to mark World Water Day, but then pivoted to expressing their objections to the newly inaugurated president and his administration.
Arad (Israël) (AFP) – Emergency and rescue workers are seen at the site of an Iranian missile strike in the Israeli town of Arad. Two Iranian missiles struck southern Israel, injuring more than 100 people in the most destructive attack of the three-week war. IMAGES
Tehran (AFP) – In Tehran, residents fill a traditional bazaar, stocking up to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian new year, even as cities around Iran continue to be rocked by explosions. In the capital, bustling shops and street stalls betray a sense of normalcy, despite the US-Israeli war with Iran that has sent shockwaves around the world.
Jinja (Uganda) (AFP) – Laughter, songs and the sound of swinging bats fill a sports pitch in eastern Uganda, where a group of senior women gather every Saturday to play cricket. In floor-length dresses and running mostly barefoot, the so-called “cricket grannies” are an unlikely sight, but their shared love of the sport is helping them manage age-related health conditions, stress and loneliness. “When I come here and play cricket with my friends, I feel joyful and alive,” says 78-year-old Jane Naisanga.
Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP) – Sixteen-year-old Hassan Kiki has been forced to flee his home twice in just two years, one in a generation of Lebanese young people whose formative years have been irreversibly impacted by years of conflict and crisis. “War has aged us,” he says, with Lebanon in the midst of the latest bout of fighting between Israel and militant group Hezbollah, which in early March dragged the country into the widening Middle East war.
Haifa (Israel) (AFP) – CCTV images show flashes of light and smoke rising from the area of an oil refinery in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa. On 19 March, Israeli media reported that the refinery had been hit following a military warning of incoming missiles launched from Iran. The region has witnessed increasing attacks of energy facilities, with oil refineries in Kuwait and Qatar hit by Iran in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its South Pars gasfield.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Stability in the Middle East depends on the implementation of the Gaza peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, says France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. The plan, Barrot says as he wraps up a short visit to Israel, includes “unimpeded humanitarian access, the disarmament of Hamas, and the restoration of a political framework based on the two-state solution.”
Santuario (Colombia) (AFP) – Nestled into a teddy bear twice its size, a baby gray titi monkey is cared for in a Colombian animal sanctuary. Caretakers at the Wildlife Care and Assessment Center Fauna Silvestre are aiming to rehabilitate the abandoned baby and release it back into the wild once it reaches adulthood. With this aim in mind, caretakers haven’t named the monkey and are taking precautions to avoid human contact, including wearing a titi monkey mask at feeding times. “If the first thing they see when they’re babies, so to speak is a human, they’ll come to believe that their herd, that their species, are humans,” says biologist Jian Pablo Giraldo.
Lamu (Kenya) (AFP) – Bound for Dubai, but stranded on the Kenyan island of Lamu, thousands of high-end cars are sitting in warehouses and parking lots, blocked from their destination by the war the Middle East. 4,000 vehicles were unloaded from two ships that left Japan days before the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran, with another 5,000 due to arrive next week, according to local port authorities. The port of Lamu is found on an island paradise and UNESCO World Heritage Site that the Kenyan government is developing into a major transport hub.
