AFP UK

Moscow (AFP) – Russia condemns the killing of Iranian security chief Ali Larijani, after ally Tehran vowed retaliation for the death of the military official killed in an Israeli airstrike. Moscow is a close ally of Iran and has condemned the US and Israeli attacks. Larijani had met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in January, at a time when US navy ships were heading towards Iran ahead of the US-Israeli air campaign launched at the end of February.

Dakar (AFP) – Senegal football fans slam the decision to strip the country of its Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and give it to Morocco, saying “Africa has been humiliated” by the move as their country demands an investigation. In Rabat, Morocco, where the match was played, fans are decidedly in favour even if less emotional, as they prepare their final shopping ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of Ramadan.

Jérusalem (AFP) – Images show interceptions in the sky over Jerusalem as Israeli air defense systems operate following sirens warning of rockets fired from Iran. IMAGES

Mexico City (AFP) – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum welcomes Spanish King Felipe VI’s acknowledgement that abuses were committed during Spain’s conquest of the Americas. “It is a gesture of rapprochement from the King,” says Sheinbaum.

Seoul (AFP) – Nearly 10 months have passed since the release of KPop Demon Hunters, but many foreign tourists still visit one of its locations — Naksan Park in Seoul. The film won two Oscars and is Netflix’s most-watched original film.

Novo Airão (Brazil) (AFP) – Riverine communities and scientists release around 1.500 Amazonian turtles at Jau National Park, on the Rio Negro in the Amazon rainforest, as part of a program to assist the reproduction of the species. “If you don’t help nature, it will eventually come to an end,” says farmer Eduardo Siba.

Touba (Senegal) (AFP) – Despite the dust and the heat, thousands of members of a unique Senegalese Muslim community, the Baye Fall, are busy preparing the iftar meal for breaking the Ramadan fast — but they themselves neither fast, nor pray. They belong to one of four Sufi brotherhoods, the Mourides, with followers gathering every year from across the country to distribute meals.

Buenos Aires (Argentina) (AFP) – Argentine former president Cristina Kirchner enters the courtroom to testify in the corruption case known as “the notebooks case”. The former president (2007–2015), 73, has been serving a six-year prison sentence under house arrest since last June and is wearing an electronic ankle monitor. IMAGES

(AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says Iran’s powerful national security chief Ali Larijani was “eliminated last night”, along with the commander of the Tehran’s Basij paramilitary force Gholamreza Soleimani. The killing of Larijani, if confirmed by Tehran, would represent the highest-profile assassination since Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other senior figures were slain during the wave of US-Israeli strikes that started the war on February 28.

Kara-Saz (Kyrgyzstan) (AFP) – Against the pristine backdrop of the vast Kyrgyz mountains, a herd of white yaks lives in the snow, butting heads and locking horns as their herders watch on horseback. The Akmatov family have been breeding their variety of the cattle — which normally has dark-brown hair — for the past 15 years, and see their growing flock as a symbol of the white yak’s revival in a country plagued by climate woes.

Kabul (AFP) – The Afghan government says about 400 people were killed in a Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation centre in the capital, Kabul, in the deadliest attack in the recent violence between the two neighbours.

Manila (AFP) – Jane had been bleeding heavily for days before finally seeking help, not from a hospital but from the man who sold her the pills meant to end her six-week pregnancy. Abortions are strictly outlawed in the mainly Catholic Philippines, forcing women to turn to a patchwork of providers operating in the online shadows.