North Korea’s young women’s football team received a thunderous homecoming, greeted by their families at the airport in Pyongyang after their title win at the 2024 Fifa U-20 World Cup in Colombia. The country’s U-20 women squad returned home on Saturday after their 1-0 victory over Japan to claim the title in Bogotá, their third such victory after tournament wins in 2006 and 2016.
Vienna (AFP) – Herbert Kickl celebrates his FPOe party’s victory in the Austrian national elections. The FPOe won 28.8 percent of votes, beating the ruling conservative People’s Party (OeVP) into second place at 26.3 percent, according to near-complete results.
Karachi (AFP) – Thousands of people protest in cities across Pakistan after the Iran-backed group Hezbollah confirmed that its longtime chief had been killed by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.
Dolakha (Nepal) (AFP) – Search and rescue teams in Nepal’s capital pick through wrecked homes after waters receded from monsoon floods that killed at least 192 people around the Himalayan republic.
Tokyo (AFP) – Thousands of thankful, sobbing fans flock to a Tokyo zoo to bid an emotional farewell to a pair of beloved pandas before their imminent return to China. Ri Ri and Shin Shin were due to stay until February 2026, but Japan and China agreed it would be better for the 19-year-olds to return to their home country in light of their declining health.
Guainía (Colombia) (AFP) – When Ruben Dario Carianil began cultivating the unusual, pointy Inirida flower in the Colombian Amazon ten years ago, his relatives made fun of him for growing “weeds.” Today, he grows tons of the curious blooms who are soon to become the emblem of COP16, a UN biodiversity conference.
Sao Paulo (AFP) – In just over two decades, Helio da Silva has single-handedly planted about 40,000 trees in the urban jungle that is Sao Paulo. The former food industry executive says he was called “crazy” when he started his quest to transform what used to be a hangout for drug users. Today, there stands the Tiquatira Park with thousands of trees.
Aboard the Papal Plane (AFP) – Pope Francis condemns the use of force in Lebanon and Gaza as “immoral”. Responding to a question aboard the Papal plane as he returns from a visit to Belgium, the pontiff says that any country that “acts in such an excessive way” lends itself to “immoral actions.” His comments come after recent intensification in Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, killing more than 700 people in a week.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel appears to be at a “historic turning point” after the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike in Beirut. “His elimination advances the return of our residents to their homes in the north and (…) the return of our captives in the south”, he says, warning against any retaliation stating “whoever strikes us, we will strike them.”
Solok (Indonesia) (AFP) – A landslide at an illegal mine in western Indonesia has killed 13 people, as search efforts for any further victims end. Heavy rains caused the disaster, with rescue workers having to walk for hours from the nearest village to reach the area.
Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP) – In Lebanon’s Beirut, citizens grieve the death of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an air strike on the capital’s southern suburbs. Nasrallah was the militant group’s leader for 32 years. His death deals a seismic blow to Hezbollah, engaged in a year of escalating cross-border hostilities with Israel since Hamas’s October 7 attack on the country.
Shiraz (Iran) (AFP) – Conservationists at Persepolis, Iran’s most iconic ancient site, are waging a delicate battle against an unlikely adversary: tiny but persistent fungi eroding the millenia-old monuments. “In about 50, 100, or 200 years, they will turn the stone into soil,” explains Shahram Rahbar, head of renovation at the site where he and his team are working relentlessly to combat the infestation.
