Ciudad Juárez (Mexique) (AFP) – Thousands of National Guard members arrive in Ciudad Juarez on Mexico’s border with the US. As part of a series of agreements to delay the start of tariffs for one month, Mexico will reinforce security along its border with the United States with 10,000 National Guard troops to fight drug trafficking. IMAGES
San José (AFP) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Costa Rica and meets with President Rodrigo Chaves at the presidential palace in San Jose as he seeks to curb Chinese influence in Latin America on his first foreign trip. Rubio, a longtime hawk on China, began his trip in Panama where he reported headway in his push to decrease China’s influence around the crucial Panama Canal. IMAGES
Mérida (Mexique) (AFP) – Some 360 members of Mexico’s National Guard board a flight from Merida, Yucatan state, to Mexicali, Baja California state, on the US border. As part of a series of agreements to delay the start of tariffs for one month, Mexico will reinforce security along its border with the United States with 10,000 National Guard troops to fight drug trafficking. IMAGES
Cape Town (AFP) – South Africa’s Mineral Resources Minister hits back at US President Donald Trump’s accusations that the country was “confiscating” land, suggesting that Africa could “withhold minerals to the US” in response. “If they don’t give us money, let’s not give them minerals,” says Gwede Mantashe at a mining conference in Cape Town. “We are not beggars”.
Montevideo (AFP) – Uruguayans pay tribute to Iemanja, the Goddess of the Sea in the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda, at Ramirez Beach in Montevideo. Meanwhile in Brazil, followers of the Candomble religion host a procession through the Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Ipanema, culminating in offerings cast into the water.
Livingston (United States) (AFP) – Steven Nelson has spent more than a dozen years on Death Row in Texas and is to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday 5 February for a murder which he insists he did not commit. Nelson was convicted of the 2011 murder of Clint Dobson, a 28-year-old pastor, during a robbery of the NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington, near Dallas. He acknowledges that he served as a lookout during the robbery and that he entered the church after the murder to steal some items, but says it his two accomplices, who were never brought to trial, are responsible for the murder.
New Taipei City (Taiwan) (AFP) – Thousands of worshippers gather for the annual “Holy Pig” festival in northern Taiwan, which sees local owners compete for a trophy awarded for the largest carcass of a giant overfed pig.
Vienna (AFP) – In 2025, Vienna celebrates the bicentenary of the birth of Johann Strauss II, an emblematic figure and composer of classical music. His most famous work, “The Blue Danube” (“An der schönen, blauen Donau” in German), composed in 1866, is Austria’s unofficial anthem and still resonates today.
Australian emergency crews are rescuing people from fast-moving floodwaters in the country’s northeast, as the disaster forces thousands to flee, blacks out homes, and sweeps away a chunk of a critical bridge.
The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan are looking to capitalise on the country’s rich mineral resources by courting local and foreign investors and securing a crucial revenue stream — though experts warn of the risks of cutting corners.
Panama City (AFP) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at Panama’s presidential palace to meet President Jose Raul Mulino, as he looks for how to follow up on President Donald Trump’s extraordinary threat to seize the Panama Canal. IMAGES
Samut Sakhon (Thailand) (AFP) – Four years after Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup, the country is in the grip of a bloody civil war that has driven many of the country’s young across the border to Thailand. There they scrape by doing hard jobs for little pay — often living in fear of being arrested and sent back to Myanmar.
