Timika (Indonesia) (AFP) – Voting begins in Indonesia’s presidential, national and provincial elections. Voters start entering a polling station in the easternmost province of Papua in an election Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto is favoured to win against two former governors to lead the world’s third-largest democracy. IMAGES
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanks US senators for passing $60 billion in aid for Kyiv on Tuesday, even as the bill looked likely to face resistance from House Republicans.
Berlin (AFP) – Israel has a duty to guarantee “safe corridors” for civilians in Rafah before conducting any incursion against Hamas in the southern Gaza city, Germany’s foreign minister says. Annalena Baerbock’s comments come at a press conference following talks with Palestinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Glistening with sequins and sweat and shimmying to sultry samba beats, thousands of performers dance their way down a Rio de Janeiro avenue in the Brazilian beach city’s famed carnival parades. With whimsical floats, thundering drum sections and legions of performers in fanciful, flesh-flaunting costumes, 12 samba schools are competing for the coveted title of carnival champions across the two-day extravaganza from February 11 to 12. One of them, the Salgueiro samba school, pays tribute to the Yanomami Indigenous people.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian morale was high at the end of 2022, thanks to successful offensives in Kharkiv in the northeast and Kherson in the south, which took back land seized by Russia after the war began in February. But 2023 brought a series of disappointments to Ukraine. Residents of Kyiv share their thoughts and concerns ahead of the second anniversary of the full-scale war with Russia.
Yogyakarta (Indonesia) (AFP) – Hundreds of students protest against Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s alleged election interference and the establishment of a political dynasty.
Rafah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Overnight bombing on Rafah killed around 100 people, including children, said the health ministry of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Hamas officials said 14 houses and three mosques were hit. Fears of an Israeli ground invasion are growing among more than a million Palestinians trapped in the southern Gaza Strip. The bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel has responded with a relentless offensive in Gaza that the territory’s health ministry says has killed at least 28,340 people, mostly women and children.
Nantong (China) (AFP) – Young people in China prefer to have AI as a companion when they are lonely. Wang Xiuting, a 22-year-old student told AFP that dating with guys in real life is too much trouble, but her interaction with her AI companion is more comfortable.
Elgeyo Marakwet (Kenya) (AFP) – Relatives and friends of Kenyan marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum grieve after he was killed in a car crash at the age of 24.
Sanaa (AFP) – Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels say they have hit a US ship in the Red Sea. The Huthis, who control much of war-torn Yemen, have been attacking Red Sea shipping for months in protest against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Ramat Gan (Israel) (AFP) – “Please be serious and strike a deal”, pleads Idan Bejerano, the son-in-law of Luis Har, one of the relatives rescued from captivity in an Israeli army operation in Rafah, in southern Gaza. Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued amid an intense firefight and heavy airstrikes, then airlifted to a hospital where they were declared in good health despite more than four months in captivity. Israelis welcomed the rescue, but fears of a looming ground incursion are growing among more than a million Palestinians trapped in the territory’s far south.
Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine) (AFP) – Military personnel of the state special transport service are building a reserve defense line for the infantry in the Zaporizhzhia region, not far from the front line. As the two-year mark of the war approaches, the Ukrainian military, fatigued from an unsuccessful counter-offensive, has found itself stuck on the defensive, confronted with a frozen front and heavily armed Russian troops.
