Kahramanmaras (Turkey) (AFP) – In the centre of Kahramanmaras, a city in southeastern Turkey battered by the earthquake of February 6, 2023, local entrepreneurs are trying to revive their businesses almost a year on. Many lost their homes and workplaces when the 7.8-magnitude quake levelled parts of the city and now operate in container units provided by local authorities.
Washington (AFP) – Yemen’s Huthi rebels fired three missiles at two ships in the Red Sea, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tells reporters, adding, “one missile missed by something like 200km and the other two were shot down by a US Navy destroyer.”
Kharkiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian rescuers retrieve the body of an eight-year-old girl from the rubble after a late-night Russian missile attack in Kharkiv on January 23. The attack came hours after a missile barrage across the country which claimed more than a dozen lives. The new Russian bombardments struck Kharkiv late Tuesday, hours after Moscow’s missile attack killed at least 18 and wounded around 130 people.
Riyadh (AFP) – A pop-up bar in Saudi Arabia serving non-alcoholic bellinis and spritzes in cocktail glasses was a daring bet in the dry Gulf kingdom where alcohol has been prohibited since the early 1950s.
Achocalla (Bolivia) (AFP) – As a kid growing up in poverty in rural Bolivia, Roly Mamani built his own toys. Now a 34-year-old engineer, he 3D prints limbs for Indigenous compatriots scarred by life-changing accidents. One of their beneficiaries is 59-year-old Pablo Matha, who lost his vision and right hand seven years ago in a mining accident involving dynamite. Matha says the prosthesis “is a great gift.” He now plays the guitar to earn a living.
Jerusalem (AFP) – “This is a war for our home. It must end, and it will end, with the eradication of the aggression and evil,” says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech on the war in Gaza at Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, during which he compares Hamas to the Nazis.
Le Relecq-Kerhuon (France) (AFP) – Around a hundred farmers, aboard 65 tractors, are blocking the four-lane Iroise bridge at the entrance to Brest in western France, to protest against the excessive regulation imposed on them by the government and their challenging work conditions.
Sukabumi (Indonesia) (AFP) – Seven critically endangered Javan slow lorises were released into the jungles of Indonesia’s Gunung Halimun Salak National Park on Java island on Friday. A dedicated rescue team traversed wet, muddy terrains within the conservation area to release the lorises into their natural habitat.
Buenos Aires (Argentina) (AFP) – Thousands of protesters start to converge in the heart of Buenos Aires, as part of a general strike against President Javier Milei’s stringent fiscal adjustments and proposed reforms to over a thousand long-standing laws and regulations. IMAGES
Paradise Bay (Antarctica) (AFP) – A rare, all-white Gentoo penguin was spotted by a member of the Chilean Navy in Antarctica. The penguin’s unique discolouration is due to leucism, leaving it the odd one out among the black and white plumage of its species.
Akrotiri (United Kingdom) (AFP) – British Ministry of Defence shows Royal Air Force Typhoon and Voyager jets taking off and returning to Akrotiri base in Cyprus after conducting airstrikes on Huthi targets in Yemen.
Oswiecim (Poland) (AFP) – Elon Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, visited the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland on January 22, taking part in a memorial service and discussion panel alongside US right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro. Musk’s tour of the camp comes just weeks after he sparked outrage by endorsing an anti-Jewish conspiracy theory on X, for which he has since apologised. He has defended the platform against accusations of anti-Semitism. “I…post a lot on the X platform, you know, sometimes a hundred times a day” he says, “one in a while I’ll do something dumb.”
