Gulmarg (India) (AFP) – Winter in the Himalayas should mean blanketing snow, and for Gulmarg in Indian-administered Kashmir, one of the highest ski resorts in the world, that usually means thousands of tourists. But this year, the deep powder once taken for granted is gone.
Pajan (Ecuador) (AFP) – Relatives and friends attend funeral of prosecutor Cesar Suarez who was was gunned down in his car on the streets of the port city of Guayaquil, which has become a dangerous hub for the export of cocaine from neighboring countries. IMAGES
Unknown (Japan) (AFP) – Images of a model depicting the trajectory of Japan’s Moon craft, which has landed on the lunar surface, space agency JAXA announces. IMAGES
Višegrad (Bosnia and Herzegovina) (AFP) – Bosnia’s Orthodox Christians take part in a swimming race in the River Drina to mark Epiphany, which in the Orthodox tradition celebrates Jesus Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan. “It’s a great honour for me,” one swimmer tells AFP, adding that the feeling was “impossible to put into words”.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffs American calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, putting the US-Israeli divide on the matter on sharp display. Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel must retain “security control over all the territory west of the Jordan River” come as questions swirl over the fate of the Gaza Strip when the Israel-Hamas war is over.
Prague (AFP) – Prague Zoo has a new proud mother after Duni, a western lowland gorilla, gave birth to a female baby on 2 January. The western lowland gorilla is critically endangered despite being the most numerous and widespread of all gorilla subspecies.
Bryansk (Russia) (AFP) – A oil depot in western Russia has gone up in flames after a drone attack claimed by Ukraine, the latest in a series of attacks which Kyiv describes as “fair” retaliation. In the past two months, Ukraine has stepped up its cross-border strikes on Russian territory, as Moscow’s “special military operation” grinds on towards a third year.
Tipuani (Bolivia) (AFP) – Bolivians have been forced to wade through waist-high floodwaters, some carrying their children in there arms, as the country struggles with heavy floods that left homes underwater. At least six people died in the flooding and two more children remain missing.
Moscow (AFP) – As tradition dictates, Russian Christians mark Orthodox Epiphany, which celebrates the baptism of Jesus Christ, with a nice cold plunge into an outdoors ice bath in below-freezing temperatures. “Russians are generally a hardy people, so we are not afraid of the frost,” laughs Anna, a 32-year-old business analyst.
Ecuador (Ecuador) (AFP) – Images published by Argentina’s police force show family members of the Ecuadorian drug lord Adolfo Macias, also known as “Fito,” who recently escaped from a prison in Guayaquil, being arrested in Argentina and deported. IMAGES
Zawf (Syria) (AFP) – “Everything else in the tent is gone,” says a displaced Syrian outside his mud-covered tent in the al-Zawf area, after heavy rains hit the northwestern countryside of Syria’s Idlib province, near the border with Turkey.
Shanghai (AFP) – Every Tuesday, hundreds of elderly lovebirds in Shanghai take over most of the tables in Ikea’s spacious canteen, shunning the classic Swedish meatballs for their own tea, snacks and even booze brought from home.
