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.
Shanghai (AFP) – Young Chinese are increasingly hesitant to start families, citing economic concerns exacerbated by rigid social norms around child-rearing, even as their government grows desperate to boost the birth rate and stave off a demographic crisis.
Versailles (France) (AFP) – With wintry weather coming to Paris and its surroundings, visitors to the Palace of Versailles get to marvel at the sight of the opulent royal residence’s golden statues blanketed in a dusting of white snow, with many calling it “magical”. Originally built by King Louis XIII of France as a hunting lodge, Versailles was then expanded by his son Louis XIV, known as the “Sun King”.
Guayaquil (Ecuador) (AFP) – Images of armed soldiers on guard outside the Regional 8 prison complex, as Ecuador’s army and police launch an operation in the nerve center of a drug war between the government and powerful criminal groups. IMAGES
Moscow (AFP) – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the United States and the United Kingdom should stop strikes against the Huthis in Yemen to help resolve the standoff over the rebel group’s attacks on merchant vessels, arguing that “the more the Americans and the British bomb, the less willing the Huthis are to talk”. The Huthis, who are behind a recent spate of attacks on ships in the Red Sea, say they are acting in support of Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Israel-Lebanon border (Israel) (AFP) – Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi says the likelihood of war breaking out on the country’s northern border with Lebanon has become “much higher”, and warns Iran-backed Hezbollah militants that Israel has learnt “a lot of lessons” from its war with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza. The war began after the Hamas attack on 7 October, which resulted in the death of around 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Since then, more than 24,400 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women and under-18s, have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israel’s bombardments and ground offensive, according to the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health.
London (AFP) – London Zoo has welcomed the birth of a critically endangered western lowland gorilla after a 17-minute labour for second-time mother Mjukuu. The sex of the infant is yet to be confirmed.
Nilagiri (India) (AFP) – Hundreds of wildlife enthusiasts gather to watch elephants being fed a special feast of fruit and sweets as Tamil Hindus celebrate the Pongal harvest festival. Pongal is a multi-day affair dedicated to the Sun god Surya which is celebrated across several communities in southern India.
Chiapa de Corzo (Mexico) (AFP) – It’s a “Grand Fiesta” in southern Mexico, as masked “Parachicos” dance their merry way through the streets of Chiapa de Corzo to mark the feast days of the Black Christ of Esquipulas, Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Sebastian. The festival, which has its roots in both Catholic traditions and older Indigenous cultures, was proclaimed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010.
Guayaquil (Ecuador) (AFP) – Images published by Ecuador’s Armed Forces showing military and police officers entering a prison in the penitentiary complex of Guayaquil, the nerve center of the government’s war on drug gangs. IMAGES
Guayaquil (Ecuador) (AFP) – Images published by Ecuador’s Armed Forces showing hundreds of military and police officers entering a prison in the penitentiary complex of Guayaquil. Security forces “carry out a new intervention in the Centro de Privación de Libertad #Guayas, controlling the external and internal perimeter of the penitentiary center,” the Armed Forces announces on X. IMAGES
Islamabad (AFP) – Pakistan said Thursday it carried out strikes against militant targets in Iran, with Tehran reporting a death toll of seven civilians after staging its own air raid in Pakistan earlier this week.
