Baku (AFP) – The bodies of four people from the AZAL plane crash, together with seven more injured people, have been transported to Baku. A passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines flying Baku-Grozny crashed on December 25 near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. Thirty-eight of the 67 people on board died, with some reports suggesting the plane could have been accidentally shot at by Russian air defences.
Damascus (AFP) – Families of detainees and missing Syrians protest outside the Hijaz train station in Damascus, demanding accountability for perpetrators of crimes under Assad’s now-deposed government. “These people deserve to recover the remains of their relatives, at the very least. They deserve to know who killed and tortured them,” says Angelina jolie Nadour as she holds portraits of missing people during the protest.
New Delhi (AFP) – Indian flags fly at half-mast at the country’s presidential residence and parliament building in memory of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014, died at the age of 92 late on Thursday evening at a hospital in New Delhi. He will also be accorded a state funeral.
Berlin (AFP) – German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves parliament and confirms the expected February 23, 2025 date for the general election prompted by the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s government last month. Scholz’s coalition was brought down by internal fights over how to revive Europe’s largest economy, but a deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market last week has renewed the country’s heated debates over security and immigration.
Douz (Tunisia) (AFP) – The 56th edition of the prestigious International Sahara Festival has opened in Douz, an oasis 500 km south of Tunis in Tunisia, for four days of cultural, tourist and sporting events at the gateway to the desert. Festival-goers marvel at the array of features, including equestrian competitions, camel races, sloughi (desert greyhound) hunts and re-enactments of nomadic customs and lifestyles.
Prayagraj (India) (AFP) – Beside India’s holy rivers, a huge makeshift city is being built for a Hindu religious festival expected to be so vast that it will be seen from space.
Seoul (AFP) – South Korea’s main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung says his party will impeach acting president and prime minister Han Duck-soo at “the behest of the people”. Han took over as acting president from President Yoon Suk Yeol, but opposition MPs now want him removed from office too, arguing that he is refusing demands to complete Yoon’s impeachment process and to bring him to justice.
Narva (Estonie) (AFP) – Narva in Estonia is nestled on the EU and NATO’s eastern border, and Russia’s proximity is palpable in the town of 56,000 people, where 96 percent of the population are Russian speakers. The Narva crossing is now one of only three border checkpoints between the two countries, but car traffic has been suspended in both directions, leading to a drop in tourism revenue for Narva. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tensions have also arisen on both sides of the border.
Banda Aceh (Indonesia) (AFP) – Indonesians pray for those who lost their lives in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at a mass grave in Banda Aceh on the 20th anniversary of the disaster. More than 220,000 people across Asia died two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world’s worst natural disasters. IMAGES
Ban Nam Khem (Thailand) (AFP) – Mourners gather at a memorial on Thailand’s southern coast as ceremonies begin across Asia to remember the 220,000 people who died two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world’s worst natural disasters. IMAGES +COMPLETES VIDI36RH837_EN+
Kabul (AFP) – For many in Afghanistan — one of the poorest countries in the world, where 12.4 million people live in acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme — bread makes up the largest part of meals. “A meal without bread, especially when you have guests, is incomplete for Afghans and Afghan families,” says Mohammad Masi, 28, while picking up several rounds on his way home.
San Bartolo (AFP) – A police officer disguised as the popular Christmas character the Grinch helps a squad arrest a gang of three drug traffickers in southern Lima, authorities say.
