Copenhagen (AFP) – Barking on command as a live orchestra plays Leopold Mozart’s “Hunting Symphony” — that’s the job Cookie, Sophus and Sica are tasked with as they star with the Danish Chamber Orchestra.
Karbala (Iraq) (AFP) – Shiite Muslim pilgrims take part in a mourning ceremony at the Shrine of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, in Iraq’s central holy city of Karbala. Millions of worshippers have travelled from across Iraq and beyond ahead of the Arbaeen religious festival commemorating the killing of the Imam.
Valparaíso (Chile) (AFP) – Luz Encina, 94, can barely see and moves with difficulty, but every year she travels to the coast of Chile, throwing red flowers into the sea to remember her son on his birthday. At 19 years old, Mauricio Jorquera was one of more than 1,400 people who disappeared during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Sweida (Syria) (AFP) – Protesters destroy signs with pictures of Hafez al-Assad, former Syrian president and father of current president Bashar al-Assad, and placards with the logo of the ruling Baath party in the government-held southern city of Sweida. Daily protests have raged over the past two weeks after President Bashar al-Assad’s government ended fuel subsidies in mid-August, dealing a heavy blow to Syrians reeling from war and a crippling economic crisis.
Saint-Paul (France) (AFP) – Since July, the west coast of the French island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, has been the scene of a disaster. Thousands of sea urchins have been washing up on sandy beaches, in creeks and in natural coastal basins. According to scientist Jean-Pascal Quod, a devastating parasite is likely the responsible for the excessive mortality — but no means are available to prevent the epidemic.
Seoul (AFP) – Seoul Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024 kicks off with the event’s global ambassador, K-Pop girl group “NewJeans”, along with influencers, singers and fashionistas joining the star lineup. The event takes place at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza where a total of 30 runway events will be held.
Tulkarm (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Footage released by the Israeli army shows a building explosion during a deadly raid in the occupied West Bank refugee camp of Nur Shams on September 5. According to the Palestinian health ministry, a Palestinian man was killed after being shot during the night-time clashes. Israeli forces claim the operation allowed them to destroy explosives belonging to Palestinian militants. The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since 1967 and its forces regularly carry out incursions into areas which are nominally under Palestinian control.
Vólos (Greece) (AFP) – Greek authorities are on high alert as torrential rains hit the eastern Greek regions of Magnesia. Achilleas Beos, mayor of the regional capital Volos, urged residents to stay indoors: “Don’t move around, it is dangerous. Human lives come first.” Greece has already been ravaged for weeks by wildfires that have razed more than 81,000 hectares of forest in the Dadia national park in the northern Evros region.
Jakarta (AFP) – Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo warns against turning the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) into “an arena for rivalries that cause destruction” at an opening ceremony for the ASEAN summit in Jakarta. Southeast Asian leaders will be in the Indonesian capital for a three-day summit focused on finding a united voice on the years-long Myanmar crisis.
Nairobi (AFP) – African heads of state and other world leaders, including representatives from the UN and EU, gather in Nairobi for a landmark African Climate Summit aimed at showcasing the continent’s potential as a green powerhouse. The conference saw its most significant pledge so far when the UAE announced $4.5 billion in clean energy investments in Africa.
Hai Duong (Vietnam) (AFP) – When Nguyen Truong Chinh last visited his son Nguyen Van Chuong, a deathrow inmate in Vietnam, they cried together ahead of his imminent execution for a crime they say he did not commit. Chinh, 77, has been campaigning to free his son — whose murder conviction came after allegations of torture — for 16 years, and faces regular harassment in a country whose hard-line communist administration stifles dissent.
Istanbul (AFP) – Fans rejoice after Turkey defeated Serbia in the Euro-2023 women’s volleyball tournament.
