Fort Lauderdale (United States) (AFP) – Lionel Messi greets his new Inter Miami fans and is hailed by the club’s owner as “America’s number ten” at a damp but celebratory unveiling event.
Moreno Valley (United States) (AFP) – Firefighters are battling the Rabbit and Gavilan Fires in Moreno Valley, California, as a powerful heatwave grips the US state. The Rabbit Fire has so far scorched over 7,500 acres and prompted evacuation orders.
Barcelona (AFP) – Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez holds an electoral rally in Barcelona. One week ahead of the national vote, opinion polls are placing victory in the hands of his right-wing opposition rival Alberto Nunez Feijoo. Sanchez caught everyone off guard in May when he called for snap elections after the left was defeated in local and regional elections.
Rome (AFP) – With temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius in the Italian capital, Rome’s zoo distributes refreshing treats made of frozen fruit to the animals to help them cope with the sweltering heat. Italy faces weekend predictions of historic highs with the health ministry issuing a red alert for 16 cities including Rome, Bologna and Florence.
Sidon (Lebanon) (AFP) – Among meandering alleyways in the historic market of Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon, cobblers and tailors are seeing an uptick in business as the country’s crippling economic crisis revives demand for these once receding trades. N°33NK9AT
Bogotá (AFP) – Four Indigenous children who survived 40 days in the Colombian Amazon have been discharged after a month of care in a military hospital. Colombia’s state child protection agency will temporarily have custody of the minors who will be sent to a shelter in a rural area of the country. Siblings Lesly, Soleiny, Tien Noriel and baby Cristin were the only survivors after the small plane they were flying in crashed in the jungle.
Jakarta (AFP) – The United States “remains committed to upholding freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells a press conference at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta. China has held drills in the South and East China Seas around Taiwan, and claims almost the entirety of the strategic waterway that overlaps with the territorial claims of other Southeast Asian nations like Indonesia and Vietnam.
Sriharikota (India) (AFP) – India launches a rocket seeking to land an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, its second attempt to become only the fourth country to do so.
Dhanbad (India) (AFP) – Raging non-stop for a century, underground fires pose a serious threat to those working on coalfields in the Indian state of Dhanbad. The fires, which scientists believe started in a 1916 mining accident, cause sinkholes which swallow people and homes. Coal pickers say that hundreds have died over the years, but for many whose livelihoods depend on the in-demand fuel, leaving the danger behind is not an option.
Tokyo (AFP) – Cinemagoers in Tokyo express their excitement following the release of Studio Ghibli’s new film “How Do You Live?” The movie is the first by Ghibli co-founder and celebrated animator Hayao Miyazaki in 10 years. “How Do You Live?” is also likely to be the 82-year-old’s last film, which he came out of retirement to make.
Istālif (Afghanistan) (AFP) – Noor Agha Faqiri and Abdul Hameed Mehran are among a dozen potters left in Qarya-e-Kulalan (potter’s village), a small village in the picturesque Afghan Istalif district. Since the Taliban’s 2021 return to power, the country’s faltering economy has led sales to plummet, pushing many to forego this centuries-old craft. But Faqiri and Mehran are determined to carry on.
San José de las Lajas (Cuba) (AFP) – Two years ago, Marta Perdomo and Liset Fonseca were two Cuban women with little interest in politics and no social media footprint. That changed overnight when their sons were arrested in a mass roundup that followed the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the communist island. Today, they are fervent activists.
