Berlin (AFP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz approves the delivery of powerful German-made Leopard tanks to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion, a decision which has been hailed by Kyiv and its allies but slammed by Moscow.
Brokstedt (Germany) (AFP) – Images of the police and emergency services near a railway station in the town of Brokstedt, northern Germany, where — according to police — a suspect has been taken into custody after two people were killed and several others wounded in a knife attack on a regional train.
Cape Town (AFP) – Partisans of the South African main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), take to the streets to protest a prolonged energy crisis causing record power cuts in South Africa. Frequent blackouts, known as load-shedding, have burdened the country for years, with state-owned energy firm Eskom failing to keep pace with demand and maintain its ageing coal power infrastructure.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – For tens of thousands of Ukrainians who rely on electric medical equipment to stay alive, the Russian strikes that regularly leave millions without power since October have been terrifying. Tetyana Venglinska had no choice but to hospitalise her 75-year-old mother Eva after three months of exhausting outages.
South China Sea (Philippines) (AFP) – Chinese coast guard ships are seen patrolling the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. A Chinese coast guard personnel aboard an inflatable boat approaches a group of Filipino fishermen collecting shells on the shallow part of the shoal. Beijing seized control of Scarborough Shoal — known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal — from Manila in 2012 following a tense standoff.
Wellington (AFP) – Chris Hipkins is sworn in as New Zealand’s prime minister by the country’s governor-general during a ceremony at Government House in Wellington, following the resignation of Jacinda Ardern. Hipkins, the architect of the country’s pandemic response, is now tasked with reviving the government’s sagging popularity ahead of a general election in October.
Wellington (AFP) – Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern hugs friends and colleagues outside Parliament in Wellington as she heads to Government House to officially resign. Ardern’s resignation, less than three years after an emphatic election victory, has ignited a national debate about the vitriol faced by women leaders, especially on social media.
Berlin (AFP) – During a joint press conference in Berlin with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says there is “no indication that President Putin has changed his goals, he wants to control Ukraine,” and adds that he’s confident a solution on battle tanks for Ukraine will “soon” be reached.
Washington (AFP) – Experts set the Doomsday Clock, which symbolizes the risks associated with nuclear weapons and other threats, at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to midnight, says Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Bangkok (AFP) – Thai police display packages of confiscated crystal methamphetamine for the press, announcing that they have seized more than a tonne of the drug in less than a week. Thailand has seen a surge in smuggling after the country’s borders reopened. “Some of these drugs were kept for a period of time before being transported to the southernmost provinces, and they were supposed to be shipped to other countries later,” says Police General Chinnapat Sarasin, Deputy National Police Chief.
Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) – Hundreds of Pakistani protesters gather in Lahore to protest against the burning of a Koran in Sweden. Swedish-Danish far-right politician Ramus Paludan set fire to a copy of the Muslim holy book on Saturday in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. The Lahore protest is one of several planned in major cities across Pakistan.
Washington (AFP) – The United States is suing Google for its dominance of the online advertising market, announces Attorney General Merrick Garland from the US Justice Department in Washington, DC. “We allege that Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful conduct to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies,” he tells a press conference.
