When wedding season comes in India, the phone of child rights activist Tatwashil Kamble never stops ringing with appeals to stop girls from being married off due to poverty. Kamble says he has helped stop thousands of illegal marriages in India, where nuptials before the age of 18 are banned.
Paris (AFP) – Representatives from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) gather outside China’s embassy in Paris to mark four years since the closure of the Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong. The pro-democracy paper’s founder, Jimmy Lai, has been behind bars since 2020.
Cauca (Colombie) (AFP) – Colombian soldiers pick up their gear and walk away, moments after being released from captivity in a guerrilla-dominated region of the country’s southwest. The 57 troops detained by local residents were freed in a joint operation by the army and police, who also arrested several “alleged kidnappers,” according to authorities. The area, known as the Micay Canyon, is a stronghold of guerrilla groups and cocaine production. In conflict-ridden regions of Colombia, some illegal groups at times order civilians to carry out actions to impede the advance of security forces. They are usually released hours later after the intervention of human rights organizations. IMAGES
Cauca (Colombie) (AFP) – In uniform, some of the 57 Colombian soldiers held captive by residents of a southwestern region appear silent, sheltered from the rain in a soaked courtyard. Authorities announced their release by the army, supported by police forces, who also arrested several “alleged captors.” The area, known as the Micay Canyon, is a stronghold of guerrilla groups and cocaine production. In conflict-ridden regions of Colombia, some illegal groups at times order civilians to carry out actions to impede the advance of security forces. They are usually released hours later after the intervention of human rights organizations. IMAGES
Acapulco (Mexique) (AFP) – Forensic teams work at the scene after five bodies were found in a burnt out bus in the popular tourist town of Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific coast. The bodies were found by firefighters after receiving a report of a bus on fire in the street, according to local authorities. In its heyday in the 1950s and 60s, Acapulco was a playground of the rich and famous. Today the city once known as “the pearl of the Pacific” is blighted by criminal violence. IMAGES
Baghdad (AFP) – Hundreds of people attend the funeral in Baghdad of Hussein Khalil – the former bodyguard of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah – his son Mahdi, and Haider al-Moussawi, commander of the security unit of the Iraqi armed group the Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades. All three were killed a day earlier in an Israeli drone strike in Iran near the Iraqi border.
Chitral (Pakistan) (AFP) – Tourists and locals attend the Shandur Polo Festival in northwestern Pakistan, which each year features local teams competing in freestyle polo, the oldest form of polo that exists only in northern Pakistan, where there are no rules for the game. Located at a height of 3,700 meters, Shandur, at the top of a mountain in Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is home to the highest polo ground in the world and a festival dating back to 1936.
Moscow (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin slams strikes on Tehran as “unprovoked aggression” and says Moscow is trying to help the Iranian people as he hosts Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Damascus (AFP) – At least 22 people were killed in a suicide attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus on Sunday. “The Syrian Ministry of Interior condemns the criminal, sinful bombing that targeted the Saint Elias church today, with preliminary indications pointing to it being a suicide attack carried out by the ISIS organisation,” says Noureddine al-Baba, spokesman for the Syrian ministry.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) – Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations slams the United States for its strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. “The United States, a permanent member of this Council… has now once again resorted to illegal force, waged a war against my country,” Amir Saeid Iravani tells an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. “For 40 years the Iranian government has called for death to America and death to Israel,” rebukes Dorothy Shea, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations.
Vienna (AFP) – The UN nuclear watchdog head demands the return of agency inspectors to Iran’s nuclear sites in a bid to “account for” its highly enriched uranium stockpiles following attacks by Israel and the United States on its atomic programme.
Mexico (AFP) – More than a thousand people gather with coloured umbrellas under the rain in Mexico City’s Zocalo square to form a huge LGBTQ flag to celebrate Pride Month, in an event organised by the local government. IMAGES
