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Wroclaw (Poland) (AFP) – A case of David vs Goliath at Wroclaw Zoo, as a tiny 13kg deer takes on a nearly two-tonne rhinoceros and appears to come out of the clash on top.

Tokyo (AFP) – At 58 years young, Japanese striker Kazuyoshi Miura — or “King Kazu” — is about to start his 41st season of professional football. The veteran made his debut in 1986 for the Brazilian side Santos, and has since played for clubs in Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. Turning 59 in February, Miura has signed a six-month loan deal with third-division Japanese side Fukushima United. “I just want to be out on the pitch,” he says, “even just for one minute or one second longer.”

Tehran (AFP) – Footage posted on social media and verified by AFP shows demonstrations in the Iranian cities of Tehran and Gorgan, as the country faces protests initially linked to the rising cost of living. People can be heard chanting slogans including “death to the dictator,” referencing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ruled Iran since 1989. Authorities imposed an internet blackout late on 8 January in an effort to suppress the protest movement.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Kyiv residents have been left once again assessing their damaged homes after the latest overnight Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital. The country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has reported that at least 20 residential buildings and the Qatari embassy were damaged in the barrage, which killed at least four people in Kyiv. Around half the city’s apartment blocks were left without power by the strike, with temperatures set to drop below -8C.

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela has started releasing political prisoners, including several foreigners, in an apparent concession to the US after its ouster of President Nicolas Maduro. Among those freed was former opposition candidate Enrique Marquez — who opposed Maduro in the contested 2024 presidential election.

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodriguez leads a ceremony in honor of the January 3 US attack victims, alongside their relatives and members of the military leadership, at the Military Academy in Caracas. During the ceremony, Rodriguez and other Venezuelan officials awarded decorations and posthumous promotions to the fallen soldiers. IMAGES

Guatire (Venezuela) (AFP) – Relatives of prisoners gather in front of Rodeo I prision to wait for information on the release of their loved ones after president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, announced the release of a “large number” of detainees, some of them foreigners, in an apparent concession to the United States after its ouster of ruler Nicolas Maduro. IMAGES

Caracas (AFP) – Police forces are deployed to the El Helicoide detention centre in Caracas, following an announcement that a significant number of prisoners, including foreigners, are being released from the country’s jails. The site also serves as the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN). IMAGES

Caracas (AFP) – Road traffic passes in front of a poster of deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro at the entrance to El Helicoide detention centre in Caracas, following an announcement that a significant number of prisoners, including foreigners, are to be released from the country’s jails. The site also serves as the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN). IMAGES

Madrid (AFP) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says the country is open to sending “peacekeeping troops to Palestine.” The Spanish government recognised the State of Palestine in 2024 and has been one of Europe’s most vocal critics of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, launched in the wake of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Speaking in Madrid, Sanchez says the deployment could happen “once we can see how to advance this task of pacification.”

Minneapolis (AFP) – Minneapolis residents hold a vigil for a local woman shot dead by an immigration officer in her car. The woman, named by local media as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was attempting to drive away as officers approached and tried to open the door. One agent fired three times with a handgun as the vehicle pulled away. US President Donald Trump has claimed the agent was acting in self-defense and Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem has accused Good of “domestic terrorism” and “weaponizing” her vehicle. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has firmly rejected the government’s argument and called on ICE to leave the city.

Walwa (Australia) (AFP) – Bushfires burn near Walwa in the Australian state of Victoria, as firefighters warn that fire danger could reach its highest level — “catastrophic” — amid a current heatwave. The rating advises residents to evacuate at-risk areas, with temperatures forecast to exceed 40C in parts of the southeast. Combined with hot, dry winds, the heat could fuel some of the most dangerous conditions since the “Black Summer” blazes of 2019-2020, which razed millions of hectares, destroyed thousands of homes and blanketed cities in noxious smoke.