AFP UK

Athens (AFP) – Riot police in Athens clash with protesters during a demonstration amid a 24-hour general strike to voice outrage over last month’s train disaster, which claimed 57 lives. 

Beijing (AFP) – Beijing calls for the United States to stop “unreasonably suppressing” TikTok, after the popular video-sharing app said US officials had urged it to part ways with its Chinese parent ByteDance to avoid a national ban. “The US has so far failed to produce evidence that TikTok threatens US national security,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin says.

Tecoluca (El Salvador) (AFP) – A group of 2,000 inmates belonging to MS-13 and 18 gangs are transferred to a new prison built in El Salvador to accommodate more than 40,000 suspected gangsters targeted in President Nayib Bukele’s “war” on crime. Bukele has boasted that the new Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) facility is the largest mega-prison in the Americas, but rights groups have criticized it over its severe conditions.

Chaclacayo (Peru) (AFP) – “It has left me with nothing, just the clothes I’m wearing”: after heavy rains flooded his house in Chaclacayo, outside Lima, police officer Elvis Palomino can barely believe the destruction that has unfolded before his eyes. According to the country’s Civil Defense, dozens of people have died and more than 12,000 have been affected by Peru’s rainy season since September due to flooding and overflowing rivers.

Naples (Italy) (AFP) – Eintracht Frankfurt fans clash with police after arriving in Naples despite not having tickets for their team’s Champions League decider with Napoli on Wednesday. Footage broadcast by Italian media showed hundreds of supporters of the German club throwing smoke bombs and flares at police, who responded with tear gas.

Kratié (Cambodia) (AFP) – Bulging grey heads break the turbid waters of the Mekong River in Cambodia as a pod of rare Irrawaddy dolphins surfaces to breathe. The thrilling sight may soon be no more than a memory, as numbers of the endangered mammals dwindle despite efforts to preserve them.

Tokyo (AFP) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol meets Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, just hours after Pyongyang fired a long-range ballistic missile. The launch, North Korea’s third this week, was a potent reminder of the regional security challenges that have pushed Seoul and Tokyo to patch up differences and try to form a united front.

Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) – Pakistani police officers in Lahore are awaiting a court order to once again try to arrest former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is still holed up in his residence, denouncing “the law of the jungle”. IMAGES

Taipei (AFP) – Taiwan’s foreign ministry says they will never compete with China for “cash diplomacy” and reminds Honduras not to “drink poison to quench your thirst and fall into China’s debt trap”. Honduras on Tuesday instructed its foreign minister to establish diplomatic ties with China, a move that would sever the Central American country’s long-standing diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.

Paju (South Korea) (AFP) – The South Korea-US combined forces hold joint military drills as part of the ongoing Freedom Shield exercise, which started on Monday and are set to run for 10 days.On Tuesday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles, having launched two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine Sunday, just hours before the US-South Korea exercises kicked off. North Korea views all such drills as rehearsals for invasion and has repeatedly warned it would take “overwhelming” action in response.

Blantyre (Malawi) (AFP) – A mass funeral is held in Blantyre, southern Malawi, where more than 200 people died in floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Freddy.

Blantyre (Malawi) (AFP) – A mass funeral is held in Blantyre, southern Malawi, where more than 200 people died in floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Freddy.