Caracas (AFP) – A Super Blue Moon appears in the sky across the world on August 19, 2024. It is a celestial occurrence which combines two events: a supermoon, when the moon is closest to Earth, and a blue moon — the third full moon in a season of four.
La Restinga (Spain) (AFP) – The number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands more than doubled in the first 7.5 months of 2024 as Spain’s prime minister announced plans to visit west Africa. Spain is one of the main gateways for migrants seeking a better life in Europe, with many setting sail from the coastlines of Mauritania, The Gambia and Senegal.
Chicago (AFP) – Members of the United States’ largest Palestinian community express their anger and disappointment with the Democratic Party as it holds its national convention just 20-miles away in Chicago. Thousands also gathered outside the event to express their opposition to the Biden administration’s support for Israel.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – A spokesman of the Israeli government, David Mencer, says that “a significant terror attack” was averted in Tel Aviv. Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a bombing in Tel Aviv, threatening more attacks in Israel as the war in Gaza drags on.
Paris (AFP) – Japanese fans react to the death of French movie icon Alain Delon, a divisive star known to some as a sex symbol and to others as an egotistical chauvinist. The actor garnered major popularity in Japan very early in his career.
Porticello (AFP) – Divers search off the Italian island of Sicily for six people still missing after a superyacht sank in a sudden storm. According to officials, at least one person was killed when the 56-metre luxury yacht was hit by violent winds and rain that swept up the coast before dawn.
Itagüí (AFP) – Colombians stay in their beds on the “World Day of Laziness”, the closing day of a social and cultural festival held every year since 1985 in the municipality of Itagui, south of Medellin.
Manila (AFP) – The Philippine government says two of its coast guard ships were damaged in collisions with Chinese vessels that were conducting “unlawful and aggressive manoeuvres” near a disputed South China Sea reef. For its part, Beijing accuses Manila’s ships of having “seriously violated” China’s sovereignty and vows to take “forceful measures”.
Dadu (Pakistan) (AFP) – Pakistan’s high rate of marriages for underage girls had been inching lower in recent years, but after unprecedented floods in 2022, rights workers warn such weddings are now on the rise due to climate-driven economic insecurity.
Bekasi (Indonesia) (AFP) – A village in Indonesia’s West Java province has installed a 600-metre-long national flag above an alleyway to mark the country’s 79th Independence Day.
Chicago (AFP) – Several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a rally in downtown Chicago ahead of the Democratic National Convention which is being held in the city. The shadow of protest against the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza is hanging over the convention.
Caracas (AFP) – Thousands rally in several cities in Venezuela and as far afield as Spain, Canada and the United States in response to a call by opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to join a “Protest for the Truth.” Machado herself came out of hiding to lead a rally, seeking to intensify pressure on Nicolas Maduro to concede what she and others say was an overwhelming win for opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in July 28 polls.
