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Pyongyang (AFP) – Images released from the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 19th show the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile Saturday, which it said demonstrated North Korea’s capacity to carry out a “fatal nuclear counterattack”. Pyongyang warned last week of an “unprecedentedly” strong response to Seoul and Washington’s upcoming joint drills, which it describes as preparations for war and blames for the deteriorating security situation on the Korean peninsula.

Naha (Japan) (AFP) – Moeko Heshiki is no ordinary tattoo artist: she is one of the few people keeping the once-banned tradition of hajichi body art alive for the Indigenous Ryukyu people of Japan’s Okinawa region. The traditionally hand-poked markings were once common on women of the Ryukyu, marking important moments in their lives.

Antakya (Turkey) (AFP) – Murat Guzel scatters bird feed on the roof as the sun sets over the devastated southern Turkish city of Antakya. Guzel is caring for the birds, mostly pigeons, he keeps above the restaurant at which he used to work before the deadly earthquake on February 6. “The way we would take care of our children, we take care of our birds” says Guzel, “we can’t just leave them and go, because this is our homeland”.

Jerusalem (AFP) – “We will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons and we will not allow it to entrench on our northern border,” says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the weekly cabinet meeting. Netanyahu did not refer directly to the Israeli air strike on Syria’s capital Damascus, that killed 15 people early Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Santiago (AFP) – Braving the 2°C waters, Chilean swimmer Barbara Hernandez has set a new record by becoming the first person to swim 2.5 kilometres in Antarctic Ocean waters.

İskenderun (Turkey) (AFP) – A Turkish warship, the TCG Sancaktar, receives and treats victims of the February 6 earthquake. Moored in the port of Iskenderun, it has on board an operations, intensive care unit and civilian and military personnel in order to unclog the region’s health system, as many hospitals have been rendered unusable by the disaster.

Hatay (Turkey) (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu, before the two go on a helicopter tour of parts of the earthquake-stricken Hatay region in Turkey’s south.

Nomadic herders in the Horn of Africa have been waiting more than two years for rains that never come. The last five rainy seasons since the end of 2020 have failed, triggering the worst drought in four decades in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. With livestock decimated and livelihoods destroyed, “people’s lives are in danger,” says a herder.

Soweto (South Africa) (AFP) – The Soweto Ndofaya trail is becoming a sensation amongst local, national, and even international hikers. Its founder and only guide, Masike Lebele, wants to promote change and reassure people that the South African community is worth exploring – despite the stigma of crime and poverty that surrounds the township on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

Addis Ababa (AFP) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, announces that the Central Emergency Response Fund will release $250 million to “support some of the most vulnerable people” in the world, including those at risk of famine in the drought-hit Horn of Africa.

Munich (Germany) (AFP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna at the Munich Security Conference.

Choam Krovean (Cambodia) (AFP) – Running into a thigh-deep muddy lake, villagers in eastern Cambodia’s Boeung Kroam lake, use bamboo baskets and nets to scoop up their catch as part of a traditional fishing ceremony. The annual ceremony, back after a two-year pandemic hiatus, is held after the rice harvest and participants are only allowed to use traditional tools such as woven baskets and nets.