Stockholm (AFP) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warns that the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut may fall into Russian hands in the coming days following months of intense fighting.”We can not rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days,” Stoltenberg tells reporters in Stockholm on the sidelines of a meeting of EU defence ministers.
Athens (AFP) – Protesters gather outside Athens Academy ahead of a march to Syntagma Square, after a train disaster that killed 57 people and sparked anger across the country. A police spokesperson in Athens said around 23,000 people are on the streets of central Athens, as the dilapidated rail network and technical failures are blamed for the head-on collision between two trains.
Hlaingbwe (Myanmar) (AFP) – A five-day traditional Lethwei tournament attracts a crowd of more than 1,000 people to watch the end of the tournament in Hlaingbwe township in Karen state. Among the winners of the day, 22-year-old Hlaing Htet Aung strutted victorious from the ring despite swelling on his face.
Leadville (United States) (AFP) – Hundreds of spectators gather along a snow-covered historic street in a Colorado town to watch horses and riders pull skiers along an obstacle course.
Kabul (AFP) – Around 20 women gather in Kabul to mark International Women’s Day. “Use the international stages, this is the second March 8th under the Taliban governance,” said one demonstrator, reading aloud a statement. Afghanistan under the Taliban government is the “most repressive country in the world” for women’s rights, the United Nations said Wednesday, with authorities effectively trapping them in their homes. IMAGES
Vihiga County (Kenya) (AFP) – Kenya widens the rollout of the groundbreaking malaria vaccine to its lake-endemic region, where many children under the age of five are killed by the mosquito-borne disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the RTS,S malaria vaccine for broader use in 2021, after a successful pilot scheme in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.
Jakarta (AFP) – On International Women’s Day, women gather out the front of parliament calling on lawmakers to pass the long awaited bill to protect domestic workers. They hold colourful placards and posters, some printed with the face of parliament speaker Puan Maharani, and chant “long live Indonesian women”. IMAGES
Tbilisi (AFP) – Georgian police use water cannon against protesters as thousands of demonstrators take to the streets in the capital Tbilisi to oppose a controversial “foreign agents” bill. Georgian lawmakers gave earlier their initial backing to the draft law, which is reminiscent of Russia’s legislation used to crack down on dissent.
London (AFP) – In London, a new exhibition of photographs opens, showing the intimate relationship between the late Queen Elizabeth II and her beloved corgis. “They chart her life” explains the exhibition’s curator and Wallace Collection Director, Xavier Bray, “you see her as a young girl, you see her as an eighteen-year-old, you see her in official state with her corgis”.
Paris (AFP) – Fuel deliveries and public transport were severely disrupted in France on Tuesday as unions kicked off a fresh day of protests against a pensions reform that would push back the retirement age for millions.
Paris (AFP) – A few hundred metres from tourists taking photographs in front of the Arc de Triomphe, dozens of migrant families are taking refuge in a car park in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. According to the association Utopia 56, “there is a political will to render rough sleepers invisible. A problem that is not seen is not a problem.”
Doradal (Colombia) (AFP) – Anibal Gaviria, governor of Antioquia Department in northwestern Colombia, where a herd of some 150 hippos — descendants of animals once owned by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar — are breeding out of control says he hopes for the greenlight to send half of them to sanctuaries in India and Mexico.
