Astana (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – The meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council begins in the Kazakh capital of Astana. Leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan participate in the event chaired by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. IMAGES
Johannesburg (AFP) – Street artist Dbongz Mahlathi puts the finishing touches to one of his murals in Johannesburg. For him, street art like his “has changed the landscape and how people deemed the city, they now see the city as bright because it used to be dull, mundane”, adding that “people start seeing it as a place they can go into.” Street artists, developments, events and pop-up stores have become integral to making the city an attraction for tourists and locals alike.
Lima (AFP) – Dozens of supporters of Peru’s President Pedro Castillo march in Lima to denounce a constitutional complaint filed by the country’s attorney general, accusing Castillo of criminal organisation and corruption.
Pinar del Río (Cuba) (AFP) – Cubans clean up debris in the city of Pinar del Rio after hurricane Ian left widespread damage on the island.
Doha (AFP) – In Qatar, every street corner has its own work of art, a trend that has accelerated with the approach of the World Cup, during which football fans may be looking for something to do between matches. Qatar is gearing up to welcome more than one million people to the football World Cup which starts on November 20.
Melbourne (AFP) – Flooding inundates streets in Melbourne as thousands had been warned to flee their homes to escape surging floodwaters threatening towns across three separate states. The flooding emergency is the worst in Victoria — Australia’s second most populous state — where rapidly rising waters swamps the Maribyrnong suburb of Melbourne, forcing evacuations. IMAGES
Hanoi (AFP) – Fenced off to the public and dotted with plastic waste, Hanoi’s Formula One race circuit lies largely abandoned as hopes fade that Vietnam’s capital will ever host a Grand Prix. The city was due to make its F1 debut in 2020 but the event was shelved due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Hanoi has not appeared on the race calendar since.
Kabul (AFP) – Thousands of Afghan girls and women sat university entrance exams under the guard of Taliban snipers, two weeks after a bomber killed dozens of students preparing for the tests. Since the Taliban returned to power last August, many girls have been banned from secondary education.
New York (AFP) – Sotheby’s unveils a collection of eight blue diamonds that are set to go on auction in New York, Geneva and Hong Kong. “Really, it all is about rarity,” says Frank Everett, senior vice president at Sotheby’s, adding, “to get stones of this quality is absolutely incredible.”
Mogadishu (AFP) – On the five-year anniversary of the two truck bombings in Mogadishu, which killed almost 600 people, two survivors remember the day: “the big truck bombing affected me a lot, but now I thank Allah for my recovery,” says Bile Adam Farah.
Stockholm (AFP) – Pumpkins go on display under the turning leaves of Stockholm’s trees as Autumn arrives in the Swedish capital.
Heviz (Hungary) (AFP) – Hungary is financing the construction of several Christian Orthodox churches around the country including at Heviz, a thermal lake resort popular with Russians, tourists and locals alike. The war in Ukraine has further cemented Hungarian leader Viktor Orban’s status as an EU outlier. He has increased purchases of Russian gas and refused to let weapons flow to Ukraine through Hungary. The Priest of the Heviz parish, Nikolai Kim, points to the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill’s comments on Orban’s “great Christian moral qualities”.
