AFP UK

Bangkok (AFP) – With the Taliban in control of Afghanistan, the UN Women director for Asia Mohammad Naciri warns of a gender emergency, where “women and girls have been consistently and systemically targeted”. In the weeks leading up to their return to power, the Taliban’s leadership have strived to portray a softer image than when they last ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. But women struggle to take comfort from such assurances.

Åkersberga (Sweden) (AFP) – Sweden’s beleaguered Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announces that he will step down in November to allow a successor time to prepare for the country’s September 2022 general election. Lofven was reinstated as prime minister by parliament in early July just weeks after being ousted in a historic vote of no confidence.

Washington (AFP) – Baby panda Xiao Qi Ji celebrates his first birthday by eating a fruitsicle cake with his mother Mei Xiang at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, in front of delighted visitors.

Santa Cruz (Bolivia) (AFP) – Fires continue to spread in eastern Bolivia, leaving large areas of dry forest covered in ash and smoke. Several protected natural areas are affected.

New York (AFP) – Satellite imagery shows Tropical Storm Henri on course to make landfall on the US east coast, with millions in New England and New York’s Long Island preparing for flash flooding, violent winds and power outages.

San Bernardino (United States) (AFP) – Californian community organization ‘El Sol’ is bringing a Hollywood-style twist to the fight against Covid-19 with its new play, ‘Captain Empath vs. Covid-19’. The show seeks to combat misinformation surrounding coronavirus vaccines, and encourages people to get jabbed.

Kabul (AFP) – Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai says she is upset for her “Afghan sisters” and that it remains to be seen if Taliban pledges on rights for women and girls translate into action after their takeover of Afghanistan. Yousafzai, long an advocate for girls’ education, survived a Pakistani Taliban assassination attempt when she was just 15 years old when the militants shot her in the head in rural northwest Pakistan.

Banyumas (Indonesia) (AFP) – Kasegeran is a remote town in Java that most Indonesians would struggle to find on a map. But it’s also home to an unlikely collection of emerging YouTubers, as villagers swap their traditional jobs for the big earnings of online video stars.

Xalapa (Mexico) (AFP) – Hurricane Grace slams into Mexico for a second time as a major Category Three storm, threatening to bring significant flooding and mudslides.

Chiquitania (Bolivia) (AFP) – Fires sweep through a forest in Chiquitania, a transition zone between the Amazon and the Gran Chaco lowlands in eastern Bolivia, where large blazes have already ravaged at least 200,000 hectares, according to reports from local authorities.

Paghman (Afghanistan) (AFP) – Taliban fighters pose for selfies and take video at Paghman Hill Castle, a scenic site in northeast of Kabul days after taking power in Afghanistan. The Islamist hardliners are back in power after being ousted in a US-led invasion nearly 20 years ago.