Alberton (South Africa) (AFP) – Hundreds gather to watch a car spinning tournament near Johannesburg in South Africa. Now recognised as a motor sport, “spinning” was born in South African townships during the late 1980s, when gangsters would spin stolen cars to show off their spoils. Tournaments have resumed after a nearly two-year pandemic hiatus.
Greenville (United States) (AFP) – The town of Greenville, California was completely burned to the ground almost two months ago when the Dixie Fire tore through the area. Buildings lay in ruins, cars sit scorched and trees stand charred after what the governer called a “climate-induced” wildfire. Climate change amplifies droughts, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out of control and inflict unprecedented material and environmental damage.
Shëngjin (Albania) (AFP) – A warm welcome in Albania and luxurious accommodation cannot dispel the desperation among Afghan refugees, who anxiously await news from back home.
Alotenango (Guatemala) (AFP) – The Fuego volcano, one of three actives in Guatemala, begins a strong eruptive phase with explosions, ash expulsion and avalanches of incandescent material, though no evacuations are taking place for the moment, authorities have announced.
Rabat (AFP) – Archaeologists in Morocco indentify clothesmaking tools fashioned from bone dating back 120,000 years, the oldest ever found, according to one of the researchers. The international team discovered more than 60 tools in Contrebandiers (Smugglers’) Cave near Rabat.
La Palma Island (Spain) (AFP) – Exiled Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont “must be brought to justice,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says, a day after the former regional head was arrested in Italy after fleeing Spain.
Saint-Malo (France) (AFP) – A small company in the Brittany town of Saint-Malo claims to be the first factory in France to knit jumpers in 3D, without seams or waste.
Milton Keynes (United Kingdom) (AFP) – These supermarket deliveries are not only contactless, but done by a robot. Robotics firm Starship are trialling these deliveries in the UK, with a US expansion already underway.
Johnsondale (United States) (AFP) – Hundreds of firefighters are battling the Windy Fire to protect several groves of giant sequoias in the United States. The fire has already charred 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares), and a number of separate fires are converging on the California woodland that is home to the huge trees.
Beheira (Egypt) (AFP) – With just a knife, brush and pencil, 30-year-old Egyptian sculpture artist Ibrahim Belal is a master of his tools, creating miniature sculptures of the most prominent Pharaonic and Egyptian landmarks at his home in the city of Rashid, in the Beheira Governorate, some 300 kilometres south of Cairo. He dreams of creating one of the first first museum’s of miniature sculptures in the Middle East.
Washington (AFP) – Speaking to UK media in Washington D.C., British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that France should, in Franglais, “prenez un grip” (“get a grip”) and “donnez-moi un break” (“give me a break”) regarding the AUKUS submarine deal which saw France ousted from a strategic contract with Australia.
New York (AFP) – Heiko Mass, Germany’s Foreign Minister calls the AUKUS submarine deal “irritating” as he addresses reporters on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York. France was infuriated last week when Australia cancelled a multi-billion-dollar contract for conventional submarines, saying it wanted to upgrade to US-made nuclear versions as it entered a new alliance with the United States and Britain.
