AFP UK

Moscow (AFP) – Moscow residents queue to attend the farewell ceremony for Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR, who died on August 30 at the age of 91. One of the great political figures of the 20th century, he was lionised in the West for helping to end the Cold War and trying to change the USSR, but despised by many in Russia for the economic chaos and loss of global influence that followed the Soviet collapse. Among those present at his farewell ceremony however, there is only respect for the man who brought ‘a breath of freedom’, in the words of teacher Natalia Leleko.

Samsun (Turkey) (AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns Greece it will pay a “heavy price” if it continues to “harass” Turkish planes over the Aegean. The two uneasy NATO neighbours have long-standing sea and air boundary disputes which lead to near-daily air force patrols and interception missions mostly around Greek islands near Turkey’s coastline.

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Images outside the police station where the Brazilian national who attempted to shoot Vice President Cristina Kirchner is detained in Buenos Aires.

Kennedy Space Center (United States) (AFP) – NASA scraps its launch of a 30-story rocket due to orbit the Moon, citing a fuel leak in delaying the mission for a second time. The leak occurred as liquid hydrogen was being pumped into the rocket. No new date for another try was immediately announced.

Colombo (AFP) – Images show the motorcade of Sri Lanka’s deposed former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the airport in Colombo, as he returns to the country seven weeks after he fled amid the island’s worst-ever economic crisis.

Herat (Afghanistan) (AFP) – Images of the Taliban monitoring traffic at checkpoints Herat after a huge bomb blast at one of the biggest mosques in western Afghanistan killed at least 18 people, including an influential imam who earlier this year called for those who commit “the smallest act” against the government to be beheaded.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk says he has “no interest” in fighting anyone else but Tyson Fury, as he seeks to add Fury’s WBC belt to his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles.

Charsadda (Pakistan) (AFP) – Pakistan’s record-breaking floods may have passed, but for Hajira Bibi and her child, only 10 days old, the pain has only just begun. They’ve returned to their village in the northwest of the country to find her home unlivable.

Singapore (AFP) – Singapore’s two adult pandas will stay in the city-state after their zoo signed an agreement with Chinese authorities to extend their 10-year loan.

Buenos Aires (AFP) – After a man pointed a gun at Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Kirchner, President Alberto Fernandez calls the attempted attack the “most serious thing that has happened since we restored our democracy”, and claims Kirchner is only alive by chance. “The gun, which had five bullets in it, did not fire even though the trigger had been pulled” he adds.

Berlin (AFP) – German Finance Minister Christian Lindner announces that the G7 group of countries will move towards the implementation of a price cap on Russian oil imports, in order to stop Moscow from raking in huge profits from soaring energy prices.

Chengdu (China) (AFP) – Residents in the Chinese city of Chengdu formed long queues on Thursday to be tested for Covid-19, while the city’s street market was crowded with shoppers stocking up on food, after the megacity announced a shutdown to combat a new wave of infections.