AFP UK

Damascus (AFP) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is sworn in for a fourth seven-year term in a ceremony at the presidential palace in Damascus. Assad won the May 26 election with 95.1% of the vote, which was widely criticised by the West and the Syrian opposition.

London (AFP) – A mural commissioned by London’s City Hall celebrates England’s football team, who reached the finals of the Euro 2020 championship, showing Gareth Southgate, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling next to the slogan ‘You did us proud’. One of the artists who created the piece, street artist ‘Mr Meana’ of the MurWalls collective, says the work highlights ‘the importance of getting racism out of football’ in the wake of racist comments about the team online. 

Dhaka (AFP) – Bangladeshis are rushing home to celebrate Eid al-Adha, the country’s second-biggest religious festival, despite a lockdown and rise in coronavirus cases. However, authorities have said the nationwide coronavirus lockdown will be lifted Thursday, even as new infections soared to record levels.

Guadalajara (Mexico) (AFP) – A baby boy hippopotamus was born at the Guadalajara Zoo in Mexico. Weighing at 30 kilos, he spends his day swimming and lounging in the sun with his mother Tami.

Yangon (AFP) – Despite a spike in coronavirus cases in Myanmar, around a hundred women march briefly in Yangon’s Botahtaung township to protest against the military coup which brought the army to power in February.

Wellington (AFP) – An orca calf that was beached and separated from its mother is cared for by conservationists as the search begins for the baby’s mother. Named Toa — Maori for ‘warrior’ — the 2.5 metre (eight foot) orca is unweaned and unable to survive alone in the ocean.

Aigle (Switzerland) (AFP) – After having to leave Afghanistan where she was attacked for cycling, Masomah Ali Zada is now heading for the Tokyo Olympics where she will be part of the refugee team, a source of “pride” for her.

Paris (AFP) – Spanish defender Sergio Ramos says he is not coming to Paris SG to “show off” his Champions League titles or his “prize list”, but rather “to win it again”.

Havana (AFP) – “We don’t know where my brother is.” Cubans are looking for their detained relatives in a police station near the town of La Guinera, in Havana, where unprecedented protests erupted the day before.

Soweto (South Africa) (AFP) – Walking among the remains of her shop, which was looted during unrest in South Africa, Thandi Johnson says that she has “nothing left”, despite troops being deployed in an attempt to prevent the destruction caused by thousands on the streets. The unrest erupted on the 9th of July after ex-president Jacob Zuma started serving a 15-month term for snubbing a probe into the corruption that stained his nine years in power.