Tampere (Finland) (AFP) – Travelling to skateboard competitions around the world, 13-year-old Heili Sirvio leads a life unlike the average Finnish teen. Her next stop is Paris where she will compete as Finland’s youngest ever Olympic athlete.
Kenema (Sierra Leone) (AFP) – In the Kambui forest of eastern Sierra Leone, rangers are fighting against deforestation and illegal gold mining. Only 62 of them patrol some 14,000 hectares, trying to stop illegal activities harming the environment and the surrounding communities.
Paris (AFP) – Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, the Chief of the Olympic Games Organising Committee Tony Estanguet and Marc Guillaume, Prefect of the region, take a symbolic dip in the Seine days before the start of the Olympic Games, which include events in the strongly-questioned river.
Stockholm (AFP) – Swedish company Candela launches its new P-12 electric boat, which ‘flies’ one metre above water and generates very little amount of waves. The shuttle ferry is due to welcome its first passengers next October in Stockholm.
Taboga (Panama) (AFP) – On Taboga Island near Panama City, fishermen participate in the Virgen del Carmen procession, an annual event honoring the Catholic patron saint of fishermen, also known as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Karbala (Iraq) (AFP) – Shiite Muslim pilgrims flock to the Imam Hussein Shrine in Iraq’s holy city of Karbala to mark Ashura, an annual day of mourning that commemorates the death of Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, Imam Hussein, regarded by Shiites as his rightful successor.
Bangkok (AFP) – Six foreign nationals were found dead in a luxury hotel room in central Bangkok on Tuesday, Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said, with police suspecting they were poisoned.
Milwaukee (AFP) – Donald Trump’s failed primary challengers throw their weight behind him at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Nairobi (AFP) – Police fire tear gas and use water cannons against dozens of demonstrators in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, as scattered rallies across the country called for embattled President William Ruto to step down.
Moskau (AFP) – Euphemisms to talk about the dead, military jargon, patriotic poems and self-censorship: two and a half years of war in Ukraine have had an impact on Russian language and literature.
Peshawar (AFP) – Supporters of jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s heartland province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa react to the government seeking to ban Khan’s political party. Former cricket star Khan’s arrest on corruption charges last year saw supporters storm military buildings and unleash a crackdown against his PTI party, culminating in elections marred by allegations of pre-poll rigging.
Nuseirat (AFP) – Israel continues its bombing of Gaza after its key military backer, the United States, renewed criticism of its ally over the high civilian casualty toll of the war. The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, according to an AFP tally. The militants also seized 251 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 38,713 people in Gaza, says the Hamas-run health ministry.
