Essaouira (Morocco) (AFP) – The Gnaoua World Music Festival in Morocco’s Essaouira gathers thousands each year to celebrate the centuries-old spiritual music, blending African rhythms with spiritual chants and poetry.
Belgrade (AFP) – Serbian interior minister Ivica Dacic visits a Belgrade hospital where a police officer shot in the neck with a crossbow is being taken care off. The attack occurred in front of the Israeli embassy in the Serbian capital, in what the minister calls an “act of terrorism”. The attacker was killed during the events.
La Paz (AFP) – Former Bolivia president Evo Morales questions the official version of “a coup with zero wounded, zero shots, zero deaths” and calls for an investigation into the June 26 events in the South American country. A total of 21 active, retired and civilian military personnel have been arrested.
Eastern Ladakh (India) (AFP) – India’s Tibetan herders of the high Himalayas used to guide their goats through even the harshest winters on age-old seasonal routes. That stopped in 2020, after troops from nuclear-armed rivals India and China clashed in the contested lands of Ladakh. For thousands, it meant traditional lands were closed off and the start of a decline in their way of life.
Nicosia (AFP) – Armed with acrylic paints and a paint brush, French street artist SETH brings colour to Nicosia, the capital of the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The island was “once a whole entity” explains SETH as he nears the end of the project, “I wanted to talk about this.”
La Paz (AFP) – After refusing to withdraw troops in an attempted coup, Bolivian army chief Juan Jose Zuniga has been arrested and dismissed from his post. In a twist to the unfolding drama, Zuniga claims he was following orders from President Luis Arce in a bid to boost his popularity ahead of the 2025 election. An accusation Arce denies, saying the army chief “acted alone.”
Nairobi (AFP) – A funeral procession is held in Nairobi for 19-year-old Ibrahim Kamau, killed outside parliament during the anti-tax protest on 25 June. Kenyan President William Ruto has since withdrawn the deeply unpopular financial bill, bowing to pressure following deadly clashes.
Atlanta (AFP) – Joe Biden and Donald Trump traded fiery barbs as they bitterly attacked each other’s records and conduct, in a debate with enormous stakes as each seeks to shift the razor-tight race for the White House. Donald Trump “probably won” the face-off, says political analyst Aaron Kall after the fiery debate, citing Biden’s “slow start”.
Corumba, Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil) (AFP) – Firefighters from the city of Corumba battle one of the hundreds of wildfires ravaging Brazil’s Pantanal region, the world’s largest tropical wetland. The region, home to millions of animal species, is currently experiencing record fires for this time of year.
Medellín (Colombia) (AFP) – One person has died and several were injured in a Medellin Metrocable accident in the early hours of 26 June, the first since the system was inaugurated in 2004.
Mokopane (South Africa) (AFP) – Injecting radioactive material into live rhino horns, the Rhisotope project has found a new way to curb poaching in South Africa, home to about 15,000 rhinos. By placing small chips in the thick-skinned herbivores’ horns, the team is effectively rendering them poisonous for human consumption and easily detectable.
Paris (AFP) – France must “stay away from extremes” in upcoming legislative election, French basketball star Victor Wembanyama says, three days ahead of the first round of voting expected to be won by the far right.
