London (AFP) – A judge announces that Shamima Begum, stripped of her British citizenship after leaving the country as a teenager to marry an Islamic State group fighter has lost her appeal against the decision. London’s Court of Appeal rejected all five arguments presented by Shamima Begum, 24, although she can still take the case to the supreme court.
London (AFP) – Hundreds of people head to a London nightclub in the middle of the day, a new concept in Britain for those who still have an urge to dance but who no longer want to endure a sleepless night to do so. The clientele are mostly in their forties and fifties, many of whom have jobs and young children and who can ill afford suffering the effects of a wild night out the next day.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Life goes on in the Ukrainian capital as the second anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war approaches. One Kyiv resident says “we learned how to live with it, if it can be called life.” Moscow now controls 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, is better armed and has more troops. Despite this, the sprawling 1,000-kilometre front line has barely moved in more than a year. But negotiations to end the war are a distant prospect.
Chepkorio (Kenya) (AFP) – In Kenya’s athletics heartland, the funeral of marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum draws top athletes, dignitaries and hundreds of mourners to pay their last respects. “In Kelvin, we saw the future of athletics in Kenya,” says President William Ruto. Kiptum’s widow also gives a tearful tribute. “I mourn, my love,” she says, “I have cried until no more.” Kiptum, a 24-year-old father of two, was killed in a late-night car crash on February 11, just months after shattering the marathon record in Chicago.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) – Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accuses Russia at the UN General Assembly of ignoring the will of the world as its war against Kyiv enters a third year.
Liuzhou (China) (AFP) – In a growing number of less-developed areas in China, the face of greener transport is the Wuling Hongguang Mini — a dinky two-door electric vehicle.
Torrance (United States) (AFP) – Employees of US firm Scorpius celebrate the landing of America’s first spaceship on the moon in more than 50 years. The California-based company built two of the fuel tanks on the Odysseus lunar lander.
Haffouz (Tunisia) (AFP) – The Tunisian town of Haffouz lies in an impoverished region known for high rates of joblessness and suicide, but every Friday music classes run by Tunisia 88 help to lift spirits.
Fox Lake (Canada) (AFP) – Beneath the ground in Western Canada, dozens of so-called “zombie fires” that started last year are still burning.
Morropón (Peru) (AFP) – In a northern province of Peru, people struggle to cross a flooding river by renting small boats or pushing vehicles on foot.
Chepkorio (Kenya) (AFP) – Hundreds of people flock to a village in western Kenya to honour and pay tribute to marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum, who died earlier this month in a road accident. “I still feel my heart is still so heavy,” says Philip Kiplagat, Kiptum’s uncle. “The whole family is in a critical, sad moment.”
Leiria (Portugal) (AFP) – Bobi, previously crowned the world’s oldest dog, has been posthumously stripped of his title due to inconclusive evidence of his age, Guinness World Records (GWR) announced Thursday. Guinness relied on microchip data sources from the Portuguese government’s pet database, “SIAC”. When Bobi was chipped in 2002, SIAC “did not require proof of age for dogs born before 2008”, Guinness adjudicator Mark McKinley said in a statement.
