Geneva (AFP) – Humanitarian chiefs at the United Nations in Geneva say they have run out of words to describe the horrors unfolding in Gaza, stressing that states and especially Israel cannot “offload” responsibility for the carnage onto aid workers. “It will not be our fault if people suffer, it will be the fault of those who decide to make them suffer,” Martin Griffiths, United Nations aid chief, says.
Lima (AFP) – A Lima police squad with an officer disguised as a bear paid a surprise visit with romantic gifts to capture two women members of a drug trafficking gang on the eve of Valentine’s Day. For some time now, local police have been tricking criminals with disguises and operations launched on special dates.
London (AFP) – Supporters of Julian Assange, including his wife Stella and the editor in chief of Wikileaks, Kristinn Hrafnsson, hold a press conference ahead of his final appeal against extradition from the UK to the United States. The US wants to put the Australian publisher on trial for divulging American military secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A two day hearing is set to begin at the High Court in London on February 20.
Kharkiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Under the constant threat of rocket attacks, children in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv have started going to school underground. In September 2023, a school was established in the city’s metro network. “The children who come here are frightened by the war and they are in a stressful situation”, says school director Olha Belykh. “Teachers, tutors and psychologists work with them here, providing psychological and medical assistance.”
Nezahualcóyotl (Mexico) (AFP) – More than a thousand couples get hitched in a free mass wedding near Mexico City on Valentine’s Day. The municipality of Nezahualcoyotl has organized this celebration for 11 years, and the event has now reached a record number of participants, with some 1,200 couples.
Yerevan (AFP) – Azerbaijan is planning a “full-scale war” against Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says, two days after a skirmish on their border left four Armenian troops dead. Tensions between the two Caucasus neighbours have remained high since Baku re-captured the Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh last September in a lightning military offensive.
Jakarta (AFP) – Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto looks set to become the new president of the world’s third-largest democracy, likely avoiding a runoff vote against election rivals who have yet to concede.
Shambhu (India) (AFP) – Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel block a highway to prevent farmers from marching towards New Delhi during a protest demanding minimum crop prices, at the Haryana-Punjab state border in Shambhu near Ambala about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the capital. IMAGES
Shambhu (India) (AFP) – Columns of Indian farmers on tractors march on the capital to demand guaranteed crop prices. They launched this week the “Delhi Chalo”, or “March to Delhi”, in an echo of January 2021, when they broke through barriers and rolled into New Delhi on Republic Day during a then year-long protest.
Sarajevo (AFP) – Forty years since their impeccable performance at the Sarajevo Olympics left the world breathless, British skating greats Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean return to the Bosnian capital to mark the anniversary.
Canberra (AFP) – Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks to a parliament hearing about the war in Gaza and calls on Israel not to go ahead with a planned ground offensive in Rafah.
Istanbul (AFP) – The afternoon prayers have ended in the working-class Istanbul mosque and the silver-haired men turn their gaze from the imam to the fitness instructor in a white polo shirt. A dozen worshippers, including the imam, begin their exercises. In January, a fitness project was launched in 11 mosques of Istanbul’s deprived Bagcilar district and is allowing these men to get more exercise than they have had in years. But women in Turkey, who more often pray at home, are excluded from the project.
