London (AFP) – Thomas Tuchel urges England to play without fear after claiming they were “afraid” in a scathing assessment of their run to the Euro 2024 final under his predecessor Gareth Southgate. Tuchel will take charge of England for the first time when they face Albania at Wembley on Friday in their opening World Cup qualifier.
Helsinki (AFP) – Finland ranks as the world’s happiest country for the eighth straight year in an annual UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, while the United States falls to its lowest ranking ever. “We have quite a well-functioning society,” explains Frank Martela, an academic specialised in wellbeing and happiness research. “We have free elections, free speech, low levels of corruption.”
Brüssel (AFP) – The head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, attends the European Summit in Brussels. In an address, he expresses his concerns about the situations in Ukraine and Gaza, lamenting that “death and destruction are back in Gaza”.
Damaskus (AFP) – The German flag waves once again over the newly reopened German embassy in Damascus. Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock officially reopened her country’s diplomatic mission, which closed in 2012 amid the Syrian civil war, on her second visit to the capital since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad more than three months ago.
Nationalpark Mount Kenya (AFP) – The “very, very beautiful” Lewis Glacier on Mount Kenya, Africa’s second highest peak, is now little more than “small patches of ice and snow”, says veteran guide Charles Kibaki Muchiri. It is one of the few mountains on the African continent with glaciers, and scientists fear it could become one of the first in modern times to turn entirely ice-free as soon as 2030.
Tokyo (AFP) – Three decades since Shizue Takahashi’s husband and a dozen others were killed with a nerve agent on Tokyo’s subway, she fears Japan could see a repeat of the doomsday cult attack. Another widow, Yuki Niimi, knows the group that carried out the attack only too well. Her husband was a follower of Aum Shinrikyo and was executed in 2018 for his role in the 1995 gas attack.
Buenos Aires (AFP) – Argentine retirees and football fans gather alongside unions and activists to protest against President Javier Milei’s budget-slashing policies, following last week’s violent day. Dozens of security force trucks, water cannons, and metal barriers are stationed around the Congress to prevent protesters from passing. IMAGES
La Paz (AFP) – Aymara Indigenous people march in La Paz to protest the shortage of dollars and fuel in the country. Wearing red ponchos and black hats, the Aymaras descend on Plaza Murillo, site of the presidential palace blocked by riot police, to deliver a list of demands to government officials. Since 2023 Bolivia has been undergoing an economic crisis due to the lack of US currency. It has almost exhausted its liquid international reserves, which it uses to import fuel to sell in the domestic market at subsidized prices. IMAGES
Kaboul (AFP) – The all-enveloping blue burqa with a face mesh has long been a symbol of the Taliban’s oppression of women in Afghanistan, but the trend is slowly changing.
Unknown (AFP) – Some 175 Russian soldiers have returned to Russia after an exchange with Ukraine in the latest prisoner swap, brokered by the United Arab Emirates. The Kremlin announced the swap on Tuesday, following talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Téhéran (AFP) – Lighting fireworks and dancing around fires, Iranians in Tehran are celebrating “Chaharshanbe Suri”, or “Fire Festival”. The celebration is held annually on the night of the last Tuesday of the Iranian calendar year.
Istanbul (AFP) – “There is no justice, there is no law”: Istanbul residents take to the street as the city’s popular opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu is detained in connection with two investigations into graft and “supporting terror”. The arrest comes just days before Imamoglu, considered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, was to be named the opposition candidate for the 2028 presidential election.
