Photos: Romania’s annual Dancing Bears Festival to ‘ward off evil spirits’ | In Pictures

Photos: Romania’s annual Dancing Bears Festival to ‘ward off evil spirits’ | In Pictures

Centuries ago, people in what is now northeastern Romania donned bear skins and danced to fend off evil spirits. That custom is today known as the Dancing Bears Festival, drawing crowds of tourists every December. Hundreds of people of all ages, clad in bear costumes, dance every year around Christmas to the…

Palestinians perform Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa amid tight Israeli curbs | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Palestinians perform Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa amid tight Israeli curbs | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Israeli authorities barred Palestinians from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem for the 12th consecutive Friday. According to Anadolu Agency, the Israeli police set up barriers at the entrances to the Old City and allowed only the elderly to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Israeli police also set up checkpoints at…

No safe place for Palestinians in Gaza as Israel widens offensive | Israel-Palestine conflict News

No safe place for Palestinians in Gaza as Israel widens offensive | Israel-Palestine conflict News

As the Israeli military pounded central and southern Gaza by land, sea and air, Palestinian authorities reported scores of casualties and the United Nations health agency said thousands of people were trying to flee the widening offensive. Residents in the central Gaza Strip said that with nightfall, Israeli tank shelling…

Natural disasters that plagued the world in 2023 | Climate Crisis

Natural disasters that plagued the world in 2023 | Climate Crisis

Natural calamities and harsh weather dominated news headlines in 2023. Seismic tremors, massive floods, raging wildfires, unrelenting droughts, landslides, cyclones and storms hit around the world, killing and displacing tens of thousands of people. The most destructive event of the year was a twin earthquake with magnitudes of 7.8 and…

‘Dying every two hours’: Afghan women risk life to give birth | In Pictures News

‘Dying every two hours’: Afghan women risk life to give birth | In Pictures News

Zubaida travelled from the rural outskirts of Khost in eastern Afghanistan to give birth at a maternity hospital specialising in complicated cases, fearing a fate all too common among pregnant Afghan women – either her death or that of her child. She lay dazed, surrounded by the unfamiliar bustle of…

Who’s in charge of Tunisia’s streets? Writing’s on the wall | Arts and Culture

Who’s in charge of Tunisia’s streets? Writing’s on the wall | Arts and Culture

Tunis, Tunisia — Where control of the public space lies is one of the most fundamental questions at the heart of any society. Under repressive governments, such as those that held sway over Tunisia during the decades from independence up to its revolution of 2011, there was never any real…

Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp in ruins after deadly Israeli attack | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp in ruins after deadly Israeli attack | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Residents of Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp have returned to their neighbourhood to find only blocks of concrete lying where their homes had stood. “These houses are destroyed. Our house was bombed,” Abu Rami Abu al-Ais said on Monday, standing in the debris. “There’s no safe place in the Gaza Strip.”…

Photos: The staggering human toll of Israel’s war on Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict

Photos: The staggering human toll of Israel’s war on Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians, including women and children, destroyed homes and livelihoods, and displaced millions of people. With Israel pledging to continue its assault, the aerial and ground offensive is already one of the most devastating military offensives in recent history. The deaths in…

Palestinians flee homes in central Gaza after Israeli evacuation order | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Palestinians flee homes in central Gaza after Israeli evacuation order | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Central Gaza strip — Israel’s war on Gaza has once again forced thousands of Palestinians to flee as the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders in the central Gaza Strip. Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army spokesman, conveyed the directive on Friday through his social media platforms, urging residents of Bureij…