Paju (South Korea) (AFP) – The Daonsoop cafe in Paju, South Korea, is so close to the North Korean border that to obtain a building permit its owners, both the children of North Korean refugees, had to construct the property with a bunker. Once a year, the bunker is requisitioned by the army for military exercises, but the rest of the time it is used by cartoonist Kim Dae-nyeon to display his artwork. N°43PD8G4
Ahmedabad (India) (AFP) – India’s Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation demolishes more than 50 small huts and farmhouses of Bangladeshi migrants in a sweeping crackdown in the western state of Gujarat, aimed at identifying and deporting undocumented migrants.
Madrid (AFP) – Spain’s grid operator rules out a cyberattack as the cause of a sweeping blackout that sparked chaos for millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula. Authorities are still trying to establish the cause of the crisis, with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urging people “not to speculate”.
Chakothi (Pakistan) (AFP) – Pulling logs and dusty building materials from a storage bunker outside his home in Kashmir, Riaz Awan readies the underground space to house his family as they brace for clashes between Pakistan and India to reach their border village.
Moscow (AFP) – Muscovites express hope for a peace with Ukraine, after Russian President Vladimir Putin orders a truce on May 8-10 to coincide with Moscow’s World War II commemorations. The announcement has drawn ire from Ukraine which demands that Russia pause hostilities immediately.
Madrid (AFP) – People queue in the streets of Madrid to buy radios amid yesterday’s power outage, which forced metros, supermarkets and offices to shut down. “Just thinking about ways of communicating and looking for means of communication, I suddenly thought that radio was the only thing that could work,” says Vicente Navarro, a musician.
Baku (AFP) – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meets with his Azerbaijani counterpart in a rare visit to Baku, the latest sign of a thaw in relations between the two neighbours. During the meeting Pezeshkian says that Iran sees the region of Karabakh as “an inseparable part of Azerbaijan.” Over the past four decades Azerbaijan has fought two wars with Armenia over the mountainous region of Karabakh. Azerbaijan seized the entire area in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023.
Hai Duong (Vietnam) (AFP) – When they crashed through the gates of Saigon’s presidential palace to end Vietnam’s war, the young crew of communist Tank 390 shaped the course of the country’s history — but 50 years on they are modest about their role in a pivotal chapter of the Cold War.
Freetown (AFP) – As the conclave prepares to elect a new pope, one church in Sierra Leone’s capital is hoping an African candidate will prevail. “If we have the next pope from Africa it will actually demonstrate the totality of our Christian faith,” Reverend Father Martin Peter Leo Bassei tells AFP after holding a Sunday mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Freetown. “It will also help the others that are coming up, the other Africans…to know that nothing is impossible.”
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (AFP) – Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira welcomes senior diplomats from BRICS countries for a meeting at the Itamaraty Palace, Rio de Janeiro, to present a united front in the face of threats emerging from US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policies. The meeting comes at a critical moment for the world economy after the International Monetary Fund slashed growth forecasts over the impact of the American leader’s sweeping new tariffs. IMAGES
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (AFP) – Senior diplomats from BRICS countries pose for a family photo at the Itamaraty Palace, Rio de Janeiro, as they meet to present a united front in the face of threats emerging from US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policies. IMAGES
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Clutching battered pots, children and women scramble to get a meal at a community food kitchen in Gaza City after the United Nation’s World Food Programme said it had depleted its food stocks. The humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian territory has worsened since Israel blocked all aid entering into Gaza from March 2, days before it resumed its military campaign in the territory following the collapse of a ceasefire.
