AFP UK

Seoul (AFP) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk says North Korea’s women football team’s expected participation in a match in South Korea is “encouraging” — but there are still “urgent steps” left to solve. North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s FC will play the South’s Suwon FC Women on May 20 in the Asian Champions League, which will mark the first time that a North Korean sports team has played in the South since 2018.

Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom) (AFP) – British military personnel carry out an airborne operation to deliver urgent medical support for a suspected hantavirus patient on a South Atlantic island, defence ministry footage shows. The army specialist team parachute onto the island of Tristan da Cunha, Britain’s most remote overseas territory, after the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise liner docked there in April.

Sanur (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Seated at a table draped in a floral plastic cover inside his prefabricated home, Israeli Meir Goldmintz says he is finally fulfilling a dream he has carried for two decades: “returning to Sa-Nur,” referring to a tiny settlement perched above Palestinian villages in the northern Israeli-occupied West Bank. The re-establishment of Sa-Nur —- dismantled in 2005 as part of an agreement with Palestinian authorities — is part of major settlement expansions undertaken by Israel’s current right-wing government.

Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom) (AFP) – British military personnel carry out an airborne operation to deliver urgent medical support for a suspected hantavirus patient on a South Atlantic island, defence ministry footage shows. The army specialist team parachute onto the island of Tristan da Cunha, Britain’s most remote overseas territory, after the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise liner docked there in April.

Beijing (AFP) – China says it is ready to work with the United States in the pursuit of “more stability” globally, ahead of this week’s meeting between leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. “China is willing to work with the United States in the spirit of equality, respect, and mutual benefit, to expand cooperation, manage differences, and inject more stability and certainty into a volatile and intertwined world,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun tells a press briefing.

Cannes (France) (AFP) – Final preparations are underway for the Cannes Film Festival as tourists take photos of the Palais des Festivals with the 79th edition set to kick off in two days.

Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV thanks the people of the Canary Islands for welcoming a cruise ship carrying passengers infected with hantavirus, ahead of his planned visit to the islands next month.

London (AFP) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vows to stay on and “rebuild” after his ruling Labour party suffered a historic drubbing in local and regional elections. “I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos,” he says.

Budapest (AFP) – Large crowds gather outside the Hungarian parliament building to celebrate the official inauguration of Peter Magyar as prime minister. Attendees include the incoming Health Minister Zsolt Hegedus, who went viral for his dancing on the night of the country’s April election. Magyar’s Tisza party won April’s election by a landslide, winning 141 of parliament’s 199 seats, ousting nationalist Viktor Orban after 16 years.

Moscow (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin says the war in Ukraine is “heading to an end”, blasting Western countries for helping Ukraine. This comes after a scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow, which saw security measured ramped up and celebrations downsized after a spate of Ukrainian long-range attacks in recent weeks.

Granadilla de Abona (Spain) (AFP) – Everyone on the hantavirus-hit ship is a “high-risk contact” and must be monitored says Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director during a briefing in Geneva. However, “the risk to the general public is low. The risk to the people in the Canary Islands is low,” she says.

Moscow (AFP) – Police cordons and authorities block traffic with trucks near the Kremlin and Red Square hours before Russia’s annual Victory Day parade begins in Moscow. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to uphold a three-day ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump while Russia holds the parade on Saturday, though the event was set to be scaled back over security fears. IMAGES