Doha (AFP) – Qatar says it wants a US-Iran ceasefire to hold while diplomatic efforts continue, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari voicing support for Pakistan’s mediation efforts. “Until there is a diplomatic resolution, it is not in anyone’s benefit to return to hostilities,” he says.
Peking (AFP) – China vows to resist what it calls Japan’s “reckless militarisation” after Tokyo eased decades-old arms export rules, as it seeks to enter the international weapons market. “The international community, including China, will remain highly vigilant on this, and firmly resist Japan’s reckless new-style militarisation,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun tells a news briefing.
Buenos Aires (AFP) – “DJ Priest” Father Guilherme Peixoto, known for blending electronic music with messages of faith, hosts a tribute honoring the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis’s death, drawing crowds in Argentina to a unique event that fuses spirituality, music, and a call for peace. “It is necessary for people to realize that peace truly is a grace,” Peixoto says, “but at the same time it is very fragile.”
Malabo (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV greets crowds of people from his Popemobile in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, after arriving in the Central African nation for the final leg of his Africa tour. Leo’s visit follows in the footsteps of John Paul II, who 40 years ago became the first pope to visit Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich country of two million people, 80 percent of whom are Catholic, a legacy of Spanish colonisation.
Ballater (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Britain’s King Charles pays a heartfelt tribute to his mother, the late queen Elizabeth II, in a video message on what would have been her 100th birthday.
San Juan Teotihuacán (Mexique) (AFP) – A Canadian woman has been killed and five other people wounded in a shooting at the Teotihuacan archaeological site, central Mexico, where security forces including the army, National Guard and federal forensic teams have been deployed. The gunman killed himself after opening fire at the popular tourist destination, home to pre-Aztecan pyramids, according to the security secretary for Mexico state. IMAGES
Teotihuacán (Mexique) (AFP) – Forensic experts and members of the Red Cross transport a body on the Pyramid of the Moon, at the Teotihuacan archaeological site in central Mexico, after a Canadian woman was shot dead and at least four other people injured by a gunman. The gunman killed himself after opening fire at the popular tourist destination, home to pre-Aztecan pyramids, according to the security secretary for Mexico state. IMAGES
London (AFP) – UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer admits to MPs that he should not have appointed disgraced Labour party grandee Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. Addressing parliament about the deepening political scandal, Starmer says: “At the heart of this, there is also a judgement I made that was wrong.”
Khartum (AFP) – Hussein Idris sweeps a metal detector across a vast minefield in central Khartoum that was once a park beloved by local families. The war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has moved on from the capital since the military retook it last year, but Khartoum is still littered with explosive remnants that authorities are struggling to clear.
Sofia (AFP) – Residents of Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, offer their thoughts on the election of ex-president Rumen Radev, who has taken an absolute majority in the country’s parliamentary elections. “I’m glad that Rumen Radev won,” says landscaper Trayanka Ilieva, while engineer Iliya Dukadinov says “I don’t think this is the best possible outcome”. The EU’s poorest member, Bulgaria has experienced eight votes since 2021.
Teheran (AFP) – Iranians gather in coffee shops in northern Tehran, as uncertainty grows over a push to stop the Middle East war from resuming. US President Donald Trump said he was sending negotiators to Pakistan for fresh talks on ending the war that engulfed the region and rattled global markets, while repeating threats to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure if it did not make a deal. Tehran says it does not plan to attend the new round of negotiations.
Teheran (AFP) – Iran’s foreign ministry says that the United States is not serious about pursuing diplomacy. “On the contrary, there are repeated and numerous indications that no seriousness exists in the US when it comes to advancing diplomacy,” says ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing in Tehran.
