Paris (AFP) – Starting from July 1, France will ban smoking in all outdoor places that can be accessed by children, including beaches, parks and bus stops. According to a recent opinion survey, six out of 10 French people (62%) favour banning smoking in public places.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – People run to take cover and smoke rises amid destruction, after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City. People were “torn to pieces”, says one witness, with “severed heads and severed hands”. Israel recently intensified its offensive in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war and killed 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. More than 54,321 people, mostly civilians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Satara (India) (AFP) – Traditional Indian mud wrestling, known as “kushti” or “dangal”, has millennia-old roots but remains hugely popular. The sport, which blends traditional hand-to-hand combat with Persian martial arts, has acted as a training ground for several Indian athletes to win wrestling medals at the Olympic Games.
Cambridge (United States) (AFP) – President of Harvard University, Alan Garber, gets a huge cheer as he shows support for foreign students at the Ivy League institution’s graduation ceremony. A judge has temporarily halted the Trump Administration’s efforts to block America’s oldest university from hosting and enrolling foreign students, who make up 27 percent of its student body. US President Donald Trump has made Harvard the central target of his campaign against elite US universities, which he has also threatened with funding freezes over what he says is liberal bias and anti-Semitism.
Singapore (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron says in a speech in Singapore that abandoning Gaza and giving Israel a “free pass” would “kill” the West’s credibility with the rest of the world.
Seoul (AFP) – South Korea’s liberal frontrunner candidate Lee Jae-myung will face off with his conservative opponent Kim Moon-soo in a presidential election triggered by the ousting of ex-leader Yoon Suk Yeol’s after a disastrous martial law declaration. South Korean voters are turning out in record numbers, with one in five already having cast early ballots ahead of election day on June 3.
Campinas (Brazil) (AFP) – Gabi Matos walks through Taquaral Lake Park in Campinas, cradling a baby in her arms and cooing softly. But a closer look reveals the baby isn’t human — it’s a hyper-realistic doll, meticulously crafted by artists to look just like a real infant. In Brazil, demand for these lifelike replicas, which originated in the United States in the early 1990s, has surged in recent years. The craze has attracted criticism from both social media and Brazil’s Congress.
Rugezi (Rwanda) (AFP) – Rwanda faces many accusations of rights abuses, but it has been praised for its conservation work, which is key to its vital tourism sector. Spearheading efforts to preserve the Grey Crowned Crane is conservationist Olivier Nsengimana, whose work has seen the migratory bird make a comeback in recent years. N°43DK462
Goiania (AFP) – Two Brazilian nuns, Sister Marizele and Sister Marisa, have gone viral on social media after their energetic beatboxing and dancing during a religious program in Goiania, in the Central-West region of Brazil. The sisters are members of the Copiosa Redencao congregation.
Madrid (AFP) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says that “the whole of the European Union should join in the arms embargo on Israel”, while hosting Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob in Madrid. “There is no alternative to a peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine with its two states,” he adds.
