Cannes (AFP) – Val Kilmer, one of the biggest Hollywood actors of the 1990s who shot to fame playing Iceman in the original “Top Gun”, has died of pneumonia aged 65 after a career of memorable hits and on-set bust ups.
Nikosia (AFP) – The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Deputy Special Adviser on Cyprus, Colin Stewart, hosts a meeting for Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, in the buffer zone of the divided island. The meeting comes after talks on March 18 in Geneva that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said brought the first meaningful progress in years towards healing Cyprus’s divisions.
Paris (AFP) – Like the action in his widely acclaimed new film “Hard Truths”, veteran British director Mike Leigh swings between gratitude and despair as he reflects on his life and career. The 82-year-old is aware of the great fortune he has had to make more than a dozen films over a glittering five-decade run, including “Secrets and Lies” and “Vera Drake”.
Peking (AFP) – China warns Taiwan that “punishment will not stop” until its leaders stop pushing for what Beijing says is independence from the mainland. “We will never allow anyone, any force, in any way to separate Taiwan from China,” says foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun as China’s military holds a second day of drills around the island.
Tangail (Bangladesh) (AFP) – Bangladeshi Junayed Akter is one of 35 million children — around 60 percent of all children in the South Asian nation — with dangerously high levels of lead, leaving him with the diminutive stature of someone several years younger. The causes are varied, but his mother blames his condition on a now-shuttered factory that hastily scrapped and recycled old car batteries for profit, poisoning the air and soil of their small village in the process. As informal battery recycling thrives in Bangladesh, millions of people remain unaware of the risks of lead exposure.
Naypyidaw (Myanmar) (AFP) – Five days after a devastating earthquake hit Myanmar, rescuers pull a man alive from the ruins of a hotel in the capital Naypyidaw. The 26-year-old hotel worker was extracted by a joint Myanmar-Turkish team.
Grindavík (Iceland) (AFP) – Lava spews from a crater row on the outskirts of the Icelandic fishing village of Grindavik. The village in southwest Iceland was evacuated after the volcanic eruption, the eighth to hit the region since the end of 2023.
Dutse (Nigeria) (AFP) – Thousands come together for the traditional Durbar festival, recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage in the city of Dutse, northern Nigeria. The festival is cancelled for the second time in a row in its origin city of Kano, due to a legal tussle between two rival royals contesting the emir’s throne. Nigeria’s traditional rulers have no constitutional powers but are important cultural custodians, wielding enormous influence that is crucial for politicians.
Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump has the world’s leading economies on edge as he prepares to unveil a promised raft of tariffs that critics say could trigger a global trade war. Trump has dubbed an announcement on tariffs expected on 2 April as “Liberation Day” for the US. “It’s tough to put together a concrete plan when you really don’t know what is going to happen and how long it will last for,” says Carrie McEachran, CEO of a chamber of commerce in a Canadian border town.
Laruns (France) (AFP) – Day or night, in the rubble, in the mountains, or by the river, civil security dogs sniff and search for victims during multi-day exercises in France and Spain to train for emergency response. Called upon particularly during natural disasters, Belgian Malinois, Border Collies, and German Shepherds rely on their sense of smell to quickly locate injured or unconscious individuals.
Beijing (AFP) – Efforts towards Taiwan independence are “doomed to fail”, China says, as it conducts large-scale military drills around the self-ruled island. China on Tuesday sent its army, navy, air and rocket forces to surround Taiwan for large-scale drills Beijing says are aimed at practising for “precision strikes” and a blockade.
Mandalay (Myanmar) (AFP) – Four days after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake devastated Myanmar, killing more than 2,000 people and injuring nearly 4,000, Mandalay holds a minute of silence to honour the victims. Hopes are starting to fade that any more survivors will be found.
