Tammun (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians recover a body from a house demolished by the Israeli army in Tammun, in the north of the occupied West Bank. Israeli troops killed five Palestinians in Tammun, the mayor said, in a raid the army described as targeting buildings it suspects of being used to plan terror attacks.
Bangkok (AFP) – Footage released by Thai police shows two infant orangutans — one about a year old, the other just one month — inside plastic baskets wearing diapers. Thai police have arrested a man suspected of smuggling the two baby orangutans into the kingdom in a case linked to an international wildlife trafficking network.
Kyauktaw (Myanmar) (AFP) – People in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine rush for cover while a military jet circles overhead and explosions are heard. An air strike hit Kyauktaw a day earlier on May 14, killing three civilians, according to residents, who try to salvage belongings from destroyed houses in the aftermath.
Montevideo (AFP) – Lucia Topolansky, 80, wife of the former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica — who died on May 13 — arrives at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, where his body will lie in state for three days. The 89-year-old erstwhile leftist guerrilla, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost a year-long battle against cancer. Topolansky and President Yamandu Orsi, Mujica’s political heir, led a funeral procession on May 14 with the former leader’s coffin, draped in the Uruguayan flag, on a simple horse-drawn carriage. IMAGES
Ankara (AFP) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia appears to have sent a “dummy” delegation with an unclear mandate to Turkey for the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in over three years. Zelensky makes the comments from Ankara, ahead of a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Antalya (Turkey) (AFP) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump is “open to virtually any mechanism” to achieve peace in Ukraine. Speaking in the Turkish city of Antalya, Rubio says the US is “open to being constructive”, adding that “this war is going to end not through a military solution, but through a diplomatic one.”
Tokoza (South Africa) (AFP) – During a grannies beauty pageant in Tokoza, south of Johannesburg, senior beauties strut down the catwalk, as friends and families watch on with pride. The contest is also a recognition of their lives which many have devoted to the care of their loved ones. “All they do is look after great-grandchildren and grandchildren, so to have programmes like this where they are celebrated,” says Bridget Thusi, a local Mayoral Committee member, is “amazing”.
Maiquetía (Venezuela) (AFP) – A two-year-old Venezuelan girl, separated from her parents after being deported from the United States without her, is reunited with her family in Caracas — earning President Donald Trump rare praise from Venezuela’s government.
Sloviansk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Gathered in a wedding hall in the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, near the front line, Anna and Pavlo Chornobai exchange rings to the applause of a dozen of the groom’s fellow soldiers. The bride insisted on a white dress for the civil ceremony. But on everything else, including the prospect of celebrating with friends and family, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced her to make compromises.
Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) – Syrians in the city of Aleppo take to the streets to celebrate US President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on their war-torn country. In a speech during his trip to Riyadh, Trump said he was offering Syria a “chance for greatness” after Bashar al-Assad’s fall, as he casts himself as a peacemaker in the Middle East. The lingering sanctions have widely been seen as a major obstacle to Syria’s economic recovery and post-war reconstruction.
Hanoi (AFP) – Vietnamese Buddhists welcome the relics of Shakyamuni Buddha in Hanoi during Vesak Day celebrations, the most sacred day in the religion’s calendar. Vesak Day commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, all traditionally believed to have occurred on the full moon day of the Vesakha month in the ancient Indian lunar calendar.
Beit Lahia (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians mourn over the bodies of their loved ones killed in Israeli strikes, as negotiations take place in Qatar for the release of hostages still held in the war-battered territory. “The number of martyrs killed in the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip since dawn today has risen to 80, including 59 in the northern Gaza Strip,” civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir told AFP.
