Geneva (AFP) – G7 leaders have “a particular responsibility” to tackle “profound global challenges” says UN chief Antonio Guterres. Speaking in Geneva on 12 June, after returning from a conference on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and ahead of a G7 summit in Italy, Guterres describes “a unique level of destruction…and casualties in the Palestinian population.”
Undisclosed (Ukraine) (AFP) – “We don’t have time to watch the news” says Oleksandr, a member of a Ukrainian tank unit near the Donetsk region frontline, ahead of a peace summit due to take place in Switzerland. “All the guys just want to come home alive” he adds. Away from the front, Kyiv has based its summit agenda on a 10-point ‘peace plan’ and hopes to unite the international community behind it when world leaders gather on 15 and 16 June.
Japanese 89-year-old Tomiji Suzuki started coding in retirement and is now making apps for the fast-growing elderly demographic. So far Suzuki has developed 11 free iPhone apps to help Japan’s ageing population, including his latest: a slideshow of items to remember when leaving the house, from a wallet and hearing aids to patient registration cards.
Jakarta (AFP) – Rifda Irfanaluthfi is the first Indonesian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, let alone the first woman, and her mind is set on reaching Paris fully fit so she can etch her name into gymnastics legend at home.
Yerevan (AFP) – Dozens of demonstrators were injured in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Wednesday, after police fired stun grenades at an anti-government rally outside parliament to protest Armenia’s land concessions to arch foe Azerbaijan, as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was answering questions from lawmakers inside.
Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) – Fire rages at an asphalt storage facility of an oil refinery located on a road west of Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. IMAGES
Snigurivka (Ukraine) (AFP) – Deminer Tetiana Shpak crouches down in a once tranquil poppy-strewn field near the southern Ukrainian city of Snigurivka, now littered with Russian mines. Just a few years ago, this scene would have been impossible — until 2018, women were banned from becoming deminers, a profession long considered too dangerous for them. But the Russian invasion in February 2022 changed that. More women like her are joining mine-clearance teams, where they now account for 30 percent of personnel, according to official data.
Berlin (AFP) – In two years’ time, a massive hole in the heart of Berlin will become the German capital’s biggest reservoir, capturing an increasingly precious resource — water. Once a swamp centuries ago, Berlin has gone from a city trying to keep its abundant groundwater from overflowing to one scrambling to keep its forests green.
Tecoluca (AFP) – More than 2,000 alleged gang members are being transferred from various prisons across El Salvador to a single security “mega-prison” at the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) in Tecoluca. Rounding up more than 80,000 presumed gangsters under a state of emergency in place since March 2022, President Nayib Bukele also built the largest prison in Latin America to hold them. But human rights groups have reported the killing and torture of detainees and say thousands of innocent people, including minors, have been jailed.
Mekka (AFP) – Muslim worshippers flock to the Grand Mosque in Islam’s holiest city of Mecca to circle the Kaaba ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage. Saudi Arabia said the hajj will start on 14 June after astronomical observatories spotted the crescent moon Thursday evening, signalling the beginning of the month in which the annual pilgrimage falls.
Berlin (AFP) – During a visit to Germany’s capital Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine must not be divided, drawing parallels with the Berlin Wall in an address to the German parliament. He also warns of growing pro-Russian rhetoric in Europe after far-right parties — some sympathetic to the Kremlin — made gains in European Union elections.
Ya’an (China) (AFP) – Adoring fans throng Tokyo-born giant panda Xiang Xiang’s enclosure as she celebrates her seventh birthday months after returning to China from Ueno Zoo.
