AFP UK

Yeoncheon (South Korea) (AFP) – K-pop megastar Jin from BTS is discharged from his South Korean military service. Jin is the first member of the band to complete the mandatory duty, freeing him up to fully resume musical activities. The seven members of the world’s most popular boy band have been performing their service — which South Korea requires of all men under 30, due to tensions with the nuclear-armed North — with the K-pop juggernaut on a self-described “hiatus” since 2022. ++ COMPLETES WITH VIDI_34WB9AW ++

Vidauban (Var) (France) (AFP) – A fire burns overnight through a forest in the Maures massif in the Var region of France. Fanned by strong winds, it has already burned 600 hectares, the first major blaze in southern France this year despite the deployment of hundreds of firefighters.

Yeoncheon (South Korea) (AFP) – K-pop megastar Jin from BTS was discharged from his South Korean military service on Wednesday. Jin is the first member of the band to complete the mandatory duty, freeing him up to fully resume musical activities. The seven members of the world’s most popular boy band have been performing their service — which South Korea requires of all men under 30, due to tensions with the nuclear-armed North — with the K-pop juggernaut on a self-described “hiatus” since 2022. IMAGES

Menton (France) (AFP) – “I remain on the right, I remain a Republican” but “alliances had to be built,” says the leader of France’s right-wing Republicans (LR), Eric Ciotti, after advocating a shock alliance between his party and the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen. The announcement has led to call for Ciotti’s resignation from within the LR.

Tbilisi (AFP) – On 4 June, Georgia’s ruling party outlined a package of draft laws that would ban what it calls “LGBT propaganda”, mirroring similar legislation used to crack down on gay rights in Russia and, more recently, Hungary. Tato Londaridze, owner of the first gay club in the Caucasus and Mariam Kvaratskhelia, co-founder of LGBTQ rights group Tbilisi Pride, tell AFP that the legislation could spell the end for their organisations and force them into exile.

Ayutthaya (Thailand) (AFP) – An elephant in Thailand has delivered a rare set of twins in a dramatic birth that left a carer injured as he protected one of the newborns from her mother’s attack.

Tokyo (AFP) – Down a Tokyo street lined with bright signs, up narrow stairs and behind a windowless door is a “snack bar” long cherished by regulars but hidden from tourists — until now.

Foshan (China) (AFP) – Rowers careen around tight corners past packed crowds in southern China’s Foshan, where the Dragon Boat racing is more “Fast and Furious” than your average contest.

Kostanay Region (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – After a long journey, three Przewalski horses return to their native habitat in Kazakhstan — the first of 40 of the endangered species to be released in the vast Central Asian country over the next five years. “This is the moment we have been waiting for for a very long time,” says Albert Salemgareyev from the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Kazakhstan.

Oradour-sur-Glane (France) (AFP) – “Let us never forget the damage caused in Europe by nationalism and hatred!”, says German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier giving a speech in Oradour-sur-Glane in France, as governments in France and Germany have been weakened following a surge in far-right parties in the the EU vote.

Rome (AFP) – Far-right gains in EU elections have sent the bloc into turmoil and triggered a political earthquake in France, with President Emmanuel Macron calling snap legislative polls in a high-risk move. Although centrist mainstream parties kept an overall majority in the European Parliament, preliminary results of the vote sent Europe’s stock markets and the euro sliding.

Hong Kong (AFP) – The Darkness Fighters are Hong Kong’s only team that pairs visually impaired people with sighted volunteers to compete in the annual Dragon Boat Festival. The team was founded in 2018 and today has around 50 members — many of them retirees — with varying levels of eyesight and physical fitness.