AFP UK

Athens (AFP) – Tourists from around the world brave the intense heat in Athens to marvel the Acropolis, which is closing its doors during the hottest part of the day as Greece prepares for a new heatwave. The nation is preparing for further high temperatures until Sunday, with peaks of 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) expected in the centre of the country on Thursday. “It’s very uncomfortable, but I think in the end it is worth it to try to go through the heat and see the Acropolis which is such and amazing place,” university student Carlos Martin tells AFP.

Everett (United States) (AFP) – Tony Bennett, the last in a generation of classic American crooners whose ceaselessly cheery spirit bridged generations to make him a hitmaker across seven decades, died Friday in New York. He was 96.

Mariupol (Ukraine) (AFP) – A year after the port city of Mariupol fell to Moscow following a brutal siege, the main football stadium has a huge banner that reads “GLORY TO RUSSIA”, with a Russian and Soviet flag flying over it and armed die-hard Russian football fans patrolling the stands. Choosing to put their rivalries aside, these ultras formed the ‘Espanola’ fighting unit to fight for their nation.

Bogotá (AFP) – “The war between the state and the insurgency, which is the one that produces the casualties, is coming to an end,” says Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro before Congress as he defends his negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, to his critics.

London (AFP) – Senior doctors in England call for better pay and working conditions, as hospitals face the latest strike to hit the country’s state-run health service.

Unknown (AFP) – The leader of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement Hassan Nasrallah calls for the expulsion of the Swedish envoys in Arab and Muslim countries. “It’s the minimum required,” he said.

Yazd (Iran) (AFP) – Tall, chimney-like towers rise from the centuries-old buildings in Iran’s ancient city of Yazd, drawing in a pleasant breeze for residents of one of the world’s hottest cities. The wind catchers, called bagdirs in Persian, are among the engineering marvels inhabitants of central Iran have developed over centuries to stay cool in scorching temperatures.

Phoenix (AFP) – The homeless population in Phoenix are some of those most affected by the record heat wave hitting the US city. Daytime temperatures have been well above 110 degrees Fahrenheit for at least twenty days. Amy Schwabenlender of the Human Services Campus says it is a “life and death situation”.

Freetown (AFP) – In recent years Kush, a mix of various chemicals and plants that mimic the natural properties found in cannabis, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), is increasingly being used by youth in Sierra Leone. At only 25 US cents a dose, the drug is addicting users. ”We smoke it the whole day, we don’t stop,” says one. “Young people are dying,” warns Ibrahim Hassan Koroma, the founder of Mental Watch Advocacy Network Sierra Leone. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES

Amchît (Lebanon) (AFP) – In a pristine patch of Lebanon’s north coast, a rare marine visitor has fuelled opposition to a seafront development, in a country where unchecked construction has obstructed access to beaches. Residents of Amchit say a Mediterranean monk seal sometimes visits a sheltered cove in the area, but local environmental group Terre Liban has warned a proposed development on the ground above risks causing the cave to collapse, destroying the secluded site.

Antakya is home to two millenia’s worth of heritage and history, much of it now lying in ruins since the February 6 earthquake that devastated southern Turkey and Syria. Conservationists are calling on the Turkish government to do more to preserve what remains of the city’s histori sites.

At least 16 people were killed Thursday after a landslide smashed into their village in India’s Maharashtra state, as emergency workers continue to search for scores of missing people.