Los Angeles (AFP) – Titanic exhibition producer Tom Zaller, who made the trip to the ship’s wreckage in a Mir vessel in 2000, shares his experience of the expedition while search and rescue work for a missing submersible with five people onboard near the wreck of the Titanic is still ongoing.
Seoul (AFP) – Fans queue outside a Playstation pop-up store in Seoul to buy the new Final Fantasy XVI video game on the day of release. With its innovative plotlines and steampunk airships, the franchise has delighted fans and critics for 35 years and has become one of the top-selling games with more than 173 million copies sold worldwide.
Stepanakert (Azerbaijan) (AFP) – Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated region that broke away from Azerbaijan, is battling a humanitarian crisis complete with shortages of food and fuel.
Nakhon Pathom (Thailand) (AFP) – Rachanikorn Srikong is part of a small but growing community of cheesemakers attracting attention from top chefs in Michelin-starred restaurants in Bangkok.
Boston (AFP) – British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood and Dawood’s son Suleman, French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush are on board a missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic which is at the heart of a rescue mission by the US Coast Guard.
Moscow (AFP) – Russian president Vladimir Putin says that “oddly enough, at the moment we are seeing a certain calm” on the frontline in Ukraine. Speaking at a ceremony for graduates of higher military schools, Putin vows that Russia will keep developing its nuclear arsenal, given “the new challenges and the invaluable experience” of Moscow’s offensive against Kyiv.
The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says about “two-thirds of health facilities” in areas affected by the conflict in Sudan are “out of service.” He adds that the WHO has “verified 46 attacks on healthcare since the start of the fighting.”
Ghanaian ex-football player Daniel Tagoe teaches the game to children at a club he set up in the Kyrgyz village of Leninskoye, near the capital, Bishkek. He says that he dreams “to have them play in English premiership, in Spain, in Russia”, an ambitious goal in a country not known for its footballing prowess.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Images released by Ukraine’s Armed Forces show the country’s commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny consult and look over maps with other military officials. Fixed to the general’s tactical vest is a patch featuring wide-eyed and big-eared creature, clearly identifiable as Grogu, colloquially known as “Baby Yoda”, a character for Disney’s Star Wars series “The Mandalorian”.
Austin (AFP) – Amanda Zurawski almost died waiting for an abortion she desperately didn’t want nearly a year ago. After the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to a termination, doctors in Texas said they could not carry out the procedure she needed.
Turku (Finland) (AFP) – In Finland’s Turku shipyard, a luxurious cruise ship known as The Icon of the Seas is nearing its maiden voyage. The vessel commissioned by Royal Caribbean is intended to sail the scenic waters of the Caribbean Sea, docking in Miami.
Stonehenge (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Crowds gather to celebrate the northern hemisphere’s summer solstice at the ancient British monument of Stonehenge, built some 5,000 years ago to align with the rising of the sun on midsummer’s day.
