Kfar Naseh (Syria) (AFP) – In a camp in northern Syria, children displaced by the country’s 13-year-old war play and splash in volunteer-run mobile swimming pools that provide much-needed cool relief in the sweltering summer heat. The pools at Kafr Naseh camp, in the Aleppo countryside, have been set up by volunteers from the Smile Younited charity.
Jaisalmer (India) (AFP) – The Rajkumari Ratnavati girls’ school, in India’s sweltering Thar desert, is an oasis of cool thanks to a combination of age-old techniques and modern design. The building was designed by US-based architect Diana Kellogg and built by local artisans.
Tel-Aviv (AFP) – Thousands of Israelis protest in Tel Aviv as Gaza ceasefire talks resume in Cairo, calling for a ceasefire deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
Moscou (AFP) – Thousands of flag-waving Russians gather for a concert by the pro-Kremlin pop star Shaman, one of many events authorities hope will rally patriotism almost two-and-a-half years into the Ukraine conflict.
Tel-Aviv (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns that Sunday’s strikes in Lebanon were “not the final word” in his country’s military campaign against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Kramatorsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian emergency services conduct search and rescue operations at the site of a hotel badly damaged by an overnight Russian strike in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. The Reuters news agency said that one team member was missing and two others were wounded in the strike.
Solingen (Allemagne) (AFP) – German police are hunting a man suspected of killing three people in a knife attack at a street festival on Friday night, with prosecutors saying a terror motive is “not excluded”. One person has been detained in connection with the stabbings, which took place at a “Festival of Diversity” in the western city of Solingen. The attack killed three people and injured eight, four of whom are said to be in serious condition, according to a statement.
Stoke Mandeville (Royaume-Uni) (AFP) – Several days before the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games begin, the Paralympic flame is lit next to the English hospital in Stoke Mandeville near London, where the idea for the competition was born. “Behind this flame, there is a powerful message of peace,” says Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 organising committee, who received the flame before it starts its journey to France.
Niamey (Niger) (AFP) – Heavy rain has caused severe flooding in the region around Niger’s capital, Niamey, submerging roads and cutting the capital off from parts of the rest of the country for several days. Worried residents fear that hastily reinforced dykes will not hold. “We are really scared,” says Mahamadou Abdourahamane Zongona, a resident of the Lamorde district in Niamey.
Madrid (AFP) – With temperatures of over 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) outside, the Snozone indoor ski resort in Spain offers a cool escape. An icy breeze in the lobby and a polar bear at the entrance plunge summer visitors into another world at the Xanadu shopping centre south of Madrid.
Gaborone (Botswana) (AFP) – Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi shows reporters a massive 2,492-carat diamond — the second largest ever found in the world — that was discovered in the north east of the country by a Canadian mining company
Sydney (AFP) – A juvenile humpback whale entangled in ropes and buoys in the harbour of Australia’s largest city has been freed after 22 hours. For decades, humpback whale populations were hunted to the brink of extinction. Now, thanks to NGOs and conservation efforts there are an estimated 40,000 in waters around Australia alone.
