AFP UK

Vienna (AFP) – During a press conference in Vienna, Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban defends his weekend comments against creating “peoples of mixed-race”, saying they represented a “cultural, civilisational standpoint”. “It happens sometimes that I speak in a way that can be misunderstood… the position that I represent is a cultural, civilisational standpoint,” Orban tells a joint press conference with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer during a one-day visit to neighbouring Austria.

Jaén (Spain) (AFP) – In the scorching heat Felipe Elvira inspects the branches of his olive trees, planted as far as the eye can see on a dusty hillside in southern Spain. “There are no olives on these. Everything is dry,” the 68-year-old says. He and his son own a 100-hectare (250-acre) olive farm in the southern province of Jaen in sun-drenched Andalusia, a region which produces the bulk of the country’s olive oil. But a severe drought gripping much of Spain threatens to shrivel their harvest this year.

Hrensko (Czech Republic) (AFP) – Smoke billows from huge swathes of land in Hřensko, a municipality in the Czech Republic on the northern border with Germany. Fires have broken out across the Bohemian Switzerland National Park after record temperatures for the region were broken earlier in the week. The Czech fire rescue service tweeted “we still have a lot of work to do”.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – On a sunny Saturday afternoon in Kyiv, five couples are fervently waiting to get married in front of one of the city register offices. In Ukraine, would-be spouses have been taking advantage of a simplification in the red tape around marriage that allows them to wed on the spot, rather than having to register first and come back after a long wait.

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro hosts a new 8K-resolution version of “Van Gogh Live,” an exhibition that brings to life animated versions of the artist’s work. “It took us, a team of 50 people, six months to develop this project,” says executive producer Rafael Reisman.

Hong Kong (AFP) – Zoila Lecarnaque Saavedra’s fate was sealed after a package with liquid cocaine was found in her luggage upon arrival at Hong Kong International airport. She spent eight years in prison before she could be reunited with her family in Peru. A quarter of Hong Kong’s prisoners are women, a record high percentage skewed by impoverished foreign drug mules who are often duped or coerced. Meanwhile, the real smuggling kingpins who control them rarely see the inside of a cell. “They find people who are in a precarious economic situation,” Lecarnaque Saavedra told AFP. “They look for them and in this case it was me.”

Lussas (France) (AFP) – The fire that ravaged nearly 1,000 hectares of land in the Ardèche region in France on Wednesday without causing any casualties, is expected to be extinguished during the night, with 600 firefighters mobilised. Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Michel Chalancon believes that the population is not at risk “for now”.

Quebec City (AFP) – Pope Francis decries “ideological colonization” Wednesday and renews his apology to Indigenous peoples for decades of abuse in a speech in Quebec city to Canada’s top officials, who invited him to take further action leading to “real reconciliation.”

Purapul (Kenya) (AFP) – A nutrient-dense peanut paste long used to prevent child starvation in disasters across the globe can mean the difference between life and death in a drought-hit region in Kenya.

Washington (AFP) – After testing negative for Covid-19, US President Joe Biden highlights the importance of vaccines, comparing his quick recovery at the White House to Donald Trump’s hospitalization for the virus.

Quebec City (AFP) – Pope Francis lands in Quebec City, where he will address Canada’s political leaders after dedicating the first part of his journey to apologizing for the abuse of Indigenous children at Catholic-run schools.

Washington (AFP) – Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that the United States has put forward a “substantial” offer to Russia on prisoners as he prepares to speak to his counterpart by telephone.