Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mockingly says that “great geopoliticians are always unwilling to see ordinary people, ordinary Ukrainians.” He adds that such people are ignoring “millions of those who actually live in the territory they propose to exchange for the illusion of peace.”
Soledar (Ukraine) (AFP) – Empty playgrounds, lonely dogs and a constant backdrop of shelling fill the otherwise ghostly towns of Soledar and Bakhmut, located in the besieged Ukrainian east. The only movement is people boarding a bus — storing their suitcases in the hold and preparing to flee.
Uvalde (United States) (AFP) – “This town is hurt,” says Adolfo Hernandez, whose nephew was at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. “You just want to pinch yourself and wake up from that horrible nightmare,” he tells AFP.The tight-knit Latino community in the town is wracked with grief after a teen in body armor marched into an elementary school and killed 19 small children and two teachers, in the latest spasm of deadly gun violence in America.
London (AFP) – In a press conference, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeats his apologies after the publication of an internal inquiry by senior civil servant Sue Gray on lockdown-breaking parties at his residence of Downing Street, but maintains he believed they were “work events” and says he does not intend to resign “no matter how bitter and painful the conclusions of this may be”.
Kherson (Ukraine) (AFP) – Since Moscow captured Kherson in early March, information on what is happening there has been hard to come by. AFP journalists joined a press trip organised by the Russian Defence Ministry to find a region relatively untouched by the fighting – yet ‘apprehensive’ about the future.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that the West remains divided over the extent of its support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s invasion. Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, he singles out the European Union for its lack of unity.
Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis says his “heart aches for the massacre at the primary school in Texas,” which left at least 19 children and two teachers dead. “It is time to say enough is enough to indiscriminate arms trafficking,” he adds after his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square.
London (AFP) – Harry and Meghan’s figures have re-joined the royal family and the waxworks have been given a black tie makeover at Madame Tussauds in London, as the UK prepares to celebrate the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
Mardan (Pakistan) (AFP) – Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan greets supporters after landing his helicopter in the middle of a highway leading to Islamabad. He earlier called for a major rally in the country’s capital.
Peshawar (Pakistan) (AFP) – Imran Khan supporters gather in the ousted prime minister’s power base in the northwestern city of Peshawar planning to depart for a centre-piece showdown protest in Islamabad, as police block all roads leading to the capital city. IMAGES
Le Mont-Saint-Michel (France) (AFP) – French daredevil tightrope walker Nathan Paulin claim a new world record after completing a 2,200-metre-long (nearly 1.4-mile) trip to Mont Saint-Michel on a wire suspended between a crane and the famous abbey on the tidal island. It took him two hours to inch his way, barefoot, along the two-centimetre-wide slackline. +COMPLETES 32AZ9Z2_EN+ AND SOUNDBITES
Batu Pahat (Malaysia) (AFP) – Drones spraying pesticide, sensors taking soil readings, sprinklers that squirt fertiliser at the touch of a button — a Malaysian plantation is using high-tech methods to boost its crop of pungent durians.
