Sochi (Russia) (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin warns that Moscow will strike new targets if the West supplies long-range missiles to Ukraine and says new arms deliveries to Kyiv are aimed at “prolonging the conflict”. In extracts of an interview to be broadcast on Rossiya-1 television, Putin did not specify exactly which targets could be hit nor the exact range of the missiles to which Moscow would react.
Koh Dong (Thailand) (AFP) – Fifty-nine Rohingya people have been discovered on a Thai island, saying they were abandoned by traffickers en route to Malaysia, a senior police officer says. Each year, thousands of the mostly Muslim minority Rohingya people, heavily persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, risk their lives in months-long expensive journeys to reach Malaysia over Thailand’s seas. Police said they had been charged with illegal entry and could face deportation to Myanmar following a court case.
Servion (Switzerland) (AFP) – Visitors to a Swiss zoo catch a glimpse of a rare albino Galapagos giant tortoise born in May. The baby tortoise may be a unique sight to behold with fair skin and red eyes. It weighs around 50 grams (1.7 ounces), and fits in the palm of one’s hand.
Sagaing (Myanmar) (AFP) – Drone footage obtained by AFP show columns of smoke rising into the sky from villages, set along a roughly eight-kilometre stretch of the Chindwin river in Myanmar’s Sagaing region. According to local media and residents, the country’s junta troops have torched hundreds of buildings in a three-day raid in the country’s north. “My life is ruined. I have lost my home and have nothing left to do for a living,” says one resident from Ke Taung Village.
Havana (AFP) – Heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Agatha have flooded much of western Cuba, killing at least three people in Havana and leaving thousands without power in the region.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – In his nightly address, on the 100th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky pours scorn on the Russian army saying what remains of it is ‘war crimes, shame and hatred.’ Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine, thousands of people have been killed, millions sent fleeing and towns turned into rubble.
Sochi (Russia) (AFP) – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says there is “no problem” to export grain from Ukraine, after Moscow’s operation there raised fears of a global food crisis. “There is no problem to export grain from Ukraine,” he said in a televised interview, saying it could be done via Ukrainian ports, via others under Russian control, or even via central Europe. Putin accused the West of “bluster” by claiming Moscow was preventing grain exports from Ukraine.
London (AFP) – One the first day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, large crowds and the royal family gathered at Buckingham palace to watch the Trooping the Colour and the RAF flyover.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – “Victory will be ours”, says Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video marking 100 days of Moscow’s all-out assault on its pro-democracy neighbour, that includes Prime Minister Denys Shmygal and presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak. The video recalls an impromptu message they posted at the same place at the onset of the war vowing to remain in the country.
Sochi (Russia) (AFP) – The African Union head Macky Sall meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a conference in Sochi, Russia. Macky Sall warns President Putin that African countries have suffered economically as a result of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine due to surging food prices hitting the continent.
Dakar (AFP) – “Les Restes suprêmes” by Rwandan director Dorcy Rugamba is making waves at this year’s Dakar Biennale. The director, through a mask played by French actress Nathalie Vairac, traces the history of the vestiges of the colonial period and raises the debate on the restitution of African heritage.
Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) – Saudi mechanics Ola, Ghada and Angham cater to the needs of their customers’ cars at the Petromin Express auto repair garage in Saudi Arabia’s coastal city of Jeddah, which is turning to an untapped source for new mechanics: women, who just four years ago weren’t even allowed to drive.
