AFP UK

Windsor (United Kingdom) (AFP) – A beacon is lit and fireworks are set off at Windsor castle for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of her reign.

Jūzīf (Syria) (AFP) – In a cherry field in the town of Juzif in the Jebel al-Zawiyah mountains of Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province, farmers pick cherries as their harvest marks a major setback due to this year’s cold winter and the ongoing 11-year civil war.

Taez (Yemen) (AFP) – “The people of Taiz are no longer optimistic about the truce; they no longer have faith in it,” says Taiz resident Mohammed al-Hurribi. Yemen’s warring parties have agreed to renew a two-month truce, according to the United Nations.

Dmytrivka (Ukraine) (AFP) – The Ukrainian band Ocheretyanyi Kit performs on top of a burnt Russian tank, blaring out a new song called “Javelin” in honour of the US-supplied, shoulder-fired missile to tackle back Russia’s invasion in Kyiv’s outskirts.

Paris (AFP) – “You are the golden thread that links our two countries.” In a video posted on his Twitter account, French President Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II on her platinum jubilee.

London (AFP) – Thousands flock to central London to mark the first day of a four day celebration for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Spectators along the Mall, a road connecting Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square, say they are “proud” of the spectacle.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Russian troops control about one-fifth of his country, including the annexed Crimean peninsula and territory in the east held by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

Taoyuan (Taiwan) (AFP) – Republic of China President Tsai Ing-wen shoulders a Taiwan-made rocket launcher on a morale-boosting tour for soldiers on guard during the Dragon Boat holiday season. The democratic island’s leader regularly visits her troops amid a heightened threat of Chinese invasion, with Beijing claiming sovereignty over a territory it considers as one of its provinces.

Unknown (AFP) – Moscow claims that it has managed to stem the arrival of foreign “mercenaries” in Ukraine over the past month and that it has killed “hundreds” of them. Most of them died “due to their low level of training and lack of real combat experience”, according to Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov.

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Protests against Brazilian police brutality erupt in Sao Paulo after a man suffocated in custody during a traffic stop. Witnesses say the man, who was taking medication for schizophrenia, was forced in the trunk of a car filled with tear gas by police.

Longyearbyen (AFP) – Pristine, untouched Svalbard is faced with a problem. The archipelago is reliant on tourism – yet with its glaciers melting, how long can it depend on ultra-polluting cruise vessels for transport and coal for its energy?

Beijing (AFP) – China says it “firmly opposes” trade talks between the United States and Taiwan after Taipei and Washington announced the launch of a new initiative to deepen economic ties. “The US’s insistence on playing the Taiwan card will only put China-US relations in a dangerous situation,” says Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.