Ras Jrabah (Israel) (AFP) – Plans to expand Israel’s desert city of Dimona are stoking fears among nearby Bedouin villagers in Ras Jrabah, an informal settlement of tin-roofed houses and a few concrete buildings, over their traditional way of life. “Every day when I look at this city, it’s getting closer and closer to us,” says Hassan Hawashla.
Santa Ana del Yacuma (Beni) (Bolivia) (AFP) – Recovery efforts continue on the Rapulo River in northern Bolivia after a bridge collapsed, leaving at least five dead and multiple injured, according to authorities. A heavy truck caused the bridge to collapse in the Indigenous town of about 18,500 people.
Paris (AFP) – “Unfortunately, we live in a time when Europe is no longer a continent of peace”, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a speech to French MPs at the National Assembly in Paris, as Ukraine continues to battle Russia’s invasion.
Skardu (Pakistan) (AFP) – In the mountainous valleys of Pakistan, 18-hour daily power outages have become a regular occurrence in the city of Skardu amid the country’s power crisis. A surge in mountain tourism, driven by climbers and Pakistanis looking to escape heatwaves, is rapidly depleting the region’s limited energy supply.
Paris (AFP) – With fewer than 50 days to go until the kick-off of the Paris Olympic Games, organisers unveil a display of five Olympic steel rings mounted on the French capital’s iconic Eiffel Tower. “An extraordinary symbol” of the start of the Games, explains Paris’ Mayor Anne Hidalgo from the Trocadero esplanade.
Abu Dhabi (AFP) – Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency releases 50 rehabilitated sea turtles back into their natural habitat around Saadiyat Island. The animals are the first group of over 200 to be gradually released into key marine areas around the capital.
Skardu (Pakistan) (AFP) – In the mountainous valleys of Pakistan, 18-hour daily power outages have become a regular occurrence in the city of Skardu amid the country’s power crisis. A surge in mountain tourism, driven by climbers and Pakistanis looking to escape heatwaves, is rapidly depleting the region’s limited energy supply.
Venezuela (Venezuela) (AFP) – An empanada restaurant in a remote Venezuelan village is the latest target of President Nicolas Maduro’s regime. Their crime? Serving breakfast to opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Just 30 minutes after the politician visited the restaurant, run by two sisters, the tax authorities shut it down.
Al Qahtaniyah (Syria) (AFP) – Holding a weapon in one hand and fixing her scarf with the other, Atia Hassan patrols one of northeast Syria’s vast wheatfields, a vital source of income in the country’s breadbasket. The 50-year-old is among dozens of volunteers, some of them women, helping the semi-autonomous Kurdish-led region protect the fields near Qahtaniyah, from fires and arsonists.
Singapore (AFP) – Singapore’s only heavy metal bar, “The Flying V” lies tucked away in a basement of an old mall, just around the corner from the city-state’s parliament and Supreme court buildings. Sitting at the bar one Tuesday night, Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover enjoyed a dark Welsh beer ahead of his band’s concert the next day.
Seoul (AFP) – Park Choong-kwon was once a member of an elite North Korean unit that developed long-range missiles. Now, as a lawmaker in the South, he is sounding the alarm over Kim Jong Un’s weapons.
Singapore (AFP) – Singapore’s only heavy metal bar, “The Flying V” lies tucked away in a basement of an old mall, just around the corner from the city-state’s parliament and Supreme court buildings. Sitting at the bar one Tuesday night, Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover enjoyed a dark Welsh beer ahead of his band’s concert the next day.
