Brüssel (AFP) – “If you want peace, let’s meet at the peace summit. It is absolutely fair that we are preparing this platform together with other partners because the war is ours, and the initiative must be ours,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says in Brussels, urging countries to attend the upcoming gathering in Switzerland set for June 15-16.
Madrid (AFP) – ‘The recognition of the State of Palestine as a State is a decision we do not take against anyone, least of all against Israel, a friendly people whom we respect’, says Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez, with his government poised to formally take the step alongside Ireland and Norway. He adds that ‘this decision reflects our outright rejection of Hamas’.
St. Petersburg (AFP) – Lyudmila’s husband, an officer in the Russian army, died in Ukraine in September 2022. To try to overcome the grief, she set up a support service to help other military widows deal with their loss. “It was a huge shock. I didn’t understand what was happening. I felt like the heroine in a very bad film,” the 32-year-old says in an interview, describing the moment she found out her husband had died.
Buenos Aires (AFP) – 60-year-old Alejandra Rodriguez competes in the Miss Universe pageant in Buenos Aires. “The contest marked a before and after in my life, because of everything I learned about myself. Everything I was capable of. I empowered myself as a woman,” says the lawyer and journalist.
Charkiw (AFP) – Residents of Kharkiv search for their relatives who were in the hardware store when it was hit by a Russian missile on Saturday 25 May and who have gone missing since. “I am looking for my mother and sister,” says a survivor of the attack, in tears. “I think it was impossible to survive there. They were laying there.” The death toll from Russian strikes on the store has risen to 16, according to the regional governor, as rescuers search the charred debris for bodies.
Vilnius (AFP) – Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda wins re-election in a vote marked by defence concerns over neighbouring Russia. The count published by the electoral commission shows that Nauseda won 74.6 percent of votes with 90 percent of ballots counted after polls closed in the second-round vote.
Paris (AFP) – At the foot of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, 4,000 lucky diners enjoy packed lunches offered by one of the avenue’s eight restaurateurs, seated on a large checkered tablecloth over 200 metres long, unrolled for the occasion. Nearly 273,000 people have applied to take part in the event, which features the “world’s largest tablecloth,” made from 25 pieces of recycled fibre, and assembled by 150 people.
Tiflis (AFP) – Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili calls for “preservation of peace and stability” amid a political crisis over a ‘foreign influence’ law denounced as repressive by rights groups. At loggerheads with the governing Georgian Dream conservatives, the pro-Western Zurabishvili is looking to forge a united opposition front as the country prepares for parliamentary elections in October.
Lima (AFP) – A collision between a passenger bus and a freight train has left four people dead and 36 injured at a railroad crossing in eastern Lima, according to local authorities. IMAGES
Cannes (France) (AFP) – US indie director Sean Baker pays tribute to the world’s sex workers after his Palme d’Or win at the 77th Cannes film festival, his film ‘Anora’ winning over the jury — and giving a tiny American movie distributor, Neon, its fifth consecutive Palme d’Or win on the Croisette.
Beirut (AFP) – In a Beirut car park, migrant workers from countries including Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines cheer as their teams face off in a cricket tournament, a moment of respite in crisis-hit Lebanon, where working conditions are often tough. “On Sunday, we are so happy because we’re together,” says Pradeepa Silva, a housekeeper from Sri Lanka, as she and her teammates prepare coconut rice and other traditional food to share at the game.
Qāzigund (India) (AFP) – Locals in Indian-administered Kashmir celebrate the spring festival of Rohan Posh, when people go fishing in the water using traditional wicker baskets and mosquito nets. Fishing helps to remove weeds and silt from the river, locals say. “The main purpose of this festival is to clean the water bodies. The cleaning ensures more water supply throughout the year,” says Abdul Salam, on of the participants. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. Both claim it in full and have fought two wars over control of the Himalayan region.
