UK

Mekka (AFP) – The Kaaba’s kiswah is changed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca to mark the New Islamic Year. The Kaaba is a large black cubic structure towards which all Muslims pray.

Paris (AFP) – French polling stations open as the second round of early legislative elections gets underway. The historic vote could see the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) emerge victorious, although there is still some uncertainty as to whether the far right will be able to obtain an absolute majority in the Assembly and form a government.

Artemisa (AFP) – The workers of a sugarcane cooperative in western Cuba are trying to keep their enterprise afloat amid blackouts and severe shortages of basic supplies such as fuel, fertilizer, and pesticides. Once the world leader, Cuba’s sugar cane industry is now teetering on the brink as a crushing economic crisis has gripped the country.

Machakos (AFP) – In Kenya, family, friends, and opposition politicians attend a funeral service for Rex Masai, a protester killed during demonstrations over tax hikes in Nairobi on 20 June.

Stuttgart (AFP) – Spain fans celebrate as they leave Stuttgart Arena after watching La Roja defeat hosts Germany 2-1 in a dramatic Euro 2024 quarter-final to set up a last-four clash against France.

Paris (AFP) – The Parisian cabaret club Moulin Rouge, which saw the blades of its windmill fall off at the end of April, inaugurates its new sails with a French Cancan show in front of hundreds of tourists and residents, just days before the Paris Olympic torch is due to pass the venue.

Moskau (AFP) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on a trip the EU said threatened to undermine the bloc’s stance on the Ukraine war. After visiting Kyiv earlier this week, Orban says he has realised “positions are far apart” between the two sides.

London (AFP) – Many Britons are waking up hopeful for change following the Labour party’s landslide general election victory overnight. Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has conceded an historic defeat, while voters are hopeful Sir Keir Starmer can bring about the change his party promised during the election campaign.

Tulum (Mexico) (AFP) – Hurricane Beryl slammed into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on 5 July near the resort town of Tulum, the US National Hurricane Center said. It said the storm packed maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 km/hour) making it a Category 2 hurricane, weaker than earlier in the week as Beryl hit islands in the Caribbean.

Berlin (AFP) – Germany must be “an anchor of stability” for Europe, Chancellor Olaf Scholz says, after his coalition struck a 2025 budget deal following tough talks that nearly toppled the government. “We must not turn away from the world in these times, we must not be preoccupied with ourselves”, he says in Berlin.

Moscow (AFP) – “The commitment of the Consulate General and Mr Vinatier’s wife to plead for house arrest has not been heard,” says the lawyer of French researcher Laurent Vinatier, arrested last month and accused of gathering military information, after a Moscow court ruled to keep him in pre-trial detention.

London (AFP) – “Our country needs a bigger reset”, says Keir Starmer as he gives his first speech as UK prime minister outside Downing Street. The Labour party leader oversaw a landslide victory in a general election, ending 14 years of rule by Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.